They scored more points. 

Okay seriously, let's do a breakdown of Sunday's events.  The Steelers had surrendered 300 yards to an opponent only once.  On Sunday, they surrendered 400.  Though the usually efficient (speaking long-term here) rush attack was held to 105 YPG this season, the Steelers fifty-eight yard effort on Sunday had to frustrate terrible towel waving fans, used to seeing Steeler football.

So if the bread and butter (rushing and defense), fell on the floor Sunday, how did the Steelers emerge victorious?  It's actually a concept that can be applied to most games.  It is the concept of hidden yardage.  Hidden yardage has been attributed to Bill Parcells, who stated that teams winning this battle by 100 yards, generally win games.

The Cardinals held a 407-292 statistical advantage in yardage.  Kurt Warner threw for 374 yards, giving him the three greatest throwing totals in Super Bowl history.  The Steelers, buoyed by a dominant (though low-scoring) opening frame, held the TOP advantage.  That said, when a playmaker like Larry Fitzgerald is on the field, TOP is meaningless.

Let's look at the numbers when factoring in the hidden yardage.  On interceptions, Jerome Harrison scampered 100 yards for a score.  In fact, they held a 100-(-1) advantage in this department.  The Cardinals, with one extra return due to a safety, grabbed a 125-85 advantage in kick returns.  The Steelers, as custom, obtained a 106-56 advantage in penalty yardage. 

Add to the teams' statistical totals, the advantages each team held in hidden yardage categories.  The Steelers wound up covering 443 yards in their favor to the Cardinals 447.  Factoring in the hidden yardage explains the close game more than the low-hanging fruit numbers that are often quoted.  In Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers had a hidden yard advantage of 111 yards.  If Bill Parcells did in fact come up with this metric, he should be hailed for finding the Atlantis of winning football games.

In November, the voters of the State of Maryland approved slot machines to be installed for the "primary purpose" of funding education.  The ancillary benefit would be to make Maryland's sports and entertainment industry competetive with the likes of Delaware, West Virginia, and even Pennsylvania.  After all, we must save the Preakness.

The proposed law came right to the mailbox.  No need to trek to the library and dust off an old book penned by Warren Berger.  I read it whilst waiting for my dinner to cook.  When I read it, I laughed.  I told my wife, "The way they wrote this, it makes Arundel Mills [mall complex] a likely site.  They want us to think it's going to Laurel [racetrack]." 

Alas, proposals were received by the State.  The site receiving more than one proposal?  Arundel Mills Mall.  For the record, I voted for the measure.  I'm ambivolent about the fact it's going near the mall.  When did the mall become sacred ground from which our vices should be spared?  What gets me is the incredulity expressed by neighbors (who likely voted for it), and even...my favorite...the Governor of Maryland.

Either Martin O'Malley knew this would happen all along, and he could play Sargent Schultz, or he does not own a map of the State he governs.  By the way, the mall is in Anne Arundel County, which houses Annapolis.  So really, a map of the county would have sufficed.  Know your own backyard before speaking out on others.  (This man, as mayor of Baltimore, criticized the last Governor on Homeland Security issues related to the Port of Baltimore.  Naturally, his city has violence, drug, and blight issues).

As with any Economy Watch Wednesday, this aside brings me to the sports world.  Specifically, it brings me to Roger Goodell.  The administration of Goodell has made Paul Tagliabue look like Pete Rozelle.  His ability to give conflicting answers in the same presser is either buffoonery or pure genius.  After all, if we can't get to the core of his beliefs, we can't pin him down on anything (hmmmm, familiar).

The NFL has been the least hit by the recession.  NFL season tickets were paid for before the September collapse.  The season ended before anyone compounded it with $819, $825, $900 billion in new debt.  The TV deal still has some legs, and the eight game season can be written off as "a vice I can still afford."

I have previously stated that the NFL has some economic issues.  We worship at the altar of the shield, but what do we make of franchises like Cincinnati, Detroit, and Jacksonville?  Home blackouts are here.  Seat "tarpouts" are a reality in Jacksonville.

Then there is the matter of labor peace.  The 2010 season stands to be an uncapped year.  This could put Dallas, New England, and Washington in an arms race that only Reagan and Gorbachev could settle.  Franchises that thrive in an era of revenue sharing and expense control (Indianapolis, Green Bay, Carolina) may return to the days of Lindy Infante.

On top of that was the October story word that the NFL was trying to secure lines of credit at Bank of America, with their current (and quite favorable) loan structure about to term out.  The response to the additional interest costs seems to be layoffs.  The number was somewhere around 150 at last glance.

It is said that one of those 150 is NFL Films guru Steve Sabol.  If it's true, then we are headed for darker times in the NFL.  Granted, Steve Sabol isn't the litmus test for economic success in sports.  But Sabol has done more for this league - that shield - than Goodell.  Phrases like "Ghost to the Post," "Immaculate Reception," or "Miracle at the Meadowlands" mean nothing without NFL Films. 

Take a look at another NFL property, the NFL Network.  How many hours of "Total Access" can be viewed before it's time to see something else?  What drives the content of that something else?  NFL Films drives it.  Those team videos that adrenaline infused fans purchase after a good season?  NFL Films drives it.  The mythos through which we mentally view the glory of the NFL?  NFL Films drives it.

Goodell, before addressing everything on such a grand stage, know your own backyard.

I love "The Sports Reporters" on SportstalkESPN980.  For my money (none), it's the gold standard in the industry.  That said, they aren't above reproach.  They had a discussion as to whether this was a must-win Super Bowl for either team.  USA Today's Larry Weisman was in-studio to join the discussion.  Judging by his tone during the topic, it was easy (at least to me) to tell he shared my sentiment.  If you played nineteen games, might as well win the twentieth if you're lucky enough to have made it.

*****

I agree with Scott Van Pelt's notion that the rush to diefy and proclaim "best ever" is a bit old.  Best ever needs these elements: time, drama, and aesthetics.  Sure this Super Bowl had drama.  Aesthetically, we're talking 150 penalty yards, review stoppages, and no running element.  Credit the defense for the latter point, but we weren't talking about a balanced game.  Plus, a clear night in Tampa isn't terribly memorable.

Which brings me to this point: why are conference championships subject to home-field nuances, but Super Bowls are not?  I'm not talking about neutral sites.  You need those.  I'm talking about the instant disqualification of seventeen stadiums as Super Bowl sites.

*****

The ongoing question is "Kurt Warner: HOF?"  Here is my take copied from my fantasy league's discussion board:

If people argue that Ken Stabler is the best QB not in the HOF, it stands to reason that Warner's numbers should eclipse Stabler's. Warner's rate stats (comp% and td/int) are significantly better than Stabler. Warner has played fewer years. Even so, he should eclipse Stabler's TD total next season (he already has the yards). Stabler is 7-6 in the playoffs and Warner is 8-2. If Warner doesn't make it, he at the very least, replaces Ken Stabler as the best on the outside.  It should also be noted that he is better than some QBs already in the HOF (Namath).  

Some people just buy into their own mythos.  Someone who plays in a town full of unnecessary Ws and Hs has bought into the C on his chest.  What a captain does on a baseball team is beyond me.  Sammy Sosa was a captain.  He was so vital, that he took two detours after his captaincy ran out in Chicago.  Derek Jeter is a captain.  I'm not so sure that he speaks for the team.  The fans can adore him, but in terms of face time, he's just another big personality with an extra letter on his uniform in a vain attempt to make his face time carry more weight.  All that said, Jeter will finish with more than 3000 hits in his career.  Sosa finishes with an asterisked home run total. 

Varitek was ready just to finish.  Theo Epstein's momma raised no fool.  The notion of "the captain" is a nice, romanticized notion for a town that loves its baseball team.  As the man in charge of the components of said team, Epstein's responsibility goes beyond romantic notions.

With Ivan Rodriguez and Paul LoDuca still floating around the free agent troposphere, waiting for a team to rain cash on them, Varitek wasn't really in a position of strength.  Varitek will be 37 next season.  That makes him five years removed from his career high batting average, and four years removed from a twenty home-run season.  Teams are starting to run on him with more success, with his 2004-2008 CS% slightly less than his 25% career total.  The number of steals is down, but that's a function of the lack of base runners.

Varitek cracked the $10 million mark three times after his prime years.  In some sense, he received his lifetime achievement award contract.  Now the Red Sox are looking to pay a catcher.  A raise was not in the cards. 

Look around the landscape.  Teams are locking up young guys in an effort to get a discount on year 26-30 for players.  The market is changing.  Those who benefit one day can be obsolete the next day.  Right now, catchers in their decline phase aren't in demand - at least, not at $10 million.  That C isn't worth an extra $5 mill.  If it were, you could say your salary was a C-note. 

Okay fine, it was four overtimes but let's put the Utah Valley State/Chicago State game into this perspective:

Ryan Toolson 63, David Holston 41

A few scores in major college basketball from last night:

Mt St Marys 62, Quinnipiac 40

Dayton 47, St Louis 46

(24) Minnesota 59, (20) Illinois 36