NBC's Big-Money Talent Delivers a Super Show

TAMPA -- The foolish notion that John Madden has lost any heat on his broadcasting fastball surely should be given a rest following the bravura performance offered up by America's favorite football analyst and his typically brilliant play-by-play partner, Al Michaels, during the Pittsburgh Steelers' riveting 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night.

On what already is being called the greatest defensive play in Super Bowl history -- Steelers linebacker James Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown on the final play of the first half -- Madden almost immediately properly pointed out exactly what had happened. He said Harrison had faked a blitz before dropping into pass coverage and suckering Cardinal quarterback Kurt Warner into an ill-conceived throw.

When the play was being reviewed in the replay booth to see if Harrison's knee had hit the ground before he reached the end zone, Madden could hardly hide his disdain for any thought that the call would be reversed.

"I think a guy makes a play like that and a run like that, you've got to give him a touchdown," he said. "They can look at it inside out and upside down, James Harrison got a touchdown."

Shots from NBC's slo-mo end zone camera, one of 33 cameras positioned around Raymond James Stadium, clearly indicated that Harrison had indeed scored. And any question as to whether he also may have stepped out of bounds running down the sideline also was immediately answered with another shot from a different angle (with 33 cameras, NBC had 13 more than it uses for regular season games).

In the fourth quarter, Madden pointed out that the Steelers defense was aligned in a scheme clearly vulnerable to throws down the center of the field. Almost as soon as he said it, Kurt Warner completed a pass over the middle for a big gain, and not long after that, there was Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald wide open in the same area, running free for a 64-yard touchdown that gave his team a three-point lead with 2:37 left in the game.

After Fitzgerald had scored the first of his two fourth-quarter touchdowns, NBC's cameras zoomed in on his father, Larry Sr., a Minnesota sportswriter sitting in the press box, watching it all stoically without the slightest hint of "Hey, that's my son" emotion.

Said Michaels, "like a true journalist -- no cheering in the press box."

Madden clearly was not cheering when Harrison was called for a moronic personal foul penalty in the fourth quarter when he shoved, then swung at Arizona's Aaron Francisco with a game official only a few yards away.

"He ought to be thrown out for that," Madden said emphatically, adding that while he admired Harrison's aggressiveness in general, "that's overboard."

There was nothing terribly excessive about NBC's actual game coverage, once you got past all the fluff stuff singing, coin tossing and jet flying in the minutes leading up to the kickoff. They had all the proper replay angles on every critical play, and Madden and Michaels have had so many games working together as the best twosome in the business, one man's yin hardly ever overwhelms the other's yang.

Fred Gaudelli was producing his third Super Bowl, and he said in an interview a few hours before the game that he has always operated with a simple philosophy once the ball is kicked off.