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You think the Steelers
won that game??? Allow me to convince
you otherwise...
Let me get this out of the way first -- I am
a Miami Dolphins fan who had no dog in this
fight. I like both the Steelers
franchise and the Cardinals franchise.
I am not biased in any way, shape or form.
However, I am blown
away by the lack of coverage in regards to
so many aspects of this game. It is as
if no one wants to rain on the parade of
such a closely fought and admittedly
exciting game. The NFL has somehow
convinced ESPN and other sports media to
gloss over the errors made in the game and
just celebrate how great Big Ben
Roethlisberger's ass tastes.
From least
important to most important, here are some
of the points I would like to make...
1. The Harrison play at the end of the
half was a tremendous play that changed
the game. The Cardinals probably
win by double digits if it were not for
that play. I am unconvinced that
he got in, but concede that it was very
close. Outside of that play, the
Cardinals edged the Steelers in every
phase of the game -- offense, defense,
special teams, coaching. It was a
rather lopsided game when you look at
the entire picture. The stats
verify this. Can you find a stat
in Pitts' favor?
2. The Steelers seemed to have a few
extra guys on the field -- and they were
wearing striped shirts. I have
never seen a more ticky-tack officiating
crew in my life. And they really
seemed to have all the big calls shading
in Pittsburgh's direction.
Consider the three personal fouls on the
third quarter drive -- none of which
should have been called. The first
one was an offsetting double facemask. The
second was a very soft roughing call
that should have been offset by
intentional grounding. The third
was a roughing the holder call --
It was also very soft and I have never
seen that called in any game of
football, college or pro, in over 20
years. I will get to the final
few plays of the game very shortly...
all of which were in the Steelers'
favor.
3. How was James Harrison not ejected
from the game for that disgraceful
punching of a defensive player during
that Arizona punt? Not only that,
but it happened before the change of
possession and should have resulted in a first
down for Arizona instead of a
half-a-yard penalty, because the
Steelers were pinned on the 1 yard line.
4. Let's get to the heart of the
matter... and the most ignored blown
call in sports history. How did
everyone miss that Santonio Holmes did
not get his right foot in bounds on the
final touchdown pass? Is his right
leg three inches longer than his left?
Just look at the crystal clear photos at
the top of this page. At what
point do you see his right foot not
resting on his left foot? End of
discussion.
5. Even if the TD counts, how does he
not get flagged for using the football
as a prop during the celebration? That would have
likely given
the Cardinals the ball near the 50 yard
line with 35 seconds to go. And
considering how easily they were moving
the ball, who would have bet against
them scoring again?
6. And finally!!! How does that last Cardinals
play not get reviewed. It was so
clearly an incomplete pass. Not
only that, but Pittsburgh was flagged
for a 15-yarder on that play which would
have put the Cards on the 29 yard line with
8 seconds to go, giving them 2
shots to get it to the best receiver in
the world... Larry Fitzgerald.
That is a lot of
stuff to digest... but at the very least,
Arizona and their fans should have the right
to feel very aggrieved about the outcome.
The refs really hosed them throughout.
Listen, I like
Pittsburgh... but the Steelers got away with
highway robbery on Sunday night. No
question about it.
And as for all the
Roethlisberger love... He now has a
quarterback rating of 64 in the two Super
Bowl's he has played. If you take away
that Santonio Holmes "Phantom Touchdown", his
rating drops to 55. How's that for
stunningly mediocre? I deserve the MVP
more than he does.
Oh, and to end the
debate... Last year's
Super Bowl between the Giants and the
evil, cheating Patriots was the greatest Super
Bowl ever!!! Not this one.
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Written by TC Candler
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