Will Super Bowl be must-see TV?
Cards' Cinderella story might attract viewers
by Bill Goodykoontz - Jan. 31, 2009 08:11 PM
The Arizona Republic
You'd need a shoehorn to squeeze anyone else onto the Arizona Cardinals bandwagon.
That's not surprising. The perennial losers making their way to the Super Bowl today against the Pittsburgh Steelers is a great story. So it's only natural that casual fans and local media have climbed aboard for the ride. It's exciting. It's fun. It's definitely unusual.
But does this newfound love extend beyond Arizona's borders (and, to a more limited extent, St. Louis and Chicago, the team's previous homes)? One friend joked, "If anyone else liked anything from Arizona, McCain may have won."
Funny. But more to the point, is this year's Super Bowl a match made a few feet below heaven as far as NBC, the network broadcasting the game, and advertisers are concerned?
The Super Bowl, after all, is as much a showcase for commercials as it is for football, particularly for the casual fan. This year, some 30-second spots went for as much as $3 million, but by the end of the week, a couple of slots remained unsold.
Back in September, Dick Ebersol, the head of NBC Sports, called selling commercial time a "tough slog" in one report. And that was before a team that no one, outside of the players and maybe a couple of especially optimistic family members (and you wonder about them) expected to make the game, actually did.
On the other hand, the economy is in more trouble than a defensive back trying to cover Larry Fitzgerald around the goal line. Clearly the game, expected to draw somewhere near 100 million viewers, still holds a lot of interest for a lot of people, no matter who's in it. (Last year's game, in which the New York Giants beat the undefeated New England Patriots in a huge upset at University of Phoenix Stadium, was watched by more people than any previous Super Bowl: 97.5 million.)
And there's always the underdog angle. As a general rule, we Americans love 'em.
"The ratings thing is now irrelevant," said Keith Olbermann, the host of MSNBC's Countdown and a member of NBC's football studio team. "They're already in the Super Bowl. Dreams of an all-big-market matchup await the slumbers of future years."
That's not necessarily a bad thing.
"If anything, logic would suggest that station managers around the country are rooting for (the Cardinals) to a) stay in the game, or better yet, b) rally from behind to upset the Steelers," Olbermann said.
Stephanie Druley, an ESPN senior coordinating producer, who oversees all of the network's NFL studio shows and coverage from Tampa, said, "It's not like New England and the Giants last year, which was such a marquee matchup. But there have still been a lot of stories for us. Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald are great stories. A Cinderella team is always a great story. You don't know how the public is going to respond to that, but it gives us a lot to talk about."
There's also the matter of the other team, the Steelers, steeped in football tradition playing for its sixth Super Bowl win, which would be a record. Not a bad story line, either.
"The Steelers are . . . one of the greatest franchises in NFL history," Druley said, "and that is always appealing."
For Druley, and for a lot of sports fans, the Cardinals' presence in Tampa also offers the appeal of something unusual.
"We have done a lot with the Cardinals this week, and that has made it almost easier," she said. "We haven't really ever done this much on Arizona. We've been learning about them and introducing viewers to them at the same time."
In truth, that's probably the case with a lot of newly minted fans in Arizona, as well.
ShamWoWJan-31 @ 10:12 PM
Way to go Goodydooosh....... Dozens of people to quote and you pick kieth olberloon.... twice
bigred48yrsJan-31 @ 10:20 PM
Stephanie Druley, an ESPN senior coordinating producer, said, "We have done a lot with the Cardinals this week . . .. We haven't really ever done this much on Arizona."
Ms Druley:
Gee, no kidding? In the past you've barely even covered them. I've seen "Sports Centers" where every single team EXCEPT the Cardinals is mentioned. I've seen scoreboards where the Cardinal game is the only score not given. Talk about your bandwagoneers! Over the years, the lack of respect from ESPN has been glaring. It won't happen, but it would serve you right if all the Cardinals refused to talk to ESPN now.
eaferreiraFeb-01 @ 8:56 AM
ESPN has no choice but to be bandwagon. They try and give the national public what they think they want to see, which is precisely why Cardinals highlights are usually an afterthought.
Packers fans in other states want to see how their team did. Bears fans and Steelers fans alike. Cardinals? Nobody outside of our area has had any reason to care about them up to this point.
Lest we forget, our tradition of excellence spans an entire...four weeks. Hopefully we can change that.
ripsnort75Jan-31 @ 10:53 PM
remember how improbable a d-backs world series over the winningest franchise in baseball seemed?
lets get this thing going already!
blkbrn4Feb-01 @ 7:59 AM
This is going to be a tough one for my wife and me. We are Steeler fans, but when the Cardinals play we are also their fans. This will be the best Super Bowl ever (in my opinion).
RedTagRoneFeb-01 @ 9:08 AM
And Obama from Chicago like the Steelers.......Save the country prezzzzz.....Oh wait he wont
© 2008, azcentral.com. All rights reserved.
Super Bowl
Moderator: doug
9 posts
• Page 1 of 1
by doug » Sun Feb 01, 2009 3:23 pm
Super parties have been super bust so far
Red carpets have been sea of unrecognizable athletes and reality TV stars
Actress Lindsay Lohan arrives at a Super Bowl party given by ESPN the Magazine on Friday.
The Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. - Lindsay Lohan looked bored, and she wasn't the only one.
Seated on a white leather couch a few feet from the DJ booth, she halfheartedly greeted actor Christian Slater then returned to her can of Red Bull. She turned at one point to speak to girlfriend Sam Ronson, who waved her off and returned to her playlist at ESPN The Magazine's party.
And that, ladies and gentleman, was the highlight from one of the biggest party nights of the year.
Where were the A-listers? Or even the B-listers?
Obviously not out in full force in Tampa, where the annual Super Bowl bashes have so far been a major bust.
Sure, the local partygoers have crammed the local venues. But the red carpets have been a sea of unrecognizable athletes and reality TV stars, leaving many celebrity watchers disappointed by the poor turnout.
Sean "Diddy" Combs, Fergie, Jermaine Dupri and Mario Lopez were all touted on the RSVP list for Maxim, one of the most anticipated parties of Super Bowl week. But if they showed, nobody saw them.
Just how lame was it? ESPN's on-air and editorial talent was paraded past the cameras at its NEXT party, while Frankie Delgado — only famous for being Brody Jenner's best friend and co-star on MTV's "Bromance" — drew a crowd at the sixth annual Leather & Laces event.
Kim Kardashian, headliner at Leather & Laces, arrived an hour after co-hosts Carmen Electra and Jenny McCarthy. She walked the red carpet with her sisters, and spent a considerable amount of time being interviewed by her mother, Kris Jenner, who "covered" the event for The Insider.
She was 20 minutes ahead of boyfriend Reggie Bush, running back for the New Orleans Saints. A wardrobe malfunction — his tailored pants ended up too short and he scrambled to find a suitable pair — forced him to arrive separately.
He was still able to join Kardashian for photos, and said his gift to her of a new Louis Vuitton bag had assured no hurt feelings over his tardiness.
Together, they raved about the party scene.
"I love Super Bowl week," Kardashian said. "There is so much to do, so many parties to go, and it's so exciting to see everyone. We've mostly been hanging out with Reggie's friends, and it's been so much fun."
That's because the athletes were the only ones to show up en masse.
Scores of players from the NFL and Major League Baseball made the party rounds, including a decent turnout at ESPN's event, held in a 22,000-square-foot tent. Agent Drew Rosenhaus was one of the first to enter, followed by former NFL players Jerry Rice, Shannon Sharpe, Eric Metcalf and Vinny Testaverde.
Early arrivals got to dance to Ronson's song selections, and she was joined in the DJ booth by Benji Madden of Good Charlotte. They turned it over to headliner Wyclef Jean, who hit the stage about midnight, an hour before Lohan left alone.
Jordin Sparks, the 2007 American Idol winner who had previously walked the carpet at Leather & Laces, had moved over to the ESPN party by then. Probably a smart move, since city police officers were frustratingly trying to manage crowd control and at one point refusing to let anyone else into Jackson's Bistro on Harbour Island.
Snoop Dogg was allegedly in a private room at that party, perhaps killing time before his hour-long performance at a temporary concert venue in a parking lot.
Brian Baumgartner, aka Kevin from NBC's "The Office," made the party rounds and used his appearance at Maxim's event to promote Sunday night's post-Super Bowl episode. Also making her way to the Ritz Ybor was actress Brittany Snow, who was celebrating the game being played in her hometown.
"It's a little crazy," she said. "It's a little like Sundance or L.A. — if you're from there, people just come there and it's a little overwhelming."
And she was right. Nightly traffic has been moving at a snail's pace through the downtown area ever since Celine Dion's concert Wednesday. Taxis are scarce and hailing one can take up to an hour, making party-hopping a difficult endeavor. The rough economy also took its toll: Playboy and Sports Illustrated canceled their annual events. Maxim's guest list was reduced, and Leather & Laces cut the cost of its general admission tickets — which were still being sold hours after the event began.
Tickets to the Saturday Night Spectacular, which is co-hosted by Kevin Costner and former N.Y. Giant Michael Strahan, have been reduced from $1,700 last year in Phoenix to $875 for Tampa.
Madden, making the rounds with brother, Joel, was set to DJ a party Saturday night, but had few details of where and when.
"We're going to hit some parties," he said. "One, two, three, maybe four of them. And I'm DJing one of them."
Which one?
"I'm actually not sure," he sheepishly admitted.
Isn't it Models and Bottles?
"See, you know more than I do," he said before heading off.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Red carpets have been sea of unrecognizable athletes and reality TV stars
Actress Lindsay Lohan arrives at a Super Bowl party given by ESPN the Magazine on Friday.
The Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. - Lindsay Lohan looked bored, and she wasn't the only one.
Seated on a white leather couch a few feet from the DJ booth, she halfheartedly greeted actor Christian Slater then returned to her can of Red Bull. She turned at one point to speak to girlfriend Sam Ronson, who waved her off and returned to her playlist at ESPN The Magazine's party.
And that, ladies and gentleman, was the highlight from one of the biggest party nights of the year.
Where were the A-listers? Or even the B-listers?
Obviously not out in full force in Tampa, where the annual Super Bowl bashes have so far been a major bust.
Sure, the local partygoers have crammed the local venues. But the red carpets have been a sea of unrecognizable athletes and reality TV stars, leaving many celebrity watchers disappointed by the poor turnout.
Sean "Diddy" Combs, Fergie, Jermaine Dupri and Mario Lopez were all touted on the RSVP list for Maxim, one of the most anticipated parties of Super Bowl week. But if they showed, nobody saw them.
Just how lame was it? ESPN's on-air and editorial talent was paraded past the cameras at its NEXT party, while Frankie Delgado — only famous for being Brody Jenner's best friend and co-star on MTV's "Bromance" — drew a crowd at the sixth annual Leather & Laces event.
Kim Kardashian, headliner at Leather & Laces, arrived an hour after co-hosts Carmen Electra and Jenny McCarthy. She walked the red carpet with her sisters, and spent a considerable amount of time being interviewed by her mother, Kris Jenner, who "covered" the event for The Insider.
She was 20 minutes ahead of boyfriend Reggie Bush, running back for the New Orleans Saints. A wardrobe malfunction — his tailored pants ended up too short and he scrambled to find a suitable pair — forced him to arrive separately.
He was still able to join Kardashian for photos, and said his gift to her of a new Louis Vuitton bag had assured no hurt feelings over his tardiness.
Together, they raved about the party scene.
"I love Super Bowl week," Kardashian said. "There is so much to do, so many parties to go, and it's so exciting to see everyone. We've mostly been hanging out with Reggie's friends, and it's been so much fun."
That's because the athletes were the only ones to show up en masse.
Scores of players from the NFL and Major League Baseball made the party rounds, including a decent turnout at ESPN's event, held in a 22,000-square-foot tent. Agent Drew Rosenhaus was one of the first to enter, followed by former NFL players Jerry Rice, Shannon Sharpe, Eric Metcalf and Vinny Testaverde.
Early arrivals got to dance to Ronson's song selections, and she was joined in the DJ booth by Benji Madden of Good Charlotte. They turned it over to headliner Wyclef Jean, who hit the stage about midnight, an hour before Lohan left alone.
Jordin Sparks, the 2007 American Idol winner who had previously walked the carpet at Leather & Laces, had moved over to the ESPN party by then. Probably a smart move, since city police officers were frustratingly trying to manage crowd control and at one point refusing to let anyone else into Jackson's Bistro on Harbour Island.
Snoop Dogg was allegedly in a private room at that party, perhaps killing time before his hour-long performance at a temporary concert venue in a parking lot.
Brian Baumgartner, aka Kevin from NBC's "The Office," made the party rounds and used his appearance at Maxim's event to promote Sunday night's post-Super Bowl episode. Also making her way to the Ritz Ybor was actress Brittany Snow, who was celebrating the game being played in her hometown.
"It's a little crazy," she said. "It's a little like Sundance or L.A. — if you're from there, people just come there and it's a little overwhelming."
And she was right. Nightly traffic has been moving at a snail's pace through the downtown area ever since Celine Dion's concert Wednesday. Taxis are scarce and hailing one can take up to an hour, making party-hopping a difficult endeavor. The rough economy also took its toll: Playboy and Sports Illustrated canceled their annual events. Maxim's guest list was reduced, and Leather & Laces cut the cost of its general admission tickets — which were still being sold hours after the event began.
Tickets to the Saturday Night Spectacular, which is co-hosted by Kevin Costner and former N.Y. Giant Michael Strahan, have been reduced from $1,700 last year in Phoenix to $875 for Tampa.
Madden, making the rounds with brother, Joel, was set to DJ a party Saturday night, but had few details of where and when.
"We're going to hit some parties," he said. "One, two, three, maybe four of them. And I'm DJing one of them."
Which one?
"I'm actually not sure," he sheepishly admitted.
Isn't it Models and Bottles?
"See, you know more than I do," he said before heading off.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
providing immigration services worldwide for 25 years
- doug
- Posts: 24818
- Joined: Fri Nov 22, 2002 10:06 pm
- Location: chapel hill, n.c.
by doug » Mon Feb 02, 2009 9:51 am
Television
Review: NBC scores with Super Bowl telecast
Some parts of coverage felt forced, but overall, game coverage was solid
Hugo Carito, left, of Pittsburgh, Warren Jones, center, also of Pittsburgh, and Michael Lainey, of Orlando, Fla., cheer a Steelers' touchdown. Sure, coverage of the big game contained some frivolous and even fatuous moments, but overall, NBC's coverage was solid.
REVIEW
By Douglas J. Rowe
AP Entertainment Writer
The Associated Press
Nothing succeeds like excess for the network covering the Super Bowl.
NBC succeeded by sticking to the formula, starting a full 5½ hours before kickoff with its John Williams-penned “Sunday Night Football” theme music — the tune that sounds like it was borrowed from a sword-and-sandal flick. The day ended with a thrilling game, better than anyone could have expected.
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC.)
Cris Collinsworth and Bob Costas appeared on the pirate ship at Raymond James Stadium, and Costas promised: “Super Bowl Sunday is a game, yes. But it’s also a national party, and over the next five hours we’ll capture as much of the football and frivolity as we can.”
Frivolous, and maybe even a little fatuous.
Some of the show inevitably felt forced and foolish. But, overall, NBC delivered solid coverage, using a 300-frame-per-second “X-Mo” cam for replays on each goal line and at midfield. It came in handy when Santonio Holmes caught the winning TD pass in the Steelers 27-23 victory over the Cardinals.
“Today” personality Al Roker’s thankless job was to have various celebrities come on to flog their latest projects (who won’t be identified and given further free promotion here).
And there was face time aplenty for stars of NBC Universal’s various programs and outlets: NBC’s “Nightly News” anchorman Brian Williams, “Today” host Matt Lauer, Bravo’s “Top Chef” martinet Tom Colicchio.
Even CNBC’s Money Honey, Maria Bartiromo, got to offer a “Business Brief” culminating with her crowing that NBC set an ad revenue record for its Super Bowl commercial sales.
Bet the boss loved that — and we’re not talking about halftime act Bruce Springsteen.
Once the game got under way, director Drew Esocoff kept the camera shots crisp, punching up quick cuts and appropriately timed close-ups, while Al Michaels provided spot-on play-by-play — as always — keeping on top of the action with alacrity and accuracy. When he gets excited, it feels real — something we’ve known since the 1980 Winter Olympics.
And while it’s hard not to think of Frank Caliendo’s John Madden impersonation, marked by incoherent ranting, the ex-coach clearly delivered observations and insights without devolving into the arcane world of Xs and Os. Between slick graphics and Madden’s simple explanation, the term “receiving radius” could be understood even by those who only watch the big game for the commercials.
During an Arizona fourth-quarter drive, Madden noted, “They could still use the middle,” and just like that, QB Kurt Warner threw a big completion over the middle. Then Larry Fitzgerald caught one over the middle as the Cardinals took a late, short-lived lead.
And he wasn’t afraid to opine that James Harrison should have been thrown out of the game, after the league’s defensive player of the year kept pounding on an opposing player.
Michaels and Madden played off each other as well as ever, too, especially when the game tightened up and came to an exciting conclusion.
Just before Holmes caught the decisive TD, Madden offered: “They’re going to have to do something to Santonio Holmes for the deep one, because he had that. I mean, he was open and the ball went right through his hands.”
It didn’t go through his hands on the next pass.
“Caught for a touchdown!” Michaels yelled. “Unbelievable! Incredible!”
He and Madden rightly anticipated that the play would stand up to official review.
“The emotions in this game have been over the moon,” Michaels observed.
From Obama to Springsteen
Unfortunately, NBC had audio problems during Lauer’s interview with President Barack Obama in the White House map room. But the network didn’t pull away, and quickly fixed the sound, allowing viewers to hear him talk seriously about foreign issues and the economy before turning to football and reiterating that he’s rooting for the Steelers. (Steelers owner Dan Rooney endorsed Obama’s presidential bid and campaigned for him.)
NBC’s pregame marathon succeeded in being fast-paced, using shorter features and allowing the talent to tell stories.
Costas’ tete-a-tete with Springsteen was entertaining, with pop-culture maven Costas asking The Boss why he chose to do the halftime show this year after being asked numerous times before.
“I have an album to promote, dummy,” Springsteen cackled. “It’s not rocket science.”
What refreshing honesty. Leave it to Springsteen.
And knowing about the heartache Jennifer Hudson suffered from the October slayings of her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew, her performance of the national anthem felt particularly brave and stirring.
The chemistry between Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick that goes back to their co-anchoring days on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” was on display after Olbermann recounted a history of the peripatetic Cardinals franchise and the team’s six-decade-long futility. Once Olbermann finished, Patrick yanked his chain by trying to draw a comparison between the Super Bowl and politics. But Olbermann pretended not to bite, declining to transform into the MSNBC pitbull-pundit he’s become, and joking that he didn’t know anything about the subject.
“Poli ...,” he stammered.
Then, he ventured: “Polamalu.”
“Somewhere, Bill O’Reilly is smiling,” Patrick cracked.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Review: NBC scores with Super Bowl telecast
Some parts of coverage felt forced, but overall, game coverage was solid
Hugo Carito, left, of Pittsburgh, Warren Jones, center, also of Pittsburgh, and Michael Lainey, of Orlando, Fla., cheer a Steelers' touchdown. Sure, coverage of the big game contained some frivolous and even fatuous moments, but overall, NBC's coverage was solid.
REVIEW
By Douglas J. Rowe
AP Entertainment Writer
The Associated Press
Nothing succeeds like excess for the network covering the Super Bowl.
NBC succeeded by sticking to the formula, starting a full 5½ hours before kickoff with its John Williams-penned “Sunday Night Football” theme music — the tune that sounds like it was borrowed from a sword-and-sandal flick. The day ended with a thrilling game, better than anyone could have expected.
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC.)
Cris Collinsworth and Bob Costas appeared on the pirate ship at Raymond James Stadium, and Costas promised: “Super Bowl Sunday is a game, yes. But it’s also a national party, and over the next five hours we’ll capture as much of the football and frivolity as we can.”
Frivolous, and maybe even a little fatuous.
Some of the show inevitably felt forced and foolish. But, overall, NBC delivered solid coverage, using a 300-frame-per-second “X-Mo” cam for replays on each goal line and at midfield. It came in handy when Santonio Holmes caught the winning TD pass in the Steelers 27-23 victory over the Cardinals.
“Today” personality Al Roker’s thankless job was to have various celebrities come on to flog their latest projects (who won’t be identified and given further free promotion here).
And there was face time aplenty for stars of NBC Universal’s various programs and outlets: NBC’s “Nightly News” anchorman Brian Williams, “Today” host Matt Lauer, Bravo’s “Top Chef” martinet Tom Colicchio.
Even CNBC’s Money Honey, Maria Bartiromo, got to offer a “Business Brief” culminating with her crowing that NBC set an ad revenue record for its Super Bowl commercial sales.
Bet the boss loved that — and we’re not talking about halftime act Bruce Springsteen.
Once the game got under way, director Drew Esocoff kept the camera shots crisp, punching up quick cuts and appropriately timed close-ups, while Al Michaels provided spot-on play-by-play — as always — keeping on top of the action with alacrity and accuracy. When he gets excited, it feels real — something we’ve known since the 1980 Winter Olympics.
And while it’s hard not to think of Frank Caliendo’s John Madden impersonation, marked by incoherent ranting, the ex-coach clearly delivered observations and insights without devolving into the arcane world of Xs and Os. Between slick graphics and Madden’s simple explanation, the term “receiving radius” could be understood even by those who only watch the big game for the commercials.
During an Arizona fourth-quarter drive, Madden noted, “They could still use the middle,” and just like that, QB Kurt Warner threw a big completion over the middle. Then Larry Fitzgerald caught one over the middle as the Cardinals took a late, short-lived lead.
And he wasn’t afraid to opine that James Harrison should have been thrown out of the game, after the league’s defensive player of the year kept pounding on an opposing player.
Michaels and Madden played off each other as well as ever, too, especially when the game tightened up and came to an exciting conclusion.
Just before Holmes caught the decisive TD, Madden offered: “They’re going to have to do something to Santonio Holmes for the deep one, because he had that. I mean, he was open and the ball went right through his hands.”
It didn’t go through his hands on the next pass.
“Caught for a touchdown!” Michaels yelled. “Unbelievable! Incredible!”
He and Madden rightly anticipated that the play would stand up to official review.
“The emotions in this game have been over the moon,” Michaels observed.
From Obama to Springsteen
Unfortunately, NBC had audio problems during Lauer’s interview with President Barack Obama in the White House map room. But the network didn’t pull away, and quickly fixed the sound, allowing viewers to hear him talk seriously about foreign issues and the economy before turning to football and reiterating that he’s rooting for the Steelers. (Steelers owner Dan Rooney endorsed Obama’s presidential bid and campaigned for him.)
NBC’s pregame marathon succeeded in being fast-paced, using shorter features and allowing the talent to tell stories.
Costas’ tete-a-tete with Springsteen was entertaining, with pop-culture maven Costas asking The Boss why he chose to do the halftime show this year after being asked numerous times before.
“I have an album to promote, dummy,” Springsteen cackled. “It’s not rocket science.”
What refreshing honesty. Leave it to Springsteen.
And knowing about the heartache Jennifer Hudson suffered from the October slayings of her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew, her performance of the national anthem felt particularly brave and stirring.
The chemistry between Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick that goes back to their co-anchoring days on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” was on display after Olbermann recounted a history of the peripatetic Cardinals franchise and the team’s six-decade-long futility. Once Olbermann finished, Patrick yanked his chain by trying to draw a comparison between the Super Bowl and politics. But Olbermann pretended not to bite, declining to transform into the MSNBC pitbull-pundit he’s become, and joking that he didn’t know anything about the subject.
“Poli ...,” he stammered.
Then, he ventured: “Polamalu.”
“Somewhere, Bill O’Reilly is smiling,” Patrick cracked.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
providing immigration services worldwide for 25 years
- doug
- Posts: 24818
- Joined: Fri Nov 22, 2002 10:06 pm
- Location: chapel hill, n.c.
by doug » Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:04 am
In a wild finish, Steelers super for 6th time
Holmes' catch in final 35 seconds gives Pittsburgh 27-23 win vs. Arizona
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger celebrates. Roethlisberger helped the Steelers win their sixth Super Bowl on Sunday, a 27-23 win against the Cardinals in Tampa.
The Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. - The winning play of the Super Bowl was right out of a schoolyard.
Scamble right, scramble left, find someone open.
The perfect unscripted ending to a game of improbable swings.
Their Steel Curtain shredded, Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes improvised the 6-yard touchdown with 35 seconds left that gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a record-setting sixth Super Bowl victory, 27-23 over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night.
“Great players step up in big-time games to make plays,” said Holmes, the game’s MVP. He said he told Roethlisberger that he “wanted to be the guy to make the plays for this team.”
And he was.
Holmes grabbed the ball with both arms stretched fully above his head in the back right corner of the end zone, his toes barely dragging inbounds. He fell, sat up and cradled the ball like the prize it was.
This thriller certainly matched last year’s upset of the New England Patriots by the New York Giants that ended with Plaxico Burress’ TD catch — with 35 seconds left, too.
But this one was even wilder. With the last tension-packed seconds ticking away, a kneeling Roethlisberger held coach Mike Tomlin’s hand as Kurt Warner led one last, but futile, drive.
“These guys just don’t blink,” Tomlin said. “They deliver. It’s never going to be pretty or perfect, if you will, but they have a great deal of resolve.”
“It’s never going to be pretty or perfect, if you will, but they have a great deal of resolve.”
The Steelers (15-4), winning their second Super Bowl in four seasons, led 20-7 in the fourth quarter, only to see Warner and the Cardinals stage a remarkable rally to go in front 23-20 with 2:37 remaining.
Warner hit All-Pro receiver Larry Fitzgerald in stride for a 64-yard touchdown with 2:37 left. Already owning a slew of postseason receiving marks this year, Fitzgerald sped down the middle of the field, watching himself outrun the Steelers on the huge video screen.
Fitzgerald could only watch from the sideline as Roethlisberger engineered a 78-yard drive to win it in what resembled Heinz Field South. With waves of twirling Terrible Towels turning Raymond James Stadium into a black-and-gold tableau — Steelers fans supporting their beloved team, the economy be damned — Pittsburgh’s offense rescued the title.
“I knew it was a touchdown 100 percent,” Holmes said, even though it had to withstand a video review. “My feet never left the ground. All I did was stand up on my toes and extended my hands.”
And hauled in the pass that punctuated another Pittsburgh championship, adding to those won in the 1974, ’75, ’78, ’79 and ’05 seasons.
The stunning swings overshadowed Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison’s record 100-yard interception return for a touchdown to end the first half. That looked like the signature play until the final quarter, when both teams shook off apparent knockout punches to throw haymakers of their own.
Big Ben and Holmes struck the last blow, and when Warner fumbled in the final seconds, the Cardinals’ dream of winning their first NFL crown since 1947 were gone.
“I said it’s now or never, I told the guys all the film study you put in doesn’t matter unless you do it now,” Roethlisberger said. “I’m really proud of the way they responded.”
The Cardinals (12-8), playing in their first Super Bowl and first championship game of any kind since 1948, lost their composure after Harrison’s heroics. They had three penalties to keep Pittsburgh’s 79-yard drive going, a 16-play march that ended with Jeff Reed’s 21-yard field goal for a 20-7 lead.
And they couldn’t get Fitzgerald free until very late. But boy did he get free.
The All-Pro who already had set a postseason record for yards receiving and had five touchdowns in the playoffs was a nonentity until an 87-yard fourth-quarter drive he capped with a leaping 1-yard catch over Ike Taylor. He made four receptions on that series on which Warner hit all eight passes for all the yards.
And then he struck swiftly for the 64-yarder that put Arizona within minutes of a remarkable victory — a victory that never came because of the resilience of this Steelers team.
“I’m disappointed for our team,” said Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt, the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh when the Steelers won the 2005 title. “This is a group of men that I’m very proud of. They played very hard in circumstances where nobody believed in them.
“We learned a lot about our team, it’s just unfortunate it had to come out that way.”
Pittsburgh looked like the offensive juggernaut to open the game, smoothly driving 71 yards in eight plays. But the 72nd yard that would have given the Steelers a touchdown never came.
It looked like it had when Roethlisberger’s short run was ruled a TD. Whisenhunt challenged, and the score was overturned, leaving Tomlin his first difficult decision.
He took the points, Reed’s 18-yard field goal, the shortest in a Super Bowl since 1976.
After forcing a punt, the Steelers kept the ball the remainder of the first quarter — 11:28 in all, outgaining Arizona 140-13, getting seven first downs to one for the Cardinals. As Warner and the usually potent Cardinals’ offense watched, frustrated, from the sideline, Pittsburgh plowed it in on Gary Russell’s 1-yard run to make it 10-0.
When Arizona finally got the ball back, it knocked the Steelers off balance with short passes — and one huge play.
Warner, handed the NFL Man of the Year trophy just before kickoff, then hit Anquan Boldin streaking from left to right. He was upended at the Pittsburgh 1, and Warner’s lob to Ben Patrick got Arizona on the board. It was the tight end’s first touchdown this season.
Arizona’s defense then emulated the Steel Curtain with a big play. Bryan Robinson tipped Roethlisberger’s pass high into the air and Karlos Dansby corralled it at the Pittsburgh 34. The Cardinals got to the 1, then, perhaps jealous, the Steelers’ D asserted itself — magnificently.
Harrison, the defensive player of the year, stepped in front of Boldin at the goal line, picked off Warner’s throw and began a journey down the right sideline that ended as the longest play in Super Bowl history.
Harrison ran past or through most of the Cardinals, nearly stepped out of bounds at one point, and was dragged down by Fitzgerald as he fell to the goal line. The play was reviewed as several Cardinals knelt on one knee, exhausted from the chase and disheartened by the result.
“Those last couple of yards were probably tougher than anything I’ve done in my life, but probably more gratifying than anything I’ve done in football,” Harrison said.
“I didn’t see him around my offensive line,” Warner said. “He made a great play and a great run to get them a touchdown.”
The previous longest play was Desmond Howard’s 99-yard kickoff return for Green Bay in 1997.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Holmes' catch in final 35 seconds gives Pittsburgh 27-23 win vs. Arizona
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger celebrates. Roethlisberger helped the Steelers win their sixth Super Bowl on Sunday, a 27-23 win against the Cardinals in Tampa.
The Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. - The winning play of the Super Bowl was right out of a schoolyard.
Scamble right, scramble left, find someone open.
The perfect unscripted ending to a game of improbable swings.
Their Steel Curtain shredded, Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes improvised the 6-yard touchdown with 35 seconds left that gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a record-setting sixth Super Bowl victory, 27-23 over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night.
“Great players step up in big-time games to make plays,” said Holmes, the game’s MVP. He said he told Roethlisberger that he “wanted to be the guy to make the plays for this team.”
And he was.
Holmes grabbed the ball with both arms stretched fully above his head in the back right corner of the end zone, his toes barely dragging inbounds. He fell, sat up and cradled the ball like the prize it was.
This thriller certainly matched last year’s upset of the New England Patriots by the New York Giants that ended with Plaxico Burress’ TD catch — with 35 seconds left, too.
But this one was even wilder. With the last tension-packed seconds ticking away, a kneeling Roethlisberger held coach Mike Tomlin’s hand as Kurt Warner led one last, but futile, drive.
“These guys just don’t blink,” Tomlin said. “They deliver. It’s never going to be pretty or perfect, if you will, but they have a great deal of resolve.”
“It’s never going to be pretty or perfect, if you will, but they have a great deal of resolve.”
The Steelers (15-4), winning their second Super Bowl in four seasons, led 20-7 in the fourth quarter, only to see Warner and the Cardinals stage a remarkable rally to go in front 23-20 with 2:37 remaining.
Warner hit All-Pro receiver Larry Fitzgerald in stride for a 64-yard touchdown with 2:37 left. Already owning a slew of postseason receiving marks this year, Fitzgerald sped down the middle of the field, watching himself outrun the Steelers on the huge video screen.
Fitzgerald could only watch from the sideline as Roethlisberger engineered a 78-yard drive to win it in what resembled Heinz Field South. With waves of twirling Terrible Towels turning Raymond James Stadium into a black-and-gold tableau — Steelers fans supporting their beloved team, the economy be damned — Pittsburgh’s offense rescued the title.
“I knew it was a touchdown 100 percent,” Holmes said, even though it had to withstand a video review. “My feet never left the ground. All I did was stand up on my toes and extended my hands.”
And hauled in the pass that punctuated another Pittsburgh championship, adding to those won in the 1974, ’75, ’78, ’79 and ’05 seasons.
The stunning swings overshadowed Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison’s record 100-yard interception return for a touchdown to end the first half. That looked like the signature play until the final quarter, when both teams shook off apparent knockout punches to throw haymakers of their own.
Big Ben and Holmes struck the last blow, and when Warner fumbled in the final seconds, the Cardinals’ dream of winning their first NFL crown since 1947 were gone.
“I said it’s now or never, I told the guys all the film study you put in doesn’t matter unless you do it now,” Roethlisberger said. “I’m really proud of the way they responded.”
The Cardinals (12-8), playing in their first Super Bowl and first championship game of any kind since 1948, lost their composure after Harrison’s heroics. They had three penalties to keep Pittsburgh’s 79-yard drive going, a 16-play march that ended with Jeff Reed’s 21-yard field goal for a 20-7 lead.
And they couldn’t get Fitzgerald free until very late. But boy did he get free.
The All-Pro who already had set a postseason record for yards receiving and had five touchdowns in the playoffs was a nonentity until an 87-yard fourth-quarter drive he capped with a leaping 1-yard catch over Ike Taylor. He made four receptions on that series on which Warner hit all eight passes for all the yards.
And then he struck swiftly for the 64-yarder that put Arizona within minutes of a remarkable victory — a victory that never came because of the resilience of this Steelers team.
“I’m disappointed for our team,” said Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt, the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh when the Steelers won the 2005 title. “This is a group of men that I’m very proud of. They played very hard in circumstances where nobody believed in them.
“We learned a lot about our team, it’s just unfortunate it had to come out that way.”
Pittsburgh looked like the offensive juggernaut to open the game, smoothly driving 71 yards in eight plays. But the 72nd yard that would have given the Steelers a touchdown never came.
It looked like it had when Roethlisberger’s short run was ruled a TD. Whisenhunt challenged, and the score was overturned, leaving Tomlin his first difficult decision.
He took the points, Reed’s 18-yard field goal, the shortest in a Super Bowl since 1976.
After forcing a punt, the Steelers kept the ball the remainder of the first quarter — 11:28 in all, outgaining Arizona 140-13, getting seven first downs to one for the Cardinals. As Warner and the usually potent Cardinals’ offense watched, frustrated, from the sideline, Pittsburgh plowed it in on Gary Russell’s 1-yard run to make it 10-0.
When Arizona finally got the ball back, it knocked the Steelers off balance with short passes — and one huge play.
Warner, handed the NFL Man of the Year trophy just before kickoff, then hit Anquan Boldin streaking from left to right. He was upended at the Pittsburgh 1, and Warner’s lob to Ben Patrick got Arizona on the board. It was the tight end’s first touchdown this season.
Arizona’s defense then emulated the Steel Curtain with a big play. Bryan Robinson tipped Roethlisberger’s pass high into the air and Karlos Dansby corralled it at the Pittsburgh 34. The Cardinals got to the 1, then, perhaps jealous, the Steelers’ D asserted itself — magnificently.
Harrison, the defensive player of the year, stepped in front of Boldin at the goal line, picked off Warner’s throw and began a journey down the right sideline that ended as the longest play in Super Bowl history.
Harrison ran past or through most of the Cardinals, nearly stepped out of bounds at one point, and was dragged down by Fitzgerald as he fell to the goal line. The play was reviewed as several Cardinals knelt on one knee, exhausted from the chase and disheartened by the result.
“Those last couple of yards were probably tougher than anything I’ve done in my life, but probably more gratifying than anything I’ve done in football,” Harrison said.
“I didn’t see him around my offensive line,” Warner said. “He made a great play and a great run to get them a touchdown.”
The previous longest play was Desmond Howard’s 99-yard kickoff return for Green Bay in 1997.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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by doug » Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:16 am
Eight key moments from Super Bowl XLIII
Holmes made two of the game-changing plays in Steelers' 27-23 win
Mark J. Terrill / AP
Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes makes the game-winning catch in Super Bowl XLIII.
OPINION
By Gregg Rosenthal
TAMPA, Fla. - Just wow them in the end. Like any good screenwriter knows, the final act is the only one that the audience remembers. And the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII was pure theatre, sublime football, an ending that would be rejected from by any studio for its sheer improbability.
Steelers-Cardinals was not a matchup that captured the country’s imagination before the game. But that’s one the beautiful things about football: you never know when a classic is going to break out. You just have to be there to find out.
Through three plus quarters, Super Bowl XLIII looked like an odd game full of penalties, missed red zone chances, and one incredible 100-yard play by James Harrison. By the end, there were so many brilliant plays piled on top of one another, it was hard to keep them straight.
Here are eight that we’ll always remember.
1. Santonio Holmes’ game-winning touchdown
62, Scat, Flasher. It doesn’t have quite the same ring as the Immaculate reception, but Holmes' play will go down right next to Franco Harris’ romp in Pittsburgh lore.
The play wasn’t initially designed to get Holmes the ball. Nate Washington and Hines Ward were ahead of Holmes on Roethlisberger’s progression.
But Roethlisberger had great protection in the pocket and was able to read the field. This was typical, as Pittsburgh’s maligned grunts played well all game. Roethlisberger looked inside quickly, but it appears Roethlisberger had Holmes in mind all along, no matter what coordinator Bruce Arians called for.
Sometimes it’s not about the play call. The perfect throw and catch can beat even the best defense, and that was the case here. Three defenders were covering Holmes — safety Aaron Francisco, cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and cornerback Ralph Brown. Roethlisberger had about a six-inch window to throw into, and he nailed it on a perfect line over Brown’s out-stretched hand. Francisco, the night’s Bill Buckner, arrived just in time to push Holmes to the ground.
Holmes is listed at 5-feet-11, but he’s at least two inches shorter in person. He used every inch of that frame to stretch out and catch the ball with his fingertips. He won't buy a beer in Pittsburgh for the rest of his life.
Asked about the play after the game, despondent Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson just shook his head and said, “Great catch.” He took a deep breath, and we waited for him to say something else. He just kept shaking his head.
Like the David Tyree catch from last Super Bowl, the Holmes grab becomes less probable the more you watch it. That is a throw most coaches would probably say not to make. It had a greater chance of being intercepted than completed. It’s the type of throw and catch that creates legends.
2. Holmes’ first down to start the game-winning drive
Don’t let this play get lost in the shuffle. The Steelers still had 74 yards to go with 1:56 remaining, and were facing a third-and-six. Roethlisberger pump-faked, got safety Aaron Francisco up in the air, ducked under a possible hit, then found Holmes leaping for a first down grab over the middle. Holmes dropped a lot of passes this season while getting hit. This time he held on. If he didn’t, the Steelers were looking at one more play to save their season.
3. Larry Fitzgerald’s 64-yard touchdown
Fitzgerald’s touchdown, much like Randy Moss’ last year, was the storybook ending that wasn’t. It was the would-be championship moment that will finish as a footnote.
“It was like getting a chair pulled out from under you,” Fitzgerald said. “It just hurts to be able to get so close and fall short of your ultimate goal.”
The Steelers double covered Fitzgerald all game, but the Cardinals broke free in the fourth quarter by spreading Pittsburgh out.
“The play itself was another in-breaking, intermediate route, which they were struggling with once we went to it,” offensive coordinator Todd Haley said.
Right before the play, sage writer Tom Curran said, “They need to get Polamalu out of there.”
Troy Polamalu was shaded towards Fitzgerald, but got caught heading towards Steve Breaston on a sideline route while Fitzgerald exploded over the middle. They ran a similar play at least 10 times in the second half, often to other receivers. No one else can bust open a zone like Fitzgerald.
“I was thinking, he was way faster than I thought,” safety Ryan Clark said after failing to catch up with Fitzgerald.
4. Cardinals' safety on a holding call
This was an easy call for the official, but a crucial one with only 2:58 left in the game. It wiped out a remarkable throw and catch from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes for a would-be first down. The Cardinals, at the very least, would have wasted more time and had to burn times outs to get the ball back.
There was a healthy press box discussion whether the Steelers should intentionally take a safety while up six points if they got to fourth down. The holding call/safety came on third down, so we’ll never know what Mike Tomlin’s decision would have been.
5. Fitzgerald’s leaping one-yard touchdown
It’s easy to forget the game looked like a snoozer until the Cardinals went no huddle in the fourth quarter.
Fitzgerald’s touchdown, on third-and-goal from the one, cut the lead to 20-14 with 7:33 remaining. Ike Taylor was in perfect position to break up the jump ball, and got a hand on the ball and Fitzgerald’s body. Fitz somehow wrestled the ball away, using his facemask for a moment to cradle the ball. (Another Tyree-like moment.)
It’s telling that the Cardinals threw a low-percentage play like that to Fitzgerald rather than running the ball at the one-yard line with the game one the line. With Fitzgerald, the Cardinals have come to expect the unbelievable. Perhaps it wasn’t so low-percentage.
6. Harrison’s 100-yard return
“That’s the MVP being the MVP,” Steelers safety Ryan Clark said, talking about Harrison’s game-changing play to end the first half.
Despite the crazy ending, this was the play the Cardinals and Steelers talked about the most after the game. It was a 10-point swing at minimum, and ruined the dominant second quarter Arizona played. “It was the difference in the game,” Troy Polamalu said.
Harrison wasn’t even supposed to be covering Anquan Boldin. “He was actually supposed to be covering the running back, but he read the play. That’s what you expect your MVP to do,” Clark said.
The Steelers had called a max blitz and Warner just threw the ball too quick.
The Steelers practiced their “transition offense” after interceptions in practice this week. It came in handy, though I doubt Harrison practiced hurdling over teammate LaMarr Woodley at the 30-yard line.
“I was tired as a dog,” Harrison said about the end of the run. “I’m not going to lie, it was a quarter tank. But I ended up making it.”
Kurt Warner admits he is still haunted every day by the Rams’ loss to the Patriots in 2001. This play will cause a lot more sleepless nights. He simply didn’t see Harrison, and he certainly didn’t think Harrison could return the ball 100 yards for the score.
7. Roethlisberger’s scrambling first down to Heath Miller
Third-and-10, first quarter, four minutes and 10 seconds left for the Steelers. Pittsburgh wasn’t yet in field goal range. Roethlisberger scrambled to his left, saw two defenders, sprinted right, was hit in the leg, stumbled, spun his whole body, and then rifled an 11-yard strike to Miller.
That is Roethlisberger in a nutshell: improvisational, impossible-to-take-down, making a play where none seem available. You can’t coach that.
If it wasn’t for that play, the Steelers are punting. They went on to score their only offensive touchdown in the first half later in the drive.
8. Darnell Dockett’s goal-line stuff of Roethlisberger
At 241 pounds, Ben Roethlisberger is built for more like a bruising goal-line anvil than an average quarterback. He tried to use all his poundage on a third-and-goal from the one on Pittsburgh’s first drive. After rolling out on a bootleg, Roethlisberger decided to keep the ball and took on Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett. The two collided at the three-yard line, and Roethlisberger appeared to carry Dockett into the end zone.
This play set up a few themes in the game. Ken Whisenhunt challenged and overturned a touchdown, one of two huge challenges wins for the Whis. (He also overturned a Kurt Warner interception in the third quarter.) The Steelers came away with only a field goal because of short-yardage struggles. That would also happen again in the third quarter. The Cardinals holding the fort in the red zone kept them in the game, so they could make their fourth quarter comeback attempt.
© 2009 NBC Sports.com
Holmes made two of the game-changing plays in Steelers' 27-23 win
Mark J. Terrill / AP
Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes makes the game-winning catch in Super Bowl XLIII.
OPINION
By Gregg Rosenthal
TAMPA, Fla. - Just wow them in the end. Like any good screenwriter knows, the final act is the only one that the audience remembers. And the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII was pure theatre, sublime football, an ending that would be rejected from by any studio for its sheer improbability.
Steelers-Cardinals was not a matchup that captured the country’s imagination before the game. But that’s one the beautiful things about football: you never know when a classic is going to break out. You just have to be there to find out.
Through three plus quarters, Super Bowl XLIII looked like an odd game full of penalties, missed red zone chances, and one incredible 100-yard play by James Harrison. By the end, there were so many brilliant plays piled on top of one another, it was hard to keep them straight.
Here are eight that we’ll always remember.
1. Santonio Holmes’ game-winning touchdown
62, Scat, Flasher. It doesn’t have quite the same ring as the Immaculate reception, but Holmes' play will go down right next to Franco Harris’ romp in Pittsburgh lore.
The play wasn’t initially designed to get Holmes the ball. Nate Washington and Hines Ward were ahead of Holmes on Roethlisberger’s progression.
But Roethlisberger had great protection in the pocket and was able to read the field. This was typical, as Pittsburgh’s maligned grunts played well all game. Roethlisberger looked inside quickly, but it appears Roethlisberger had Holmes in mind all along, no matter what coordinator Bruce Arians called for.
Sometimes it’s not about the play call. The perfect throw and catch can beat even the best defense, and that was the case here. Three defenders were covering Holmes — safety Aaron Francisco, cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and cornerback Ralph Brown. Roethlisberger had about a six-inch window to throw into, and he nailed it on a perfect line over Brown’s out-stretched hand. Francisco, the night’s Bill Buckner, arrived just in time to push Holmes to the ground.
Holmes is listed at 5-feet-11, but he’s at least two inches shorter in person. He used every inch of that frame to stretch out and catch the ball with his fingertips. He won't buy a beer in Pittsburgh for the rest of his life.
Asked about the play after the game, despondent Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson just shook his head and said, “Great catch.” He took a deep breath, and we waited for him to say something else. He just kept shaking his head.
Like the David Tyree catch from last Super Bowl, the Holmes grab becomes less probable the more you watch it. That is a throw most coaches would probably say not to make. It had a greater chance of being intercepted than completed. It’s the type of throw and catch that creates legends.
2. Holmes’ first down to start the game-winning drive
Don’t let this play get lost in the shuffle. The Steelers still had 74 yards to go with 1:56 remaining, and were facing a third-and-six. Roethlisberger pump-faked, got safety Aaron Francisco up in the air, ducked under a possible hit, then found Holmes leaping for a first down grab over the middle. Holmes dropped a lot of passes this season while getting hit. This time he held on. If he didn’t, the Steelers were looking at one more play to save their season.
3. Larry Fitzgerald’s 64-yard touchdown
Fitzgerald’s touchdown, much like Randy Moss’ last year, was the storybook ending that wasn’t. It was the would-be championship moment that will finish as a footnote.
“It was like getting a chair pulled out from under you,” Fitzgerald said. “It just hurts to be able to get so close and fall short of your ultimate goal.”
The Steelers double covered Fitzgerald all game, but the Cardinals broke free in the fourth quarter by spreading Pittsburgh out.
“The play itself was another in-breaking, intermediate route, which they were struggling with once we went to it,” offensive coordinator Todd Haley said.
Right before the play, sage writer Tom Curran said, “They need to get Polamalu out of there.”
Troy Polamalu was shaded towards Fitzgerald, but got caught heading towards Steve Breaston on a sideline route while Fitzgerald exploded over the middle. They ran a similar play at least 10 times in the second half, often to other receivers. No one else can bust open a zone like Fitzgerald.
“I was thinking, he was way faster than I thought,” safety Ryan Clark said after failing to catch up with Fitzgerald.
4. Cardinals' safety on a holding call
This was an easy call for the official, but a crucial one with only 2:58 left in the game. It wiped out a remarkable throw and catch from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes for a would-be first down. The Cardinals, at the very least, would have wasted more time and had to burn times outs to get the ball back.
There was a healthy press box discussion whether the Steelers should intentionally take a safety while up six points if they got to fourth down. The holding call/safety came on third down, so we’ll never know what Mike Tomlin’s decision would have been.
5. Fitzgerald’s leaping one-yard touchdown
It’s easy to forget the game looked like a snoozer until the Cardinals went no huddle in the fourth quarter.
Fitzgerald’s touchdown, on third-and-goal from the one, cut the lead to 20-14 with 7:33 remaining. Ike Taylor was in perfect position to break up the jump ball, and got a hand on the ball and Fitzgerald’s body. Fitz somehow wrestled the ball away, using his facemask for a moment to cradle the ball. (Another Tyree-like moment.)
It’s telling that the Cardinals threw a low-percentage play like that to Fitzgerald rather than running the ball at the one-yard line with the game one the line. With Fitzgerald, the Cardinals have come to expect the unbelievable. Perhaps it wasn’t so low-percentage.
6. Harrison’s 100-yard return
“That’s the MVP being the MVP,” Steelers safety Ryan Clark said, talking about Harrison’s game-changing play to end the first half.
Despite the crazy ending, this was the play the Cardinals and Steelers talked about the most after the game. It was a 10-point swing at minimum, and ruined the dominant second quarter Arizona played. “It was the difference in the game,” Troy Polamalu said.
Harrison wasn’t even supposed to be covering Anquan Boldin. “He was actually supposed to be covering the running back, but he read the play. That’s what you expect your MVP to do,” Clark said.
The Steelers had called a max blitz and Warner just threw the ball too quick.
The Steelers practiced their “transition offense” after interceptions in practice this week. It came in handy, though I doubt Harrison practiced hurdling over teammate LaMarr Woodley at the 30-yard line.
“I was tired as a dog,” Harrison said about the end of the run. “I’m not going to lie, it was a quarter tank. But I ended up making it.”
Kurt Warner admits he is still haunted every day by the Rams’ loss to the Patriots in 2001. This play will cause a lot more sleepless nights. He simply didn’t see Harrison, and he certainly didn’t think Harrison could return the ball 100 yards for the score.
7. Roethlisberger’s scrambling first down to Heath Miller
Third-and-10, first quarter, four minutes and 10 seconds left for the Steelers. Pittsburgh wasn’t yet in field goal range. Roethlisberger scrambled to his left, saw two defenders, sprinted right, was hit in the leg, stumbled, spun his whole body, and then rifled an 11-yard strike to Miller.
That is Roethlisberger in a nutshell: improvisational, impossible-to-take-down, making a play where none seem available. You can’t coach that.
If it wasn’t for that play, the Steelers are punting. They went on to score their only offensive touchdown in the first half later in the drive.
8. Darnell Dockett’s goal-line stuff of Roethlisberger
At 241 pounds, Ben Roethlisberger is built for more like a bruising goal-line anvil than an average quarterback. He tried to use all his poundage on a third-and-goal from the one on Pittsburgh’s first drive. After rolling out on a bootleg, Roethlisberger decided to keep the ball and took on Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett. The two collided at the three-yard line, and Roethlisberger appeared to carry Dockett into the end zone.
This play set up a few themes in the game. Ken Whisenhunt challenged and overturned a touchdown, one of two huge challenges wins for the Whis. (He also overturned a Kurt Warner interception in the third quarter.) The Steelers came away with only a field goal because of short-yardage struggles. That would also happen again in the third quarter. The Cardinals holding the fort in the red zone kept them in the game, so they could make their fourth quarter comeback attempt.
© 2009 NBC Sports.com
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by doug » Mon Feb 09, 2009 1:02 pm
Big Ben played Super Bowl with 2 broken ribs
'Luckily, I didn't take any big hits to make 'em hurt,' Steelers QB says
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hugs wide receiver Santonio Holmes (10) after their game winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of the NFL Super Bowl XLIII football game, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had two broken ribs during Super Bowl XLIII, when he led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, Sports Illustrated reported Monday.
Coach Mike Tomlin had denied that Roethlisberger was injured in the days leading up to the game.
It was reported that Roethlisberger had an X-ray four days before the Super Bowl.
A source close to Roethlisberger had said the X-ray was a follow-up precaution after the back injury the quarterback suffered during the AFC Championship game against the Baltimore Ravens.
"Fractured ribs,'' Roethlisberger told SI.com. "Luckily, in the game, I didn't take any big hits to make 'em hurt. But I knew all along there was something wrong. There wouldn't have been anything they could have done about fractured ribs anyway. It was just suck it up and play.''
Roethlisberger completed 21 of 30 passes for 256 yards and threw the game-winning touchdown to Santonio Holmes in the final minute.
© 2009 NBCSports.com
'Luckily, I didn't take any big hits to make 'em hurt,' Steelers QB says
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hugs wide receiver Santonio Holmes (10) after their game winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of the NFL Super Bowl XLIII football game, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had two broken ribs during Super Bowl XLIII, when he led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, Sports Illustrated reported Monday.
Coach Mike Tomlin had denied that Roethlisberger was injured in the days leading up to the game.
It was reported that Roethlisberger had an X-ray four days before the Super Bowl.
A source close to Roethlisberger had said the X-ray was a follow-up precaution after the back injury the quarterback suffered during the AFC Championship game against the Baltimore Ravens.
"Fractured ribs,'' Roethlisberger told SI.com. "Luckily, in the game, I didn't take any big hits to make 'em hurt. But I knew all along there was something wrong. There wouldn't have been anything they could have done about fractured ribs anyway. It was just suck it up and play.''
Roethlisberger completed 21 of 30 passes for 256 yards and threw the game-winning touchdown to Santonio Holmes in the final minute.
© 2009 NBCSports.com
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Super Bowl XLIV: Saints win
by doug » Sun Feb 07, 2010 11:54 pm
updated 2:41 a.m. ET Feb. 5, 2010
Super Bowl XLIV
Celizic: How did the Super Bowl get to be like this?
Game has become the greatest one-day event in the history of the world
OPINION
By Mike Celizic
There is no better day for sports in the world than Super Bowl Sunday. That includes the World Cup Final.
I’m not talking about how many people watch. By that standard, the World Cup Final beats any three Super Bowls put together. But there’s more to a great day than the event around which it is built. It’s all the goodies that have accumulated around the event that ultimately makes the day.
The Super Bowl has everything you could want in a day built around a game that children can play. No day has more meat on its metaphorical bones.
A big part of it has to do with when the Super Bowl is played.
The Super Bowl is played on the first Sunday in February. Before the NFL settled on that day for its biggest game, it was known for absolutely nothing. Among all the Sundays of the year, the first one in February was like the year’s mail-room clerk — anonymous, unrecognized, unappreciated; a day as dull as a public reading of the tax code.
There is so much nothing happening that the NFL can take a full two weeks to build up for one football game, knowing that the media has nothing else to talk about. There is no more perfect a day for it.
Then there’s the name: the Super Bowl. If it were called the NFL Championship Game and didn’t bother to separate one from another with Roman numerals, it wouldn’t be nearly as popular with the great masses of non-fans.
Sporting events become great when they attract the attention of those who normally don’t watch sports. That’s why the Olympics are great. It’s what makes March Madness so much fun. It’s why the World Cup is so magnificent.
And it’s why the Super Bowl is the greatest sporting event of them all. In its home territory, it has more things for more people than even the World Cup on its home turf.
Does the World Cup have the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen or The Who playing at halftime? Does the World Cup have a huge group of fans who tune in for no reason other than to watch the commercials? Oh, sorry, the World Cup doesn’t even have commercials.
The World Cup may be riveting as a soccer match, but as an event, it falls way short.
The Super Bowl is more a secular holy day than a football game. For many, it begins in church and a minister who is sure to mention the game. For most, it proceeds to a party.
It has all the trappings of a religious event: special garments worn by the faithful, magic incantations delivered in a chant, familiar rituals: The coin toss, the kickoff, the two-minute warning, the halftime show, the second half, the instant replay delay, the trophy presentation.
We don’t know who’s going to win, but we know how it will all proceed. And in that familiarity is the comfort that comes from knowing we are repeating an observance that our fathers and mothers celebrated before us. It connects generations.
A Super Bowl party isn’t just a bowl of chips, a tub of onion dip and a six-pack. People spend weeks planning their festivities. Food sites and magazines and television news shows are full of recipes and dietary advice. And this is another reason the audience is so universal: You can have a great time without even actually watching the game.
This is why the Super Bowl cuts across all social boundaries, the one event whose fans do not divide along boundaries of religion, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or political affiliation. It is the one day in which the tea bagger can sit down with the ACLU member and both can thoroughly enjoy each other and the game.
And unlike other American sports championships, the Super Bowl is over before your kids’ bedtime.
I have no idea how it got to be the greatest one-day event in the world. It started out as a game nobody was very much interested in and it was played in a half-empty stadium. Joe Namath’s historic win in Super Bowl III gave the game a boost, but there’s nothing that’s ever happened in the Super Bowl that would merit the attention it gets.
And that’s the greatness of it. The game grew beyond anyone’s wildest dreams pretty much on its own. It was the perfect diversion at the perfect time of year in the perfect sport and a perfect excuse for a party.
On the first Sunday in February, it’s magic.
Mike Celizic writes regularly for NBCSports.com and is a freelance writer based in New York.
© 2010 NBCSports.com
Super Bowl XLIV
Celizic: How did the Super Bowl get to be like this?
Game has become the greatest one-day event in the history of the world
OPINION
By Mike Celizic
There is no better day for sports in the world than Super Bowl Sunday. That includes the World Cup Final.
I’m not talking about how many people watch. By that standard, the World Cup Final beats any three Super Bowls put together. But there’s more to a great day than the event around which it is built. It’s all the goodies that have accumulated around the event that ultimately makes the day.
The Super Bowl has everything you could want in a day built around a game that children can play. No day has more meat on its metaphorical bones.
A big part of it has to do with when the Super Bowl is played.
The Super Bowl is played on the first Sunday in February. Before the NFL settled on that day for its biggest game, it was known for absolutely nothing. Among all the Sundays of the year, the first one in February was like the year’s mail-room clerk — anonymous, unrecognized, unappreciated; a day as dull as a public reading of the tax code.
There is so much nothing happening that the NFL can take a full two weeks to build up for one football game, knowing that the media has nothing else to talk about. There is no more perfect a day for it.
Then there’s the name: the Super Bowl. If it were called the NFL Championship Game and didn’t bother to separate one from another with Roman numerals, it wouldn’t be nearly as popular with the great masses of non-fans.
Sporting events become great when they attract the attention of those who normally don’t watch sports. That’s why the Olympics are great. It’s what makes March Madness so much fun. It’s why the World Cup is so magnificent.
And it’s why the Super Bowl is the greatest sporting event of them all. In its home territory, it has more things for more people than even the World Cup on its home turf.
Does the World Cup have the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen or The Who playing at halftime? Does the World Cup have a huge group of fans who tune in for no reason other than to watch the commercials? Oh, sorry, the World Cup doesn’t even have commercials.
The World Cup may be riveting as a soccer match, but as an event, it falls way short.
The Super Bowl is more a secular holy day than a football game. For many, it begins in church and a minister who is sure to mention the game. For most, it proceeds to a party.
It has all the trappings of a religious event: special garments worn by the faithful, magic incantations delivered in a chant, familiar rituals: The coin toss, the kickoff, the two-minute warning, the halftime show, the second half, the instant replay delay, the trophy presentation.
We don’t know who’s going to win, but we know how it will all proceed. And in that familiarity is the comfort that comes from knowing we are repeating an observance that our fathers and mothers celebrated before us. It connects generations.
A Super Bowl party isn’t just a bowl of chips, a tub of onion dip and a six-pack. People spend weeks planning their festivities. Food sites and magazines and television news shows are full of recipes and dietary advice. And this is another reason the audience is so universal: You can have a great time without even actually watching the game.
This is why the Super Bowl cuts across all social boundaries, the one event whose fans do not divide along boundaries of religion, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or political affiliation. It is the one day in which the tea bagger can sit down with the ACLU member and both can thoroughly enjoy each other and the game.
And unlike other American sports championships, the Super Bowl is over before your kids’ bedtime.
I have no idea how it got to be the greatest one-day event in the world. It started out as a game nobody was very much interested in and it was played in a half-empty stadium. Joe Namath’s historic win in Super Bowl III gave the game a boost, but there’s nothing that’s ever happened in the Super Bowl that would merit the attention it gets.
And that’s the greatness of it. The game grew beyond anyone’s wildest dreams pretty much on its own. It was the perfect diversion at the perfect time of year in the perfect sport and a perfect excuse for a party.
On the first Sunday in February, it’s magic.
Mike Celizic writes regularly for NBCSports.com and is a freelance writer based in New York.
© 2010 NBCSports.com
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- doug
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New Orleans Saints, Super Bowl Champs, Drew Brees MVP
by doug » Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:25 am
Article Written on: Monday-February-8-2010
New Orleans Saints, Super Bowl Champs, Drew Brees MVP
Written by: Ed Staton
Key plays:
Matt Stover, at 42 the oldest player in NFL, gave Colts a 3-0 lead on a 38-yard field goal.
Peyton Manning hit Pierre Garcon on a 19-yard TD pass to give the Colts a 10-0 lead.
The Saints got on the board with a 45-yard field goal by Garrett Hartley to make it 10-3.
Hartley kicked a 44yard field goal on the final play of he first half to make the halftime score 10-6.
Drew Brees threw a 16-yard pass to Pierre Thomas to give the Saints a 13-10 lead/\.
Joseph Addai (LSU) ran in a 4-yard TD as the Colts took the lead back 17-13
A 47-yard field goal by Hartley narrowed it to 17-16.
Brees hit Jeremy Shockey on a 2-yard TD pass to make it 24-17 after a 2-point pass to Lance Moore.
Tracy Porter intercepted a Manning pass and returned it 76 yards for a TD and a 31-17 lead.
Drew Brees MVP
After the game, Brees held his one-year-old son, Baylen, in his arms before hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Brees and the Saints moved up to elite status in the NFL. He completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards with two touchdowns.. He tied a Super Bowl record set by Tom Brady with 32 completions
Eight Saints caught passes, five catching at least three. Marques Colston had a team-high seven catches, including a first-quarter drop that cost the Saints at least a field goal in the first quarter. That drop cost Brees a Super Bowl record.
Hartley became the first kicker in Super Bowl history with three field goals of 40 yards or longer with kicks of 47, 46 and 44 yards.
"It's unbelievable, incredible," said Brees in his postgame discussion.
How the national media saw the game:
Peter King, SI.com: "It's right, it's fair, it's just good, it's shocking. You were not dreaming (or nightmaring, if you live in Indiana). The Saints have won the Super Bowl.
"As the team bus -- the one with mostly family and friends of the team -- sped from the stadium to the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Miami for the most raucous of postgame parties, this merry band of Saints partisans sang and chanted and Who-Dat to their heart's content. On this bus was an eclectic mix, just like New Orleans itself. A couple of seats from the front was the political couple who live in New Orleans, James Carville and Mary Matalin. Behind them sat the 97-year-old archbishop of New Orleans, Philip Hannan, a good friend of owner Tom Benson. In the back was Reggie Bush and his famous-for-being-famous girlfriend, Kim Kardashian.
Don Banks, SI.com: "Of course it was a comeback. It had to be, didn't it? How else could the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees have ended this story and this season, but to rise up and triumph only after first weathering a storm of sorts?
"New Orleans, the city that survived a death blow from Katrina, and Brees, the quarterback whose career was jeopardized by a horribly-timed shoulder injury just as he sought to make a real name for himself in the NFL, withstood one last dose of adversity Sunday night at Sun Life Stadium. But what's a 10-0 first-quarter deficit in the Super Bowl when you've already been where Brees and New Orleans have been?"
SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: Montana, Unitas, Manning go 1-2-3 for best quarterback in a quick survey of Hall of Fame voters. In an impromptu survey of the 50 Hall of Fame electors this past week, 17 of the 18 to respond put Joe Montana among the top five quarterbacks in NFL history, Seven voters put him No. 1 over-all, more than any other. Unitas was a top-five pick of 15 voters and No. 1 with five. Peyton Manning was third in both categories -- top five with 14 votes, No.1 with 2, but he was the top choice for the quarterback in his prime that voters would build a team around. He gathered seven of those votes to Montana's four and Unitas' three. Montana declined to rank himself or anyone else. "I don't line up quarterbacks," said Montana. "I just think it's too hard to do with the difference in generations."
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2006-2007 BAYOUBUZZ.COM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
006 BAYOUBUZZ.COM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
New Orleans Saints, Super Bowl Champs, Drew Brees MVP
Written by: Ed Staton
Key plays:
Matt Stover, at 42 the oldest player in NFL, gave Colts a 3-0 lead on a 38-yard field goal.
Peyton Manning hit Pierre Garcon on a 19-yard TD pass to give the Colts a 10-0 lead.
The Saints got on the board with a 45-yard field goal by Garrett Hartley to make it 10-3.
Hartley kicked a 44yard field goal on the final play of he first half to make the halftime score 10-6.
Drew Brees threw a 16-yard pass to Pierre Thomas to give the Saints a 13-10 lead/\.
Joseph Addai (LSU) ran in a 4-yard TD as the Colts took the lead back 17-13
A 47-yard field goal by Hartley narrowed it to 17-16.
Brees hit Jeremy Shockey on a 2-yard TD pass to make it 24-17 after a 2-point pass to Lance Moore.
Tracy Porter intercepted a Manning pass and returned it 76 yards for a TD and a 31-17 lead.
Drew Brees MVP
After the game, Brees held his one-year-old son, Baylen, in his arms before hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Brees and the Saints moved up to elite status in the NFL. He completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards with two touchdowns.. He tied a Super Bowl record set by Tom Brady with 32 completions
Eight Saints caught passes, five catching at least three. Marques Colston had a team-high seven catches, including a first-quarter drop that cost the Saints at least a field goal in the first quarter. That drop cost Brees a Super Bowl record.
Hartley became the first kicker in Super Bowl history with three field goals of 40 yards or longer with kicks of 47, 46 and 44 yards.
"It's unbelievable, incredible," said Brees in his postgame discussion.
How the national media saw the game:
Peter King, SI.com: "It's right, it's fair, it's just good, it's shocking. You were not dreaming (or nightmaring, if you live in Indiana). The Saints have won the Super Bowl.
"As the team bus -- the one with mostly family and friends of the team -- sped from the stadium to the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Miami for the most raucous of postgame parties, this merry band of Saints partisans sang and chanted and Who-Dat to their heart's content. On this bus was an eclectic mix, just like New Orleans itself. A couple of seats from the front was the political couple who live in New Orleans, James Carville and Mary Matalin. Behind them sat the 97-year-old archbishop of New Orleans, Philip Hannan, a good friend of owner Tom Benson. In the back was Reggie Bush and his famous-for-being-famous girlfriend, Kim Kardashian.
Don Banks, SI.com: "Of course it was a comeback. It had to be, didn't it? How else could the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees have ended this story and this season, but to rise up and triumph only after first weathering a storm of sorts?
"New Orleans, the city that survived a death blow from Katrina, and Brees, the quarterback whose career was jeopardized by a horribly-timed shoulder injury just as he sought to make a real name for himself in the NFL, withstood one last dose of adversity Sunday night at Sun Life Stadium. But what's a 10-0 first-quarter deficit in the Super Bowl when you've already been where Brees and New Orleans have been?"
SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: Montana, Unitas, Manning go 1-2-3 for best quarterback in a quick survey of Hall of Fame voters. In an impromptu survey of the 50 Hall of Fame electors this past week, 17 of the 18 to respond put Joe Montana among the top five quarterbacks in NFL history, Seven voters put him No. 1 over-all, more than any other. Unitas was a top-five pick of 15 voters and No. 1 with five. Peyton Manning was third in both categories -- top five with 14 votes, No.1 with 2, but he was the top choice for the quarterback in his prime that voters would build a team around. He gathered seven of those votes to Montana's four and Unitas' three. Montana declined to rank himself or anyone else. "I don't line up quarterbacks," said Montana. "I just think it's too hard to do with the difference in generations."
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Super Bowl, New Orleans Saints v. Indianapolis Colts: Obama Roots, McNabb, Brees, Tom Benson
Hartley New Orleans Saints Was Dream Come True
Also by this Author
New Orleans Saints, Super Bowl Champs, Drew Brees MVP
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New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts: Super Bowl Predictions, Dwight Freeney, Gregg Williams, McCray, Manning
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Rosenthal: Saints win with aggressive ?ambush?
by doug » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:50 pm
updated 2:56 a.m. ET Feb. 8, 2010
Super Bowl XLIV
Rosenthal: Saints win with aggressive ‘ambush’
Indy doesn’t lose Super Bowl as much as New Orleans rips it away
Saints players Anthony Hargrove and Malcolm Jenkins celebrate the recovery of an onside kick. Aggressive plays like that were one of the reasons New Orleans won Super Bowl XLIV, writes Gregg Rosenthal.
OPINION
By Gregg Rosenthal
MIAMI - New Orleans is a city that understands what it means to live in the moment. On Sunday night, in the first Super Bowl appearance in the Saints’ 43-year history, they played in the moment. They coached in the moment.
They could have played not to lose. Instead they went after their first NFL title. By doing so, the Saints aggressively swiped Peyton Manning’s chance to win a second crown.
The Saints spotted Indianapolis 10 points, and then took control of the game. They did it by remaining patient on offense, tackling better, and never showing Manning the same look on defense twice.
Oh, and Sean Payton made the gutsiest play call imaginable.
The “ambush”
The most famous onside kick in Super Bowl history was called “ambush.” We can’t think of a more fitting description to what the Saints did to the Colts.
Seriously, who calls an onside kick down 10-6 to open the second half of the Super Bowl? If the play didn’t work, Payton would have been crucified.
Payton told his team all week to expect the play. They practiced it again and again, and he felt like they had a 70 percent chance of recovering the ball. When Payton told the team at halftime that the kick was coming at halftime, the players loved it.
“We all knew we were going to get it,” linebacker Scott Fujita said. “There was no doubt about it.”
Payton was so sure he was going to call the play, he told the officials before the game. They asked Payton what the kick would look like if it was called. He said, “It’s not an if.”
Pierre Thomas, still breathing heavy 45 minutes after the game, couldn’t stop shaking his head in disbelief about the win. But the onside kick made perfect sense to him.
“Well, we knew all week that their return team would jump — you know, take a step back real quick before the ball is even kicked. … We did it at the right time.”
The image of the Colts retreating while the Saints charged forward is appropriate. Even when the Saints failed, it seemed like they were going for broke.
Two different approaches
Payton’s propensity for aggressive calls didn’t always work. He chose to go for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line late in the first half, and the Saints were stuffed. What could have been a huge boost for the Colts instead turned into a footnote.
The Colts’ strategy after their goal-line stand was symbolic of the rest of the game. Indianapolis had a chance to try drive for a score with Peyton Manning, football’s best quarterback at the two-minute drive. Instead, they called three straight running plays.
The Saints stuffed a third-and-one run by Mike Hart, then punted back to the Saints. New Orleans drove for a quick field goal to cut the halftime score to 10-6. The Saints won by going for broke. The Colts lost by running plays to Mike Hart.
“They stuck to their game plan more than we stuck to ours,” Colts defensive tackle Dan Muir said.
Staying aggressive on defense
Even the Saints’ haircuts were more aggressive. Could you imagine one of the Colts shaving “SB 44” into his head like Saints cornerback Tracy Porter did before the big game?
Porter, of course, provided the game’s biggest play by jumping in front of a Peyton Manning pass and taking it 74 yards for the game’s final score. The Saints changed their defensive looks all night, from a 3-4 alignment to 4-3 and back. They blitzed from a variety of places, including multiple times right before Porter’s interception.
“That series of plays, trying to set up the route and hopefully set the formation that they would call, it kind of fell into our place right there,” said defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
Strategy is nice, of course, but you still need heroes to make the magic happen. And Williams relied on his underrated crew of players.
“To be an aggressive playcaller, you have to have players that can play,” Porter said afterward, still beaming. “And to have the guys the guys on defense that can make the plays that we make, Gregg’s philosophy and the players on our team, it’s like a match made in heaven.”
Williams got an assist on that call from some of his heady players.
“Our linebackers did a great job of convincing me that the next time we got in that situation to call that pressure … they suggested to me about three or four plays before that to make sure I come back to that on that down and distance again,” Williams said.
The smarts of the linebacker crew also showed up earlier in the fourth quarter. The Colts had a 17-16 lead and faced a third-and-11 from the Saints’ 33. Middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma was set to blitz, but changed the play at the last minute.
Instead of pressuring Manning, Vilma sprinted back from the line of scrimmage to break up a long pass attempt to Austin Collie. It was perhaps the game’s most underrated play and combined Vilma’s intelligence with his athleticism. It may have saved a touchdown.
Drew Brees deserves all the praise he gets Monday, but the Saints’ defense had a huge part in this win. The Saints were the league’s highest scoring team this year, but it wasn’t all about the offense. The team’s defense had an uncanny knack of converting turnovers into points.
The Super Bowl hype began with Williams’ call for his players to record some “remember me” hits on Manning. They didn’t get to the quarterback as much as they hoped, but they maintained a bloodthirsty attitude throughout the game.
“We wanted to get hitting Manning and throw off his timing,” Darren Sharper said. “We thought we forced two first ballot Hall of Famers into retirement — we’ll see about Brett — our goal was to try to get a third.”
Manning certainly isn’t going to retire, but he will remember this game for the rest of his life as the title that got away. But if he’s honest with himself, he’ll realize the Colts didn’t lose this one.
The Saints took it from him.
© 2010 NBC Sports.com
Super Bowl XLIV
Rosenthal: Saints win with aggressive ‘ambush’
Indy doesn’t lose Super Bowl as much as New Orleans rips it away
Saints players Anthony Hargrove and Malcolm Jenkins celebrate the recovery of an onside kick. Aggressive plays like that were one of the reasons New Orleans won Super Bowl XLIV, writes Gregg Rosenthal.
OPINION
By Gregg Rosenthal
MIAMI - New Orleans is a city that understands what it means to live in the moment. On Sunday night, in the first Super Bowl appearance in the Saints’ 43-year history, they played in the moment. They coached in the moment.
They could have played not to lose. Instead they went after their first NFL title. By doing so, the Saints aggressively swiped Peyton Manning’s chance to win a second crown.
The Saints spotted Indianapolis 10 points, and then took control of the game. They did it by remaining patient on offense, tackling better, and never showing Manning the same look on defense twice.
Oh, and Sean Payton made the gutsiest play call imaginable.
The “ambush”
The most famous onside kick in Super Bowl history was called “ambush.” We can’t think of a more fitting description to what the Saints did to the Colts.
Seriously, who calls an onside kick down 10-6 to open the second half of the Super Bowl? If the play didn’t work, Payton would have been crucified.
Payton told his team all week to expect the play. They practiced it again and again, and he felt like they had a 70 percent chance of recovering the ball. When Payton told the team at halftime that the kick was coming at halftime, the players loved it.
“We all knew we were going to get it,” linebacker Scott Fujita said. “There was no doubt about it.”
Payton was so sure he was going to call the play, he told the officials before the game. They asked Payton what the kick would look like if it was called. He said, “It’s not an if.”
Pierre Thomas, still breathing heavy 45 minutes after the game, couldn’t stop shaking his head in disbelief about the win. But the onside kick made perfect sense to him.
“Well, we knew all week that their return team would jump — you know, take a step back real quick before the ball is even kicked. … We did it at the right time.”
The image of the Colts retreating while the Saints charged forward is appropriate. Even when the Saints failed, it seemed like they were going for broke.
Two different approaches
Payton’s propensity for aggressive calls didn’t always work. He chose to go for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line late in the first half, and the Saints were stuffed. What could have been a huge boost for the Colts instead turned into a footnote.
The Colts’ strategy after their goal-line stand was symbolic of the rest of the game. Indianapolis had a chance to try drive for a score with Peyton Manning, football’s best quarterback at the two-minute drive. Instead, they called three straight running plays.
The Saints stuffed a third-and-one run by Mike Hart, then punted back to the Saints. New Orleans drove for a quick field goal to cut the halftime score to 10-6. The Saints won by going for broke. The Colts lost by running plays to Mike Hart.
“They stuck to their game plan more than we stuck to ours,” Colts defensive tackle Dan Muir said.
Staying aggressive on defense
Even the Saints’ haircuts were more aggressive. Could you imagine one of the Colts shaving “SB 44” into his head like Saints cornerback Tracy Porter did before the big game?
Porter, of course, provided the game’s biggest play by jumping in front of a Peyton Manning pass and taking it 74 yards for the game’s final score. The Saints changed their defensive looks all night, from a 3-4 alignment to 4-3 and back. They blitzed from a variety of places, including multiple times right before Porter’s interception.
“That series of plays, trying to set up the route and hopefully set the formation that they would call, it kind of fell into our place right there,” said defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
Strategy is nice, of course, but you still need heroes to make the magic happen. And Williams relied on his underrated crew of players.
“To be an aggressive playcaller, you have to have players that can play,” Porter said afterward, still beaming. “And to have the guys the guys on defense that can make the plays that we make, Gregg’s philosophy and the players on our team, it’s like a match made in heaven.”
Williams got an assist on that call from some of his heady players.
“Our linebackers did a great job of convincing me that the next time we got in that situation to call that pressure … they suggested to me about three or four plays before that to make sure I come back to that on that down and distance again,” Williams said.
The smarts of the linebacker crew also showed up earlier in the fourth quarter. The Colts had a 17-16 lead and faced a third-and-11 from the Saints’ 33. Middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma was set to blitz, but changed the play at the last minute.
Instead of pressuring Manning, Vilma sprinted back from the line of scrimmage to break up a long pass attempt to Austin Collie. It was perhaps the game’s most underrated play and combined Vilma’s intelligence with his athleticism. It may have saved a touchdown.
Drew Brees deserves all the praise he gets Monday, but the Saints’ defense had a huge part in this win. The Saints were the league’s highest scoring team this year, but it wasn’t all about the offense. The team’s defense had an uncanny knack of converting turnovers into points.
The Super Bowl hype began with Williams’ call for his players to record some “remember me” hits on Manning. They didn’t get to the quarterback as much as they hoped, but they maintained a bloodthirsty attitude throughout the game.
“We wanted to get hitting Manning and throw off his timing,” Darren Sharper said. “We thought we forced two first ballot Hall of Famers into retirement — we’ll see about Brett — our goal was to try to get a third.”
Manning certainly isn’t going to retire, but he will remember this game for the rest of his life as the title that got away. But if he’s honest with himself, he’ll realize the Colts didn’t lose this one.
The Saints took it from him.
© 2010 NBC Sports.com
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