Santonio Saves The Day

Santonio Holmes balled out plain and simple. Hines Ward is the possession receiver, but he had a bad wheel for the most part, but showed his guts by perfoming last night. So Holmes was called on to be both big play wideout and possession receiver. All he did was nab the Super Bowl MVP award, so I guess we can say he performed well having dual duties.

Some have been so pessimistic to say that this wasn't a good game until the 4th Quarter, but I disagree. There was tension all game long, because even though the Steelers controlled much of the game, you knew and saw first hand the Cardinals ability to strike back quickly. The game started off with a bang as Pittsburgh marched down the field and almost scored a TD but replay review overturned the TD and the Steelers had to settle for a field goal.

The Cards started off slow, and Pittsburgh's next possession was a preview for the rest of the night as Ben Roethlisberger launched a bomb to Nate Washington, and Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie made up 5 yards before our eyes to mis-time his jump and drop an interception but still break up the play. A few plays later on 3rd and 10 Roethlisberger scrambles out of trouble and finds Heath Miller for 11 yards and a first down. It's a mute point now, but if Rodgers-Cromartie intercepts the pass or if they stop Miller from getting a first down, they don't score a field goal.

Let's play shoulda, woulda, coulda shall we, no field goal puts the game 14 -7 Steelers at the half. When the Cardinals came on for thier late rally, with their final touchdown that had the score at 22-20 before their extra point try. You would assume the Cards would have gone for 2 and made it with another jump ball to Larry Fitzgerald, putting the score at 24-20 Cards. Let's say the Steelers still score. There was 35 seconds left on the clock. That is an eternity for the the Cards to get down field into Neil Rackers field goal range. They Cards would not have been pressing so much and Warner would have got the ball out of his hands before he fumbled on the last play.

Hats off to Ben Roethlisberger. He doesn't get his just due because he does not play the convential quarterback style, but for him to freestyle the entire last drive and make the necessary throws for his team to win was outstanding.

What more can you say about Santonio Holmes, 9 grabs for 131 yards and the game winning td. I love Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and his cousin Antoino, but he "got done up" all game long. He was in position several times, but didn't make the big plays that he has in earlier games this postseason. No one stopped Santonio Holmes on the last drive as he grabbed 4 balls for 73 yards as the game winning td.

We must give props to Darnell Dockett who single handedly willed his team back into the game. If two Cardinals defenders played on the same level as Dockett you can all but guarantee a Cardinals win.

Point blank the Steelers were the better team. They controlled the game all game long. But the best team does not always win. The Cardinals made a late game push and had ample chance to win the game if their defense stepped up and made one play. But very times in sports, the best team won. See Super Bowl XLII to see the better team lose.

Last thing to think about, why did it take so long for Todd Haley to get Larry Fitzgerald the ball?






Peace,


Riverboat Ricky