Random Super Bowl Thoughts

* Clay Matthews saved his reputation by forcing what turned out to be thee decisive fumble/turnover of the game. Up to that point, Mathews had pretty much been a non-entity and the Steelers had shown that the best way to neutralize Mathews was to run right at him. I don't have the exact stats in front of me, but it seems that most of the Steelers' running plays were to their right side - especially off tackle...or right at Mathews. Indeed, Mathews made the key play of the game because the Packers had adjusted to the Steelers game plan/Mathews ineffectiveness by playing a 4-3 defense on that specific play and moving Mathews off the line of scrimmage and into a more conventional outside LB position.

 

* The officiating was just a bit below sub-par. The two most notable calls were the first down the Steeelers were awarded on a very generous spot when their receiver caught the ball for the first down but double back BEFORE the defender made contact and was subsequently spotted the first. It was a typical NFL officiating ruling in giving the offense a generous spot/benefit of the doubt - particularly as such passes are often completed and the receiver driven backwards by the defender.. Unfortunately, in this instance the defender didn't initiate contact until after the receiver had already conceded the yardage himself.

 

The second questionalbe call was the play in th the Packers' challenged. To me, it looked clear that the Packers receiver had secured the ball with two feet onthe ground and had taken a full step before fumbling. I'm not sure what Aikman and Buck were talking about regarding the play being whistled dead since the Packers did recover the football anyway. To compound the confusion, former NFL head official Mike Perreira said he thought it was a good call and then offered a surprisng nugget - that the refs review challenged plays at full speed?! Whoa!? Perreira said that the ref would look at the play at full speed to determine if he had possession. The refs don't look at replays in slo-motion?

 

* The Groupon ads absolutely blew. The Chrysler commercial was pretty cool. And what in the hell was about the pompous and blatantly, over-the-top patriotism of reciting the Declaration of Independence? When I think football, i think the founding fathers?

 

* Christina Aguilera would have won the over on the 1:54 national anthem if she hadn't blown a whole verse of lyrics. As it was, it was hard to tell when she ended the song - very close to 1:54 - because the flyover drowned her out a bit.

 

* the halftime show highlighted that most of America knows only one Black Eyed Peas song - so much so that they sang it twice during their short set.

 

* Yesterday was the sixth anniversary of the Eagles' Super Bowl loss to the Patriots.