I was pleasantly surprised at the excitement of the Super Bowl. Quite similar to last year's game minus the annoying Patriots and Giants fans. Late game-winning drive includes great catch, several suspicious penalties, and several "what are these guys thinking?" moments.
Why the Steelers Won (Besides the obvious):
- Arizona's penalties... a couple were questionable and the Steelers came close to evening them out, but no team can win when they keep putting themselves in bad situations.
- Mike Tomlin's conservativeness... if he learned anything from Bob Stoops, it's to take points when you can, no matter how much better than the other team you think you are. The Cardinals' stiff goalline defense kept it interesting (could have been 35-23) but the Steelers kicked and it made a difference. Also, you may have noticed how uninvolved Troy Palamaleu was, that's because the Steelers gameplan had him playing in a 2-deep zone to protect against the Cardinals' big play potential.
- Kurt Warner's ability to turn the ball over... he's good, I'll give him that, but that interception was heartbreaking.
- Big Ben's Big Feet... what separated him from Warner was his mobility. Even though he didn't scramble for many yards, there were at least 3 plays were he got away from pressure and made a great pass to keep the drive going. Warner just kept dumping it off for safe plays that couldn't add up to points until it was too late.
- Santonio Holmes... yes, he deserved the MVP. True, the Steelers gameplan or the Cardinals attention elsewhere added to his stats, but the game winning catch and several big "run after the catch" plays give it to him. (If the Cardinals had won, I give it to Fitzgerald)
As for a discussion of Warner's Hall of Fame credentials, I'd lean away from them. He would get in if he proves this wasn't a fluke... like at least 2 more playoffs seasons (with playoff wins), a 3-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio, and another 6,000 yards passing. He puts up those numbers and he's in (but not on the first vote). Other than him, Fitzgerald is the only other Hall of Famer on that field... maybe Palamaleu.
I tweaked my rankings this week. To be considered you must be in first place of your conference, in the top 65 of the RPI, or receiving votes in either of the other polls. Along with strength of schedule the rankings are averaged. Teams not receiving poll votes are ranked in order based on RPI.
| Duke* |
| Oklahoma* |
| Pittsburg |
| North Carolina |
| Louisville |
| Michigan State* |
| Xavier* |
| Connecticut |
| Clemson |
| Memphis* |
| Villanova |
| Washington |
| Marquette* |
| Texas |
| Syracuse |
| Wake Forest |
| West Virginia |
| Purdue |
| Georgetown |
| Butler* |
| Illinois |
| Minnesota |
| Kansas |
| Tennessee |
| Utah |
| Oklahoma State |
| UCLA* |
| USC |
| Siena* |
| Wisconsin |
| Missouri |
| Florida State |
| Gonzaga* |
| Arizona State |
| Ohio State |
| Baylor |
| Virginia Tech |
| Brigham Young |
| Miami (FL) |
| UAB |
| Michigan |
| Texas A&M |
| Davidson* |
| Florida |
| UNLV* |
| LSU* |
| Northeastern* |
| Utah State* |
| Northern Iowa* |
| Buffalo* |
| Stephen F. Austin* |
| Cornell* |
| Weber State* |
| Long Beach State* |
| Morehead State* |
| North Dakota State* |
| Arkansas-Little Rock* |
| Holy Cross* |
| Vermont* |
| Virginia Military* |
| East Tennessee State* |
| Morgan State* |
| Robert Morris* |
| Alabama State* |
1 comment:
I like your thoughts on Warner. A couple more playoff apperances, two more years like this one, plus the aspect of the "nice guy" could get him in - in time. It will take more than he has done now though. But if he takes the Cardinals (I mean their the Cardinals) to the playoffs two more times, I'd say there is a shot.
The superbowl was great. I was very impressed by Big Ben. He escaped some "should be sacked" situations by moving up in the pocket and breaking arm tackles. That's what an NFL quaterback needs to do in todays game. Also, agree with the Holmes decision. That last drive he earned with the TD catch and the big play to set it up. But those were only 2 plays of a great game he played.
Good post.
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