# The 8th Annual Steelers March to the Super Bowl Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 9, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239 "2010-09-09T23:39:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/281 "2010-10-21T18:55:12Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Wait, so you think that the rules actually changed, rather than just being more harshly enforced? My point was that they hadn’t, which is what makes Harrison’s admission hilarious. He’s saying, well, I certainly haven’t ever played by _that_ rule, and now I have to figure out whether I can still do anything useful on a football field if I have to follow it. The petulance is fucking hilarious considering that it’s based on a presumption that it’s newly illegal to launch yourself at a defenseless guy’s head. There is no such presumption. This is my point - you have to contort things quite a bit to read any such presumption into it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/282 "2010-10-21T20:13:48Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > I’m a Pats fan and I completely agree about the Meriwether hit. It was a dirty hit, pure and simple, and I would support a suspension for hits like that. It should be noted, however, that he apologized for it publicly and also directly to Todd Heap, unlike some other players whose names need not be mentioned… Um, that’s because Heap was the only one who deserved an apology. If anything, the NFL should be apologizing to Harrison and Robinson, and giving them their fine money back. The only players that should be fined are the Cleveland and Philadelphia QB’s, who set up their receivers to get clobbered. This is a terrible precedent. Each of the hits, besides Meriweather’s, were perfectly legal and within the rules. Until about 3 days ago, everyone would have considered them to be excellent defensive plays. In Harrison’s case, Massaquoi lowered his own head. Harrison led with the shoulder and aimed for the chest. This is what you’re supposed to do. His job is to separate the receiver from the ball in a manner that is within the rules of the NFL. This is exactly what he did. At the speed that the game is played, no defensive player would have been able to avoid the contact that occurred without getting himself injured. To make it even worse is that there wasn’t even any helmet-to-helmet contact. Harrison’s hit was not only okay by the letter of the law, but also okay by the spirit of the law. That is, until the law changed on Monday. The new law is: “we’ll decide whether a hit was legal at some later date, depending on how much public outcry results from your hit”. While I would never suggest that there is any conspiracy against the Steelers, they are one of the most hated teams. So public outcry is always going to be a bigger burden for them. Especially because the Cowboys are so bad. I completely understand Harrison’s frustration. If I wasn’t a Steeler fan, I would wholeheartedly support his retirement. But we’ve got another Super Bowl to win. The NFL is now in a tough spot. This is a slippery slope, because you simply can’t go in the other direction. Roger Goodell has got to be the worst commissioner of all the major sports. He’s simply not intelligent enough to understand the concept of unintended consequences. He stupidly assumes that rule changes are independent of the game. With him in charge, we may finally get an alternative and viable football league in the US. > [@JimmyChitwood](#): > > Wait, so you think that the rules actually changed, rather than just being more harshly enforced? My point was that they hadn’t, which is what makes Harrison’s admission hilarious. He’s saying, well, I certainly haven’t ever played by that rule, and now I have to figure out whether I can still do anything useful on a football field if I have to follow it. The petulance is fucking hilarious considering that it’s based on a presumption that it’s newly illegal to launch yourself at a defenseless guy’s head. Since he didn’t launch himself at a defenseless guy’s head, he didn’t break any rule. I don’t believe that Massaquoi’s head made any contact at all with Harrison. The concussion was simply the result of the collision, not the contact. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/283 "2010-10-22T01:04:28Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > There is no such presumption. This is my point - you have to contort things quite a bit to read any such presumption into it. And my point, as **SenorBeef** pointed out, is that I’m not contorting anything because it’s literally what he said. He used to be a good player, now he suddenly isn’t sure he can be. Why is that? Two choices, as I see it - he can only be good if he breaks the rules, or the rules have changed. Giving him the benefit of the doubt here, and assuming that he wasn’t saying that his only effective football skill is breaking the rules against unnecessary roughness, what other explanation is there for what he said? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/284 "2010-10-22T02:37:16Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > And my point, as **SenorBeef** pointed out, is that I’m not contorting anything because it’s literally what he said. > > He used to be a good player, now he suddenly isn’t sure he can be. Why is that? Two choices, as I see it - he can only be good if he breaks the rules, or the rules have changed. Giving him the benefit of the doubt here, and assuming that he wasn’t saying that his only effective football skill is breaking the rules against unnecessary roughness, what other explanation is there for what he said? You have to be deliberately obtuse to not be able to interpret it any other way. Simple as that. This tangent arose with you making a stupid comment, and it hasn’t gotten any more interesting than that. I’m done playing. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/285 "2010-10-22T05:17:17Z")
[Browns’ Mack questions Harrison’s tactics](http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-browns-mackspeaksout) > [@](#): > > BEREA, Ohio (AP)—Two of the nastier hits Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison(notes) delivered on Cleveland players last Sunday are getting all the publicity. > > Browns center Alex Mack(notes) said there were more. > > “If you watch the game film, (Harrison) was doing that to everyone on every play,” Mack said Thursday. “People would be on the ground and he would try to spear them. There’s a play on film where (running back) Peyton Hillis(notes) is tackled and he comes up and spears him. It’s like you’re being cheap, you’re being dirty.” I guess the refs let people hold James Harrison on every single play, otherwise he’d be spearing someone on every single play. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/286 "2010-10-22T11:13:21Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I guess the refs let people hold James Harrison on every single play, otherwise he’d be spearing someone on every single play. 🙂 And they are too busy studiously ignoring all the Steelers infractions due to their conspiracy to never penalize the Steelers. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/287 "2010-10-22T14:57:11Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > 🙂 And they are too busy studiously ignoring all the Steelers infractions due to their conspiracy to never penalize the Steelers. Well they have to make up for penalizing Dio’s Vikings all the time, don’t they? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/288 "2010-10-24T06:46:07Z")
10 hours and 15 minutes until my beloved Steelers make mincemeat out of the 'Phins. Anybody think it won’t happen that way? Anybody? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/289 "2010-10-24T14:48:21Z")
The Dolphins could beat the Steelers. They aren’t a terrible team and the Steelers aren’t invincible. I don’t think I’d want to be Chad Henne today, though. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/290 "2010-10-24T19:56:35Z")
That was some bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/291 "2010-10-24T20:11:11Z")
As much as it sucks, I think that was the correct call by the replay official. Big Ben obviously fumbled before he crossed the goal. But since the line judge signaled touchdown and blew the whistle, there was no way to determine who would have recovered the ball had the play continued. It looked like two Dolphins were jumping on the ball, but a Pittsburgh lineman dove in at about the same time. With the play on the field ruled dead, the officials had no reason to sort out possession at that time, and there’s no way to tell from the replay who grabbed the ball at the bottom of that pile. The ultimate decision is un-satisfying, but it’s the only decision that’s possible under the rules. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/292 "2010-10-24T20:14:29Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > The Dolphins could beat the Steelers. They aren’t a terrible team and the Steelers aren’t invincible. I don’t think I’d want to be Chad Henne today, though. Too bad they didn’t. 😃 Did you guys see that catch by Wallace? DAMN! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/293 "2010-10-24T20:17:57Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > As much as it sucks, I think that was the correct call by the replay official. Big Ben obviously fumbled before he crossed the goal. But since the line judge signaled touchdown and blew the whistle, there was no way to determine who would have recovered the ball had the play continued. It looked like two Dolphins were jumping on the ball, but a Pittsburgh lineman dove in at about the same time. With the play on the field ruled dead, the officials had no reason to sort out possession at that time, and there’s no way to tell from the replay who grabbed the ball at the bottom of that pile. > > The ultimate decision is un-satisfying, but it’s the only decision that’s possible under the rules. Does the correct call by the replay official excuse the fuckup by the line judge? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/294 "2010-10-24T20:31:56Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > That was some bullshit. Yes. Yes it was. It was inexcusable bullshit from the refs. Miami should have had the ball on the 20 and the Steelers should have lost. And the truth is, the Steelers deserved to lose. Ben did not protect the ball today. At all. What was that nonsense with the attempted shovel passes or whatever the hell they were? That was unbearably bad, and it needs to stop right now. I’m not holding my head up high or talking trash on this win, because that’s what it was, trash. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/295 "2010-10-24T20:46:23Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Does the correct call by the replay official excuse the fuckup by the line judge? It’s not his fault. He was being held by James Harrison. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/296 "2010-10-24T21:24:13Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Yes. Yes it was. It was inexcusable bullshit from the refs. Miami should have had the ball on the 20 and the Steelers should have lost. And the truth is, the Steelers deserved to lose. Ben did not protect the ball today. At all. What was that nonsense with the attempted shovel passes or whatever the hell they were? That was unbearably bad, and it needs to stop right now. > > I’m not holding my head up high or talking trash on this win, because that’s what it was, trash. Well, that’s cool of you to admit. My respect for you went up a little notch. And now for gloating. > [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Maybe not the funniest joke ever, but it isn’t like it should be so hard to grasp. If I have to spell it out even more simply: Cleveland sucks. They suck worse than Tampa Bay. That’s a lot of suck. If you think Cleveland has the capability this year of losing by only three points to the Saints, you’re living in fantasy land. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/297 "2010-10-24T21:55:53Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Does the correct call by the replay official excuse the fuckup by the line judge? Not at all. But the replay official was in an impossible position. It was obvious that the call was wrong, but impossible to determine what the ‘correct’ outcome to the play should have been. In the “old days”, this would have been a touchdown, because that’s what the line judge ruled. Now that we have instant replay, the idea is that we should always be able to ‘fix the blown calls’. But sometimes, that’s just not possible. Instant Replay is not a panacea, even though it ‘should be’. There are still going to be cases where the calls are blown; it just hurts more now because we’re supposed to have a solution to prevent it. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/298 "2010-10-24T21:57:44Z")
Which is why in a close situation like that the officials should let it play out. You can always determine that the runner was down in replay, but if you stop the play before the fumble recovery is determined you can’t fix that with replay. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/299 "2010-10-24T22:08:24Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > That was some bullshit. The Line Judge indeed screwed up but the Instant replay judge made the right call. The whistle blew so that effected how the players scrambled for the ball plus they refs had no view from inside the pile anyway. Now the question about why the game was that close to begin with is a whole other story. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239/300 "2010-10-24T22:10:54Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Which is why in a close situation like that the officials should let it play out. You can always determine that the runner was down in replay, but if you stop the play before the fumble recovery is determined you can’t fix that with replay. Once the hands went up they couldn’t let it play out, because half the Steelers were celebrating the touchdown that they were told that they had just gotten. The play is dead at that moment. The ref used bad judgment by signaling the touchdown, but from his angle it looked like Ben broke the plane, and when that happens that is that. I admit that it was a bad call, and to all appearances the Dolphins recovered the fumble and would have even had the Steelers been playing it out. I thought for certain that the Steelers had lost the game when I saw the ball come out, and I didn’t think in my wildest dreams that they would get a call like that. Oh, and you know what’s pissing me off right now? Most of us Steeler fans know that they got away with one on the most technical of technicalities, and yet there they are, the bozos bragging away on how great the Steelers are. I’m usually one of them, but even I know when it’s time to shut the hell up and thank my lucky stars (in this case, very lucky). Of all the times that I have seen it done on behalf of any team, this time seems to be the least appropriate in recent memory. The Tuck Rule game wasn’t this bad. Have some pride and quit acting like clowns. Geez. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-8th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/553239.md?page=16)