WORST EVER OFFICIATED SUPERBOWL!!

[lynchjm24]

Originally Posted by lynchjm24

Against the Giants on an Eli Manning INT.

The call against the Giants was actually the right call by letter of the rule. The call tonight was just blown as he couldn't have gone through the legs of the player who was still standing up and knocked down by another player after the tackle was over.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Humor can be an important contribution

See, if an Eagle's fan (of all people) can understand this, then it should be easy for everyone else to get it.

[lynchjm24]

The one play I want to see again was a Pittsburgh pass that was deflected and caught by Seattle around midfield in the third quarter. The umpire who was closest threw his beanbag to the spot of the interception and one of the wing officials came in and blew it incomplete. They never showed a replay of it and when I tried to rewind the DVR I hit the wrong button and lost it.

[timmynausea]

Originally Posted by lynchjm24

The one play I want to see again was a Pittsburgh pass that was deflected and caught by Seattle around midfield in the third quarter. The umpire who was closest threw his beanbag to the spot of the interception and one of the wing officials came in and blew it incomplete. They never showed a replay of it and when I tried to rewind the DVR I hit the wrong button and lost it.

Yeah, that did look like an interception, and the replay they showed cut off that part.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by G-Man

(3) The TD near halftime whne the Hawks WR hit the dang pylon, that is 7 points!

(3) This play didn't even get reviewed more than once from what I saw, didn't appear to be a controversy there at all AFAIK. Looked like his left foot was in and his right was WAY out of bounds.

(5) The continual calls against the Hawks not beeing called on the Steelers (holding and the like).
(6) 7 for 70 and 3 for 20 in penalties is not even handed. The Hawks did not make mistakes that the Steelers also made. Both sides were seen holding just the Hawks got called and the Steelers didn't.
(7) East Coast Bias (tongue in cheek)...still lives...

(5) Continual? A discrepancy of 4 is continual?
(6) The refs aren't there to be even handed. If they see a penalty they call a penalty. They aren't going to alternate penalties just to "be fair".
(7) If only - then we wouldn't have to hear about those stupid 49ers every Jan/Feb.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Ultimately, isn't the team that made more big plays, the better team?

1st Downs	20	14
3rd down efficiency	5-17	8-15
4th down efficiency	1-2	0-0
Total Yards	396	221
Passing	259	115
Comp-Att	26-49	10-21
Yards per pass	5.3	5.4
Rushing	137	106
Rushing Attempts	25	32
Yards per rush	5.5	3.3
Penalties	7-70	3-20
Turnovers	1	2
Fumbles lost	0	0
Interceptions thrown	1	2
Possession	33:02	26:58

This is a stat chart minus Parker's big run (75 yds) and Randle El's reverse-pass (43 yds).

So yea, I think the better team can lose if the other team makes more big plays/timely plays. Anyone looking at those stats would think Seattle beat Pittsburgh.

[G-Man]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Sorry, just thought I'd point out that a Denver fan thinking the officiating sucked in a game that Pittsburgh won is hardly anything worth even mentioning.

And...

(1) The bogus PI call that cost the Hawks 4 poinnt (7-3).

He pushed off, textbook offensive pass interference. Get over it,

(2) The bogus TD by Ben when he did not get in and lest say they get only 3 another 4 points.

All the ball has to do is BREAK the line, which it did, TD.

(3) The TD near halftime whne the Hawks WR hit the dang pylon, that is 7 points!

A foot hitting a pylon does not cound as a foot being in bounds.

(4) The bogus holding call on Stevens catch at the 1 yard line in the 4th quarter. & points there.

He had is arm across the defender's chest. Holding.

Disagree accross the board. But the Steelers did make the plays they had too whne it counted the most. I am just sad that the officials prevented and chance the Hawks may have had...

[dervack]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

I feel like I was watching a different game, as I can't once remember the officiating being a discussion among those of us watching it together.

I'm asking this quite seriously, can someone list what they feel were the terrible calls that were made against Seattle?

agreed. Maybe I didn't see it myself, but, eh.

[Swaggs]

Seattle's special teams were terrible in that game.

Their punter kicked short balls into the endzone all night. The one time he didn't, Scobey (sp?) was in position to down it inside the five and let it bounce into the endzone. And their return team had several solid returns called back because of holds.

I'd point the finger at the special teams well, well before I would blame the refs.

[stevew]

[illinifan999]

Originally Posted by G-Man

I am just sad that the officials prevented and chance the Hawks may have had...

Pretty sure it was the hawks preventing any chance they had with horrible clock management.

[pbot]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

I will admit to having missed the "cut tackle" (though I swear that I saw this same call in the regular season, damned if I can't remember the game though)

You did....Matt Stover...Ravens versus either the Texans or Steelers(I think)...he tackled the kickoff returner like Hasselback did and got flagged.

[Dutch]

I think the most telling thing to do is go to other forums where people are discussing the Super Bowl. Seems like this "bad call" conspiracy is wide spread.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by sabotai

See, if an Eagle's fan (of all people) can understand this, then it should be easy for everyone else to get it.

Hey!


I agree with your assessment of all of those points in your previous post (#49 I think). I like to think I would agree with those assessments even if those calls went against my Eagles.

[brewcrewmaroon]

I guess those saying they didn't see the bogus penalties against the Seahawks were watching without the volume turned up. John Madden and Al Michaels both said all three calls against the Seahawks in the one drive culminating with the interception and call against Hasselbeck were non-existant. Guess they were watching a different game.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

This is a stat chart minus Parker's big run (75 yds) and Randle El's reverse-pass (43 yds).

So yea, I think the better team can lose if the other team makes more big plays/timely plays. Anyone looking at those stats would think Seattle beat Pittsburgh.

That assumes you believe stats alone indicate which team is better. I think the team that wins is better. I also believe if these two teams played ten times, Pittsburgh wins at least 6 times. I don't think the refs won this game for Pittsburgh. I do think Seattle shot themselves in the foot multiple times (bad clock management, etc.) Since Seattle shot themselves in the foot, I don't believe they are quite as good as Pittsburgh.

[illinifan999]

Because John Madden and Al Michaels both know everything. Who was the one that said the coach should challenge the call inside of 2 minutes before being corrected?

[astrosfan64]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

I feel like I was watching a different game, as I can't once remember the officiating being a discussion among those of us watching it together.

I'm asking this quite seriously, can someone list what they feel were the terrible calls that were made against Seattle?

Agreed, I thought the game was called pretty well. At least it was a non factor.

[Hurst2112]

Originally Posted by G-Man

Disagree accross the board. But the Steelers did make the plays they had too whne it counted the most. I am just sad that the officials prevented and chance the Hawks may have had...

You are funny. Grab the tissues and send me your address. I will send you a copy of the game so you can live all those 'horrible calls' again and again.

Your feelings will scab over in due time. Until then...

STEELERS!!!!!

[astrosfan64]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

This is a stat chart minus Parker's big run (75 yds) and Randle El's reverse-pass (43 yds).

So yea, I think the better team can lose if the other team makes more big plays/timely plays. Anyone looking at those stats would think Seattle beat Pittsburgh.

When you display stats you can't do that.

This is the stats minus the two TD plays. Come on that is terrible.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Dutch

I think the most telling thing to do is go to other forums where people are discussing the Super Bowl. Seems like this "bad call" conspiracy is wide spread.

Woo hoo the NFL has joined the NBA is the "conspiracy business"! Now you just need a big time player(Reggie Bush) to fall to a downtrodden team(Houston) in one of the fastest growing media markets and it have truly hit the big time!

Disclaimer: I have no idea if Houston is truly one of the fastest growing media markets

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by pbot

You did....Matt Stover...Ravens versus either the Texans or Steelers(I think)...he tackled the kickoff returner like Hasselback did and got flagged.

As much as I'd hate to cop to watching any Ravens games this year, that seems to ring more of a bell than the Eli Manning INT that was also brought up.

[dervack]

Originally Posted by G-Man

Disagree accross the board. But the Steelers did make the plays they had too whne it counted the most. I am just sad that the officials prevented and chance the Hawks may have had...

You know, the most telling thing about the incomplete pass that was outbounds was that when the refs called the WR out, he didn't say a word to the refs. He just went back to the huddle. Kind of tells me that he knew what was going on.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by astrosfan64

Agreed, I thought the game was called pretty well. At least it was a non factor.

That's fine, but there are apparently a lot of people that don't see it that way.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by G-Man

Disagree accross the board.

Then I suggest picking up a copy of the NFL Rulebook and doing a little reading.

[illinifan999]

There's people who don't think the holocaust happened, does that make them right?

[lynchjm24]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

As much as I'd hate to cop to watching any Ravens games this year, that seems to ring more of a bell than the Eli Manning INT that was also brought up.

Well even my girlfriend remembered the play from the Giants game, so I know it happened on an Eli pick (I wouldn't watch a Ravens game - so I can't help you there).

[Rizon]

How can ANY calls even go against Seattle when the Seahawks didn't even show up?

[stevew]

Originally Posted by illinifan999

There's people who don't think the holocaust happened, does that make them right?

Someone just triggered Goodwins law i think.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I like to think I would agree with those assessments even if those calls went against my Eagles.

Sorry, rules of NFL Fandom, if it goes against your team, you must believe it was a bad call. I think the head of the Eagles Fan Union might be coming to get your union card after you said that.

[G-Man]

Steelers made the big plays they had too inorder to score an dthe Seahawks did as well but the zebras called most of them back, accept for the Steven's drops and the missed field goals (though they were from long distance).

Rothelisberger was horrible, probably the third best QB on the field behind Hasselback and Randle-Ell.

I will agree that the Seahawks mismanaged the clock at the end of each half, but these could have been non issues had the refs not made so many blunders.

The Steelers won today and were marginally the better team but teh best team did not win today. That said I am happy for Cowher...

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by illinifan999

There's people who don't think the holocaust happened, does that make them right?

That doesn't help your cause of thinking the referee's didn't happen at all.

[astrosfan64]

Originally Posted by Dutch

That's fine, but there are apparently a lot of people that don't see it that way.

What calls are we talking about.

The TD for Big Ben? I mean that could of went either way. If anything it was down on the inch line? All it has to do is break the plane.

The Seattle TD? That guy pushed off. Granted he would of had TD without pushing off, but it doesn't matter. HE PUSHED OFF RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE OFFICIAL. He isn't michael irvin, so he can't get away with that.

What other plays are we talking about here? The 15 yards for Matt Hassleback? That didn't even effect the game at all period. The penality wasn't the problem, the crappy pass he threw for an INT was.

Or how about that holding call on the RT. That was maybe the only play you could possibly gripe about. But I'm willing to bet you could find plays where that RT did hold and didn't get called.

[j51]

Did Pittsburgh ever get a first down on their last drive when they were given a timeout after the playclock ran out?

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Sorry, rules of NFL Fandom, if it goes against your team, you must believe it was a bad call. I think the head of the Eagles Fan Union might be coming to get your union card after you said that.

I can't remember any egregious calls from last year's SB. Eagles just weren't good enough.

[path12]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

That summarizes my impressions as well. I think Seattle can blame their horrible clock management at the ends of the halves and their 2 missed FG's more than the refs for their loss.

Yep. Kills me and I'm shitfaced right now......but we'll be back next year!
(shit, what a homer thing to say).

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by lynchjm24

Well even my girlfriend remembered the play from the Giants game, so I know it happened on an Eli pick (I wouldn't watch a Ravens game - so I can't help you there).

Not saying it didn't happen, the Stover play just seemed more familiar (I'm in MD, so watching a Ravens game would be logical. I have Sunday Ticket so it *could* have been a Giants game, I just wouldn't remember which ones I flipped through this year).

[Galaril]

I agree 100% that the refs for the biggest game of the year were pretty bad. That being said I also, agree the terrible clock management at the end of the first half as well as the missed field goals are why Seattle lost. Pittsburgh got this game uncontested not a very good bowl this year I thought.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Sorry, just thought I'd point out that a Denver fan thinking the officiating sucked in a game that Pittsburgh won is hardly anything worth even mentioning.

And...

(1) The bogus PI call that cost the Hawks 4 poinnt (7-3).

He pushed off, textbook offensive pass interference. Get over it,

(2) The bogus TD by Ben when he did not get in and lest say they get only 3 another 4 points.

All the ball has to do is BREAK the line, which it did, TD.

(3) The TD near halftime whne the Hawks WR hit the dang pylon, that is 7 points!

A foot hitting a pylon does not cound as a foot being in bounds.

(4) The bogus holding call on Stevens catch at the 1 yard line in the 4th quarter. & points there.

He had is arm across the defender's chest. Holding.

That's exactly how I saw it too.

1) The PI call was touchy, but it was a push off. If you do that, you run the risk of getting it called.

2) I think Rothlisberger BARELY grazed the plane -- but even if he didn't, what does it matter? There's a good chance that the Steelers go for it, and I don't think Seattle stops them on the 1/8-inch line, and Seattle lost by 11 -- without that touchdown, Seattle would still have lost.

3) That's just ridiculous; the pylon has nothing to do with being in/out of bounds. His foot came down clearly out of bounds.

4) I couldn't believe Madden said he did't see holding; the RT was beat and he put his arm around Haggans neck to try and stop him. That was a clear case of holding. And I saw the replay -- Haggans started moving just before the snap, but he was still behind the line. On those two plays, he figured out Hasselbeck's snap count and took off perfectly.

Even if you wanted to grant some of this homerism and say the Seahawks got bad calls, the unfortunate truth is that Seattle beat themselves -- I put the blame on Seattle's receivers. Hasselbeck had a few poor passes, Stevens dropped a big ball near the end zone before one of the missed field goals and on multiple occassions Seattle receivers completely failed to pick up the hot reads on the blitz and got drilled in the back by passes because they didn't help out their QB. That play where the ball bounced off the back of Jackson's head and then hit Stevens in the back of the head was indicative of that problem.

Seattle had a great season. No sense in tarnishing that by complaining about bad calls wearing rose-colored glasses. You're team had a great season. Savor that.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

I can't remember any egregious calls from last year's SB. Eagles just weren't good enough.

I agree. I think if we dug up last year's thread, you wouldn't find me whining about blown calls. I don't remember any truly bad calls last year. NE made the plays and they were the better team.

[stevew]

Haggans was held and turned on that play, pretty much the textbook definition of holding. If you get beat man on man on the right side of the QB out there on an island, and then suddenly you go high and substantially impede the rushers progress, you are gonna get called for holding.

The Hasselbeck call was ticky tacky, but you can't go through a blocker to make a tackle with a dive. I think the ref had a bad angle on this one.

If you are gonna push off, even touch off, on the WR right in front of the ref, you deserve to get called for offensive pass interference.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I agree. I think if we dug up last year's thread, you wouldn't find me whining about blown calls. I don't remember any truly bad calls last year. NE made the plays and they were the better team.

Yeah, the only bad calls last year were coming from Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb.

[robbgmaier]

I'm having a lot of trouble believing there is this much controversy over Ben's touchdown dive. Perhaps the ones screaming that it was not a touchdown are all looking at the ball when Ben's knee goes down. If you go back two or three frames you will see a sliver of the ball over the front of the goal line, with Ben still in possession. That is a touchdown. If you don't want to go back to your DVR and examine the frames that's up to you.

I've only seen 1 reference to the horse collar tackle. Why wasn't that called? I'm a steeler fan and I was pissed about that one. Agree or disagree with the rule but that is exactly what it is there for and it wasn't called. I'm just glad Seattle didn't make one of those later and get it called.

The Hasselbeck penalty. On "change of possession" plays, you are not allowed to go low through a player(s) that don't have the ball even if you are trying to get to the ball carrier. There was a guy in front of Taylor who he did make contact with low before getting to Taylor. The Steelers had the same penalty called against them on the same type of play earlier in the season, although there the contact was more severe. If there is no provision in the book about "weighing the degree of contact" then it's just too bad and they are both penalties. Hate the rule, but the call was correct.

I could go on, but it's out of my system now. The bullshit was just getting a little thick.

[G-Man]

Originally Posted by stevew

Haggans was held and turned on that play, pretty much the textbook definition of holding. If you get beat man on man on the right side of the QB out there on an island, and then suddenly you go high and substantially impede the rushers progress, you are gonna get called for holding.

The Hasselbeck call was ticky tacky, but you can't go through a blocker to make a tackle with a dive. I think the ref had a bad angle on this one.

If you are gonna push off, even touch off, on the WR right in front of the ref, you deserve to get called for offensive pass interference.

On that holding call the gent he held was grossly offside as he was on the next play and the officials missed both of those....pathetic.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by robbgmaier

I'm having a lot of trouble believing there is this much controversy over Ben's touchdown dive. Perhaps the ones screaming that it was not a touchdown are all looking at the ball when Ben's knee goes down. If you go back two or three frames you will see a sliver of the ball over the front of the goal line, with Ben still in possession. That is a touchdown. If you don't want to go back to your DVR and examine the frames that's up to you.

I've only seen 1 reference to the horse collar tackle. Why wasn't that called? I'm a steeler fan and I was pissed about that one. Agree or disagree with the rule but that is exactly what it is there for and it wasn't called. I'm just glad Seattle didn't make one of those later and get it called.

The Hasselbeck penalty. On "change of possession" plays, you are not allowed to go low through a player(s) that don't have the ball even if you are trying to get to the ball carrier. There was a guy in front of Taylor who he did make contact with low before getting to Taylor. The Steelers had the same penalty called against them on the same type of play earlier in the season, although there the contact was more severe. If there is no provision in the book about "weighing the degree of contact" then it's just too bad and they are both penalties. Hate the rule, but the call was correct.

I could go on, but it's out of my system now. The bullshit was just getting a little thick.

Yeah, I cant believe they didnt call the Steelers for that Horse Collar tackle as well, that was fairly obvious.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by stevew

Yeah, I cant believe they didnt call the Steelers for that Horse Collar tackle as well, that was fairly obvious.

I've seen horse collar tackles in a lot of games this year and hardly ever seen it called. I think bydefinition, for it to be a penalty, the player has to actually get his hand inside of the shoulderpads and then pull him down (which is pretty hard to do).

I can see them amending the rule this or next year to just simply say "grabbing the shoulderpad from behind".

[PilotMan]

Will our judgements of the refs get worse and worse and technology is increasingly used and can replay's can second guess every single play and call on the field?

Are they just getting worse or are we more critical because our options are better than they used to be?

If you looked at some of the old games and second guessed every play, how many missed calls would you find?

[Desnudo]

That push off offensive PI call was bush league. Either call it all the time or don't call it. I agree that all the tough calls went against the Seahawks. Whether it was the impact of the crowd, or what, the refs did not do a good job. The holding call that happened, happens on pretty much every play, either call it all the time or don't. It just seemed like they were calls that could be made, technically speaking, but never are, were actually made against the Seahawks. Not a balanced game.

That said, the Seahawks kept screwing up and still should have won it if they had more composure. Hasselback's passes at the end were awful decisions.

[Travis]

The game was the Seahawks to win in the first half. They reverted to their form of a year ago rather than what they had been playing like for most of this season.

That said, the thing that burned me the most about the officiating was the non calls against Pittsburgh. The offsides (the second leading to a sack) that they got away with, and two holding calls (the second that should have been on Ward) near the end of the game when Seattle was trying to get the ball back were back breakers at that point.

Even with those, if the offense finishes their drives and don't take stupid holding calls early on, Seattle is up 20+ to 7 at the half, likely only needing a touchdown or a pair of field goals to ice the game. Alexander had the quietest (near) 100 yard game I've ever seen, but I really thought Hasselbeck played a great game. Again, his numbers won't look great because of his receivers missing chances, like Engram letting one go off his shoulder on the slant, Stevens dropping two plus the helmet to ball tackle that knocked away what appeared to be a big reception. Throw in the two passes negated by holding calls and the touchdown on the offensive pass interference and Hasselbeck likely wins MVP with his play.

Seattle lost the chance to put a stranglehold on the Steelers in the first half, the Steelers made some big plays in the second half (though if Trufant had been one step faster on that Randle-El pass he picks it off and it's a totally different game) and when Seattle's D needed a stop to give the offense a good amount of time, they a) didn't do it and b) didn't get a call to go their way when they could have used it the most (those two missed holding calls really being the two that hurt the most imho).

Good game by the Steelers. They had a lead when they'd been outplayed, then did what they had to do to take control. Had Seattle managed the 98 yard touchdown drive it looked like they were headed towards, I think they end up winning the game, but for the first time this year, they really looked like the '04/'05 Seahawks.

Now resign Hutchinson, see if you can fit Alexander in, get Sharper and Hamlin back on the field and get the damn job done next year.

[astrosfan64]

Originally Posted by Travis

The game was the Seahawks to win in the first half. They reverted to their form of a year ago rather than what they had been playing like for most of this season.

That said, the thing that burned me the most about the officiating was the non calls against Pittsburgh. The offsides (the second leading to a sack) that they got away with, and two holding calls (the second that should have been on Ward) near the end of the game when Seattle was trying to get the ball back were back breakers at that point.

Even with those, if the offense finishes their drives and don't take stupid holding calls early on, Seattle is up 20+ to 7 at the half, likely only needing a touchdown or a pair of field goals to ice the game. Alexander had the quietest (near) 100 yard game I've ever seen, but I really thought Hasselbeck played a great game. Again, his numbers won't look great because of his receivers missing chances, like Engram letting one go off his shoulder on the slant, Stevens dropping two plus the helmet to ball tackle that knocked away what appeared to be a big reception. Throw in the two passes negated by holding calls and the touchdown on the offensive pass interference and Hasselbeck likely wins MVP with his play.

Seattle lost the chance to put a stranglehold on the Steelers in the first half, the Steelers made some big plays in the second half (though if Trufant had been one step faster on that Randle-El pass he picks it off and it's a totally different game) and when Seattle's D needed a stop to give the offense a good amount of time, they a) didn't do it and b) didn't get a call to go their way when they could have used it the most (those two missed holding calls really being the two that hurt the most imho).

Good game by the Steelers. They had a lead when they'd been outplayed, then did what they had to do to take control. Had Seattle managed the 98 yard touchdown drive it looked like they were headed towards, I think they end up winning the game, but for the first time this year, they really looked like the '04/'05 Seahawks.

Now resign Hutchinson, see if you can fit Alexander in, get Sharper and Hamlin back on the field and get the damn job done next year.

The NFC was terrible this year