RSS
Home
Seven years later and it still stings
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
For those of you Rams fans that get the NFL Network you no doubt cringed this week as they have been re-airing the broadcast of Super Bowl XXXVI as part of their Super Bowl Classics program. This may be hard to believe but I had never seen the game broadcast of that game before this week. I was lucky enough to be at the Super Bowl and could never bear the thought of watching the game until I got sucked into it one night this week.
Although the game is now seven years old the pain is still there. I was surprised how angry I was after watching the game again. There were a number of things, after watching the broadcast, that still resonate with me on what an unbelievable game and night that was.
The first thing that came to mind after watching the game again was the outright cheating by the Patriots. They decided that they were going to mug the running backs and receivers coming off the line of scrimmage and force the officials to make the calls and bog down the Super Bowl. Credit Bill Belichick for taking that gamble because it clearly worked. The referees would not make those calls, with the exception of the touchdown that was called back in the 4th quarter because Marshall Faulk was completely tackled going out into the pattern. Belichick knew the NFL didn't want their officials throwing a lot of flags in the championship game and he was absolutely right to play the game that way.
Some other things that shocked me after watching the game again.....
After watching the horrible play by Rod Jones that lead to Kurt Warner getting crushed and Ty Law getting an easy interception for a touchdown it almost made me physically ill. Jones never played another down in the NFL after that game and after costing the Rams seven points, and maybe a Super Bowl, he never should have played another down in the NFL.
John Madden and Pat Summerall called that Super Bowl for Fox. I was never a big fan of their work but they were absolutely horrible in that game. They were lost for almost the entire game. If I had been sitting at home watching back in 2002 I would have been angrier.
I know that one second probably would not have mattered but there was no reason for the NFL to not give the Rams a kickoff after the Vinatieri go ahead field goal. There was :07 left on the clock when the play started and there was still :02 left when the ball went through the uprights. The odds that the Rams would return the kick were slim to none but for the league to just let the time run off was a travesty.
Mike Martz took it in the shorts for not running the ball enough in the Super Bowl but when you look at the stats you see that Marshall Faulk ran the ball 17 times for 76 yards. That is not a horrible lack of running. I also wonder what would have happened had Martz won the Super Bowl. Is he still the Rams head coach? Is he still a head coach somewhere? How does history change the perspective on Martz and for that matter Belichick? I know that game still haunts the Rams and Martz.
I still wonder what happened to the Rams defense on the final drive. They pretty much shut down the Patriots offense all day and then when the game is on the line they just roll over. It wasn't like they were playing a prevent defense but Brady just picked them apart on that last series. I still don't understand why that happened.
I had forgotten how awesome the performance by U2 at halftime was. I admit I am in the tank for U2, but I had chills that night in Louisiana when they played and had chills watching them again on the game broadcast. They are the best.
One night in Louisiana changed everything for two franchises. For the Patriots it was the start of a dynasty. For the Rams it was a loss that they are still feeling the repercussions from seven years later. The Patriots may have deserved to win the game but it still hurts all these years later.
Related Articles:
Comments
