Good Monday to you Steelers fans.
Super Bowl LVII is now set as the Philadelphia Eagles will play the Kansas City Chiefs in Glendale, Arizona in two weeks. After the Divisional round I tweeted that the officiating had been pretty respectable through the first two weeks of playoff action. Unfortunately after yesterday I can no longer stand by that statement. What yesterday revealed was that the NFL has some major problems on two fronts. First, after watching the NFC Title Game look more like a preseason game yesterday, I believe there will be a strong push to bring back the ’emergency third QB.’ So for instance, instead of Mason Rudolph standing there in his sweats this past season, he would actually be in uniform and would be able to play should the first two QBs go down with injury. I’m not saying the quality of football would be much better but at the very least the offense could still be run and passes downfield would still occur. The larger issue is of course officiating. Ever heard of the phrase ‘too many cooks in the kitchen?’ I’m seeing that now with the NFL. Not only do on-field officials have to deal with replay review constantly second guessing them but now they have to incur the use of other game officials standing on the sidelines near the head coach. This is very similar to what goes on in professional soccer, especially in the UK. A person who is a head referee normally would be assigned to the sideline where they stand in between the two coaches. The NFL has adopted this now with a referee on each sideline. What is developing is that coaches are now turning more towards that official than the actual on-field official when critical calls or non-calls are made. Personally I think this is a problem that is only going to make on-field officiating worse than it already is. It probably isn’t a secret that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Bengals lose last night but as a football fan I can also say they received a number of bad calls or non-calls. Officiating in any sport has always been questionable. That’s part of the human element and surprise! We are actually all humans that are playing and coaching and so too are the officials. I am firm believer that replay review has harmed the game in numerous ways. The only, and I mean ONLY time replay review should be used is on turnovers and scoring plays. That’s it. I’m smart enough to know however that review isn’t going away so the NFL needs to find ways to make it better. Period.
The Podcast
In case you missed it we recorded the show on Friday last week due to numerous conflicts. Here’s episode 304 of the SCB Steelers Podcast presented by DEK Roofing Inc. for your viewing and/or entertainment purposes.
Tweet of the Day… This tweet really hit home with me. In many ways the actual game itself feels like the least important part of the Super Bowl.
you know what actually makes me really mad about the superbowl? its become such a superficial spectacle, its not about the fans they cant even afford to go, but celebrities and influencers go and use it as an instagrammable moment while real fans are stuck watching at home
— lex (@alexarumberg) January 30, 2023
Wise Words
After the Eagles defeated the 49ers yesterday Philly Head Coach Nick Sirianni, was seen and heard yelling at his General Manager Howie Roseman, “It’s all about the O-line and the D-line!!” Roseman responded by uttering the same words back to his coach. It may sound simple but it’s true. You can’t win consistently in this game without the ability to dominate in those two areas. Omar Khan, Andy Weidl and Mike Tomlin would do well to heed that advice.
The “Senior” Offensive Assistant
Much like Brian Flores was last season for the defense, there is speculation that the Steelers will add a similar position to the offense. While this individual may not be a ‘senior’ in the sense of age, they would likely be a person capable of taking over for Matt Canada if 2023 doesn’t go well. Much like Canada was in place to replace Randy Fichtner, I think you’ll see the Steelers add someone like this.
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