To be frank, the Steelers got away with one. The Cardinals were robbed of their last shot.
In case you missed it, the second-to-last play of the Super Bowl Sunday was a snap to Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner, followed by eight seconds of him scrambling around to avoid a sack, and, with the arm of LaMarr Woodley wrapped around his upper torso, a horrendously hideous lame-duck forward pass was launched from his hand. Horrendous, but forward. And definitely a pass.
I saw the play. Then the replay. Then the slow-motion replay. I thought, oh, no big deal, the officiating crew will check that out under the hood, make the right call and give Arizona their last play. In a game this close, they are not going to let a play as controversial-looking and so potentially critical to the outcome of the game pass without a second look.
The next thing I knew, Ben Roethlisberger took the snap and took a knee. My jaw dropped. I asked why. Why? And I never got an answer. The play was ignored, carved into the history books as a fumble while the confetti was being launched. Unbelievable.
In a game that was jam-packed full of penalties - all good calls, but an obscene number of penalties nonetheless - I cannot believe that the officials in the booth would not even review that play. How could they not even look that play over?
I tell you this much, if Tom Brady's infamous forward-motion pump fake that prompted the citation of the NFL's Tuck Rule (see NFL Rule 3, Section 21, Article 2, Note 2) in the divisional playoff game between the Patriots and the Raiders in January 2002 was considered a pass, then Warner's forward motion was even more so. After they stopped rebroadcasting it on my television, I immediately scoured the Internet for a replay. I watched it again and again, and I saw a forward pass being thrown incomplete. Warner never actually loses possession of the ball despite being hit from behind until he releases it in a forward motion. It was a pass, without question.
This is not just a big deal in the fact that it was a blown call by the officiating crew, but in the fact that the outcome of the game could have been dramatically affected by a reversed call. Arizona had the offensive weapons needed to pull off a Hail Mary into the end zone, and in the last eight minutes of the game, Larry Fitzgerald had caught fire. There is no doubt in my mind that the Cardinals would have had a reasonable chance at scoring a touchdown if they would have had one more play to run. One more play they should have had, had the referees not been so hasty to let the call stand and essentially declare a winner.
Had it been the Vikings, the Bears or another NFC team with no serious passing threat instead of the Cardinals, perhaps this might be a little bit more of a moot point, but an egregiously bad call nonetheless. However, Arizona has a trio of receivers who could have changed the outcome of that game with a catch from a highly capable quarterback. They could have won that game with those last five seconds. Apparently, it was not meant to be.
Was there foul play involved? I highly doubt it. I am not into conspiracy theories. But it does not make sense that a game that was so dictated by penalties and meticulous officiating ends on a controversial note. With no disrespect to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the tremendous game they played, considering the offensive abilities of the Cardinals and the effort they put forth in the fourth quarter, I do not think anyone can ever really know who the real winner of that game should be without having those last five seconds back. The Cardinals got a raw deal.
Do you think the Cardinals were robbed? Let Andy know by e-mailing him at avansistine@wisc.edu.
