SB XLIII from a homer's perspective

This post is a sorta rip-off from a column Bill Simmons just posted doing a "retro-active" running diary of the Super Bowl. His rationale was that it was such a good and interesting ending to the game that it would be worth watching the replay and taking notes from it, even though he didn't take live notes during the game. This is a fine idea for a writer and all, and I'd normally not copy something so obviously, but I am a Pittsburgh homer and I thought maybe it would be interesting to get a direct fan's perspective of some of what turned out to be madness. (Doubly sorry about the irrelevance of this posting as most of yinz who'll be reading were probably in the room with me (through most of it).) I'm not going to rewatch the whole game; play-by-play scanning is sufficient.

1st Quarter, 10:11 remaining: 3rd & 1 -- B.Roethlisberger scrambles right end for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
This played was reviewed and overturned of course, and the whole time I was almost hoping they'd overturn it since I didn't want to have to hear shit forever about a bad call on a BR sneak on the goal line in a Super Bowl on 3rd down, like Seattle bitches about constantly.
Also, I thought this was an ok call because I was 100% adamant that we should be going for it on 4th down. The fact that we didn't and took the easy field goal was a decision that was at least haunting me throughout the first half. In a big game like this you can't just leave opportunities lying there. I was furious but it's hard to complain when you've just marched down the field on the opening drive.

1Q, 7:57: 1st & 20 -- K.Warner FUMBLES (Aborted) at ARZ 22, recovered by ARZ-E.James at ARZ 23. E.James to ARZ 27 for 4 yards (B.Keisel).
One thing I've learned from visiting the stat-oriented website footballoutsiders.com is that anytime the football hits the turf, the team to recover that ball is essentially random. This randomness drops slightly for in-the-backfield fumbles, but still the addition of this play to my earlier angst regarding the goal-line decision left me very very uncomfortable about the little breaks of the game to that point. But that's not all......

1Q, 5:25: 1st & 10 -- B.Roethlisberger pass incomplete deep middle to N.Washington (D.Rodgers-Cromartie).
Washington had him beat by a couple yards on what would have been an easy 44yd TD, Roethlisberger underthrows him by only about two yards, and DR-C makes a fantastic effort in getting there just in time to get a fingertip to deflect it. So close but not quite.

2Q, 14:09: 3rd & G -- G.Russell right guard for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
See, a couple minutes ago, I didn't know the near-miss wouldn't matter. This put us up 10-0, and with more than a quarter gone, we had two long efficient drives and they'd had only one short one. I was starting to feel ok.

2Q, 11:24: 2nd & 9 -- K.Warner pass short left to E.James to PIT 49 for 11 yards (I.Taylor).
This was the third completion to James on this drive, and I was started to get pissed that they'd noticed you can pick on us with screens and passes to the flat.

2Q, 8:43: 1st & G -- K.Warner pass short left to B.Patrick for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
Damn. That was kinda a fast response. Farrior was sooooo close to tipping it away but a super catch by the TE. Can't really complain about that.

2Q, 4:27: 4th & 12 -- M.Berger punts 43 yards to ARZ 23, Center-J.Retkofsky. S.Breaston to PIT 43 for 34 yards (C.Davis).
First, thanks to NBC giving us a from-behind-the-punter shot pre-play, so that we couldn't see the line of scrimmage, there was a lot of debate about whether this punt went over or under 44.5yds to settle a prop bet, so it didn't fully register how horrible it was Breaston had returned it into our territory. That's the last freaking thing I wanted to see at this point, a team we were starting let get some offensive momentum a short field to work with. I officially started being pissed at this point that they were receiving the second half kickoff.

2Q, 2:09: 2nd & 4 -- B.Roethlisberger pass short middle intended for S.Holmes INTERCEPTED by K.Dansby (B.Robinson) at PIT 33. K.Dansby to PIT 34 for -1 yards (M.Moore).
A fucking tipped pass at the line of scrimmage. A play which has three equally-likely events: caught by no one, caught by offense, and caught by defense. To this point, the penalties were pretty evenly called: a couple more on AZ, but then the type (holds, false start) were sorta predictable given the way our D plays. There was a 15yarder against them but nothing egregious. So I was pissed thinking that the breaks were going to go their way and there was a chance we'd lose the game because of it. I was definitely bumming at this point.

2Q, 0:59: 2nd & 10 -- K.Warner pass short middle to L.Fitzgerald to PIT 12 for 12 yards (I.Taylor).
I noticed earlier in the quarter that Fitzgerald was being shut out. This was his first catch, and even it was innocuous.

2Q, 0:18: 1st & G -- K.Warner pass short middle intended for A.Boldin INTERCEPTED by J.Harrison at PIT 0. J.Harrison for 100 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Pick, holy cow that's fortunate........I mean, that is a massive change of events...........Ha, Harrison is still running, too bad it's not someone faster..............Whoa he broke a tackle!............Jesus, there's not much time left...........He could make it!..........Come on! Don't fall down!...........Yes!!

HALF -- After that pick-six, I was back to feeling balanced about the game's flow. Ten point lead was nice, even though their ball coming out. I was thinking, we've moved the ball pretty well, all we need is another TD or a couple FGs, and that would give us 23-24 points, forcing them to score three times against our D. Feeling good about those chances.
Also, feeling like I needed to remind myself to eat something while the game was off. And thinking I don't want to be wasted right now. If we start blowing them out, or if horrible things happen and they somehow get ahead and I feel hopeless, then yes.

3Q, 11:02: 3rd & 6 -- K.Warner sacked at ARZ 45 for -6 yards (J.Farrior). FUMBLES (J.Farrior), RECOVERED by PIT-J.Harrison at ARZ 44. J.Harrison to ARZ 43 for 1 yard (L.Brown).
This play was reviewed and overturned, which after the fact isn't such a big deal since it was going to be 4th down anyway. But at the time it seemed huge, and it seemed a 50/50 shot that it would be overturned/upheld, even though I thought (and always think) that if a QB gets hit and the ball comes out while he's still holding the ball--even if his arm is going forward--that it should be a fumble. Of course, they thought differently and AZ got to punt. Disappointed, but not upset, cause like I said, that call could have gone either way.

3Q, 10:11 -- PENALTY on ARZ-D.Rodgers-Cromartie, Face Mask (15 Yards), 15 yards, enforced at PIT 21.
Watching live, I saw Holmes give a long stiff arm, and when I saw the flag I was ready to go ape-shit for them calling an offesive facemask penalty. Then on the replay I saw DR-C get a hold of Holmes' helmet and was thankful. This is the perfect support for my constant argument for 5yd personal fouls: it's definitely a foul but not bad enough to warrant 15. The way it stands though, this is a completely legit and necessary flag.

3Q, 7:41: 1st & 10 -- PENALTY on ARZ-K.Dansby, Roughing the Passer, 15 yards, enforced at 50 - No Play.
This is where people who are rooting against PIT start getting restless because they just saw the facemask a couple minutes ago. I agreed and still do agree that this doesn't justify a 15yd personal foul. Speaking now, as I look at the play-by-play, this was on first down and Holmes caught a 15yd pass two plays later so in the context of the game this call was nearly meaningless.

3Q, 3:36: 4th & 9 -- Je.Reed 27 yard field goal is GOOD, NULLIFIED by Penalty, Center-J.Retkofsky, Holder-M.Berger. PENALTY on ARZ-A.Wilson, Unnecessary Roughness, 5 yards, enforced at ARZ 9 - No Play.
The third personal foul of the drive finally has some effect on the drive, coming on 4th down. This one is much like the first, where clearly a flag should be thrown, but probably not a 15yd flag. Unfortunately for AZ, the NFL doesn't have 5yd fouls, so it had to be an automatic first down. The way I saw this play, I think it's fair, but I wouldn't have gone crazy if they'd let it go. Really, since PIT blundered away the gift (see below), and the FG attempt during the penalty was good anyway, even this penalty ended up having no effect on the game.

3Q, 2:49: 3rd & G -- B.Roethlisberger up the middle to ARZ 3 for -1 yards (G.Watson)
This was the second time in the game (after the first drive), when I yelled before a 3rd & close-to-goal situation, "Two runs! Run twice here please!" Oddly enough, on both occasions, they choose a QB run followed by a FG. Earlier I was horrified, but this time, especially after watching the stupid non-sneak QB run on 3rd down here, I was very unhappy but consolate with giving the D a 13 point lead.

4Q, 12:07: 3rd & 8 -- B.Roethlisberger sacked at PIT 38 for -12 yards (D.Dockett).
This ended a four-and-out drive by PIT, not at all what I was looking for. Up to this point, up 20-7, I was having flashbacks to Super Bowl XL when we had a smallish lead throughout but always chewed up enough clock or made a 3rd down stop to keep Seattle from getting back into it. Taking a giant sack in this spot is not an XL-type play.

4Q, 7:41: 3rd & G -- K.Warner pass short right to L.Fitzgerald for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
I instantly thought: well, you knew it was going to happen at some point, so it would have been silly not to. Fitzgerald caught 4 passes on this drive and I was slightly perturbed that they scored so fast.

4Q, 5:28 -- PENALTY on PIT-I.Taylor, Unnecessary Roughness, 15 yards, enforced at ARZ 36.
I was kinda pissed that this wasn't an off-setting penalty, since Taylor and Boldin had a hold of each other well out of bounds. Not much happened, and to flag one guy and not the other seemed wrong. Again, with hindsight, they punted on the drive anyway, so it wasn't a game-changer, but those 15yds proved pretty important when........

4Q, 3:34: 4th & 20 -- B.Graham punts 34 yards to PIT 2, Center-N.Hodel, downed by ARZ-M.Adams. PENALTY on PIT-J.Harrison, Unnecessary Roughness, 1 yard, enforced at PIT 2.
Great job downing the ball. At first, I chuckled when I saw Harrison flattening the guy on replay cause I knew it would only cost us a foot, but then I realized that one foot might be important since Fast Willie isn't so great at getting one or two when he needs it, and we'd be best served just running into the line for a yard three times and then punting away with a 7 point lead and maybe 2:00 to go.

4Q, 3:26: 1st & 10 -- B.Roethlisberger pass incomplete short right to H.Ward [A.Smith].
Horrible. Was not happy. At the very least, you punch it up the middle and run off 40 seconds of clock. It's not hard (I did get nervous on the next play when Parker nearly got stuffed for a loss).

4Q, 3:04: 3rd & 10 -- B.Roethlisberger pass deep right to S.Holmes to PIT 20 for 19 yards (D.Rodgers-Cromartie). PENALTY on PIT-J.Hartwig, Offensive Holding, 1 yard, enforced in End Zone, SAFETY - No Play.
God, was I happy when Holmes held onto that ball. Great catch in a big spot. Nice game by him. Then, to see the flag and the replay, I couldn't believe it. When the ref went to the safety symbol it was like in slow motion, the worst possible outcome just happened. Getting the replay, I couldn't believe they made the call in that situation. Like previous calls, sure you could call it, but normally you don't. Unlike previous calls against AZ, this one had a direct impact. At least they still needed a TD, I told myself, but I was in full-on panic mode. And I needed a few moments to calm myself because the whole room of people around me had done the usual when a Super Bowl is exciting at the end: started to pull for the upset and/or the team trailing. I didn't necessarily blame them for it, but it had made me completely uncomfortable anyway.

4Q, 2:47: 2nd & 10 -- K.Warner pass short middle to L.Fitzgerald for 64 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Jesus Christ. How can that happen against a prevent defense? The room went crazy and even before NBC had shown the replay I was walking out of the living room cause I absolutely couldn't take being in the middle of people cheering at that point.
Thankfully, Sara was watching alone in our room (supposedly doing work for school but can you believe she had the game on and was watching? God bless her), so I could actually sit down next to her and continue watching rather than just taking a few minute breather before re-entering the living room.
When I sat there and watched the commercials and then the kickoff I had a ridiculous peaceful feeling, like it didn't matter what happened anymore cause I was happy where I was in her company. It helped to remind me that the game was one day or at most one season and right there in the flesh next to me was much much more than that. Maybe it's hard to explain and maybe it's corny, but it is what it is.

4Q, 1:56: 3rd & 6 -- B.Roethlisberger pass short right to S.Holmes to PIT 39 for 13 yards (K.Dansby).
After some average clock management, Holmes here makes another big catch. There was a holding call against us at the beginning of the drive which caught me still in the zen-moment and didn't affect me. Still after this big catch I was only thinking FG and I was still fairly calm.

4Q, 1:33: 1st & 10 -- B.Roethlisberger pass short right to N.Washington to 50 for 11 yards (A.Wilson).
How does Washington not go out of bounds? It was right there, just fall over the line. Cost us 20 seconds. Roethlisberger now was on camera running up and yelling out instructions to people and I was pissed that he didn't have the time to huddle up and concentrate. He's amazing in unscripted situations, but he doesn't make the right decision all the time, so I didn't like to see that. Also, Tomlin isn't very good with end-game strategy, so I was thinking about that too.

4Q, 1:02, 2nd & 6 -- B.Roethlisberger pass short right to S.Holmes to ARZ 6 for 40 yards (A.Francisco). Timeout #3 by PIT at 00:49.
Man alive, everything was happening so fast in this game all of a sudden. I will fully admit that as Holmes was running through AZ territory, especially the last 10yds, I was terrified he'd get hit from behind and fumble. He's great as a receiver but on punt returns (in other words, in the open field), he fumbles a lot. He's the kind of guy who doesn't switch the ball to the outside hand. Only when he went down at the 6 with ball still in hand was I relieved.
During the timeout, I was thinking, even though we'd struggled with short runs, we have to run on first down. With no timeouts, we've got to have a couple plays called at once, so if the run is stuffed, you go to a called pass, but if you gain a few yards, you run up the middle again. Then with maybe 15-20 seconds to go, you call a pass at the line and throw into the end zone.

4Q, 0:42, 2nd & G -- B.Roethlisberger pass short right to S.Holmes for 6 yards, TOUCHDOWN. The Replay Assistant challenged the pass completion ruling, and the play was Upheld.
What an amazing catch. Thank you, Santonio. He let one go right through his hands on what would have been an equally amazing catch the play before, and I was worried we wouldn't get another chance that good. In fact, for a quick moment I was thinking we'd kick the FG and absolutely dreading the possibility of losing the OT coin toss and the game without ever touching the ball, then being used as a sort of martyr to finally change the OT rules.
During the review, I was back to being calm, although I felt there was no way you could overturn it. However, since the worst official review of all time (Polamalu's "football move" against Indy in the 2005/6 playoffs), I am forever scarred and will assume the worst until hearing otherwise.

4Q, 0:29: 1st & 10 -- K.Warner pass deep left to L.Fitzgerald to ARZ 43 for 20 yards (L.Timmons).
Yet again, this was almost the worst thing that could happen. Fitzgerald has such great hands. Now I was no longer confident since they'd have a couple chances at normal-length hail marys, and not have to just try a hopeless lateral-fest.

4Q, 0:15, 1st & 10 -- K.Warner sacked at PIT 49 for -5 yards (L.Woodley). FUMBLES (L.Woodley), RECOVERED by PIT-B.Keisel at PIT 43. B.Keisel to PIT 43 for no gain (L.Brown).
Lots going through my mind during this sequence. Too much, actually. First, thank god we got to him. When Keisel fell on the ball, I was looking for flags or assuming something would be overturned or whatnot; it just seemed too easy a way to end the game. Then, during the couple replays, I was: 1. very sure that I thought it was indeed a fumble, and 2. completely 100% terrified that they'd review the play and overturn it just like they did for the Warner fumble earlier in the game. I was thinking how freaking angry I'd be in two of those tuck-rule-esque calls went against us in the same game. Then, suddenly the rational side took over and I remembered that they would still have to complete the hail mary to win, and even though Indy damn near accomplished the feat against us in the '95 playoffs, I didn't think it would happen this time. Then, thankfully and unexpectedly, the Steeler offense comes on the field and Roethlisberger takes a knee and they never reviewed it. Amazing. What a weird way to end the game. Just 90 minutes earlier, I was so very confident, and then it all washed away and here I was, the game was over and it took a few seconds for the satisfaction to kick in.