Around the NFL: The Day After Christmas
You know that feeling you get the day after Christmas, when all the presents have been unwrapped, and when all that build-up for the holiday season has passed? Perhaps you don’t celebrate Christmas… maybe you know what it’s like to wake up the day after a great concert or a special birthday. Maybe it’s just any special day that you really look forward to. It’s a feeling we all know and it’s of emptiness and confusion. You don’t really know what to do with yourself and you kind of feel as though you didn’t really appreciate it as much as you could’ve. That’s the way I feel after the Super Bowl. While I’m grateful that it was such an amazing game and that it was exhilarating to watch, I always find myself in a deep state of sadness upon the completion of the NFL season. True, the Pro Bowl is coming this weekend, but it seems kind of like a consolation prize, or as my Hebrew friend put it, the 8 th Chanukah gift. And for the record Mr. Goodell, moving the game to the week before the Super Bowl will not help things. Yes, it’s a long off-season and I’m already excited about prospects for the 2009 NFL season. It’s times like these when I have to remind myself that the draft is only a couple of months away and I need to bone up on my second-day prospects from schools that I never attended. Before all that starts though, let’s recap the greatest day of the year… the Super Bowl!
The Steelers beat the Cardinals 27-23
In an absolutely outstanding game, the Steelers pulled off the win, complete with an epic fourth quarter drive to win the game. Early on, the Steelers looked as though they would dominate, but failing to produce in the red zone hurt them early and after a late 2 nd quarter interception off a deflection by Arizona LB Karlos Dansby, the Steelers found themselves ahead by only three points with the Cardinals looking to score again. Then it happened. Cardinals QB Kurt Warner tried to squeeze a short ball into the end zone and it instead found it’s way into the arms of NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison. The Steelers LB ran down field as fast as he could, and as time expired in the half, all Arizona had to do was tackle this exhausted playmaker before he reached the end zone. Alas, the Cardinals couldn’t stop him and he tumbled into the end zone 100 yards later, laying on the turf and gasping for breath. Harrison made the score 17-7 going into the half, when it just as easily could’ve been 14-10 Cardinals.
Ten points was the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history from halftime. Surely the Cardinals couldn’t match that against the vaunted Pittsburgh defense? It certainly looked as such as the Steelers extended their first drive of the third quarter to eat up over eight and a half minutes of the clock. Still, they had to settle for another field goal, and the Pittsburgh lead was 20-7.
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Following a punt by each team and the changing of quarters, something clicked in Arizona. The team started moving the ball. Warner was on fire during the Cardinals first full fourth quarter drive, completing passes to five different receivers and capping off an 87 yard drive with an 11 yard touchdown pass to Pro Bowler Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald made a great catch over the defender to put the Cardinals within six points.
Following a Pittsburgh punt and then an outstanding punt by the Cardinals, the Steelers were stuck at their own 1-yard line. Backed up, on second down they tried to play it conservative and they ran RB Willie Parker up the middle. However, he barely made it back to the line as DE Travis Laboy tackled him for no gain. On third down, they decided to air it out and Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger threw a beautiful pass to WR Santonio Holmes. Holmes caught it for a 19 yard gain and a first down. But soon it was apparent that there were flags on the field, and Center Justin Hartwig had been called for holding in the end zone. By NFL rules, a holding penalty in your own end zone results in a safety, and just like that, the Cardinals were within four points; and they were about to get the ball back.
After the Safety Kick, Fitzgerald was ready to produce again, as he came across the middle, caught a short, perfectly timed pass from Warner and outran everyone for a 64-yard touchdown. This put the Cardinals ahead 23 to 20, but it unfortunately also left a whole 2:30 left on the clock. Everyone in Arizona was nervous; knowing Roethlisberger had been leading game winning drives all year. Sure enough, after some early struggles on the drive, Big Ben hit Santonio Holmes for a 40-yard pass all the way down to the Arizona 6-yard line. This set up a 1 st a goal. Ben went back to Holmes for an incomplete pass, and then on second down he threw it toward the side of the end zone, almost out of bounds and near the hands of the Cardinals defenders. Somehow, Holmes found a way to catch the ball, and after a booth review it was confirmed that he kept both feet in bounds and maintained possession of the ball. It was an amazing catch to cap off a spectacular fourth quarter drive by the Steelers. Pittsburgh was now ahead 27-23 with only 30 seconds left on the clock. The Cardinals couldn’t do anything with the time allotted as they completed two mid-tier passes and then lost possession when an incomplete pass was ruled a fumble. The Steelers won their second Super Bowl in four years and became the first franchise in history to win six titles.
This game was great to watch, and despite the post-season depression that I inevitably suffer from, this kind of game is all you can ask for from the Super Bowl. I hope that next year’s game is just as exciting.
Until Next Week, Enjoy the Pro Bowl!
By Brandon Niles
ProFootball-fans.com Staff Writer