MMQB Review: The Eyes of Roethlisberger Edition

I am not sure I have ever been more eager to write a MMQB Review than today. The Mariotti post on Saturday was one of my favorite posts I have ever written and I was fairly proud of it because I thought I had made my point, which I thought was a good point, and had gotten it sufficiently across to the masses. I did not know I had made one brief mention of a guy named Apolo Ohno, he has competed in two Olympics, would draw the attention of his fan club, which it did. If I had known the comments were going to go the direction they did I would have put the "moral discussions" tag on that post. I am actually ashamed that I did not include the "drugs are bad mmkay" tag either, but this has all been rectified and they have been included. Actually, I will probably get another barrage of posts based on just typing his name above and not including Sir/Doctor/Pope before it. I am kidding about that of course. Of all the things I have written here, I never imagined a reference to an ABC dancing show I don't particularly care for would have gotten a lot of people enraged. Now I can't watch Ohno race without thinking what kind of fans he has. I have been changed.

So today, I am embracing Peter King like a long lost uncle who has finally come home. The one commenter on Saturday that said I have a vendetta against Jay Mariotti apparently does not tune in on Monday mornings or else that person would think I really had one against Peter King. Anyone want to see the final drive of the Super Bowl through the eyes of its hero and Super Bowl MVP...wait, nevermind, just a hero, Ben Roethlisberger? Peter King does.

I need to relive the Steelers' last drive of the Super Bowl.

I need to know why you need to see the last drive of the Super Bowl so bad. Brett Favre did not play in the game.

1. Roethlisberger still doesn't know why he threw the winning pass into triple coverage to Santonio Holmes. "If I'd thought about it, and now, looking back, seeing what I've seen, I never would have thrown it,''

This is a sure sign of a great quarterback who is capable of making great decisions. Roethlisberger is quoted as saying he never would have thrown the ball if he saw now what he saw then. If your starting quarterback having regrets about throwing the game winning touchdown pass in the Super Bowl doesn't make you a little bit nervous about his decision making ability, then you definitely have more faith in him than I could.

I thought it was a beautiful pass, and really, the only one who could have caught the pass was Santonio Holmes. I thought it was actually a pretty safe throw, because Rod Hood is the only one who could have gotten even a hand on it and he lowered his arm just in time (I am not kidding, look at the replay, he put his arm up and then lowered it. I don't think he could have hit the ball but it is still quite bizarre to see).

Roethlisberger told me from southern California, where he was soaking in memories of the best game of his life, getting away from it all, and considering some lucrative endorsement deals.

Hopefully one of those lucrative endorsement deals is for a motorcycle helmet.

3. Mewelde Moore should go down as the unsung hero of the final drive.

But now that Peter King mentioned him...he is completely sung.

Later he sold a flat pattern so well that Roethlisberger's arm motion to Moore took cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie off double-coverage on Holmes and onto Moore -- freeing Ben to throw it to Holmes, who, after a slip from Francisco, scampered 40 yards to set up the winning touchdown.

I love the wording Peter uses here. Moore wasn't actually attempting to run a flat pattern, he was "selling" the flat pattern so the ball could go to Holmes. In the huddle Moore decided to not run the actual pattern but start "selling" the pattern. I thought you could only "sell" a pattern if you were not actually running that pattern, you know like you sell a slant and then run a stop-and-go pattern. That is how I am familiar with the term. A player "sells" something that he is actually not doing, but now Peter has re-invented the word and it means "running the correct route." As in, "Adrian Peterson really sold his 45 yard touchdown catch." That now means Peterson ran the correct route.

I haven't seen the replay but I am pretty sure Moore was actually running a flat pattern and wasn't "selling" anything. If I am wrong, I know someone will be kind enough to point this out to me. (You Tube is blocked at my work, so I can't look this up...I hate working at a convent. Those nuns block all the good shit.)

Another enjoyment I got out of this observation from Peter King is that he thinks the "fake" route Moore ran was the key to the touchdown, not the guy Francisco (who was in position to make a tackle) falling on the ground.

Here's what Moore did on this play: He ran a passing route. He is the unsung hero for this.

Guys who are not unsung heros: Ben Roethlisberger for a great pump fake that sold Rodgers Cromartie on the pattern, the company that made the cleats that caused Francisco to fall, and Holmes for running 40 yards after he caught the ball.

I am surprised Peter King did not vote for Melwelde Moore as MVP. Remember, he has a vote for this. This scares me.

4. Not sure I've ever heard John Madden as excited about a play as he was about Holmes' winning touchdown catch.

I disgree. I ran into him at a Golden Corral one time...and Brett Favre walked in a few minutes after I did. Let's just say Madden was excited.

With a bum shoulder, he took off out of the pocket from the Bengals' eight, dove for the goal line, stretched his arm with the ball out, and crossed the plane for a touchdown. In the locker room I asked him: "Why not play it safe?'' And he said: "Heck no. I will never ... Casey Hampton said to me on the sidelines, 'What are you doing scoring? Why didn't you just go down at the one?' I said, 'Hamp, don't you know by now? That's my heart.' I'm a competitor. I want to get in the end zone. And I want to win. Period. I don't think about running the clock out.

Uh-oh. He sounds like a lot like Brett Favre, but with one more Super Bowl ring. No wonder Peter likes him so much. Of course, this is also the reason Brett Favre has probably given for throwing the most interceptions in NFL history, so this "I'm a competitor" crap........it can also be a bad thing.

Roethlisberger is an interesting case. I've asked other quarterbacks -- Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Tom Brady -- about big plays and big drives, and they remember tiny details.

Only one of those quarterbacks has ever really had a big play/big drive combination in the Super Bowl, so the other two have never really done that on a big stage. Not that it means anything, I am just pointing this out.

I am surprised a Brett Favre fan board has not come to get me yet.

Not Ben. "I don't remember a lot of the plays from that drive,'' he said. "I just don't remember things in great detail like that.''

Does anyone else get the overwhelmingly strong feeling he does not know exactly what he is doing?

At the snap, Moore slithered out to the right flat, and Holmes did a quick 11-yard curl, sitting at the Cards' 35. Because the Cards sent five rushers and blitzed outside 'backer Okeafor from the left instead of leaving him in coverage on the hot receiver (Moore), Roethlisberger had Moore wide open at the 46, with a few yards of free space in front of him.

This is the play where Moore "sold" the route, where he was actually the hot receiver because of the blitz. I would think that Peter King would know the correct terminology and realize that Moore did not "sell" this route, he actually ran the route and the Cardinals had it covered, and it all went to hell when Francisco fell. I would think Peter would know these things and point them out, but no, most of the analysis Peter does here deals with Moore getting credited for running the exact route has was supposed to and talking about how big Roethlisberger's hands are.

But that's what huge hands do for you. Roethlisberger has oversized hands,

My friend(s) and I make fun of this all the time. Announcers and commentators always act as if there are only a few QBs in the NFL who can palm a football and the rest have to throw it two handed. Most quarterbacks have pretty big hands and can pump fake with ease.

and when he pumped the ball to Moore, he did more than pump -- he almost let the ball go.

Other quarterbacks would have lost complete control of their central nervous system and bowels trying to pump fake and thrown the ball, but not Ben Roethlisberger. Because he was born with massive enough hands that he can palm a football with one hand, he was able to pull the ball back in.

The kid from Miami of Ohio sucked it up pretty good. The Super Bowl win standings of the Quarterback Class of 2004: Roethlisberger 2, Eli Manning 1, Philip Rivers, J.P. Losman, Matt Schaub 0. Look at the three draft picks in the first round before Roethlisberger in 2004 -- cornerback DeAngelo Hall, wideout Reggie Williams, cornerback Dunta Robinson. Think Atlanta, Jacksonville and Houston regret those picks?

I am going to try and be gentle, I don't want a Ben Roethlisberger message board to barrage me with angry comments, but I think a lot of Ben's success has to do with the fact he plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Don't get me wrong, he was great in the Super Bowl, but the fact he has two Super Bowl rings is partially because the Steelers have a great defense and have been a great overall team for a while now. I just don't think these teams regret passing on Roethlisberger because they were pretty set at the quarterback position.

The Falcons don't regret the choice of Hall because they have Matt Ryan now and had Mike Vick at the time, the Jaguars had zero need for a QB in 2004 and needed a receiver, and Houston has just drafted David Carr. Basically, these teams regret their draft choices but don't regret not drafting Ben Roethlisberger because they had players at that position already.

New England slapped the franchise tag on Cassel Friday, which for quarterbacks in 2009 is a guaranteed one-year salary of $14.65 million.

Oh my God, what an unexpected move. Why has no one mentioned this could be happening?

More importantly, this is what all Americans and probably 95% of non-Americans want to know...and that is what are the options that New England has with this? I need Peter to run down these options for the 900th time. Since Matt Cassel is the first player to ever be franchise tagged in the history of the NFL, this is unprecedented.

The Patriots can keep Cassel and pay him that money, keep him and sign him to a long-term contract, or trade him to a team for compensation.

Thank God Peter summed this up for me again, I had forgotten because it had been three weeks since this was last explained to me.

If New England keeps him for that franchise number, Cassel will make more in two weeks ($1.72 million) than he made in 68 game-weeks in his first four years as a Patriot.

Simply amazing. This is only true for Matt Cassel and not any other player who has been franchised while still playing out their rookie contract (We all know Matt Cassel is the first player to ever have the franchise tag put on them, so I can only assume it would be different for the other players, just because Matt Cassel is special). What a shocking numerical development.

Sight to behold on the day after the Super Bowl at the Orlando Airport: Group of Steelers fans, getting ready to fly home, seated in the Continental departure area, waiting for a flight to Newark. They're happy. They're disheveled. One 40-ish man, portly, has a black Penguins T-shirt on, and he's eating some chicken, and he doesn't have a napkin, and when he finishes, he takes the bottom of his T-shirt, lifts it up, wipes his mouth with it -- revealing a huge and hairy stomach --and then wipes his hands with it.

Why was this a sight to behold? Because Peter realized that was not just any portly 40-ish man, this was Peter's long lost brother, Randy King. Peter quietly walked by him without acknowledging him. Randy was always so peasantly looking and it embarrassed Peter. He was never as elegantly portly as Peter.

1. I think everyone doing free-agent lists should add one name in pencil: Terrell Owens. I'll bet you a month's worth of lattes he'll be free in six weeks.

Peter is so confident about this prediction, he is writing it down in pencil.

Next year, when Tebow comes out, a smart and flexible organization with a smart and flexible coach -- like New England or Baltimore -- won't let Tebow get out of the first round.

I know Peter LOVES New England, but they and Baltimore are not the two teams I think of when it comes to a coach/organization that is flexible with players. I think Miami and Pittsburgh mostly since Miami ran the Wildcat this year with Ronnie Brown as a quarterback and Pittsburgh used Kordell Stewart and Randle-El in a variety of different situations and had great success with those. But hey, New England and Baltimore are great footballs team overall, just not sure if that I think of them when I think of teams that draft players to use as athletes at different positions.

3. I think Matt Cassel will not play for the Patriots in 2009.

Why would Matt Cassel not play for the Patriots? He is not a free agent is he? Have the Patriots thought about franchising him?

4. I think Kurt Warner will play for the Cardinals. Seeing Todd Haley go to the Chiefs, and figuring the Chiefs want a quarterback, and figuring they can get Warner to pilot them for the next year or two is awfully faulty logic. First, Scott Pioli doesn't want a quarterback for the next 10 minutes. He wants a quarterback for the future.

But...but...I thought you thought Warner would make the Hall of Fame and that he has a few good seasons left? Didn't you say something like that previously? Wouldn't a team want to draft a young QB and develop that person under the Hall of Famer Kurt Warner? It worked for Eli Manning...kind of. I guess it is easy to be cocky in looking for a quarterback when you have to compare them to Tom Brady.

6. I think some of you might not agree with me, but I'm boycotting the worst all-star game in sports history, the Pro Bowl. You'll have to look elsewhere to read about meaningless nothing.

Actually, this is the exact place I go every Monday morning for meaningless nothing.

8. I think one of the biggest MMQB fans on the planet, Michael Whelan of New Orleans (formerly of Detroit), got married over the weekend and deserves a kudo or two, particularly for finding such a lovely gal in Emily Edwards.

Haha, Peter that is so interesting!!....Seriously though, learn to send a damn email.

But no email is being sent here, this couple has pissed off Peter King and he will make them pay through publicly shaming them.

But Michael: No invite for the Kings of Montclair? Come on! We sat home Saturday night and watched Casablanca! We'd have loved an excuse for a trip to New Orleans! There was a huge Saints' presence (I think everyone but Reggie Bush was there), including best man/PR guru Greg Bensel, but the most stunning event of the night was the wheeling-out of the wedding cake: a red-and-white Detroit Red Wings logo.

Amazing. Nothing says, "I have absolutely no class" than to call out someone in a weekly column for not inviting you to their wedding. I like how Peter also mentions that Reggie Bush was the only one not invited as well, so if this wedding ship is going down, Peter wants to make sure he pisses everyone off. This is actually a really asshole thing to do, to tell someone in your national column you wanted an invite to the wedding. I would probably punch Peter in his fat face next time I saw him if I was cursed enough to know him personally and he did something like this.

Also, Peter knows a lot about the wedding, did he stalk the bride and groom through the entire process or just sit outside the window and watch the wedding as it occurred?

e. Whoa, Coldplay. Heck of a performance at the Grammys last night. Tremendous. That's a band I need to see.

These were my exact thoughts in the year 2000 when I first heard of Coldplay as well. Fortunately I have outgrown this. Way to stay modern Peter.

"That Paul McCartney, he sure put on a great performance. I hear he used to have a band, I would love to have seen them live."

g. If I don't see Gran Torino soon, I'm going to scream.

If anyone is reading this blog for the first time and needs a quick introduction to what type of person Peter King, here is a great opportunity to see. He bitched and moaned in mid-December that ads were being shown for Gran Torino when it was opening all the way in January, because he wanted to see the movie RIGHT NOW, accused theaters of extorting from moviegoers by not playing the movie and showing previews for it, and now it has been out for a month now and he still has not seen the freaking movie.

That's Peter King.