Quite literally, it seemed, what with a game riddled with stealth plays...
I’d almost given up on the Steelers till the last few minutes of the first half, when my NFL hero finally turned it all around at 3rd and 28 with a beautifully orchestrated pass to his favorite receiver followed by a slightly unbelievable (albeit phenomenal) dive for a much-needed TD.
If things had gone the Seahawks’ way in the first fifteen minutes (especially the disputed Jackson touchdown catch) we might have seen a very different game. But even that doesn’t validate Matt’s decision to run the ball at under a minute left in the first half and some 40 yards to go, especially since he seemed to have no problems connecting (Big Ben was the one having trouble in the area, thanks to the awesome Seahawks defense). Apparently there was some miscommunication between him and Holmgren, but hell, even I know that calls for a throw!
Come second half, and Big Ben found his feet and incredibly it seemed, his penchant for the pass play. There’s nothing to take away from the fact that Roethlisberger always, always manages to deliver on the big plays, be it find a receiver, set up a shotgun or run for a first down. Not to mention the phenomenal Hines Ward who never seems to miss. The Bettis bus rolled on as well, not running outta gas, till the very end (the cheeriest player in the NFL shall be sorely missed :(). I don’t remember seeing much of the Porter-Polamalu defense, but they did deliver where it mattered. Like Holmgren himself said, Seattle was but a foot shy of a TD thrice in the first half. The Pittsburgh defense must have done something right.
The most incredible part of the game has got to be the gadget plays! Ben made it all look so easy, I’m wondering why they’re not done more often! The reverse pass from Randal El to Hines Ward was heart-stopping, quite literally. And Willie-the-fast-Parker’s record-breaking touchdown run, where I coulda sworn Roethlisberger was all set to throw, which put the Steelers quite unequivocally on top.
But only until Herndon’s interception in the 3rd quarter, it seemed, followed by the direly needed Stevens’ TD. And the 4th quarter saw the birds on an awesome journey from their 5 yard line all the way to the Steelers’ 1, and would have been too, but for that controversial call. Gotta give it to the relentless Seattle Offense – Hasselbeck, Alexander and the oh-so-unstoppable Jackson.
The Hawks did their job and did it well, but the Steelers played dangerous (the recurrent surfacing of Ben’s fondness for rushing excepted) and boy, were the risks worth it...
21-10 to be precise :)
Egotism ....a lifelong romance
Sunday, February 05, 2006
The Steelers steal the show...
Posted by Karthika at Sunday, February 05, 2006
Labels: Keeping the Eye on the ball
8 comments:
A few bullshit calls ruined what could and would have been a well fought game. Instead...the 12th man of the Steelers came through in a very convincing fashion at SB:XL (Yeah - you and the rest of America know who the 12th man/men are :-) )
Steelers pretty much sucked - and The Bus, went buss.
The Seahawks showed what an incredible team they are, and justified their first ever franchise trip to the Superbowl. I dont want to talk about the game itself or the officiating - enough is being bellowed all across America.
I will say - 24-21 is what it should have been.Thankfully there's cricket to bring me back from that numbing Super Sunday...
I’d be lying through my teeth if I said there were no controversial calls -- 3 against the hawks and one for the steelers (even a big-ben fan like me couldn’t believe that first TD), but that still doesn’t take away from the fact that the youngest QB to ever win a superbowl came through, and quite brilliantly at that :)
The game itself was pretty wanting – agonizingly obvious that it was a battle of underdogs with no superbowl experience & the first half was sinfully boring. Only the trick plays made up for it (and they had to, considering randal el was better at passing than ben ;))
As for the hawks, I don’t think hasselbeck was thinking at all out there, and towards the end, they seemed to have lost interest completely. Yeah, probably cudda been 24-21 if they’d been granted that Jackson TD and hadn’t had that controversial holding penalty, but since we're talking about could-have-beens, it’s not like ben would’ve slept through it; he wudda thought of something :)
hmmm, looked like that first one-dayer was quite a match, at least from the rediff reviews. The D/L was unfortunate, huh?
Yup.Wasn't a Super Sunday for me at all :-(.
Totally sucked that Pak won it by the D/L method (which IMO is flawed).The main reason that I can find,is us going from 305-3 to 329 all out.One Mr.SRT as always slowed down when he neared yet another century, and went trying to make up for it right after. Selfishness should NOT find a place in the indian team.
Hopefully today will be a better contest. There are talks that MSD might open.That should be interesting.Remind you of a certain OTHER swashbuckling wicketkeeper-opener :-)?
hmmm, the SB was such a contrast to the championship games...i think i had more adrenalin rushing than any of the players :(
Yeah, sad that india threw away a good start in the final overs. its glaringly obvious that sachin seems to care more about personal landmarks than anything else (and this from a person that didn’t watch the match ;)). All the more sad, cos he’s so talented. Those are the people that should be in individual sport :D
Hmmm, it’ll be cool if MSD opens. does seem almost gilchrist-ian, huh?
Glaringly, WTF. I was glued to the tv 90% of the time, and if I remember Correctly, Sachin's second 50 was far quicker (almost more than a run a ball I believe) than his first (when he was a little circumspect). Plus, he was on par with the young guns (Dhoni/Yuvraj) when it came to running between the wickets (not that this is anything new actually), and a significant portion of his runs came from stealing singles and twos and scampering for every run, even when they weren't his own runs. If people still have the audacity to call him selfish and playing for personal records, may God help them help themselves. I can tell you that 9 batsmen out of 10 slow down just a bit when they near a hundred. And may I add that when Sachin slows down, he slows down in terms of hitting boundaries, and not in terms of converting ones into twos and twos into threes. It is extremely natural and psychological to slow down, and will happen whether you are playing your first match or your thousandth. Pray, Sachin is playing for 16 years, and tell me one person who has managed to remain so quick and agile (while batting I mean) after playing for so long.
Atleast he is not begging and asking for alms like Mr. Ganguly - who I admired so much as a batsman as well as a tremendous leader not so long ago, but who has clearly displayed a pathetic attitude and sense of team spirit in the last few months. A classic example of success taking its toll on a person, and a leader taking undue advantages of his position and stature in team India, and hoping that everything happens according to his whims and fancies. Shit, what a disgrace, these Dalmiyas and Gangulys.
heyyy Atool,
whenzya gettin back?
knew you'd stick up for sachin :)
believe me, i used to like sachin as much as the next guy and i've always thought of him as pure genius but his lack of maturity drives me nuts.
he does this recurringly -- play it safe when he is in the 90s and cost the team the match. he doesnt seem to grow up at all. granted, i didnt watch this match and i havent watched cricket for god knows how long, so cant put up a convincing argument, but i've been reading reviews and he seems pretty much the same.
Where has the objectivist in you gone? Haven't watched cricket for god knows how long, and then you are using strong words like lack of maturity?
I may have to blog about Sachin someday and iron out some things for you. ;)
In the meantime, check these two links, after the third one-dayer in Lahore was won by India, thanks to stunning batting performances from Sachin, Yuvraj and Dhoni:
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/pakvind/content/current/story/236955.html
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/pakvind/content/current/story/236960.html
I really don't know what fuels the public to say that Sachin plays only for personal records.
If I knew in advance that a gem of an innings from Sachin was on the cards, I would have extended my vacation.
naah, objectivism is like communism – looks great on paper, not so much in real life ;) So, while it is good for that animated randian discussion, it’s not to be practised. Besides, you know I am the last person on earth to be objective – you dont defend bush and o’reilly by being objective :D
[trust me to convert any argument into a randian one ;)]
But will give tendulkar his due as well ;) i read about his spectacular performance. But i have never denied his talent, and since i'd applaud talent sooner than ‘character’, sachin is all good. But sadly team sport requires team-spiritedness as much as talent if not more; reason why the TOs and kobes and laras always get in trouble, despite being brilliant players...
will wait for your post, but you know better than to expect me to change my mind.
Post a Comment