Re:
Everything you posted, Survivor, was ALL the Steelers did, and not ONE call went against the Steelers in some dramatically material way. Not one. There wasn't a call back of a TD. There wasn't a questionable fumble, or a questionable INT. Nothing.
From the get-go, this was the Steelers bowl, no matter what. YES, good game-planning holds up; that's what got them this far. But that's where the buck stops. It was "Bettis' home coming", a Pittsburgh Superbowl if you observed the fans, and Cowher was offer this one on a silver platter since he was owed it from the previous on botched calls AGAINST him.
Pitt got schooled in all important categories, yet came out on top. Also, SEA was the LEAST penalized team in the league. UNTIL they meet PITT, who is one of the more penalized teams in the league, and they walk away with 7 penalties for 70 yards. WTF? Most of the calls were questionable at BEST, yet their outcome on the game was HUGE.
Sure, they pissed 2 field goals. But give props to a guy who KILLED it more than 60 yards, but was off only a few yards. Having to make 50 yards time after time is an irregularity in the NFL. Only Neil Rackers of recent memory had that consistency as of late, and he'd only made 1 per game, because that was the only way AZ could score.
It's a travesty to American sports for that to occur. Ben got schooled by SEA his completion % and false touchdown, horrible. Yards per carry was the only bright spot offensively for PITT, and that's because Parker's 75 yard run BOOSTED the stats. Other than that, Bettis managed his pedestrian 3 yards/carry, while Shaun squeaked out 5.5.
SEA was doing great, with just vanilla work in the 1st half. Without any gadget or trick plays SEA had the game managed properly. It was only at the 2minute rundown they had complications. And by the time it was 2minute rundown in the 2ndhalf, the game was out of reach. It was out of reach at the 6 minute mark in the 4th.
PITT can gloat all they want, but I'm proud to say NE owns 3 of the last 5 now, and will consider NEXT year to be a 3 peat if they do it, because of this terrible display.
How fitting would it be to have NE vs DAL, Belichick vs Parcells, Brady vs Bledsoe?
That would be a Superbowl worthy of watching, and ANY team making history is better to watch than trash tv of this past one.
Mark it down, PITT won't come close to the Superbowl next year, REGARDLESS of what they do. If they lose Whisenhun, Bettis, Randle El, and a defensive player, they don't have it in the bag. I like Big Ben, but he coasted most of the Reg. Season on the rushing attack and solid D. Randle El is a free agent, and he'll likely want big money now that he's won a superbowl. PITT had a hard enough time signing Ward, who's been a consistent #1. It's doubtful Randle El stays now.
Nor do I think Indy makes it, since they're not going to sign Edgerrin James, which is totally foolish since it was Indy's D + James that got them to 13 wins without much throwing of Peyton. It isn't like they have a dual threat of backs over there, and James is the perfect back; he catches AND runs, and is consistently one of the top 5 in the league. And for that reason, they never made it to the next stage because they abandoned the run vs Pitt and mismanaged game control.
SD had a chance, but that went out the window when Brees went down. NOW they can't trade Rivers and recoup their lost investment, since who knows if Brees will be ready (his injury is similar to Penningtons, and he can't throw worth a damn). Trading Rivers for picks would have put them over the edge, since they have a force on Offense and a great young D.
No Next Year will be the year of Den, Ne, Mia, Dal, and possibly KC. Indy and Pitt will compete, but they'll fall from where they are now. Buf will be terrible unless they get some WR and OL help. NYJ is done. And Oak is busted without a NEW QB, stick a fork in Collins. Forget Green Bay, they're too far off. Bal is unsettled.
A-Unit
