Tweet
Schein's Nine: Best Super Bowl nuggetsby Adam Schein
[url="http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9173230/Schein's-Nine:-Best-Super-Bowl-nuggets"]http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9173 ... wl-nuggets[/url]
Adam Schein hosts the Sirius Blitz on Sirius NFL Radio from 11-3 ET. He also co-hosts Loudmouths on Sports Net New York every weeknight at 6 ET. He is a weekly columnist and files weekly video reports and makes NFL picks "video style" for FOXSports.com. Email Adam here.
Updated: February 3, 2009, 6:08 PM EST 257 comments Legendary plays. Heart-stopping moments. Horrible calls. An unprecedented sixth Super Bowl for the Steelers.
This Super Bowl had it all.
Guys and goats Adam Schein names his Five Guys and Five Goats from the Super Bowl.
We examine it in the latest Schein's Nine.
1. "He pulled a Roethlisberger"
That's what an announcer will say the next time a quarterback drives his team down for a win at the end of a huge game.
Roethlisberger looked like Joe Montana and Tom Brady engineering his majestic 78-yard, Super Bowl-winning drive to beat the Cardinals. And this Arizona defense had been playing a very good game.
I thought the Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald touchdown with 2:30 to go would win it for the Cardinals. As clutch as Ben has been throughout his career, I didn't think he'd punch it in because of the respect level I had for Arizona. A field goal, perhaps. But I wasn't thinking he'd get seven for the Steelers.
I mention that to properly put in context what Roethlisberger accomplished against all odds, capping the eight-play drive with the classic throw to Santonio Holmes. And make no mistake -- that was a tremendous THROW before we even get into the catch. Roethlisberger dazzled with his poise, his ability to escape pressure and his arm strength and accuracy on the drive.
Ben's always played his best when it mattered the most since he entered the league.
And that's why I've had him as a top-five quarterback for some time.
But after Sunday night, he's no longer in the conversation with the Phil Rivers and the Eli Mannings and the Carson Palmers and the Donovan McNabbs and anyone else in that 4-12 category.
It's Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. Then draw the line.
That's how good the comeback was.
2. Yo, Holmes
The catch by the Steelers receiver was beautiful, with three Cardinals on him. What brilliant hands and body control to clearly get both feet in bounds.
He deserves all the accolades for making one of the biggest and best catches in Super Bowl history.
There was a reason why I picked Holmes before the game to be the MVP. His speed was a matchup nightmare for the Cardinals defensive backs.
The 40-yard gainer when Aaron Francisco fell down changed the ebb and flow of the drive, shifting from Pittsburgh playing for overtime vs. going for the win. Even before the catch for the ages, that play clinched the MVP for Holmes.
3. Prop Problems
So let me get this straight.
Wes Welker gets flagged and fined for an innocent snow angel. Yet Terry McAulay and his crew somehow miss the boat on Holmes using the football as a prop. We can debate whether or not that should be a penalty. For the record, I don't think it should be. But it is and it's been called consistently all year.
Holmes should've drawn a 15-yard penalty and it needed to be assessed on the kickoff. That could've changed the final drive for the Cardinals, aiding them greatly with field position.
4. More ref woes
Please don't think that by writing this I am taking away from the Steelers Super Bowl win.
But you cannot tell the story of this Super Bowl without talking about the officiating. And that's a fact.
It's a joke that Karlos Dansby was flagged for roughing the passer on Roethlisberger.
I understand the rule when Adrian Wilson ran into the holder. But isn't that football? How was he supposed to stop his momentum?
It was alarming that head ref Terry McAulay didn't review the final Kurt Warner fumble. How do you not check out a debatable play to the naked eye in the closing seconds of the Super Bowl! For the record, I think it was called correctly, but I would've liked to have seen more shots of it. It's the Super Bowl!
And I would've liked the officials to seem more concerned about checking it out than having NBC get to The Office on time. This was simply illogical and looked bad. Oh, by the way, if the call is overturned, Arizona gets 15 extra yards after James Farrior removed his helmet. The refs needed to take this play more seriously than they did.
You could also make the case -- as NBC's John Madden did -- that James Harrison deserved to be chucked out of the game for punching an opponent.
5. Big-game James
Harrison's pick at the end of the first half was legendary on so many levels.
I don't know about you, but I thought Arizona was going to score a touchdown and go into the half with a lead in a game where they were outplayed for both quarters.
Then there's the actual play.
Think about everything he did.
For Harrison to confuse Kurt Warner at the 2-yard line, drop back into coverage after faking a blitz, catch the ball, run full speed down the field, have the savvy not to hand the ball to cornerback Deshea Townsend who was begging for it, use his athleticism and power to break three potential tackles while hugging the sideline and not stepping out of bounds, ALL WITH NO TIME LEFT IN THE HALF, it was a play that had everything.
And how about the ability for Harrison to actually get into the end zone by a hair?
Pittsburgh needed those points, as it turned out.
It's not hyperbole. That's an all-time great play.
6. Coached up
Townsend gave us a great nugget on the play when he joined us on Sirius NFL Radio on Monday. Townsend said Mike Tomlin made sure the team practiced setting up blocks on interception returns all week long.
That's vintage Tomlin.
This Super Bowl win couldn't happen to a better guy in someone who truly appreciates the Rooney family and the Steelers fans and what Pittsburgh stands for.
And I want to give Ken Whisenhunt the appropriate kudos for having his team rally from a double-digit deficit.
This team never flinched until the very end. It didn't fold after the Harrison play. When the Cards committed three personal foul penalties on one drive, they still had the resolve to keep Pittsburgh out of the end zone with Gabe Watson and Darnell Dockett making big plays.
It was a wonderful season for Whisenhunt and the Cardinals. Being around the players and staff all week, the culture has changed. The Cards are no longer who you thought they were.
7. Hall of a game
It drove me nuts during the week leading up to the game when guests on our Sirius NFL Radio show would say Kurt Warner's legacy and Hall of Fame potential would be based on the result of the Super Bowl.
That was a foolish, blanket statement.
Warner made a huge mistake on the Harrison touchdown. But he had a sensational game.
Even in a loss, Warner's 377 yards and three touchdowns, in conjunction with his stellar season leading the Cardinals to this improbable run to Super Bowl, adds get strength to his Hall of Fame resume.
8. Fitz factor
John Madden was all over it on Sunday night.
Where was Larry Fitzgerald in the first three quarters before he exploded in the fourth?
Sure, Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu and Co. doubled him. But Fitz was beating double teams all tournament long. You have to let him work his magic.
9. Perspective
I thought the Super Bowl was incredible and drama filled. But greatest ever? No way. I'm not even sure it was the greatest Super Bowl the Steelers participated in.
I'd argue perhaps the greatest fourth quarter of all time with the Cards coming back from a 13-point deficit. The safety on the Justin Hartwig hold in the end zone was huge. Warner to Fitzgerald for 64 yards was heart-stopping. Ben's comeback was classic.
But the game was a bit choppy over the first three quarters, with too many penalties, bad calls, and neither team running effectively.
The Giants over New England and Denver beating Green Bay (so underrated as a Super Bowl) were better actual games.
[url="http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9173230/Schein's-Nine:-Best-Super-Bowl-nuggets"]http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9173 ... wl-nuggets[/url]
Adam Schein hosts the Sirius Blitz on Sirius NFL Radio from 11-3 ET. He also co-hosts Loudmouths on Sports Net New York every weeknight at 6 ET. He is a weekly columnist and files weekly video reports and makes NFL picks "video style" for FOXSports.com. Email Adam here.
Updated: February 3, 2009, 6:08 PM EST 257 comments Legendary plays. Heart-stopping moments. Horrible calls. An unprecedented sixth Super Bowl for the Steelers.
This Super Bowl had it all.
Guys and goats Adam Schein names his Five Guys and Five Goats from the Super Bowl.
We examine it in the latest Schein's Nine.
1. "He pulled a Roethlisberger"
That's what an announcer will say the next time a quarterback drives his team down for a win at the end of a huge game.
Roethlisberger looked like Joe Montana and Tom Brady engineering his majestic 78-yard, Super Bowl-winning drive to beat the Cardinals. And this Arizona defense had been playing a very good game.
I thought the Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald touchdown with 2:30 to go would win it for the Cardinals. As clutch as Ben has been throughout his career, I didn't think he'd punch it in because of the respect level I had for Arizona. A field goal, perhaps. But I wasn't thinking he'd get seven for the Steelers.
I mention that to properly put in context what Roethlisberger accomplished against all odds, capping the eight-play drive with the classic throw to Santonio Holmes. And make no mistake -- that was a tremendous THROW before we even get into the catch. Roethlisberger dazzled with his poise, his ability to escape pressure and his arm strength and accuracy on the drive.
Ben's always played his best when it mattered the most since he entered the league.
And that's why I've had him as a top-five quarterback for some time.
But after Sunday night, he's no longer in the conversation with the Phil Rivers and the Eli Mannings and the Carson Palmers and the Donovan McNabbs and anyone else in that 4-12 category.
It's Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. Then draw the line.
That's how good the comeback was.
2. Yo, Holmes
The catch by the Steelers receiver was beautiful, with three Cardinals on him. What brilliant hands and body control to clearly get both feet in bounds.
He deserves all the accolades for making one of the biggest and best catches in Super Bowl history.
There was a reason why I picked Holmes before the game to be the MVP. His speed was a matchup nightmare for the Cardinals defensive backs.
The 40-yard gainer when Aaron Francisco fell down changed the ebb and flow of the drive, shifting from Pittsburgh playing for overtime vs. going for the win. Even before the catch for the ages, that play clinched the MVP for Holmes.
3. Prop Problems
So let me get this straight.
Wes Welker gets flagged and fined for an innocent snow angel. Yet Terry McAulay and his crew somehow miss the boat on Holmes using the football as a prop. We can debate whether or not that should be a penalty. For the record, I don't think it should be. But it is and it's been called consistently all year.
Holmes should've drawn a 15-yard penalty and it needed to be assessed on the kickoff. That could've changed the final drive for the Cardinals, aiding them greatly with field position.
4. More ref woes
Please don't think that by writing this I am taking away from the Steelers Super Bowl win.
But you cannot tell the story of this Super Bowl without talking about the officiating. And that's a fact.
It's a joke that Karlos Dansby was flagged for roughing the passer on Roethlisberger.
I understand the rule when Adrian Wilson ran into the holder. But isn't that football? How was he supposed to stop his momentum?
It was alarming that head ref Terry McAulay didn't review the final Kurt Warner fumble. How do you not check out a debatable play to the naked eye in the closing seconds of the Super Bowl! For the record, I think it was called correctly, but I would've liked to have seen more shots of it. It's the Super Bowl!
And I would've liked the officials to seem more concerned about checking it out than having NBC get to The Office on time. This was simply illogical and looked bad. Oh, by the way, if the call is overturned, Arizona gets 15 extra yards after James Farrior removed his helmet. The refs needed to take this play more seriously than they did.
You could also make the case -- as NBC's John Madden did -- that James Harrison deserved to be chucked out of the game for punching an opponent.
5. Big-game James
Harrison's pick at the end of the first half was legendary on so many levels.
I don't know about you, but I thought Arizona was going to score a touchdown and go into the half with a lead in a game where they were outplayed for both quarters.
Then there's the actual play.
Think about everything he did.
For Harrison to confuse Kurt Warner at the 2-yard line, drop back into coverage after faking a blitz, catch the ball, run full speed down the field, have the savvy not to hand the ball to cornerback Deshea Townsend who was begging for it, use his athleticism and power to break three potential tackles while hugging the sideline and not stepping out of bounds, ALL WITH NO TIME LEFT IN THE HALF, it was a play that had everything.
And how about the ability for Harrison to actually get into the end zone by a hair?
Pittsburgh needed those points, as it turned out.
It's not hyperbole. That's an all-time great play.
6. Coached up
Townsend gave us a great nugget on the play when he joined us on Sirius NFL Radio on Monday. Townsend said Mike Tomlin made sure the team practiced setting up blocks on interception returns all week long.
That's vintage Tomlin.
This Super Bowl win couldn't happen to a better guy in someone who truly appreciates the Rooney family and the Steelers fans and what Pittsburgh stands for.
And I want to give Ken Whisenhunt the appropriate kudos for having his team rally from a double-digit deficit.
This team never flinched until the very end. It didn't fold after the Harrison play. When the Cards committed three personal foul penalties on one drive, they still had the resolve to keep Pittsburgh out of the end zone with Gabe Watson and Darnell Dockett making big plays.
It was a wonderful season for Whisenhunt and the Cardinals. Being around the players and staff all week, the culture has changed. The Cards are no longer who you thought they were.
7. Hall of a game
It drove me nuts during the week leading up to the game when guests on our Sirius NFL Radio show would say Kurt Warner's legacy and Hall of Fame potential would be based on the result of the Super Bowl.
That was a foolish, blanket statement.
Warner made a huge mistake on the Harrison touchdown. But he had a sensational game.
Even in a loss, Warner's 377 yards and three touchdowns, in conjunction with his stellar season leading the Cardinals to this improbable run to Super Bowl, adds get strength to his Hall of Fame resume.
8. Fitz factor
John Madden was all over it on Sunday night.
Where was Larry Fitzgerald in the first three quarters before he exploded in the fourth?
Sure, Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu and Co. doubled him. But Fitz was beating double teams all tournament long. You have to let him work his magic.
9. Perspective
I thought the Super Bowl was incredible and drama filled. But greatest ever? No way. I'm not even sure it was the greatest Super Bowl the Steelers participated in.
I'd argue perhaps the greatest fourth quarter of all time with the Cards coming back from a 13-point deficit. The safety on the Justin Hartwig hold in the end zone was huge. Warner to Fitzgerald for 64 yards was heart-stopping. Ben's comeback was classic.
But the game was a bit choppy over the first three quarters, with too many penalties, bad calls, and neither team running effectively.
The Giants over New England and Denver beating Green Bay (so underrated as a Super Bowl) were better actual games.
Comment