Stairwayto7
02-15-2009, 07:52 AM
Officially, it was a bad performance
Some observations on penalties called, penalties not called and other points of controversy after watching two replays of the game:
• John Madden's call for James Harrison to be thrown out of the game for "punching" Arizona safety Aaron Francisco after a punt was over the top. First of all, Harrison did not punch him; he pushed him down with an open hand. Also, Harrison reacted because Francisco had tried to cut him by throwing a block below his knees. He's lucky Harrison responded in such a restrained manner.
• Likewise, Ike Taylor did not just start throwing punches along the Arizona sideline because someone said something to him. Running back Tim Hightower, perched on the sideline, grabbed Taylor's facemask as the play entered the Cardinals' sideline, prompting Taylor to react.
Tomlin would say that it still does not excuse either player for his reaction because it cost penalties on each occasion, although Harrison's was just 1 yard.
More than a few bad calls
The officiating in the Super Bowl was as horrid as many in a long line of bad games by them in 2008. But not all the calls went against the Arizona Cardinals:
• The holding call on center Justin Hartwig in the end zone for a safety was a joke. Hartwig was engaged with his right hand on a Cardinals defender to his right when he was run over. Hartwig did not pull the defender down.
• Perhaps Kurt Warner's fumble on his last play was legitimate, perhaps they did do a quick review up in the booth, but on such a play in the Super Bowl, could they not have taken two minutes to look at it more closely? They took longer than that to overturn a meaningless touchdown by Troy Polamalu on the last play of a regular-season game against San Diego (only to get it wrong).
• Yes, Santonio Holmes should have gotten flagged for whatever it was he did after catching the winning touchdown. Yes, the Steelers should have had to kick off from their 15, and, yes, it might have helped the Cardinals get 15 yards closer. But Warner fumbled on the Steelers' 44, not the 15, and he needed a touchdown, not a field goal. It's a stretch to assume Arizona would have scored a touchdown merely because the Cardinals would have been 15 yards closer.
• If you're going to count the non-call on Holmes' excessive celebration, you have to count the non-calls on the two blocks in the back by the Cardinals on the subsequent kickoff.
• Referee Terry McAulay overturned a Warner fumble on the first series of the second half, ruling it was an incomplete pass on a challenge by Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt. OK, but someone other than Whisenhunt should have thrown a flag on the play as it happened because if that was a forward pass, Warner, still in the pocket, was trying to shot-put it to one of his offensive linemen, which is illegal.
Some observations on penalties called, penalties not called and other points of controversy after watching two replays of the game:
• John Madden's call for James Harrison to be thrown out of the game for "punching" Arizona safety Aaron Francisco after a punt was over the top. First of all, Harrison did not punch him; he pushed him down with an open hand. Also, Harrison reacted because Francisco had tried to cut him by throwing a block below his knees. He's lucky Harrison responded in such a restrained manner.
• Likewise, Ike Taylor did not just start throwing punches along the Arizona sideline because someone said something to him. Running back Tim Hightower, perched on the sideline, grabbed Taylor's facemask as the play entered the Cardinals' sideline, prompting Taylor to react.
Tomlin would say that it still does not excuse either player for his reaction because it cost penalties on each occasion, although Harrison's was just 1 yard.
More than a few bad calls
The officiating in the Super Bowl was as horrid as many in a long line of bad games by them in 2008. But not all the calls went against the Arizona Cardinals:
• The holding call on center Justin Hartwig in the end zone for a safety was a joke. Hartwig was engaged with his right hand on a Cardinals defender to his right when he was run over. Hartwig did not pull the defender down.
• Perhaps Kurt Warner's fumble on his last play was legitimate, perhaps they did do a quick review up in the booth, but on such a play in the Super Bowl, could they not have taken two minutes to look at it more closely? They took longer than that to overturn a meaningless touchdown by Troy Polamalu on the last play of a regular-season game against San Diego (only to get it wrong).
• Yes, Santonio Holmes should have gotten flagged for whatever it was he did after catching the winning touchdown. Yes, the Steelers should have had to kick off from their 15, and, yes, it might have helped the Cardinals get 15 yards closer. But Warner fumbled on the Steelers' 44, not the 15, and he needed a touchdown, not a field goal. It's a stretch to assume Arizona would have scored a touchdown merely because the Cardinals would have been 15 yards closer.
• If you're going to count the non-call on Holmes' excessive celebration, you have to count the non-calls on the two blocks in the back by the Cardinals on the subsequent kickoff.
• Referee Terry McAulay overturned a Warner fumble on the first series of the second half, ruling it was an incomplete pass on a challenge by Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt. OK, but someone other than Whisenhunt should have thrown a flag on the play as it happened because if that was a forward pass, Warner, still in the pocket, was trying to shot-put it to one of his offensive linemen, which is illegal.