[As to commercials, two were pretty cute: the Fed Ex one involving the caveman and the "don't assume" themed ad on the plane in which it looked like the woman just had sex with the guy (sexy without being smutty, unlike the GoDaddy.com, the site that sounds like porn, but isn't). The "streaking" ad with the shorn sheep interrupting a football game among horses was also a bit cute, but overall a bit boring.]
Looking back, this seemed to be destined to be Pittsburgh's year ... or, surely, post-season. It was not really that way, of course, as destiny turns out to be a mixture of skill, luck, and missteps by the other side. You make your own luck sometimes, but if you are down 17-7 in the first round against a high scoring team, it surely helps when the other team's QB gets knocked out of the game right away. But, then again, a lousy call could have beat them too, even in the end all it did was add to the storybook finish. And, the Steelers had some help today as well. The win was in no way foreordained.
As with other days, the Steelers had a lucky call today -- Seattle lost seven points today because of a questionable call. Some might say more. But, the Seattle lost this game as much as the Steelers won it. The Steelers had their moments, especially in a few minutes span at the end and beginning of the halves, the former giving them the lead by the skin of their teeth. In fact, arguably (I think it was a TD, but if it was not, I would have went for it on 4th Down) they did not even score that first touchdown, after not even getting a First Down until the Second Quarter. Seattle can complain about a few calls. But, again, they had a chance to win. They did not follow through.
The Steelers really had a so-so game, especially for most of the First Half and parts of the Second ... the Seattle dominated the clock for most of the first thirty minutes, but scored three points. They had a good chance of getting what turned out to be a precious field goal after the Steelers made it 7-3 right after the Two Minute Warning, but took too long, and missed a 50 Yd field goal ... surely makeable inside. After the Steelers quickly made it 14-3, they made a silly throw instead of playing it safe (17-3 was in their sights), and the Seahawks intercepted and quickly made it 14-10. But, later on, when the Seahawks was driving (and at least 14-13 was in their sights, Pittsburgh's spirits low), they made a lousy throw ... interception ... trick play (helped by Seattle playing a back-up, after a couple key injuries), 21-10.
This was accomplished in the middle of the Fourth Quarter, but it basically iced the game -- Seattle was not playing good enough to catch up so quickly, and even if they did score quickly, the revitalized Steelers probably would have hung in there. As it was, once ahead, the Seahawks was stopped, Pittsburgh made a few key first downs, and we were left with around two minutes and some more lousy clock management. At this point, it was really a dream, but it did reflect the poor clock management of the First Half and some questionable play calling a few other times. Again, it easily could have been an eight point game. It was not, so they really had to go for the field goal as the clock was running low and pray. They did not ... it probably did not matter, but the final heave (leaving :03) was representative of earlier messy play.
Most thought the Steelers would finally win for their long time coach and owner ... they did ... but an upset was definitely possible. As it was, it was still a game into the Fourth Quarter, itself often not the case. So, I guess, rather lackluster, but not as bad as it could have been. [Some might think the NFC is destined to lose, but Tampa and St Louis did win in fairly recent memory.] And, the officiating was probably not the deciding factor, but really ... too much bad stuff going on in the playoffs this year to truly ignore.
Something wrong there, especially since it helps the conspiracy theories, not helped by the Steelers appearing to be at a home game given Detroit is Bettis' hometown and is much closer to Pittsburgh than Seattle. I think this quasi-home game flavor actually might have hurt ... or was it the week layoff? Anyway, where was all the shots of The Bus' mom that were supposed to dominate?
Steelers did the job when they had to, Seattle did not get any help (except for the interception) but did not ... that was the deciding factor. Both teams were far from playing their A game ... so ultimately, mediocre. Definitely, a few playoff games were better than this one.