Arizona Cardinals Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda Super Bowl XLIII Edition

by Hawkwind on Feb 2, 2009 9:29 AM MST in 2008 Playoffs Comment 6 comments

There are countless reasons why the Pittsburgh Steelers are planning a parade right now and the Cardinals are headed back to Arizona with their heads down and the Cardinals will have plenty of time to second guess themselves. While there isn't a single guy who had a terrible game, there were certainly some guys who didn't play well. With that in mind, here's some guys who will be in the coulda, woulda, shoulda mindset for the next couple of months:

Clancy Pendergast and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie: DRC started the game strong by breaking up a deep pass to Nate Washington that was a sure touchdown, on the Steelers second series. He followed that up with getting his hands on a deep pass intended for Santonio Holmes on the Steelers next drive. If he'd have been a step quicker on either of those plays, he'd have picked them off and we'd probably be singing a different song today. For most of the game though he was playing 10 yards off the line of scrimmage and letting Holmes catch short passes in front of him. How much of that alignment was his fault and how much blame should fall on Pendergast, we may never know but it was a game plan that didn't fare well at all.

J.J. Arrington: Whether it was nerves or simply butta-fingers, Arrington couldn't managed to field a kickoff to save his life. He completely muffed a catch early in the second quarter and let another kick roll between his legs for a touchback early in the third quarter. For a guy who averaged 25.6 yards per return during the regular season, Arrington didn't raise his game in the playoffs averaging just 20.9 yards per return and 20.2 in the Super Bowl. He did catch a couple of passes for decent gains but he gave the Cardinals almost zero on kick returns. Arrington was bad enough that Breaston was back returning kicks late in the fourth quarter.

Mike Gandy and Levi Brown: Mike Gandy racked up three holding calls and two of them came in the fourth quarter as the Cardinals are trying to mount a furious comeback. Each of his penalties effectively killed his offenses momentum and they'd punt on each drive, without acheiving another first down. We knew that Levi Brown would have his hands full with LaMarr Woodley and it's probably safe to say that Woodley got the best of him. Neither of the his sacks were particulary dominating but Brown certainly didn't do his job, especially on the final play.

A couple of other plays really irked me like Adrian Wlson running into the holder and Dansby's roughing the passer, but they don't stick out as bad as the guys listed above. Who else had a bad game or underacheived?

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and Antrel Rolle

Did anybody else notice how he blocked Larry Fitzgerald from the sideline on the Harrison int return? Check the clip. Full out block.

If he steps out of the way, Fitz makes the tackle at the 5 or 10.

Bonehead.

by rockieswon on Feb 2, 2009 10:26 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

at the 13 second mark of this

clip

by rockieswon on Feb 2, 2009 10:29 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

I was wondering

at the time how fitz didn’t catch up to harrison, and then especially later when he just ran away from him on his own td, thanks for the video explanation
I never recall rice, moss or to doing that- but maybe they did

by vherub on Feb 2, 2009 2:16 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Just thought I'd put this here

Not that this changes anything, but I noticed this during the game and checked to see what came up; I posted this on Stampede Blue

I still don’t think the Holmes catch was a catch Check it

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0902/nfl.super.bowl.XLIII/content.1.html

That’s taken at the exact moment he establishes "control" of the ball. Look at his right foot. It’s not touching the ground. And at no point does it touch the ground. It starts off on the ground, but go here and look at these images:

http://superbowl.fanhouse.com/page/2/

62 – Toes off
76 – Toes on, pre catch
130 – Toes on pre catch
151 – Toes off
152 – Toes on pre catch
213 – Toes off
247 – Toes off
263 – Toes off, also, look at the positioning of the feet, his right foot rested on his left the entire time

It’s almost literally splitting hairs, but like I said, in my opinion, it wasn’t a catch. And man, Harrison’s a punk. Definitely should’ve been ejected.

And our favorite guy in response to:

"I was really surprised on that one because I was definitely moving my arm forward to throw the ball," Warner said. "I thought I’d almost gotten the ball off, so yeah, it does surprise you that in that kind of situation – five seconds to go to decide the Super Bowl – you would think it was something they’d do. But maybe somebody saw it clearly."

"According to NFL VP of Officiating Mike Pereira, the replay official upstairs did see the play clearly.

"We confirmed it was a fumble," said Pereira. "The replay assistant in the replay booth saw it was clearly a fumble. The ball got knocked loose and was rolling in his hand before it started forward. He has to have total control."

Jim Sorgi runs a 4.6 40. That's all I've got to say about that.

by monstersbox on Feb 2, 2009 10:55 AM MST reply actions 1 recs

Cards are quite a bit like the Saints

I’m still pissed about the game. Not quite as bad as if it had been the Saints instead of the Cards, but pretty bad. I think they are similar teams with the Cards’ defense much stronger, obviously. But your team is where I expect our team to be next year and this was a test to see if this style of team can win a championship against a strong defense. And it was so close. So close. Damn!! Good luck next year, hope to see you in the NFC title game!

http://www.canalstreetchronicles.com/2009/2/2/744431/that-was-a-2008-saints-sty

Change is GOOD.

by stujo4 on Feb 2, 2009 2:49 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm a Seahawks fan...

And I think that Cardinals fans should have a parade for your team when they return to Phoenix (or wherever home is). I think that Darnell Dockett said after the game that everyone left everything on the field, and I agree with him. I was very impressed by the way the Cardinals played in the Super Bowl, thought they showed a lot of character that quite frankly I didn’t think that they had.

You guys should be proud of your team; no bullshit.

by Azimeir on Feb 2, 2009 10:10 PM MST reply actions 0 recs