Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Steelers Fan At Heart

so the NFL says the official should have upheld Polamalu call... he intercepted a pass from Peyton Manning in the 4th Quarter that would have, essentially, sealed the victory for the Steelers. it was overturned by a screwed up official who didn't know how to interpret the rule, let alone see with his own two eyes that the ball had been caught.

here is the crazy part... it's been two days now and everytime on ESPN that someone talks about that play, i run into the room to watch it again... it's not as if i haven't seen it or anything...


here's part of an article from CBSsportsline...

"It was a unique game. It ranks up there. It was crazy," Jerome Bettis said.
"It went from an all-time high to an all-time low back to an all-time high,"
Hines Ward added.
In a matter of minutes, too -- holding the deafening crowd spellbound.
Pittsburgh spent three quarters building a 21-10 lead with a pass-first game plan that could've come straight from Indy.


Then things got wacky:
All-Pro safety
Troy Polamalu made a diving interception of Peyton Manning at the Pittsburgh 48 with 5:26 remaining. He got up to run and fumbled the ball, but recovered -- only to have it mysteriously overturned by referee Pete Morelli.
Manning capitalized with passes of 20 yards to
Marvin Harrison and 24 to Reggie Wayne before a 3-yard touchdown run by Edgerrin James and a 2-point conversion pass to Wayne.
Pittsburgh was forced to punt, but with 1:20 remaining, the befuddled Manning was sacked for the fifth time, on fourth down at his 2.
Game over, right?
Not on your life. The surehanded Bettis fumbled when popped by linebacker
Gary Brackett. Nick Harper, whose knee was cut with a knife Saturday in an apparent domestic dispute with his wife, grabbed the ball and headed toward a highly improbable winning touchdown.
But Steelers quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger, brilliant all game with his arm and head, tumbled, reached out a hand and made a saving tackle at the Indy 42.
"Once in a blue moon, Jerome fumbles," Roethlisberger said. "Once in a blue moon, I make a tackle. They just happened to be in the same game."
Two passes got the ball to the Pittsburgh 27, and Vanderjagt lined up for a 46-yard field goal to send it to overtime.
Wide right.
Vanderjagt slammed his helmet to the turf, but he was fortunate to have even had the chance.
"It's extreme disbelief," Vanderjagt said. "From the Polamalu interception reversal to Jerome's fumble, everything seemed to be lined up in our favor. I guess the Lord forgot about the football team."
It was the first time the Steelers won two consecutive playoff road games. And this one should have been so much easier for Pittsburgh.

3 comments:

Jen said...

come on. we all know the officials were on the colts side. they all wanted a piece of the tony dungy story as he climbed his way to the top. too bad they didn't forsee the botched kick by vanderjat. if they would have i am sure that roth.'s tackle to "save" the game, would somehow not have been a tackle ;)

Unknown said...

it's cool to hear you talk sports... you almost sound like you know what you are talking about. lol. maybe a job at ESPN is in your future.


*i just used the expression lol for the first time i think.

Jen said...

silly boy. i do know what i am talking about. i have only been learning from one of the best for 6 years now