2008 NFL Season Thread- The Road to Super Bowl XLIII

[Falkenhayn]

Lady Tevar, I went to school with almost all pats fans. Some decent, mostly smug homers though. By now, they'll be biting fingernails and gnashing teeth over "dynasty" and "team of the decade". I welcome this outcome whole-heartedly, with the caveat of having not watched a minute of the game on video.

[Qwerty 42]

Great, great game. Great plays by Fitzgerald and Holmes on those last plays.

Speaking of which, the latter just got named MVP.

[Dark Flame]

That was one hell of a catch by Holmes. Damn. It was a pretty good game, and I think Santonio deserved the MVP award.

And the refs still gave it away. Roughing the passer... My ass.

[erik_t]

Well, that's two highway robbery Pittsburgh Superbowl victories this decade. Jesus Christ. I didn't know that playing two-hand-touch with a fucking holder was a fucking personal foul. Never mind that a quarterback could fumble by winding his throwing arm back, then throwing the ball forward in a spiral. Fucking fuck.

I need to get in a fight post haste.

[Darth Fanboy]

The butthurt in this thread at times is simply amazing. The refs did *NOT* give this game away, and they didn't give Seattle away. How much whining does it take to overturn a game's outcome? Oh wait...

[weemadando]

Well, that's two highway robbery Pittsburgh Superbowl victories this decade. Jesus Christ. I didn't know that playing two-hand-touch with a fucking holder was a fucking personal foul. Never mind that a quarterback could fumble by winding his throwing arm back, then throwing the ball forward in a spiral. Fucking fuck.

I need to get in a fight post haste.

Indeed. That was an incomplete. Not a fucking fumble - they block the arm while it's in forward motion and the ball spills. That makes it an incomplete. NOT a fumble.

Who knows if that makes a difference, but still. It was a poor call.

[Qwerty 42]

The Steelers won this game on their own merits. The personal foul against the punter was ultimately meaningless, and it's inconceivable to think that the Cardinals would have scored with the one, maybe two, plays they would have gotten if the play had been ruled an incompletion rather than a fumble.

[CaiusWickersham]

A good game by the Cardinals, but I still want to drink the sweet, delicious tears of unfathomable sadness from the Cardinals fans. Hav, you may start weeping into my dragon goblet as soon as I'm done with my Sam Adams Blackberry Witbier.

[Havok]

*sigh*

I fucking hate Pittsburgh.

That said, a few points...

That was a great game. If I didn't hate the Steelers so much, I would have enjoyed it a little more.

Kurt Warner IS a Hall of Fame QB.

The Cardinals needed to take more time off the clock when they got the ball back after the safety. I was almost screaming at the TV for them to fun the ball on at least two plays. That would have killed a minute off the time that the Steelers used to score.

Of all the plays that the booth has reviewied, for them to NOT, or only spend 5 seconds on that last fumble was fucking ridiculous. As the rest of the week unfolds, people will realize that Warner did not have the ball knocked from his hand and did indeed push it forward, which technically, is a forward pass.

It was nice to see a couple of calls go against the Steelers in clutch moments.

The Steelers won this game fair and square. Talk of stealing a win is just sour grapes. Yes there were some bad calls, but the Cards had enough calls go their way to offset that.

[erik_t]

Qwerty: It was inconceivable? Fitzgerald caught a 64 yard TD pass that quarter. The final "fumble" was recovered at the Pitt 43, which would have been a 57 yard TD play. I think your definition of "inconceivable" (PROTIP: usually means something that you can't imagine happening in real life) needs work.

[Havok]

Qwerty: It was inconceivable? Fitzgerald caught a 64 yard TD pass that quarter. The final "fumble" was recovered at the Pitt 43, which would have been a 57 yard TD play. I think your definition of "inconceivable" (PROTIP: usually means something that you can't imagine happening in real life) needs work.

Also, time would have been put back on the clock. No, there was a good chance that the Cardinals receiving corp would have made a play, especially with Fitzgerald in the mix.

Either way, as I said, with some of the completely obvious plays that the booth buzzes down on, for them to NOT, or just spend 5 seconds, reviewing that play, is fucking ridiculous.

[Darth Fanboy]

That last play was an incomplete, but they still have, what ten seconds then to go the rest of the way down the field?

Hav you are dead on that Kurt Warner is HoF material.

[Havok]

That last play was an incomplete, but they still have, what ten seconds then to go the rest of the way down the field?

How long did it take for Fitzgerald to score on his big play. Also, I've seen Fitzgerald actually come down with a hail mary pass, so yeah, I think it was a huge call that should have gotten far more review than it did.

Hav you are dead on that Kurt Warner is HoF material.

I've believed this for a long while. Seeing him twice a year over the last couple and first few years of his career helped me figure that out. I'm glad that he has had some late career success so that other people realize it again.

[Qwerty 42]

Qwerty: It was inconceivable? Fitzgerald caught a 64 yard TD pass that quarter. The final "fumble" was recovered at the Pitt 43, which would have been a 57 yard TD play. I think your definition of "inconceivable" (PROTIP: usually means something that you can't imagine happening in real life) needs work.

I stand by what I said. The Steeler safeties were playing a lot closer to the line of scrimmage on Fitzgerald's touchdown than on the Cardinal's final drive. A deep play? Sure. But with the amount of time left on that clock, the chances were functionally zero. You'll pardon me for the hyperbole, but it would not have happened.

[erik_t]

Qwerty: It was inconceivable? Fitzgerald caught a 64 yard TD pass that quarter. The final "fumble" was recovered at the Pitt 43, which would have been a 57 yard TD play. I think your definition of "inconceivable" (PROTIP: usually means something that you can't imagine happening in real life) needs work.

I stand by what I said. The Steeler safeties were playing a lot closer to the line of scrimmage on Fitzgerald's touchdown than on the Cardinal's final drive. A deep play? Sure. But with the amount of time left on that clock, the chances were functionally zero. You'll pardon me for the hyperbole, but it would not have happened.

I will not pardon you for the hyperbole. If the chances were zero, then the game should have been called to prevent potential meaningless injury to the players. If the chances were not zero, then we don't know what the result would have been if the game had been called properly. We can guess, but we can't know unless the refs had fucking done their jobs.

There is no middle ground here.

[Qwerty 42]

Qwerty: It was inconceivable? Fitzgerald caught a 64 yard TD pass that quarter. The final "fumble" was recovered at the Pitt 43, which would have been a 57 yard TD play. I think your definition of "inconceivable" (PROTIP: usually means something that you can't imagine happening in real life) needs work.

I stand by what I said. The Steeler safeties were playing a lot closer to the line of scrimmage on Fitzgerald's touchdown than on the Cardinal's final drive. A deep play? Sure. But with the amount of time left on that clock, the chances were functionally zero. You'll pardon me for the hyperbole, but it would not have happened.

I will not pardon you for the hyperbole. If the chances were zero, then the game should have been called to prevent potential meaningless injury to the players. If the chances were not zero, then we don't know what the result would have been if the game had been called properly. We can guess, but we can't know unless the refs had fucking done their jobs.

There is no middle ground here.

There's an awfully colossal difference between "the game ended prematurely" and "the refs gave the game away."

[Darth Fanboy]

How long did it take for Fitzgerald to score on his big play.

Cardinals did not have the luxury of the middle of the field at this point, it had to be in the endzone or down the sidelines otherwise its a massive risk, and there were far more Steelers back covering on the final play.

[Flagg]

I bask in the pain of Kurt Warner and his family. May he wake up night after night knowing that it was an incomplete and sob uncontrollably thinking what might have been. Oh the joy of such tears...

[Guardsman Bass]

Poor Cardinals. To fight their way to the lead, with only a little more than two minutes left on the clock . . . then give up, what, 70 yards on defense in just over a minute to the Pittsburgh offense. Christ.

In any case, there were an assload of penalties in that game, especially personal fouls and holding calls.

[Havok]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjmYmhI2hO0&NR=1

Go to 1:04 (tha catch from the back of the endzone, then the whole play) and don't fucking tell me that the Cardinals still don't have a chance with Fitzgerald and another play.

[That NOS Guy]

Frankly if we're going to complain about being fucked by the Refs I don't even know if the Cards are even in without a blown pass intereference call in the NFC championship game. The zebras giveth, the zebras taketh.

[Steve]

I bask in the pain of Kurt Warner and his family. May he wake up night after night knowing that it was an incomplete and sob uncontrollably thinking what might have been. Oh the joy of such tears...

Oh fuck off and show some fucking taste.

[Havok]

Frankly if we're going to complain about being fucked by the Refs I don't even know if the Cards are even in without a blown pass intereference call in the NFC championship game. The zebras giveth, the zebras taketh.

Now now now. Why a Cowboy's fan, such as yourself, would be concerned with the Eagles getting screwed, I just don't understand.

However, that play was gone over by the VP of officiating on NFL Network and he deemed it the correct call.

[Flagg]

I bask in the pain of Kurt Warner and his family. May he wake up night after night knowing that it was an incomplete and sob uncontrollably thinking what might have been. Oh the joy of such tears...

Oh fuck off and show some fucking taste.

Your pain makes me STRONGER!

[Qwerty 42]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjmYmhI2hO0&NR=1

Go to 1:04 (tha catch from the back of the endzone, then the whole play) and don't fucking tell me that the Cardinals still don't have a chance with Fitzgerald and another play.

I have not been saying that they don't have a chance, my overstatement aside. I'm just saying that it's a gigantic stretch to say that the game was given away by the referees because the Cardinals lose another Hail Mary. They also had a chance to run a fumble back for a touchdown on Roethlisberger's kneeldown, but you'd be foolish to fault the defense for not coming up with it.