I’d like to apologise to those who were searching for my annual live Super Bowl blog commentary.
This year I had some pressing work engagements which meant I was unable to record my usually droll Super Bowl comments and thoughts. I had the game on in the background to keep track through osmosis. It sounded like a whopper of a fourth quarter and shows that you can never count on winning the big game until the stadium clocks read 00:00.
From what I was able to hear and observe, the Cardinals did an amazing job in actually taking the lead in the fourth and forcing the Steelers to work for their title. It set up an astonishing comeback by the Roethlisberger offense and an even greater climax for Kurt Warner and company.
This is the stuff the NFL dreams of in the big game. Gone are the snore-fest blowout games of the late eighties and early nineties (although who doesn’t miss Jerry Rice and the 49ers and their awesomeness?) and now we have games which really showcase the quality, depth and strategy of American football.
Aside from the megabucks halftime show (which often receives more press than the game) this is what we want to see – a closely fought contest where the best team won the day. They can’t script them any better folks.
In the end, the Steelers offense stepped up and I think the Cardinals were a little unlucky. Hopefully we’ll see a rematch sometime soon.
For now, congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers who did deserve to win the game.
Personally, I think both teams deserved the win and I’m glad they both made it to the big game this season. Congratulations must go to the Cardinals who stepped up in to perform in a match the franchise has never really even had a sniff at getting to.
The defence should revel in that first half performance – especially holding the Steelers to three points on a drive where a penalty gave the Steelers ‘O’ a new set of downs within the redzone. For the Cardinals, Warner continues to surprise and Larry Fitzgerald is going to be a Jerry Rice type in the future, hopefully this wasn’t Warner’s last game and I’m sure we’ll see Larry again.
Whammy goes to Channel Ten for it’s pathetic time-delayed broadcast. It’s not sporting when the rest of the world knows the outcome at the start of the fourth quarter! Channel Ten should show the game live or give it back to SBS. You can get away with it during the regular season, but during the Super Bowl – it’s unforgivable.
We knew there was an Aussie punter in the game (the Cardinals’ punter former AFL player Ben Graham) – who had a pretty darn good game by the way – but did the Channel 10 coverage have to centre around him? Not too mention the numerous plugs for the AFL. What does the AFL have to do with American Football??
Bonus Trivia: The first time in NFL history that there has been two Australian born players in the NFC championship game (Eagles punter Sav Rocca and the aforementioned Cardinal’s punter Ben Graham). People in the US might get to thinking Australia is populated only with punters?! We saw Cowboys punter Mat McBriar in the post season last season.
R
