4min and 44 seconds of Harrison running 100 yards - XLIII

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

[url="http://www.nfl.com/videos/pittsburgh-steelers/09000d5d80e97cd9/SB-XLIII-Anatomy-James-Harrison-s-100-yard-dash"]http://www.nfl.com/videos/pittsburgh-st ... -yard-dash[/url]

Woooooo!

What a great breakdown of the play.

One thing I noticed, is that the announcer was a bit WRONG about what Dick LeBeau called. He said Harrison was supposed to be laying back in zone coverage. We all know Harrison was supposed to blitz, but decided not to on his own. Looking at the play, I think if he had gone in, there would have been a good chance that Boldin would have gotten a TD.

Also, check it out at 3:51 - Troy with a MAJOR block in the back on Fitzgerald during the run back ... we are SO LUCKY the refs weren't looking!!

[stlrz d]

Re: 4min and 44 seconds of Harrison running 100 yards - XLIII

Meh...Troy hit him in the side more than anything. You can see it better from the next (top) view. It's got to be blatant for an official to call it.

[papillon]

Re: 4min and 44 seconds of Harrison running 100 yards - XLIII

I still want to know what would be called if someone blocked Fitzgerald while he was outside the boundary. Would that be a personal foul? Illegal block? Or, would it be okay? If he's allowed to be out there and make a tackle can he be blocked? It's a dumb rule to allow a player outside the boundary to be eligible to make a play. Harrison had to avoid a lot of bodies, there are no bodies out there, so, Fitz had a clear run (except for Antrell Rolle), but, regardless, he was able to run without having to worry about anything except catching Silverback.

Pappy

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

Re: 4min and 44 seconds of Harrison running 100 yards - XLIII

I still want to know what would be called if someone blocked Fitzgerald while he was outside the boundary. Would that be a personal foul? Illegal block? Or, would it be okay? If he's allowed to be out there and make a tackle can he be blocked? It's a dumb rule to allow a player outside the boundary to be eligible to make a play. Harrison had to avoid a lot of bodies, there are no bodies out there, so, Fitz had a clear run (except for Antrell Rolle), but, regardless, he was able to run without having to worry about anything except catching Silverback.

Pappy

See, I thought that it was a penalty/unsportmanlike conduct if the player who was out of bounds didn't "attempt to establish himself inbounds at the earliest opportunity". Maybe I'm dreaming, but I could swear I've seen flags thrown for that, mainly on kickoff or punt returns. Does anyone know about that rule, and how it might or might not have applied here?

[SteelAbility]

Re: 4min and 44 seconds of Harrison running 100 yards - XLIII

I remember after SB43, hearing all the AZ fan arguments about why there should have been various flags on that play. The big one was the supposed block in the back by Woodley. Looking at it again, it looks likes Woodley's initial contact with Hightower came at the shoulder, which is legal. Any contact with Hightower's back AFTER that is considered "turning into it" by the defender. Call was good. TD was good. Go Steelers!!

[Wolfhound45]

Re: 4min and 44 seconds of Harrison running 100 yards - XLIII

I still want to know what would be called if someone blocked Fitzgerald while he was outside the boundary. Would that be a personal foul? Illegal block? Or, would it be okay? If he's allowed to be out there and make a tackle can he be blocked? It's a dumb rule to allow a player outside the boundary to be eligible to make a play. Harrison had to avoid a lot of bodies, there are no bodies out there, so, Fitz had a clear run (except for Antrell Rolle), but, regardless, he was able to run without having to worry about anything except catching Silverback.

Pappy

See, I thought that it was a penalty/unsportmanlike conduct if the player who was out of bounds didn't "attempt to establish himself inbounds at the earliest opportunity". Maybe I'm dreaming, but I could swear I've seen flags thrown for that, mainly on kickoff or punt returns. Does anyone know about that rule, and how it might or might not have applied here?

All of this discussion about Larry Fitzgerald reminds me of this play in the 2002 AFC Championship Game.

On fourth-and-6 from his own 13, Pittsburgh's Josh Miller punted the ball to the Patriots' 23 -- 64 yards after it skittered behind Brown. But Pittsburgh's Troy Edwards was called for illegal procedure for stepping out of bounds and coming back in. So the Steelers had to rekick.

Cowher said the officials lined up the ball on the wrong hashmark when they respotted it after the penalty. He said that was one reason Brown punted the ball down the middle.

"In my mind that's inexcusable," Cowher said.

Brown took the ball back down the middle in the other direction for a 55-yard touchdown return that made it 7-0 with 3:42 left in the first period.

[url="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/2002/playoffs/news/2002/01/27/patriots_steelers_ap/"]http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/footba ... eelers_ap/[/url]

Not sure of the rule, but I have to believe that Larry Fitzgerald was not eligible to even make the play. Moot point because the TD stood and we won the game.