Who Caused Mendenhall's Super Bowl Fumble?

[hoosier]

Looked to me like Pickett put a helmet on the ball. A helmet on the ball is more likely to cause a fumble than hitting the arm that the ball is being held in.

Look at the video at the :09 mark. I don't know how you can say Pickett didn't cause the fumble.

I don't think so. Look at the first angle (:01-02): to my eye it is clear that Pickett's helmet hits Mendenhall's bicep/elbow but never touches the ball. The angle at :09 is at almost 180 degrees to Pickett's impact, so you can't really see how much distance (if any) there is between helmet and ball. It also looks like Matthews is driving up as he hits him on the arm/elbow, which might contribute to driving the ball out and up.

This is like analyzing the Zapruder film.

[pbmax]

Yeah, the more I watch it, the less I think it was Pickett's helmet. But his hit squeezed Mendenhall, helping pop it loose and making it tough for him to recover.

[RashanGary]

A few things happened there.

Pickett and Matthews arrived at the same time from opposite directions. This meant that rather than Mendenhall bouncing off and limiting the impact, he was stuck still and both hits had no release. Mendenhall took the full brunt of both mens force.

The other thing that happened that might go unnoticed is Pickett planted his helmet square on Mendenhalls left arm. Mendenhall went in with two hands on the ball. His left hand got a little sloppy, but it was still in position to grab on if he needed to. The timing of Pickett hitting Mendenhalls elbow made it impossible for him to get his hand back on the ball.

Then there was the Matthews hit. Because Mendenhall was being squeezed on the other end, Matthews got a full shot with nowhere for Mendenhall to bounce away, no way for Mendenhall to help with his left hand and the ball flew out.



If we're just talking about who knocked it out. . . . Clay. Who made the play? Both.

[Brandon494]

Ryan Pickett caused the fumble without a doubt. I know we all want to give Clay credit because hes the shit but play it in slow motion and its obvious Pickett's helmet caused the fumble.

[retailguy]

Brett Favre caused that fumble. I think your poll is flawed. It was destiny, pure and simple.

[KYPack]

Our defense got really tight in the second half. Who caused the fumble? Matthews gets some extra credit for making the smart line check (Spill it, spill it Pickett) at the snap. That told Big Ryan to fold back his ears and attack at the snap. He hammers Mendenhall and the ball flies loose.

Clay told the boys they were coming that way and to be alert for the line check in the defensive huddle. That kid is great and Capers is molding a classic team defense with those guys.

[smuggler]

I like the version where Pickett causes the initial jarring of the ball, but Matthews actually gets it out of the breadbasket, away from the grasping hands of Mendenhall.

[Patler]

Individually, I'm not sure that either hit would have caused a fumble. Almost simultaneously, Picket impacted one arm and Matthews impacted the other. Since he did have two arms on the ball, hitting just one may not have caused the fumble. Each dislodged half of his grasp on the ball.

Did Pickett's helmet hit the ball? From one way it looks like yes, from another, no. But, something caused the ball to fly out and up away from Pickett's hit. The ball popped out of there pretty good.

[MJZiggy]

Individually, I'm not sure that either hit would have caused a fumble. Almost simultaneously, Picket impacted one arm and Matthews impacted the other. Since he did have two arms on the ball, hitting just one may not have caused the fumble. Each dislodged half of his grasp on the ball.

Did Pickett's helmet hit the ball? From one way it looks like yes, from another, no. But, something caused the ball to fly out and up away from Pickett's hit. The ball popped out of there pretty good.

It was pretty, wasn't it?

[Brandon494]

Umm Matthewa did nothing but make a wrap up tackle. That was all Pickett.

[RashanGary]

Umm Matthewa did nothing but make a wrap up tackle. That was all Pickett.

No. On the first page, most of the way down, there is a good clip.

I said Matthews last time. I'll change my answer to both. If Matthews doesn't hit that arm and squirt that thing out, Mendenhall probably hangs on. If Pickett doesn't pin his left arm down and put extra pressure on the ball, the ball probably doesn't come out.

[MJZiggy]

No. On the first page, most of the way down, there is a good clip.

I said Matthews last time. I'll change my answer to both. If Matthews doesn't hit that arm and squirt that thing out, Mendenhall probably hangs on. If Pickett doesn't pin his left arm down and put extra pressure on the ball, the ball probably doesn't come out.

Gotta love teamwork!

[MadtownPacker]

I think rothlisberger caused it by making Mendenhal uncomfortable with his perverted stare.