Lavonardo

Let’s get the second liveblogged superbowl on the road. As noted before, I’m not a big fan of either team, but will root for the underdog just because I can.

0:55 EET (all times in the domestic timezone): Viasat presentation begins.

1:04: Highlights galore. Let’s hope that the Arizona Air Force is in good shape.

1:06: Equipment for the effort consists of a medium-sized bag of nachos, two jars of salsa, four cans of budweiser, a very comfortable sofa, a warm blanket, and most important of them all: a 9-12 block-out in Monday’s calendar.

1:09: And speaking of Budweiser… The Superbowl is the only occasion where the watered-down lame excuse for lager is appropriate. I’ll stick to tasteless brews on superbowl until niners make it back to the top (and then it’s time for Anchor Steam).

1:10: The teams are now on the field, with an underwhelming entry amidst a wee bit of smoke.

1:16: Whaz? Where’s the star-spangled banner?

1:18: Yeah, after the lame song, the presentation of the heroes of Hudson river emergency landing are cut off with a Viasat commercial break. Hopefully this does not set a precedent of bad play-calling in the broadcasting box.

1:20: Same Coors commercial twice in a single break. This is gonna be a long and annoying night.

1:28: Back from swedish talking heads, P4 (who looks positively tiny amongst the bulked up monsters on the field) tosses the coin. First kickoff goes to the Cardinals.

1:33: And we have kickoff.

1:36: Man, the Steelers aren’t kidding, steamrolling action crushing all.

1:38: Roethlisberger has no available targets on 3rd and one, and runs into the end zone, 6-0.

1:39: Whisenhunt challenges the score, the explanation for which is not immediately clear.

1:42: And the challenge is successful, and we’re back to scoreless, Roethlisberger’s knee hit the ground before the ball crossed the goal line. With a fourth down to go, the Steelers settle for a field goal. 3-0

1:46: Arizona ball, Edgerrin James hits the steel curtain head on.

1:47: 1st and twenty? Polamalu on the sideline?

1:50: Miserable start for the Cards, off the field after a brief spell.

1:55: First big pass attempt from Roethlisberger, broken up at the last moment by the Arizona cornerback.

1:59: Steelers have outgained the Cardinals by more than 100 yards at this stage. WIth a lot of the yardage in Heath Miller’s hands.

2:05: The swedes lost the audio. Hopefully only from the studio. We’re into the second quarter now, and the Steelers seem suddenly stuck next to the goal line.

2:09: 10-0. Let’s now bring out the one-two punch of Fitzgerald and Boldin. Please?

2:21: Warner’s second try at the helm: 1st down: incomplete to Pope. 2nd: short pass to James. 1st: short pass to James. 2nd: short pass to Breaston. 1st: running play. 2nd: short pass to James, nice dodge of Polamalu as a moral bonus. 1st: running play, results on a penalty. 2nd: out of a 20 yard hole – short pass to Breaston. 3rd: Long bomb to Boldin, excellent offensive line play results in a forty-five yard gain. 1st: Nice high touchdown pass to Patrick whose catch is not an easy one. And the game’s no longer a one-sided affair.

2:22: Time to hook up the laptop to the charger and to grab the second beer.

2:29: Pittsburgh does not look happy, 3rd and 22 is not an easy hole to dig out of.

2:31: Done and done. Mewelde Moore cannot reach across the target. Now’s the time for Warner’s third.

2:33: Not good. A penalty and a sack, back to back. Now would be a good time for some serious aerial trickery.

2:40: Not good indeed. It’s a Steeler ball following a punt.

2:42: But not for long, as Roethlisberger’s pass is intercepted in the first turnover of the game.

2:46: Fitzgerald and Boldin remain non-entities, Hightower has consecutive runs to a decent effect. The Cardinals are in field goal territory.

2:47: First glimpse of the cheerleaders, and the first catch by Larry Fitzgerald.

2:50: Final timeout of the first half spent, 18 seconds to go, full downs available.

2:51: Warner’s pass to Boldin intercepted at the goal line and returned for a touchdown as the clock expires. Whoa.

2:53: Booth review once again, since Harrison’s knees hit the ground before the score on Larry Fitzgerald’s tackle. Yeah, the topmost wide receiver was the one to catch up to the defenseman and take him down on the very last yards.

2:57: The original call stands – it’s a touchdown. A hundred yard interception return. Which is by far the most MVP moment in the game thus far. 20-7.

2:59: Time for the halftime show. With Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band headlining.

3:30: Long break, but not out of the game. Hopefully brushing my teeth helps staying up for a while longer. Recognized two out of four Springsteen’s songs.

3.35: Second Arizona turnover on a fumble, and it’s again James Harrison that picks up the spoils.

3:36: It’s late. Or early. The blog entry is just about to break 800 words, and I so dread tomorrow. Going to work is a given. Being productive (or conscious) isn’t.

3:40: The QB fumble is downgraded to an incomplete pass. But at least the Cardinals have the luxury of punting the ball deeper into the Steeler territory.

3:50: Willie Parker’s running game and penalties. That’s the twin scourges of the Arizona team on this drive.

3:54: And the whoa-moments continue – on account of Arizona’s unnecessary roughness on the field goal kick, the Steelers are given four new downs to carry on the drive. The penalties are just slaying the Cards.

3:57: Quarterback draw on the third turns into a loss, and the Steelers are forced to try a field goal. Which succeeds, this time without any additional allowances for the offense.

4:08: The game moves into the final quarter. Which begins with yet another Cardinals penalty, the total sum of which is now a whopping ninety-one yards. The score remains 20-7, and the Arizona Air Force has been pretty well grounded for the most of the game now.

4:15: Nice sack, the very first on Roethlisberger. Hopefully this pushes some momentum onto the team in red and white. The time’s running short for the twin touchdowns they must score to tie the game.

4:22: The offense clicks nicely, and the Cardinals march into the redzone. Pittsburgh elects to take a timeout after having their secondary shredded for the first time in the second half.

4:25: Fitzgerald pulls in a high touchdown pass. It’s a whole new ballgame now at 20-14.

4:26: Seven and a half minutes. Six points. This turned out to be a real game after all.

4:32: Steelers offense is stifled, and Cardinals get the ball on their own 25. Could the pendulum swing in the last minutes like it did last year, when Giants pulled the upset over the 18-0 Patriots.

4:37: Four minutes left. Warner hits Breaston for a big breakthrough.

:4:38: 1st and 20. 2nd and 20. 3rd and 20. It’s now the Steelers turn to be all over the Cardinals offense.

4:43: Safety? Nope. Just outside the Pittsburgh end zone.

4:46: Safety? This time it’s a yes, since Mewelde Moore picks up a holding call with the ball on the Steelers zero. Negating a great Roethlishberger-Holmes connection. 20-16.

4:47: Less than three minutes to go, two timeouts left for both teams.

4:50: Fitzgerald breaks through the center. 63 yards. 20-23.

4:58: Steelers are not going down without a fight. Roethlisberger hits Holmes with a quick pass, and the Steelers have all of a sudden moved to the Arizona 5. With 49 seconds to go, they have time for at least a couple of attempts.

4:59: The 1st attempt is rather badly overthrown. The 2nd results in´ a touchdown. Again the pass is to Santonio Holmes, just barely over the fingertips of two Cardinals defenders.

5:03: The booth review comes out clean, the receiver had both feet down. 27-23.

5:04: There’s now 35 seconds left on the clock. It’ll be a long march for the Cardinals, with two timeouts left to stop the clock. I predict at least one Hail Mary pass…

5:07: Fifteen seconds to go. Ball on the fifty. No timeouts. One big pass. Or two, if the first turns out incomplete.

5:09: It’s a wrap, following a Warner fumble (resulting from an epic offensive line meltdown).

5:10: Congratulations to the Steelers, I’m so off to bed now.