Prediction: Cardinals 34, Pittsburg 24
pre-game
3:34pm Loving Patreaus at the coin flip. Subtle reminder of The Surge®
first quarter
3:39 Hines Ward COMPLETELY UNCOVERED. AZ defensive FAIL
3:42 Roethlisburger ran that TD like a fullback. Tough dude.
3:44 Angels & Demons commercial Рmore like Cornballs and Clich̩s
3:46 BEST CHALLENGE EVER.
3:47 Holding the Steelers to a field goal on their opening drive is a big deal. Makes it a little tougher for them to build a head of steam.
(note, now changing time stamps to Quarter & Time Left, rather than local time. Duh)
4:34 Rogers-Cromartie just saved his life
3:09 AZ defense looks slow.
0:00 At this rate, Steelers are going to win 12-0
2nd Quarter:
14:01 – Russell with the rush TD Steelers. I bet Willie Parker is pissed.
13:54 – Star Trek: Best movie advertised so far.
10:46 – AZ appears to be finding their sea-legs.
12:27 – “Big” Breaston with a big first down.
8:34 – Warner trips, then makes amazing throw. Patrick makes amazing catch. TD Cards.
6:56 – Rogers-Cromartie with his second big pass defense. He’s now officially in the “shutdown corner” category.
2:00 – dreading the halftime show
1:54 – Kurt Warner rolling out is like John Madden in a beauty contest: Makes no sense.
0:18 – Warner & Cards are way too smart for Steelers! I smell a TD and a halftime lead coming up.
0:00 – Oops. 100-yard pick six for Pit. Wrong.
Halftime
Every time I see Matt Millen commentating, I cringe. This is the man that built the only 0-16 team in NFL history. He has as much credibility on football as Wolfowitz has on foreign policy.
30 seconds in and so far the halftime show is far worse than I had feared. But I feel like I have to keep watching so I can live blog it. Kill me now.
John Madden’s head is the size of a steering wheel.
3rd quarter
14:02 – James is a beast.
10:53 – Cards blew that drive. They needed to score. If their defense does not stop Pittsburgh cold, that’s it.
10:05 – Pitt in weirdest formation ever – 4 receivers split to the left? Now I’ve seen it all. And then a facemask penalty against AZ. Not good.
7:31 – Pitt at AZ 20. The End Is Near.
(commercial break) Coke insect CGI commercial was beautiful.
1:38 – down 20-7, Arizona still clinging to life. Please score on this drive, so that the 4th quarter will not one of supreme suckiness.
4th quarter
13:51 – Can I revise my prediction now?
7:33 – Fantastic touchdown drive by Warner & the Cards’ offense. This thing ain’t over!
5:14 – Arizona driving again. Al Michaels with the sweet dig at Pitt defender Taylor, “He’s not swaggin now” after he got called for a personal foul.
3:41 – 3rd & 20. Oh man.
3:26 – ok, so Arizona had to punt. But they pin PIT inside the 1. ZOMG!
2:58 – Holding penalty in the end zone for a safety. Do not recall a game so dominated by penalty calls. (In this case, nearly all have been totally legit.)
2:37 – LARRY FITZGERALD 60 YARD TD. FOR! THE! WIN!
1:16 – holy crap Pit is driving. … Past midfield already.
0:49 – 35 yard pass-and-run to the 4-yard line. Second amazing drive. Pitt might win this one yet.
0:00 – Wow what a finish. So good I forgot to keep live-blogging it. Holmes made an astounding, leaping catch in the back corner of the end zone … FTW.
Conclusion
Final Score: Cardinals 23, Pittsburg 27
Hell of a game. Could have gone either way. Biggest play of all was the 100 pick 6 to end the first half. But Pittsburgh earned it. Harumph.
