Super Bowl Thoughts

For the first time since I was legally able to drive (30+ years), due to a stomach virus, The People's Champ watched the Super Bowl alone in the friendly confines of The People's Palace. Ironically, The People's Son attended his first Super Bowl party this year at the age of 6. And he didn't even bring me home a beer!

We've read and heard all the cliches and all the accolades. A game for the ages. The Greatest Super Bowl of all Time, etc. etc. We've had four days to digest the results, so without further ado, here are TPC's post Super Bowl Thoughts.

Big Ben finally lived up to his potential, not withstanding a pretty pedestrian game besides the opening drive and the final game winning drive. He was brilliant on the final drive of the game with the title and his legacy on the line. Remember, his first Super Bowl was the worst performance EVER by a Super Bowl Winning QB (he ended with a 22 QB rating which would make guys like Dave Brown even laugh). His final stat line was 21-30 256 yards, a TD and INT. Nothing extraordinary, except he lit it up when he needed to. I still think he is a bit overrated but he showed me something there and now will probably be replacing Brett Favre as the "most gushed over QB who isn't nearly as good as people think he is".

You think Phillip Rivers is feeling the heat about now?

Kurt Warner played a great game, and possibly the greatest stretch of 15 minutes a QB has ever played in the NFL. His 4th Quarter numbers were 15-21 257 yards and 2 TD's against what people were calling one of the great defensive teams of all time. Warner proved once again what a great QB he is, how tough he is and what a big game player he is. Again, he is the best QB not named Tom Brady we have seen in the last 10 years and a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Larry Fitzgerald is at a level now that hasn't been seen since Jerry Rice. With the game in doubt all he did was score two 4th Quarter TD's, one on one of the most exciting plays in history.

The play they called a fumble on Warner at the end of the game, when they didn't even take time to review (and if they would have it would have been ruled an incomplete pass, setting up a dramatic Hail Mary situation with Larry Fitz going up for the ball!) is one of the most curious things we have seen ending a game in a long time. HOW DO THEY NOT REVIEW THAT PLAY??????????? HOW MUCH DID THE REPLAY OFFICIAL HAVE ON THE STEELERS MONEY LINE TO NOT REVIEW IT?????????????? Just a friggin joke.

For all the heart and courage the Cardinals showed, their coaches did an awful job all game. Four things off the top of my head.

1. The Steelers Secondary was playing way back. The Cardinals played into their hands all game until the 4th Quarter when they went hurry up and forced the Steelers to adjust. Why did they wait?
2. On the same note, why did it take them until the 4th Quarter to get the Best WR in Football involved in the offense. This is a classic mistake by over matched coaches. Instead of making them adjust to you and having them stop your best guy, you use your best guy as a "decoy". It NEVER works. NEVER. The numbers by Fitz were great, imagine if they would have used him the first 3 Quarters? There's a reason Phil Jackson won so much. It's because his best players were always better than the other guys and he made the other guy stop his. That simple. Jordan and Shaq were never decoys. You wanted to beat them you had to stop their Big Guys. Only Duncan was able to do it.
   
3. On the same token, the Pittsburgh offense did ZERO from the second drive of the game to the final drive. How did the Cards accomplish this? By pressuring Ben into making bad throws. This also eliminated a horrible running game (I told you all before the Super Bowl the Steelers Offensive Line is awful and the Cards will be able to get to Ben and stop their run). So what did the Cardinals do on the final drive? They took their foot off the pedal and let Ben drive down the field unharmed. Just utter stupidity and another reason why you never play the prevent D. I don't get how experienced and seasoned NFL coaches always do this.
   
4. How do the Cardinals allow the only good and healthy receiver on the Steelers constantly beat them (Holmes, who played a brilliant game)? How do you not adjust and double this guy? How do you let an inexperienced corner get burned by Holmes all day long, without making a slight adjustment? Just horrible coaching there.

With that being said, it was an incredibly exciting 4th Quarter and a relatively boring game up to that point. Yes, Harrison gave us some fun on his play (I would have sworn the Cardinals were done after that play. Amazing how they were able to comeback from that) but other than that and some decent play by Warner and the Cards D, not much happened after the first few drives.

The Boss brought it. "Born to Run" was the single non nipple revealing moment in Super Bowl Halftime History. There's a reason he's called The Boss.

I can't wait until I get the Fantasy Football 2009 Draft emails...... Only a few months away.