Tuesday Morning Recap - Superbowl Edition

What a game! We all watched it and we all had our hearts lifted and the dropped... Then lifted again, only to have our hearts ripped out of our chests. Here's what I liked and didn't like about the big game...
Here's what I liked about the Superbowl...

1 a - Just a stat that blows all our minds, since 1988, Pittsburgh is 142-1-1 in the reg. season and 10-0 in the playoffs when they have a lead of 13+ points. Holy shit wow.

1 b – Of course, that ridiulous catch by Santonio Holmes. I definitely thought it was incomplete on the full-speed viewing, but when they slowed it down... Wow. In my opinion, it was a much better catch then Tyree's last year because it was actually a SKILLED catch and not a FLUKE. We see receivers make those tip-toed, corner endzone catches on almost a weekly basis and Holmes was just another one of those receivers, it just so happened he did it in the Superbowl, with 48 seconds left, to give him team the lead and win the game.

1 c – Not only did Holmes make the sequel to 'the catch', but he did it at a time when their stud receiver, Hines Ward, was not even close to 90%. Ward only had 2 grabs for 43 yds after having season totals of 81 catches for 1,043 yds and 7 TD's and I got the sense that he was completely helpless on the side-lines. During his post-game interview, tears flowed through his eyes as he could barely grasp the words to establish his sense of emotion. Hines Ward can play for my team any day, during any game, at any health level.

1 d – It's incredible that, as offensively challenged as Pittsburgh is and having their #1 play-maker on the sidelines, that they will put up the game they did. It's a real testimate to the value of a GREAT team... Fitzgerald has a poor 3 quarters, Arizona loses... Ward goes down with injury, Holmes steps up, Pittsburgh wins.

2 – Big Ben. How could he not be in the same conversation as Brady and Manning now? He certainly proved the doubters wrong, he went 21/30 (70%), 256 yds, 1TD, 1 INT and a 93.2 QB rating. And did anyone see him scramble left, cut back in the middle, elude a sac, scramble back right then throw across his body to the left side to Heath Miller for the first down? Wow. That's what winners do, they make plays when there seems to be nothing there; proof and point, the final drive. 2:37 left... 4th quarter... game on the line... 122 seconds... 88 yards... TD pass through the hands of Holmes at one corner... the very next play, he goes back to Holmes in the other corner... perfect throw where only Holmes could come up with it... True leadership and true skill.

3 – If Drew Brees is the most explosive QB and Peyton Manning is the smartest QB and Matt Ryan is the new kid on the block and Tom Brady is the coolest under pressure, then Kurt Warner is without a shadow of a doubt, the classiest. An absolute and total class act. His numbers were right with that everyone expected: 31/43 (72.1%), 377 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT, a 112.3 QB rating and yet, those just weren't good enough for the big game. Honestly, after that performance and hearing his post-game conference, I'm a larger Warner fan then I am a Fitzgerald fan. However, Warner leads into 3 b...
3 b – Warner is a UFA this season and Arizona has to decide if they want to bring him back or not. After the post-season that he had, how could they not? But here are few things everyone should know... First, he is 38. Second, Arizona's O-coordinator, Todd Haley, might be leaving for the coaching job in KC, which means a new O-coordinator and (possibly) a new system to learn. Third, initial reports have Warner's price-tag around $18million for 2 years, which leads to... Fourth, if you bring him back, what do you do with Leinart? Have him ride the pine for another two years?

3 c – Warner would make one hell of a head coach, especially for a younger team.

4 – Pittsburgh D was what it is, championship calibre. Minus the Fitzgerald 60-yard bomb, this defence did everything it's coaching staff could have asked for: 46.5 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 HUGE PICK SIX! The Defensive Player of the Year (James Harrison), produced the longest play in Superbowl history with his 100 yard INT return for a TD at the end of the 2nd quarter, not to mention Troy Polamalu's re-make of the classic Coke commercial. While Arizona's rush attack had run roughshod over it's postseason opponents (86 yds, 145 yds, 102 yds), Pittsburgh held them to a measly 33 yds on only 12 carries.

5 – What is it about the Steelers' and their head coaches? Chuck Noll was head coach from 1969-91 and won 4 Superbowls... Bill Cowher was head coach from 1992-06 and won Superbowl XL... Now, Mike Tomlin has been head coach for three seasons and already has 1 Superbowl. Outstanding. I dare anyone who thinks another franchise that has had more stability at the head coach position in ANY sport on a more consistent basis then the Steelers. It isn't out there. But, that's only half the story...

5 b – Here is a list of coaches that coached under Cowher: Dom Capers, Chan Gailey, Jim Haslett, Mike Mularkey, Ken Whisenhunt, Dick LeBeau and Marvin Lewis. What do all these coaches have in common? That, after being an assistent under Cowher, they all became NFL head coaches. I can only imagine that this pattern will continue with Mike Tomlin at the helm.

Here is what I didn't like about the Superbowl...

1 a – Larry Fitzgerald was out-matched by Santonio Holmes. The numbers appear to be equal with Holmes catching 9 balls for 131 yards and Fitz catching 7 balls for 127 yards, but take away Fitzgeralds 4th quarter and he's left with 1 catch for 12 yards. It's like, Arizona failed to include him for 75% of the game, which leads to 1 b...

1 b – In the biggest game of the year, with arguably the biggest playmaker in the NFL, how does Arizona not use Fitzgerald for 3 quarters? That would be like, MacT sitting Hemsky until the final 10 minutes of the 3rd, it just doesn't make sense to me. In my opinion, even if it isn't working, I would want to lose a game KNOWING I used my best players as much as I could, not 2nd guess myself by losing and not playing them...

2 – Like I said earlier, one analyst (Jaime Dukes) said, that in order for Arizona to win the Superbowl, they needed to: Stop the rush (duh), stop the pass (duh) and pressure the QB (duh). Again, thank you for your wonderfully interesting insight into the world of football. First, stop the rush. Willie Parker rushed 19 times for only 55 yds, but they never fumbled AND scored a TD. Close call, let's check-mark job one. Stop the pass... ummm... Roethlisberger plays ABOVE his career numbers, receiver Santonio Holmes wins MVP. Scratch out job two. Finally, sack the QB. Well, they did get to Big Ben twice, but over 16 games thats only 32 sacks and Big Ben has been used to as many as 46 sacks (this year), so... scratch out job three. Arizona just failed to exicute a full gameplan.

3 – Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Way too many penalties to start with for a championship game and WWWAAAYYY too many penalties in too many key times in the game. A total of 18 penalties for 162 yds and I'm not even going to mention the holding call that led to the safety and cost Brett and I the 42' TV at Moxies. I mean, the play WOULD HAVE been a 1st down and gotten the Steelers outside the shadow of their own goal-posts, but nooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo, Mr. Hartwig decides that he wants to, possibly, have his name synonymus with other great championship goats like Buckner, Norwood and, yes, Smith.

3 b – And it's not just the penalties, there were only 3 total TD's in the first three quarters and they went as follows: 1-yard run, 1-yard pass, INT-for-a-TD. Not one, half-decent, offensive TD to speak about for 45 minutes of the game. Brutal.

4 – The entertainment was atrocious. Let's start with Jennifer Hudson, she lip-synced the national anthem. I wonder how Americans feel about that? Next up, we have 'The Boss'. I don't know anything by this guy, but the two things I do know are 'Born in the USA' and 'The Wrestler' and he didn't play either of those songs. Not to mention, his knee-slide right into a camera with his legs spread-eagle; if JT and Janet had 'nipple-gate' then what's this, 'crotch-gate'? Finally, we have the Canadian Television Network's 700 commercials of Corner Gas. It's bad enough that it's a lame show on a lame network, but what CTV does the best that pisses me right off, is their lack of American commercials! Total BS for the average Canadian viewer who doesn't have access to the American feeds. So, to sum up... Hudson, crap. Springsteen, crap. Commercials, crap.

5 – This was not the best Superbowl ever: every Superbowl has a some story lines, every Superbowl has momentum shifts, every Superbowl has last minute drives, every Superbowl has un-sung heros and every Superbowl has an under-dog. No doubt, last year's had a much deeper story line (perfect season) and a huge last minute drive and, possibly, the greatest un-sung hero of all time in Tyree. This year's game had a total of 147 million viewers in the USA making it the 2nd most awtched Superbowl of all-time... Anyone guess what's #1? Yea, last year's game.

Superbowl XLII was great. Superbowl XLIII was great. can't wait to see what the NFL has in store for Superbowl XLIV in Miami, Fl.

Cheers.
-Smith

p.s. Go Colts!