Greetings all.  I'm sure we've all watched the Super Bowl, and disected it into a million pieces, thanks to TiVos and DVRs.  This game was pretty boring, to say the least.  I'm not a big Rolling Stones fan, but I do appreciate their music, and they were better then the actual Super Bowl game itself.  Think I'm the one only one who thinks so?  Read this article when you're done.  So without further ado, I bring you my good, bad and ugly of Super Bowl XL.

The Good-

Pittsburgh- Their execution was by far, the good in the Super Bowl. On 3rd and 28, Big Ben had all the time in the world to deliver a pass to Hines Ward.  Michael Boulware was there to make a play on it, but Hines is just an excellent receiver that rarely drops a ball when it comes his way.  The trickery play was a given, especially with Pittsburgh, but it was a very good play that continued to fire up the team, and keep them abreast on the scoreboard.  Willie Parker's 75 yard TD run was one of the best plays of the night.  I look at it over and over, and still wonder how that play was executed so well, when two defenders could've possibly made a play.  Excellent blocking on the Steelers part.

Seattle- They had a very good game plan in the first half to keep the chains moving.  I think Seattle, starting out, had a really good chance to beat the Steelers.  The Steelers D did not play like their usual selves, simply because Hassleback and Co. kept them honest with quick slants and taking three step drops, a couple of times taking one step drops.  They definitely had the momentum starting out the first half of the game.

 

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The Bad-

Pittsburgh- Their defense was not up to par last night.  Seattle has one of the best offensive lines in the league, and they kept Hassleback clean for much of the night, although he was sacked 3 times.  Even though the Seahawks had 7 holding penalties, "Blitzburgh" didn't look as aggresive as they did in previous weeks.  Also, Ben, Bus and the crew took forever to get something going.  Nineteen minutes before your first 1st down?  Big Ben with a QB rating under 23? The last time Pittsburgh looked like that, Ben was on the bench and the Maddox/Batch combo was on the field.  That was hard (and boring) to watch.

Seattle- Clock management and dropped passes killed this team in a big way.  Matt Hassleback changed the play at the line of scrimmage twice before one snap, eating up over 10 seconds of clock, in which they had no timeouts left.  Another situation, when they were trying to move the ball in the last minute, no one scrambled to get back to the huddle so they can run the next play.  Did they forget they needed 2 scores in order to stay in the game, or what?  Jeremy Stevens seemed to prove loud mouth Porter right.  Everytime he went to catch a ball, he looked away from the ball, and into the eyes of the defender, missing the catch.  He didn't have complete control of the ball at any time, including the TD catch he had.  Holmgren needs to look into this during the offseason.

 

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The Ugly-

Poor officiating-  Before I get any hate comment from any of you, I am not saying that this game is the deciding factor simply because of bad calls.  The Seahawks made too many other mistakes to ignore.  Between the dropped passes, missed FG's and the 3rd and 28th conversion, I simply can't say that the zebras did one in for the Hawks.  But I will say this needs to be adressed in some way.  This whole postseason has been nothing but bad calls.  From the pass interference called against NE in Denver, to the interception being overturned in the Steelers-Indy game.  I'm sick and tired of it.  It may never change, but I will say that after this post season, I really have lost my passion with the NFL.  Not a lot, but just a little.  Something needs to be done.  If I was playing in any of the Super Bowls from here on out, I would be asking for Ed Hockuli's officiating crew from now on.

Joey Porter-  Boy, he's so lucky that there are 10 other players on the field that can back up his trash talking. That dude talked so much #### the whole week, yet did nothing.  Mr. Porter had a staggering 3 tackles all night.  Not surprising.  His numbers are never huge (111 tackles over two years).  I'm sure that he is an exceptional emotional leader for the Steelers, but his attitude makes me wonder how many people on his team actual like him?  There was a comment made from a Steeler during the 2004 season that, although everyone didn't like each other in the locker room, they came together and they played hard each week.   I wonder who they were referring to.  Hmmmmmm.........

 

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In A Nutshell-

I really hope that the SB over hype stops after this year.  I know that it won't, but it needs to.  For 2 weeks, we have read some really good articles, to reading some extremely bad articles, to articles with the same story line over, and over, and over again (does the Bus come to mind, anybody?).  I was thinking, maybe the Super Bowl should be played the week after the Championship games, to keep the momentum for both teams going.

Seattle, I feel your pain.  But blaming the refs for the actual loss is not going to do.  Each team has a responsibilty to overcome all obstacles, and you guys just didn't do that.  We shouldn't even be having a discussion about the refs.  Take the refs out of the game yourself.  Make plays.  Make those field goals that were missed.  There was one time where a special teams player had a chance to pin Pittsburgh inside their own 5 yard line.  He just let it bounce over his head and into the end zone, for the touchback.

Is it just me, or were these commercials the worst commercials during the Super Bowl in a long time?  Maybe ever!!!  I only saw about 3 commercials that were funny?  What was up with the robot and the lizard having the H3 Hummer as a baby?  Please explain it to me??????  It was dumb as hell.

One more thing.  What is up with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw not being a part of the Super Bowl MVP's of the past, before the game?  What is this I hear Joe ask for $100,000 to appear?  If this is true, then this is a sad day for football fans.  Terry and Joe had 8 SB appearances combined.  Hey Joe, I've seen you on a few commercials.  I know money isn't that tight, is it?

 

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I'm not too happy about the NFL season being over (Pro Bowl doesn't count.  No pass rush or blitzing.  Who wants to see that?), but I am happy that atrocious officiating is over.  I can't wait until the Draft (April 29-30), and for training camp and pre season to start.  After all, the slate of mediocrity will be clean...until next time!