I am one of the many who watched the Super Bowl this February 1, and one of the few to watch from start to finish. The Steelers and Cardinals both played a hard-fought and close game.
But I have some complaints! Along with millions of other people!
First, Arizona had 11 penalties for 106 yards, inlcuding numerous holding penalties and three on Mike Gandy, the left tackle. One of these penalties was a personal foul for "running into the holder"...I mean this IS football isn't it? Adrian Wilson was stumbling and couldn't stop his own momentum. Also a very sissy "roughing the passer" call on Karlos Dansby where he gave a love tap to Ben and Ben flopped falling down to draw another flag. Oh, and remember how many times Ben was scrambling around in the pocket avoiding pressure and threw it downfield, there were NO holding calls on Pittsburgh offensive linemen. NO holding by any Pitt linemen. I'm not buying that.
Secondly, James Harrison on a punt, held Aaron Francisco of the Cardinals down and got him to his knees, then punched him in the back, and not only that, when Francisco tried to get up, Harrison knocks him down again! Last I checked, punches get players ejected in every sport except hockey. What is James Harrison still doing on the field? This was a 15-yard penalty, but because the Steelers were at the 2-yard line, the penalty was half-the-distance-to-the-goal, which is 1 yard. The only penalty for punching a defenseless player in the back is one yard. And Harrison showed no class by not apologizing, and claiming that Francisco was going for his knees. There is NO excuse for punching somebody in the back. Mr. James Harrison, you have lost all my respect. If you want to throw punches, go do UFC.
All the calls went the Steelers' way until the end of the game, when the game was almost done. Looks like the refs got a special payday this time.
The two challenges that the Cardinals won came on blatantly obvious plays that were replayed so many times that they had to overturn them against their own will. But at the end of the game, there was no review of the Warner "fumble". They just gave the ball to Pitt and gave them the win with that. I am sure America was waiting and wishing to see if Fitzgerald could come up with a hail-mary jumpball at the last second.
Well other than that, awesome game, I was bored a little in the 3rd quarter, but they really made the finish excellent. Great catch by Holmes, great catch by Fitzgerald, and Arizona won this game.
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