The Official Super Bowl XLIII Steelers vs Cardinals Thread!

[ffgameman]

I actually think the problem was the opposite of this.

Blitzing Ben didn't do any good a great deal of the time - no matter what pressure they brought (except for on two plays) Ben evaded them and connected with a receiver.

They blitzed twice on the final drive (or more) and both times it gave the receivers cushion. They should have defended against Ward and Holmes and let Ben take his time.

Here is what I didn't understand... when there was like what, 5 min left in the game the Cardinals made that 87 yard drive for a touchdown and had roughly 2-2 1/2 minutes left in the game and the previous time the Steelers had the ball they had stopped them, right? SO WHY, WHY w/ only 2 1/2 minutes LEFT IN THE GAME you would go into that cover-2 defense and NOT pressure them??? IT worked for the defense on the Steelers last possession, WHY on earth would you "let" them (depending on whether you say let them or not) march down the field like that? They stopped blitzing and just held back as Ben threw good passes to get them downfield. Is it me or does it seem like almost EVERY team does this??? Why let up when it worked previously??? KEEP AT THEM DANGIT!

 

[KandKCards]

Here is what I didn't understand... when there was like what, 5 min left in the game the Cardinals made that 87 yard drive for a touchdown and had roughly 2-2 1/2 minutes left in the game and the previous time the Steelers had the ball they had stopped them, right? SO WHY, WHY w/ only 2 1/2 minutes LEFT IN THE GAME you would go into that cover-2 defense and NOT pressure them??? IT worked for the defense on the Steelers last possession, WHY on earth would you "let" them (depending on whether you say let them or not) march down the field like that? They stopped blitzing and just held back as Ben threw good passes to get them downfield. Is it me or does it seem like almost EVERY team does this??? Why let up when it worked previously??? KEEP AT THEM DANGIT!

You're right on, IMO. The Steelers' most effective defense is NOT the two deep safety set. As a Pats fan, I see the Pats run that all the time and all it does is create more space for receivers to improvise with the ball.
But don't tell any of this to ESPN, because according to them, Dick LeBeau is the greatest coach in NFL history (yes, the same LeBeau who went 12-33 with the Bengals :lol: )