I promised I would not blame the game's result on the officiating. But it was pretty obviously an incomplete pass. Of course, all that would have resulted in was a chance for a Hail Mary in the end zone. Warner would just have to throw it into coverage and hope that Larry or Anquan came down with it. Two costly plays: the pick-6 at the goal line by Harrison just before half, and Aaron Francisco falling down and allowing the 46-yard Santonio Holmes catch.
On the other hand, the game with the Eagles could have gone the other way as well. The Panthers were not a championship caiber team, but the Eagles, the Cardinals and the Steelers were all championship caliber teams. The scoring history in the Eagles game and the Steelers game was remarkably similar, with the Cardinals in reversed roles.
8 comments:
Just to be contrary: the ball was knocked loose before his hand came forward. He did not have control of the ball as his had went forward so it was essentially an empty hand. Close though.
My presuppositional disclaimer: the refs are always right.
Pittsburgh also clearly had a DL jump into the neutral zone on the last play of the half, so the interception-runback-100-yards-for-a-TD play should have been called back.
Fumble or incomplete---doesn't change the very clear fact that the play should have been reviewed. No one in my mind can justify *not* reviewing the deciding play of the SuperBowl when the call on the field was so clearly unclear.
Now maybe after careful review, using "composite angles" (as was mention by the legendary John Madden frequently in the earlier part of the game) maybe the call on the field stands as a fumble. But for the life of me I can see no justifiable reason not to take the time to get it right and review it carefully, especially since the last SB appearance by Pittsburgh was so full of controversial officiating. The decision not to review that play baffles me.
No...
he had control.
It met all of the requirements of a forward pass.
At the very VERY least it should have been reviewed.
Sure looked like a fumble to me. As soon as the linebacker hit his arm which was still behind his back the ball was loose. He did not have control of the ball. I can't get over all the complaining over a game. Arizona fans where was your offense for the first three quaters of the game? You come alive for one quater and want a win???????? Quit crying and look forward to next year. Steeler fans enjoy the win. It was an entertaining game.
I don't know that the fact that the Cardinals did nearly all of their scoring in the fourth quarter makes them any less deserving of victory than a team who had scored earlier. The game is a four quarter game, and many fourth-quarter comebacks have yielded victories. Had the Cardinals held off the Steelers defensively, they would have won.
Nevertheless, as I indicated, I think it was unlikely that an incomplete pass ruling would have changed the outcome. It is very difficult to score if you don't have the field goal option.
The game has "breaks" of various sort that would have turned the game one way or another. Roethlisberger was just out of the end zone in the first quarter, and it cost four points. Harrison was just in, and that was seven points. The game could have gone either way.
It was strange they didn't review that play. I thought it was clearly an incomplete pass as his hand was moving forward.
His hand may have been going forward but it didn't have the ball it it.Look why can't you folks face it. It was a fumble. It was looked at and decided to be a fumble. All the replays show a ball knocked loose and a hand going forward without control of the ball. That is a fumble.
Maybe next year will be your year but this year wasn't. You could'd stop a 78 yard drive when you had to.
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