Championship Game Recap

Okay, so a Super Bowl of the Pittsburgh Cardinals vs the Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers are obviously the favorites, but should they be? The Cardinals are on a roll, and I predict the Super Bowl will come down to the performance of the Arizona Offensive Line versus the Steelers Pass Rush.

So, questions I have from the game:

1) What does making a "catch" entail in the NFL?

In baseball, you need to secure the ball and keep it secure if you run into a wall or another player or fall. So if an outfielder lunges to catch a fly ball, takes two steps after the ball goes into his glove, falls to the ground, rolls over, and drops the ball in the process, it's not a catch. For it to be a catch, the release of the ball has to be "voluntary and intentional".

In the Steelers-Ravens game Sunday night, Santonio Holmes made a reception, took steps while being tackled, and when he extended the ball towards the goal line while going down, he lost control of the ball. It was ruled incomplete. In my mind, I separated the two actions. Holmes caught the ball, was contacted by a defender, had two feet down, was disengaged from the defender (completely), and then, in a later action of his own volition, pushes off with a leg and lunges, extending the arm he had the ball secured in, and lost possesion. According to Mike Periera (Head of NFL Officiating), he still hadn't completed the "catch".

If Holmes were an outfielder, the batter would have been safe. But should the same standard apply? I'll try to find video to illustrate my point.

2) Helmet-to-helmet hits?

Steelers S Ryan Clark was not flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Ravens RB Willis McGahee, a hit that put McGahee into the hopsital. It was argued that he was trying to lead with the shoulder, but I think it doesn't matter. One of the truisms of refereeing is that you don't consider intent. Their helmets hit, which is Clark's fault for taking the risk of that when he went for the vicious highlight-worthy "kill shot", but even if he didn't intend to, the contact still occurred. Throw the flag. He doesn't deserve a fine, since it was a fluke combination of leading with the shoulder and McGahee bracing himself by lowering his head, but it deserved to be flagged.



Matt Snyder of AOL Fanhouse disagrees with me. Thoughts?

3) Is it possible to cover Larry Fitzgerald by less than four defenders?