Congrats to Pittsburg - BUT YER A DIRTY TEAM!!

[JoeMama]

Of all the calls against both teams, the Steelers had more personal fouls against them. Near the end of the game after a hit, the guy (I believe 92) got up and kicked the downed player. Of course no foul was called because it was so subtle, but damn it if their piss poor sportsmanship didnt piss me off.

Im not a football fan by any stretch of the imagination, and I guess this ****ty sportsmanship just adds fuel to my fire.

I need another beer damn it
-Me

 

[newbeerpig]

You saw that little kick to huh. I really liked the one where 92 tackled, pushed, hit the cardinal player but nothing was called. Oh well, not that I am a Cardinals fan but it is nice to see them finally do something more than lose a regular season game.

 

[Korben]

I thought the officials were in Pittsburgh's pocket all night... Well at least Warner won Man of the Year can think of anyone who deserves it more.

 

[Chris_Dog]

He probably could had the MVP (from the big interception run back). To big of a dick in the 2nd half for that.

 

[FireBrewer]

I thought the officials were in Pittsburgh's pocket all night...

+1. Harrison's a ******.

 

[bmckee56]

The Steelers won and that is the way football gets played. You don't see all the footage of all the plays and I would bet that the Cardinals did a lot of the same things. Arizona got called 3 times for personal fouls in one possession.

Football is a tough sport and it gets played that way. Emotions were high and tempers were hot on both teams. It was the SuperBowl and it is another year until the next one.

Congratulations STEELERS!

Salute!

 

[eriktlupus]

The Steelers won and that is the way football gets played. You don't see all the footage of all the plays and I would bet that the Cardinals did a lot of the same things. Arizona got called 3 times for personal fouls in one possession.

Football is a tough sport and it gets played that way. Emotions were high and tempers were hot on both teams. It was the SuperBowl and it is another year until the next one.

Congratulations STEELERS!

Salute!

yup and two of em were BS

 

[Evan!]

Yeah, I wanted the Steelers to win because I just don't like the cardinals (only amplified over the past few weeks having to listen to Warner's born-again self-righteousness). However, the calls that the refs were making (or, not making in many cases) were pretty heavy in the Pittsburg corner. Not ten minutes prior to that BS roughing the kicker penalty, I was talking about how stupid it was that when the defense is going for the kick block, misses it, hits the ground, rolls, and accidentally runs into the one leg of the kicker that's holding him up, they get called. Ferchrisssake, it's football. They were calling some crap last night...but then they didn't even bother to review that final fumble? I was wholly unimpressed by the refereeing last night.

 

[the_bird]

I can't believe they didn't review that last fumble/incomplete pass. Makes absolutely no sense to not look at that. And, one of the three personal fouls on the Cards on that drive WAS BS - but two of them were legit. Cardinals just seemed to be playing without discipline for much of the night, which may ultimately have been the difference.

There was one comment that I think Madden made... Warner had just thrown into coverage, "Kurt sees an opening and he hits it." All I could think about was... well, he DOES have seven kids! When the hell did Brenda get semi-hot? Was that part of the new contract he signed with Satan? "I get to another Super Bowl and you make my wife kinda hot, and I'll give you the souls of SEVEN children?"

 

[Glubki]

I thought the Cards were playing dirty in the first three quarters and then Pittsburgh started to return the favor in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals looked like the better team overall but that interception and all the stupid penalties led to their own demise!

 

[CBBaron]

Not ten minutes prior to that BS roughing the kicker penalty

How was that a BS call when the defensive end rand straight over the place holder after the kick was away? Pretty straight forward and easy call. Of course Steelers failed to capitalize on it.

The roughing the passer on the Cards was BS in my opinion. The facemask penalty was pretty obvious.

It seemed the refs were calling alot more fouls than normal. All of them were valid fouls but often they have been overlooked in the earlier games. Harrison is held about every other play but it hadn't been called since mid-season. Gandy got called a couple times last night.
The Defensive hold called against the back covering Ward was pretty touchy, however I felt they should have flagged a pass interference call on the play as the defender was there early.

Still both teams play their hearts out last night and both teams made some great plays. Alot of people wrote the Cards off before the first round of the playoffs but they showed they deserved to be there. Warner moved the ball well against the best defense in the league. The Steelers offense made the big plays to win the game.

Craig

 

[Evan!]

Oh, yeah, by the strict interpretation of the rules, it was a legit call---my point being, they coddle the QB and the kicker (and the receivers) too much in this game.

 

[shecky]

Oh, yeah, by the strict interpretation of the rules, it was a legit call---my point being, they coddle the QB and the kicker (and the receivers) too much in this game.

Agreed they coddle the QBs too much and to a certain extent the kickers. But the kickers are also in a defenseless position.

And the call was roughing the holder, who is the most defenseless guy on the field. I forget which Cardinal it was, but he had every opportunity to keep from running through the guy. He made the call way too easy.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

A fan of either team is not able to look at officiating objectively.

Harrison and holding? Come on, holding could be calling on 90% of all offensive plays. It only gets called when it's blatant.

The personal foul for running into Berger was total BS. He was running off balance, he barely touched him and he tried to pull up at the end but his momentum was carrying him forward. To call a penalty on that play at that point in the SuperBowl was absolutely ridiculous.

The holding call against ARZ on Ward was bogus. Yes there was contact before that, but it was within 5 yards where contact is allowed.

Willie Parker's forward progress was stopped in the end zone and should have been a safety. Yes, I realize that the Cardinals got a safety the next play on a blatantly obvious holding penalty, but they should have gotten it on the Parker run.

James Harrison should have been kicked out of the game. **edit - thanks to the post below I remember this play correctly now. It was close, but it could have just as easily been a first for the Cards.


The non-call on Holmes' celebration. Like it or not, the rules clearly state that no player is permitted to use the ball as a prop. He did. The Steelers should have been kicking off to the Cardinals from the 20 yard line. Cardinals get the ball with better field position and 2 time outs - maybe the game changes - who knows... why that call was not made is astounding to me.

The roughing the passer call was crap. I saw Warner get hit harder and later than that multiple times in the game and it wasn't called. If that's how that officiating crew wanted to handle calling roughing the passer penalties that's fine, but they should have called them both ways.

The Warner play at the end of the game was a fumble, but it should have at least been reviewed.

This wasn't quite as bad at the SB in '05 when the officials basically handed the Steelers the win, but it was close. All of the Steelers fans I've talked to here at work today all agreed that without the help of the refs, there's no way that the Steelers win last night.

 

[shecky]

The Warner play at the end of the game was a fumble, but it should have at least been reviewed.

Can't really disagree with much of what OB said, except for the roughing penalty. A rule is a rule and that was blatant.

Just a clarification on the Warner fumble: all plays in the last two minutes are automatically reviewed by the replay officials. That one was, too, but they deemed it a fumble, thus negating the need to interrupt play.

 

[dataz722]

The biggest screw up couldve been on the harrison personal foul on the punt. Ive seen another replay of it that in the background you can see the return guy calling for the fair catch and the ball coming AFTER harrison punched him. Instead of it being a 6 inch penalty i shouldve been Aziona ball 1st and 10

 

[CBBaron]

The biggest screw up couldve been on the harrison personal foul on the punt. Ive seen another replay of it that in the background you can see the return guy calling for the fair catch and the ball coming AFTER harrison punched him. Instead of it being a 6 inch penalty i shouldve been Aziona ball 1st and 10

Possession is deem to have changed when the ball is kicked, not when it was received. So it still doesn't matter. Plus he never punched the guy. Hit him pretty had when he was trying to get up but Harrison's hand was open. It was a cheap shot and thats probably why he got called.

The roughing the holder call was an easy one to make. I agree that the roughing the passer call should not have been made, though it was consistent with many other calls I have seen this year "protecting" the quarterback. I do think rules should protect the kickers and holders but they coddle the quarterbacks and receivers much too much.

Parker got himself out of the endzone on a great effort however it was much too close. The O-line had a bad game even for them. The holding call in the end zone was legit but 9 out of 10 they don't call it in that circumstance. Many worse holds go uncalled in every game including that one.

I agree that they should not have called the defense holding call on the guy covering Ward. He didn't hold any more than what happens every other play. However they should have called pass interference on him because he hit ward early. Ward's helmet was looking at the sky by the time the ball hit his hands.

The refs played too much of a factor in the game but the calls were all valid and pretty even. The penalties were 7 to 11. Yardage was thrown off because one penalty caused a safety for no yards and a personal foul only resulted in a 1 yard penalty due to field position. That is not a huge favorite. Especially when you consider that 3 big penalties happened against the Steelers on their last 2 possessions (personal foul on Harrison, holding in the end zone nullify a first down at the 20 and cause a safety and holding to start their next possession).

Craig