Super Steelers

What a wonderful game. The Cardinals gave them a heck of a fight, but the Pittsburgh Steelers won their 6th Super Bowl. We are so often prone to the "Error of Recency," wherein the last thing we see tends to resonate the most. But sometimes it can actually be true, and I believe that over the past two seasons, we've seen the best two Super Bowls ever. Last year's is still #1, but this was close. It's going to be a long 6 or 7 months without the NFL, but whenever I feel the need to watch a game, I can turn on either one of these past two Super Bowls anytime, and become happy.

A few immediate observations from the game...

-Ben Roethlisberger has cemented himself as a great quarterback. He was clutch, tough, and incredibly poised. So few times in Super Bowl history has a quarterback led a game winning, length of the field drive with under two minutes to go, but Big Ben did it. (Eli Manning did it last year too - am I mentioning last year's Super Bowl a little too much yet?) And I have never seen a quarterback scramble so well behind the line of scrimmage. Roethlisberger made so many great plays where he had to buy extra time for his receivers to get open. While Santonio Holmes was a great choice for the game's MVP, Roethlisberger would have also been a fine pick.

-And that leads me to Holmes. Dynamic, electrifying, so dangerous with the ball. The Steelers did a good job of giving him a chance to do damage, with quick, short passes, letting him run after the catch. And what else can be said about his game winning grab in the back corner of the end zone.

-Again the Error of Recency becomes a possible reason, but I can't think of a more exciting, game-changing defensive play in the history of the Super Bowl, than Harrison's interception and 100 yard return for a touchdown. His dropping back into coverage surprised Kurt Warner, and Warner made the most crucial mistake of the game. Several great blocks were thrown by the Steelers on the return, and Harrison had just enough in the tank to make it to the end zone.

-It seems like a cliche among sports fans is to be critical of an announce team, as if they could do better. But Al Michaels and John Madden did a great job calling the game. I wouldn't expect anything less from Michaels, the most polished, professional, level-headed commentator in all of sports broadcasting. Speaking of cliches, I expected to hear a lot of them regarding the Cardinals and the underdog angle. I'd have set the over/under line at about 25 on how many times they'd say the words "unheralded," or "unsung hero." But that never came. Not once that I heard. I owe you an apology, Al, I should have known better. And while Madden will be guilty of stating the obvious at times, he didn't do it nearly to the level he's satirized for.

-If I have one criticism of NBC however, it's the lack of variety on replays. For instance, the Steelers kept Larry Fitzgerald from hurting them for most of the game, and I would have liked to seen how. Reportedly, NBC had about 40 or 50 cameras on the game, so surely one or two were fixed on Fitzgerald on each play. Show us exactly why Fitzgerald wasn't open, and what kind of coverages the Steelers used. Pittsburgh left a lot of Arizona receivers wide open in the flats - show us where those Steeler defenders were. The average football watcher, especially in the general audience for the Super Bowl, was probably wondering, "Why don't they just throw it to Fitzgerald? He's awesome."

-And that leads me to Fitzgerald...who is awesome. Yes, he was taken away for most of the game, but like a ticking time bomb, he finally went off in the 4th quarter with his deep TD catch and run right down the middle. It was quite a lapse in coverage by Pittsburgh, and it was all Fitzgerald needed. Fitzgerald also unleashed his inner Tyree with his other TD, using the top of his helmet to aid his leaping catch. By the way, David Tyree already wrote a book, but I think "Unleash Your Inner Tyree" would be a great title for a motivational book. It would also need a good subtitle, incorporating his jersey number. I'm thinking, "Unleash Your Inner Tyree: 85 Ways To Improve Your Life."

-The one tactical decision by the Steelers that I'll question, is Coach Mike Tomlin's decision not to go for it on 4th and inches at the goal line after Roethlisberger's TD run was overturned. In some ways, when a coach decides to kick a field goal from inside the one yard line, he is telling his team that he doesn't believe in them to get that half a yard. I think this can be very deflating, even though points are put on the board. Even if you're stopped, you've pinned the other team on the one yard line to start their drive. If I was a head coach, there would be very few circumstances where I wouldn't go for it on 4th and inches at the goal line.

-Hines Ward is super tough, but was not a big factor in the game. I think he was still really hurting.

In closing, I am really happy for the Steelers and their fans. The win could not have come for a better organization, or fan base. I've said this before, but unlike the Cowboys and their 1970s marketing ploy that the more uninitiated fans fell for, the Steelers are the real America's Team.