What cost Seattle this game?

[Dave Gray]

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...

[lovehate]

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

[Brian Fein]

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.

[CF DolFan]

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...

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.

[Dave Gray]

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.

[run_to_win]

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.

[Spider-Dan]

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.

[Thundergod]

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.

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?

Do I think the NFL is rigged? No.

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

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? 

[Frimp]

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.

[Spider-Dan]

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?"

[Phishfan]

Nailed it! 
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?

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.

[CF DolFan]

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.

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.

[Philly Fin Fan]

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?

[VidKid]

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

[AZ Fins Fan 55]

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