The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I say it was a few things, but coaching and some bad calls topped the list.

It seemed that Seattle outplayed Pitt in the first half and most of the second, but were unable to capitalize.  Seattle was controling the ground game, I don't know why they put the ball in the air so much.  Also, their time and situational management was poor.  They didn't adjust well to different clock scenerios...in both halfs.

Also, missing two field goals hurts things as well.

I also thought that all of the calls went Pitt's way.  I didn't think that Big Ben scored on that TD scramble, and some other missed calls here and there.  I am okay with some missed calls, but thought that it was one-sided officiating.

But, Pitt capitalized with their trick plays and some good blocking when it counted.  ...so props, I guess.  Plus, Pitt seemed very prepared and well coached...their calls were good...

What's the deal with Holmgreen not shaking hands with Cowher?  Is Holmgren on the yellow rag?

I think alot of big calls went Pitt's way.  Almost as though the NFL was hoping Bettis would get his ring.

The offensive pass interference in the end zone on D-Jax was BS.  Big Ben's TD was BS as well.

Dave , I'd say you nailed this one. It seems like Seattle was able to do everything except make a play when they neede it and Pittsburgh only made the plays they had to make.  I felt Seattle had some baad clock management but overall had a good game plan.  I also don't know how Seattle fans are going to handle the calls but they did seem to be playing against the refs.  It didn't help that 8 out of the 10 commercials of players/coach  holding the trophy were Steelers. ::) I don't usually complain about officiating but the game, commercials and just about everything else seemed to be pushing for a Pittsburgh win.

I can think of 4 pretty big questionable calls that went Pitt's way:

1) The pushoff in the endzone.  ...while it might've been the right call in some scenrios, it didn't seem like it affected the play at all or freed the receiver to get sepereration to make the catch.

2) Roethlisberger's TD run.  ...it looked to me that it was pretty clear that he didn't make it in.  I suppose that their only argument could've been inconclousive, but even that would be pretty weak.

3) A holding call against a Seahawk blocker, that negated a long pass downfield to the 1 yard line.  ...this wasn't holding.  I don't know what to say much more than that.  Madden even commented on the replay.

4) The fumble by Hasselbeck, where he's clearly grabbed on his way down.  This play was overturned, but it was still a pretty big missed call.

5) *this didn't really affect the game, but they called Hasslebeck for a "block below the waist" where he was tackling the ballcarrier after an interception.  ...it cost them 15 yards.


...and any 1 of these if forgivable.  Mistakes happen, but usually on both sides -- this time, it just seemed that Pitt got every stinkin' call.  Sour grapes, I suppose.

The really sad thing is that everyone realizes that the best possible story line was the Bus returning home to Detroit, winning a championship and calling it quits.  For so many calls to go in Pittsburgh's favor just makes it suspicious.  On the replay of Hasselbeck's fumble I was wondering what kind of BS explanation the official would come up with (remember Troy Polamalu's interception that was overturned against Indy 2 weeks ago?)

One play that hasn't been mentioned is a long catch by Stevens that was ruled an incompletion.  I thought it should have been a catch and a fumble.

Do I think the NFL is rigged?  No.

Do more people think the NFL is rigged today than did yesterday?  Most likely.

You know what's interesting?  In the pregame show, Berman made a joke about Holmgren's family being in Africa... he said, "Well, it's 6 hours ahead of our time there, so knowing the Holmgrens like I do, they probably already know the result."

I know that it was a (pretty weak) joke about time zones, but the way it came out, it sounded like the fix was in.

Honestly, I stopped watching this game at halftime.  It was pretty apparent that SEA was going to get jobbed.  I mean, on the Roethlsomething TD... the official clearly ran in, looked at the ball (after Ben moved it forward), and signaled touchdown.  The reviewing official should have had an ounce of common sense and realized the context of the original call, instead of holding it up anyway.

Nailed it! 
As a neutral fan watching this game I think the officials should have added a yellow stripe to their black and white shirts. 

On a seperate note,  I have to ask my brothers here a question:  Let's say Hasselbeck doesn't get touched on the supposed "fumble".  I thought the ground couldn't cause a fumble,  what gives?


Yup.

I would love to hear Porter's mouth if he were on Seattle,  bitching and moaning about bad calls.  Feels nice to be on the other end huh Porter? 

There were some bad calls against the Seahawks. But, Pittsburgh would have won anyway had the bad calls not been called. It would have been a much closer game though.

To be totally frank, I find it hard to even care about the result of this game.

Remember during the "undefeated" talks, when I said something about "they award a Lombardi trophy every year, no matter what"?  This is pretty much a textbook example of that.

Honestly, I would have to say that this is the most pathetic field of teams I've ever seen.  I mean, take a step back:  the #6 AFC seed beat the #2 and #3 seed in the AFC, and the #1 seed in both conferences!

Unless PIT goes on to win more SBs, in 10 years you can expect this season to be a trivia question.  "Who were the winner and loser of Super Bowl XL?"

The ground cannot cause a fumble, only if you are tackled. Think about it this way, a player falls on his own without any contact and loses the ball. In the NFL a player is not down until there is contact. Therefore, the ground can cause a fumble in that scenario.

Two of those calls negated TD's or at least one and the other a ball on the three yard line. That's 11 to 14 points they ended up not getting.  That is a big swing.

Kelly Hearndon intercepts a ball and has a clear path to the endzone. He runs 76 yards and gets caught by an offensive lineman. A defensive back got caught by an offensive lineman. Come on, that should've been a TD. The refs had NOTHING to do with him not scoring.

I also think the refs had nothing to do with Williw Parker ripping off a 75 yards run.

As a sidenote, how about the fact that those were both Super Bowl records?

Calls like this happen every week during the season. This just happens to be a larger stage and the only game on, so everyone sees it. The key is that the good teams just keep playing. And it should have been 28-3 Steelers, but Ben was on the 'take' and threw a lame INT. Either way, a healthy offense, good defense and the Seahawks don't know how to overcome it. They are used to playing injured teams, teams with losing records and coasting. Still say Fausto could score on Ariz, St.Louis, or 49ers. hehehe

Was I the only one that noticed mid-way through the 4th on a 3rd and like 8 or something? That the Steelers had the ball and the play clock ran to 0 and then Ben called for a timeout (after the clock read 0) and they gave him the timeout instead of the delay of game? I watched the replay which clearly showed the clock @ zero and then Ben made the move for the timeout and I turned off the game and went into the other room to play pool. I was just amazed at how many calls were going against the Seahawks. Even the people going for the Steelers said it sure seemed like the refs were favoring the Steelers. The phantom "holding call", the weakest offensive interference call, and the QB sneak that fell short but ruled a TD was enough to lead me to believe that someone gave the refs some extra incentive. It was blatant and it was a disgrace. Even a majority of the commercials sucked. All in all I am glad I had a lot of food and alcohol!!!!!

I really could have cared less who won the game as it had no effect on me either way, but I just thought the game seemed sort of rigged and that takes away from the fun and experience that the Super Bowl is supposed to bring!!!!! Just my opinion  :)

They scored on that drive anyway.

The biggest play by far was the 'phantom' holding call on the pass to Stevens at the 2. Not only does it erase a sure TD, but a play or 2 later, Hasselbeck throws an int. Ballgame.

Sidenote: Can someone please explain to me the Hasselbeck call? I don't know how you make a tackle and get called for chop blocking..

They called it cuz he also took out a potential blocker below the knees to get to the ball carrier.

As for the delay of game 'no-call', we only see the stadium play clock, the official clock is on the ref, so there will always be tenths of a second difference. We see '0', when, like the NBA, it could really be '0.16' on the ref's stopwatch.

Let's also not forget the Vinny touchdown run that clearly wasn't. It's human error, but you can't blame the refs for the 75yd run. Can't blame the refs on being tackled by an o-lineman on the INT, or the fact that TE Stevens couldn't catch all night.

I think it was offensive pass interference.  The receiver clearly pushed off.  The problem is, that NEVER, EVER gets called.  Why call it last night if it's never called? 

It's like when NBA refs started calling moving screens on Yao Ming in last year's playoffs.  Uh, hello!  Rasheed Wallace's middle name IS "Moving Screen", and you never call it on him, or anyone else not Chinese and 7'6"!

I agree that the officiating was a little one-sided.  All of those calls were cheap and took Seattle out of their rhythm.  Take them away and you've got a totally different ballgame.  It didn't help that the majority of the crowd was pro-Pittsburgh as well.

The stadium clock is official in the NFL. The crew only keeps time in case of a malfunction.

As a referee myself (not in the NFL, of course) I thought the calls last night were terrible. Even at my level, with no instant-replay common sense can overrule a bad call. Common sense should've been used when Ben sneaked the football past the line after he was clearlydown. I got so fed up with it and, frankly, so bored with it that I ended up watching Star Trek instead.

Hey, before there's any trekkie comments on this board about me, let me tell you, there was some sort of alien-sex related storyline going on. It was pretty engrossing. And there were hot, neon-green women running around.

What do you ref?  jtex and I were notorious ref-nazi's years ago for Flag Football.  It really is an eye-opening experience.

The thing about that TD was that you see the line judge on the far side come running in with the spot, then changes his call to TD.  Granted, even if he was short, they'd just give it to Bettis on the next play and he'd more than likely pound it in...  But as a ref, you never change your call....  I feel that the back judge was convinced by the DB to throw the pass interference flag in the end zone in the first quarter too, as he signaled TD, then threw his flag.

I ref basketball with kids from age 9 to high school. Sometimes it's very quick and intense, sometimes it's slow and sloppy. I know what you mean about never changing your call. Sometimes the only thing that differentiates a good call from a bad one is the confidence with which the referee signals it.

I agree with your opinion on the back judge changing his opinion. The DB changed the referee's mind. When you see something, and you're unsure, people definitely try to get in your head. That's why you gotta take your time. Still though, I thought the reffing was damn atrocious. Even if it was Offensive Pass interference, as someone said above, they never call it anyway. Why now? Because some DB bitches at you?! Please.

It is a hard job to be a ref, but I expect more out of people who are in the top league in the world and who, by judgment of their in-season merits, have been deemed worthy to judge the Pinnacle of Competition in the sport.

Did everybody here watch the same game as me? The ball broke the plane! All that has to cross the plane is a fraction of the ball, and the tip of the ball broke the plane BEFORE Ben went down (and then moved it across the goal line). Remember, the plane is where the white line starts. The entire ball does not have to cross the line. The replay showed it breaking the plane. The ref even looked at it on instant replay. It would've been easy for him to say "After further review, the ball did not break the plane", but the fact of the matter is, the ball broke the plane.

I think everyone is so pissed off because they expected Seattle to destroy Pittsburgh, and felt Seattle was scoffed by everyone by being an underdog.

Missing two field goals (on key drives), letting Wille Parker rip off a 75 yard run, and letting Randel El throw a bomb to Hines Ward show that Seattle was not the  better team.

I didn't see the ball breaking the plane.  I saw his arm break the plane, yes, followed by him getting pummelled and fumbling the ball.  In addition, the ref said "the ruling on the field stands" meaning that either he agrees with the call, or there's no evidence to overturn it.  Regardless, they would have scored on the next play, so it doesn't matter. 

Two missed FG's - no one's pointing at Josh Brown cause they lost by more than 6.  But, give those 6 points back to them and they're down 5 inside 2 minutes and its a whole different ball game.

Seattle beat themselves, no doubt, but it did seem that every questionable call went Pitt's way.  Even the objective viewer can admit that.

Not totally true.

1) MAYBE they score.  They could get stuffed, but Bettis still has to get a clean snap, receive the ball, and the line has to hold.
2) Even if they do score, that play still cost Holmgren a timeout and a challenge (that was greatly needed at the end of the first half).
3) Plus, it screws with momentum and confidence.

I thought the officiating sucked and screwed the Hawks.  They didn't capitalize on all of their opportunities, and they botched some coaching decisions, but I still think that they should have had a lead going in to the game late.

The fans were really the ones who got screwed.

If you are referring to the Big Ben running TD, there was no challenge... that was a booth-initiated review at the end of the 1st half.

And there is no reason to think that Bettis would have scored; he had already been stuffed on 1st and 2nd down, and down 3-0, if Ben would have been stopped, Cowher would certainly have kicked the FG.

If only the elites here would lower themselves to checking out PFT then dummies like me wouldn't have to and find this stuff for you!

(http://profootballtalk.com/SteelerZebra.jpg) 

I stand corrected.

Good call... IF HE CONTACTED THE BLOCKER!  He didn't.

I'm fairly sure that the play clock is official in the NFL.  

It's Karma.  A Washington Husky was inducted to the HOF so another Husky had to screw up in a big game to keep the world in balance.  WSU Cougars fans here in Huskyville sure appreciate seeing Mark Rypien walking out with the MVPs.   We keep asking our Husky neighbors why the Husky Super Bowl MVPs don't show up but they can't explain it - something about Ray Horton getting cheated in Super Bowl XXVII.

LMAO,  seriously.

Whattttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!! SeATTLE LOST 14 pts because of the freakin refs. The offensive pass interference was a joke. The ref reacted to the steelers safety and not the actual play itself.


The holding call on locklear was a momentum killa!!!!!!!!! You go from first and goal at the 2, to 1st and 20 at the 25 huge difference. Seattle clearly had the steelers on their heels.


I know the seachickens didnt help their cause with poor clock management, dropped passes, and missed field goals, but the refs contributed mightly to the steelers being victorious.

  Actually he didn't.  The ref went for the flag with his left hand as soon as the push off happens & goes through the tossing of the flag motion.

Now the problem.  He whiffed on the grabbing of the flag or it got stuck in his pants & had to reach again.  By that time the DB is complaining & that is what people see.

If you have it on tape then watch the ref that whole time & you will see this is how it went down.

  While correct on the Steelers being on their heals.  One thing no one is saying.  The LBer had beaten Locklear.  Had Locklear done his job then the ref does not see holding.  I see what the ref saw & understand why he saw holding.  I do know that the ref sees it at full speed.  Locklear had his right hand right under the Lbers chin & when the linebacker bet him, his hand remained.  Locklear was almost behind him & looked to almost be chocking the LBer before he lost his grip.

If you ride a defensive player down and your hands are outside the body, especially near the throat, you are going to get a flag. For gods sake it looked like he was trying to rip his throat out.

PLus I know you got used to Irvin pushing off during those championship runs, but it was illegal then, and it is still illegal now. Especially if you are stupid enough to do it less than 10 feet from a ref.

THANK YOU. I'm no Steelers fan but I'm sick of the Seattle fans crying. Even their walrus coach gets up in the postgame address to the fans in seattle & cries about it. The pass interference call was very clear. The receiver extends his arm IN FRONT OF the ref - that will get called every time. I like how Chris Carter broke it down - elbow push off below the waist is acceptable - arm extended to the shoulder clearly establishes seperation in front of a ref - yellow flag for you. Also the holding call - the Pitt defender is cleary pulled down by the lineman. He tries to let go but too late the damage was already done. Rothlisbergers TD run, any part of the football has to cross the plain. There was not enough evidence to overturn the original call - remember the evidence has to be irrefutable - which the replay is not.   The penalty on Hasselbeck for the low block I will agree that was a botched call I don't know what the ref was thinking. The long pass that was called out of bounds at the 4 is absolutely correct! Remember if the FOOTBALL hits the pylon it can be considered a touchdown not your foot! Also the non call on Stevens fumble after he made a move but you wont hear seachicken fans crying about that one since it wasnt in their favor. Overall an average SB as far as I'm concerned. Some bad calls sure every game will have some of those but seattle fans need to stop making excuses. All year Pit were dogged in the press & they always took out the so called favorites. I'd never root for the Steelers but you have to give them their due.

My apologies if I already posted this.  I thought I did but I looked through my most recent posts and did not see it.

You people just don't understand Seattleites.

For those unfamiliar with our 2004 Gubernatorial election, here in Seattle, Washington, when the outcome isn't what we want, we just modify the rules and "play" again. We repeat this until we get an outcome that we consider appropriate.

Based on this precedent, Washington Governor Gregoire is petitioning the NFL to have the Super Bowl replayed with these modifications to the rules.
1 - Seattle TE's must merely touch the ball, not control it, to be considered a catch.
2 - Pittsburgh players must get the ball across the goal line, not just touch it.
3 - Seattle linemen will be allowed to hold.
4 - Seattle receivers will be allowed to push off.
5 - On a field goal, if the ball just gets relatively close to the uprights it will count. After all, the kicker meant to get the ball inside the uprights so he should get credit, right?
6 - Trick plays are deceitful so only the Pittsburgh QB will be allowed to pass the ball.

Now, with these new rules in place to insure the proper outcome, let's recount the votes play ball!!!

You're right.  I also must mention the horsecollar tackle on Mack Strong late in the third quarter that wasn't called.  And the penalty on Matt Hasselback for blocking below the waist???  Gimme a fuckin break, he was tacking the guy!!!!   

Why the Seahawks didn't protest any of these calls is beyond me.  I would've already been thrown out of the game for assaulting one of the officials. 

I've said this before and I will say it again.  When refs start making calls that are clearly one sided,  sometimes you have to punch them in the face to get the message across. 

  There was not a horse collar tackle on Mack Strong.  The Hass tackle was the worst call of the game.

Officials are far from perfect.   They make mistakes.  You just hope that they even out over the course of the game.   

I hope you are joking, but in todays age in adults responding to things like they are 9 year old kids I have to ask.

I'm pretty sure I saw one.

Ok.  The only one I thought happened was the Alexander one.

The Onion Sports

African Child Loves His ‘World Champion Seahawks’ T-Shirt
February 9, 2006 | Onion Sports

KAMPALA, UGANDA—10-year-old Akello Semesseke, wearing the new "World Champion Seattle Seahawks" T-shirt given to him Tuesday by an anonymous NFL-licensed promotions manufacturer, expressed his gratitude for the gift while admitting he was not familiar with the sport of American football. "The Seahawks must be as generous of heart as they are victorious on the field of whatever sport they play to share their clothing with us," said Semesseke, whose entire village was given one each of the teal and gray shirts, with one exception. "My father refused his new shirt," Semesseke explained, "because although he did need one, he felt it would be disrespectful to the World Champion Eagles, who kindly gave him both a shirt and cap last year." Semesseke added that if the Seahawks had included 80 cents a day along with the shirt, he could eat.

OK, so I got the player wrong.  Still, it happened.



I am dead serious.  This year was like an epidemic of bad calls.  The second someone punches a ref, the refs will be scared into making the correct calls. 

I don't think punching one ref will do anything for their collective eyesight and judgement - but I'm willing to try.   ;D

Please tell me why you think that will make someone be perfect at what they do?   The only call the refs actually blew was the Hass tackle.  The rest is just sour grape for the call hurting a gain for Seattle.  Of course you hear nothing about the Seattle fumble that Pitt. would have recovered.

  As I've said before, don't let the Lber beat you on the rush & you do not have to worry about a holding call.   Do not push off a DB while standing right in front of the ref & you do not have to worry about a offensive pass interference call.  Blame the players that committed these infraction for not being perfect at their job if you expect refs to be perfect.

 Since you are into punching for non perfection, then punch everyone for it, punch Stevens for dropping several passes, punch Herdon for being caught from behind by a OLman on a pick that should have been returned for a TD. .  Punch Holmgrem for mismanaging the clock at the end of the half. 

Refs do the best they can.  Sure they miss a call from time to time, but no ref is intentionally trying to make a team lose & anyone who believes it is simply looking for excuses.

True, if only refs got to watch one thing like we get to in slow motion time & time again before making a call.

This would be a stronger point had the DB not grabbed the receiver immediately prior to the push off.

I do not think he grab him in the terms of grabbing.  He did place his hands upon him for the briefest of sec, while Jackson did the same.  The difference is Jackson pushed off in order to gain seperation, while the DB pulled his hands back.