I Think the Cardinals Got Jobbed...

This photo is from Super Bowl XL...but I feel that it fits perfectly with Super Bowl XLIII as well.

So the Super Bowl could easily have been called the "Flag the Cardinals Over and Over Again Bowl." Or, the "We're Going to Give Every Close Call to the Steelers Bowl."

What a joke the game was. There were at least 3 separate 15 yard fouls in the second half alone that shouldn't have been called. One roughing the passer, one pass interference, and the unnecessary roughness on the "he ran over the holder" crap. The other 5 yard holding call against the Cardinals on Hines Ward was absolutely ridiculous, as well.

Couple that with the fact that I counted no less than SIX Steelers holds that didn't get flagged. Couple that with the fact that James Harrison should have been thrown out of the game after punching a Cardinal in the back, then punching him in the chest, then pushing him down...AFTER A PUNT. Couple that with the fact that the Cardinals clearly stopped Willie Parker in the endzone...his forward progress was obviously halted, but I guess he got three chances to get the ball out of the endzone. I guess that one is a bit wishy washy, because it was made up for by a Steelers holding call in the endzone that actually got called for a change.

I had no vested interest in either of the teams playing, but a fairly officiated game would have been really nice. I found myself about midway through the third quarter just appalled at some of the things that were getting called against the Cardinals. If you call roughing the passer when a guy hits Ben "I'm Gonna Crash My Hayabusa...the World's Fastest Motorcycle...While Not Wearing a Helmet" Roethlisberger as he throws the ball...but then on the very next series you are going to let a guy hit Warner in the head a full 2 seconds after he releases the ball, then you have some problems. That's unbelievable, unacceptable, and the NFL should be ashamed.

I don't feel that the Steelers deserved to win this game...at all. They got help from the refs several times when it mattered. One time they even got four free downs to try to turn a field goal that they had scored into a TD...but the Cardinals stood tall and held for only 3 points.

To be fair, the Cardinals did their fair share of shooting themselves in the foot. You've got the guy that is currently "The Most Freakishly Gifted Badass Wide Out in the Universe" in L-Fitz, and you only get the ball to him once in the first half. You've got the ball with less than 20 seconds left on the Steelers goal line and you throw a pick...then on top of that you let a LINEBACKER run it back 100 yards for a TD. Tackle Harrison and the clock runs out, and the Steelers don't even get a chance to kick the field goal...let alone go into the half up by 10. You've got a good cornerback playing 20 yards off of a receiver who caught about 8 passes one foot off the line of scrimmage...and everytime he caught it said good cornerback missed the tackle and the plays all went for at least 7 yards.

Like I said, the Cardinals did their fair share of trying to give the game away, but I don't think they did enough to warrant the loss. The refs helped. The Steelers didn't play good football. The didn't deserve to win.

I hope the Cardinals can get back there...and get back their soon. They are a testament to what you can do when you actually take time to put together a good team...realizing that you can't do it in a year, the Arizona organization dedicated themselves to getting better in the future and drafted well and picked up good free agents. They deserve every bit of credit for making it to the Big Game this year, and they give a glimmer of hope to this Lions fan...that maybe even the lowliest of low franchises can someday turn it around...