Ok, The Refs REALLY Fucked Up Last Night, Seriously

[Beetwasher]

Two questionable calls won the game for the Steelers.

1. They called back a Seattle touchdown for offensive pass interference that wasn't.

2. Rothlisberger didn't score on that touchdown. He just didn't get it in.

That being said, I don't know WTF Holmgren was thinking at the end of the game when he didn't go for the field goal and instead made that idiotic pass to the sideline. WTF was that?

[Ekirh]

1. That

was just bad (okay horrible) clock management


and yes there was quite a few bad (Questionable) calls last night. However, it should be noted that the Seahawks definitely weren't doing themselves any favors at all throughout the game. Too many dropped passes, bad clock management, the inability to hit (admittingly long) field goals.

The Refs did play a part. . . but the Seahawks themselves completed their own demise.

[Beetwasher]

8. Oh, I Agree, The 'Hawks Definitely Played Shitty

and Holmgren should be ashamed, but still, it really sucks to have bad calls play ANY role, and they still played a big one in that game, 14 points worth...

[Ekirh]

23. "nods"not disagreeing

I don't like refs dictating a game either. I just don't think the bad playing/coaching of the Seahawks should be discounted as a reason for losing when it didn't help.

And that 14 point thing is right. I'll semi-see the pass interference call (Although I don't totally agree with it) But in my eyes, my unobjective eye (I wasn't for either team) . . I didn't see Ben make it over the line.

The refing throughout the playoffs PERIOD was just horrible to watch.

[Montauk6]

34. Ben was close but it did look like he touched the beginning of paint.

[Mike Daniels]

37. I think a sliver of the ball did cross the outside plane of the line

while Ben was starting his downward trajectory.

I was rooting for the Steelers and I would have initially said "no" to the TD. However, during post game one channel ran the replay in really slow-mo and you could see where it does appear that Ben skinned the plane just enough.

[Beetwasher]

42. Not To My Eyes

I saw it over and over and it did not appear that the ball broke the plane. At the MOST the very tip of his knuckle MAY have, but not the ball.

[Ravenseye]

43. Bens TD

[Beetwasher]

44. That's Not a Touchdown

The ball's not breaking the plane.

[Robeson]

2. Holmgren fucked up throughout the game......

...the Seattle coaches ought to apologize to their players. Oh, yeah, and the refs sucked, too.

[Beetwasher]

6. Agreed, Seattle Didn't Necessarily Deserve To Win

But those calls really sucked.

[erpowers]

11. What About Hasselback and Others

It seems at some point mainly at the end of the first half Hasselback did not want to listen to Holmgren. It seems like the players did a worse job than the coaches. Hasselback did not seem to want to listen and Stevens kept dropping the ball. Maybe the players need to apologize to the coaches.

[Robeson]

14. Stevens should have been pulled.....

...and only a coach can do that. His back-up seemed to have no problem hanging on to the ball.

As for clock management, I read John Madden's "One Knee Equals Two Feet" a long time ago, and he talked about something that really stuck out in my head. He said when a player comes over to the sidelines to talk to a coach during a timeout, or commercial timeout, people ask him what do they discuss? He said discussions are not really about diagramming the latest great play, or something that will evolutionize football, but that it's really simple things. The player is so wrapped up into executing his play, or reading the defense, that sometimes, things we, as viewers, take for granted, i.e., like get out of bounds, or it's 4 and 2...have to be reinforced to the player, because they are completely wound into the moment, and execution. He said that's what he would continually remind the player of: "remember, there's only 20 seconds left", "remember, don't lose field goal position", "remember, step out of bounds". That's called clock management, and as Madden said himself in his book, it's the coaches responsibility to make sure it happens.

[erpowers]

16. Hasselback Would Not Listen

At the end of the first half everyone notice that the Seahawks offensive seemed to be in disarry. When Holmgren was asked during halftime what happened he said that on two occasions he called plays and Hasselback instead called audibles. Maybe if Hasselback had listened to the coach he would have been able to manage time better.

[Robeson]

47. Wrong. Seattle had a timeout left, and took it to the locker room with...

...them. Coaches can call timeouts on the sidelines now. Holmgren didn't. If he saw it unraveling, he should have used it. He didn't. No excuses.

[Ravenseye]

3. The worst call was the illegal block call on Hasselbeck

That was a legit tackle on a ballcarrier, not a chopblock.

As far as the offensive pass interference, why wasn't it? He pushed off the defender strong enough that it actuall moved the defender. It was by the book offensive pass interference and not incidental contact.

On my DVR on an HDTV feed on frame by frame, which I did after the game, there is no question that as he was in the air the ball, albeit barely and breifly, crossed the plane of the goal. It doesn't have to enter the color, just break the plane of the white. And it did.

Now with that said, they were TOUGH calls. Even at my party in the heart of Pittsburgh we were shaking our heads at the time. That pass interference call seemed really shaky after seeing it live and in one replay. We commented that if that had gone against the Steelers we'd be rioting, regardless of whether it was the right call or not.

The Roethlisberger TD also seemed like the referee didn't want to make the decision. He ran out with one arm out as if spotting the ball at the 1 inch line, and then raised the second as if to say "well he may have made it, but if I don't call a TD they can't review it, but they can review a TD." and up came the second hand. By not overturning it the replay essentially showed that at the very least it was too close to call, but as I said before, on my recording it looks like it did just barely cross the plane of the goal.

Yes I am a Steelers fan, but I am also a very objective person. I'm not a raving lunatic true beleiver, but a logical rational person. Were there bad calls? Definately. Did they turn the tide of the game? I don't think so any more than any other aspect from the numerous television timeouts, to non-calls, which there were quite a few I fear. I don't think it affected the outcome of the game.

[Beetwasher]

5. LOL!

"Yes I am a Steelers fan, but I am also a very objective person."

:rofl:

Sorry, those bad callse definitely turned the tide of the game. That was 14 points. Now, Seattle didn't necessarily deserve to win, they played horribly and Holmgren should be ashamed, but those bad calls made a big, big difference.

[Feenicks]

13. No, what turned the game on the Hasselback penalty was

that he had just thrown a friggin' INT!!!

[BOSSHOG]

26. While Seattle played poorly

the zebras took away 14 points that clearly would have resulted in a Seattle win, even with them playing poorly.

I did not care which team won last night but it sure as hell seemd like the officiating crew did.

[frylock]

39. spot on with your analysis of the roethlisberger td, but..

the offensive PI was total BS considering the defender initiated contact with the reciever at the goal line by CLEARLY grabbing his arm. It should have been an off-setting penalty at the very least. Frankly, I thought it was a little ticky-tac. I've seen receivers get away with far worse.

[kathy14-0]

4. Real champs find ways to win

And the play calling by Seattle hurt them much more than any call by the refs did. Seattle got outplayed by a mile bad calls or not.

[Beetwasher]

7. I Don't Think They Got Significantly Outplayed

Not at all. If you look at the numbers, it was pretty even and neither team played great. Seattle didn't necessarily deserve to win, but I don't think Pitt played that great either.

[kathy14-0]

9. I don't think Pitt played their best either by far

I agree there. But in a game you only have to play well enough to win and Pitt came up with big plays at precisely the right times they needed them and they obviously played good enough to win. I don't think if half the supposed bad calls had gone in Seattle's favor they would have won.

[erpowers]

10. Proves It

I think the talk that people are doing about Holmgren's bad play calling proves that the game was not fixed. What really happened is that the Seahawks played a really poor game. Both the first and the second half ended poorly with bad time management and poor calls. I too was surprised that Holmgren did not go for the field goal on two different playes during the fourth quarter. Even as a person who was supporting the Steelers, in the last minute of the game I kept thinking and saying okay now he has to go for the field goal. I was completely shocked that he decided to keep making pass plays especially when Hasselback kept throwing incompletely passes. Each time he went for another play instead of a field goal I was just surprised. The main point is that the Seahawks lost this game it was not stolen from them.

[Feenicks]

12. Maybe if the field goal kicker had been hot (not missed

2 in the first quarter) he would have been more inclined to go with him. Maybe the guy didn't have the confidence and so Holmgren was wary of giving him the nod and coming up empty.

[erpowers]

15. 50 Yards

They made him attempt at least one 50 yard field goal. I know some kickers can make those kicks and the punter kept punting the ball in the end zone, but they should have punted on those to kicks. That was not the fault of the kicker they were just asking him to do too much.

[Ravenseye]

17. Seattle's Kickers Were Suspect

a 50 and I think a 54 yarder both missed indoors. Those aren't gimmes, but lets be honest...Would Vinateri have made them? I would bet yes.

As far as the punter, he kept putting them into the end zone as you said. Seattle really didn't take advantage of their field position in the first half. Pittsburgh consistently started at their 20 when they should have been starting inside the 10, or even 5. Sure they kept going 3 and out, but they had enough room for good punts. If they had been backed up more on Seattle's punts, Seattle would have been fielding the punt returns inside Steelers territory most likely.

[Beetwasher]

18. Yeah, The Punter Really Fucked Up

Definitely. After every punt I was like "WTF is going on w/ this guy?" It was ridiculous that he kept putting them soundly into the endzone. It wasn't even close.

I don't blame the FG kicker at all. Those were tough FG's.

[Ravenseye]

27. Yeah me too

I was glad they kept rolling into the endzone but I was definatley thinking "What the hell is this guy doing?" It was like they had never played possession football before.

I don't blame him either. Anything over 50, or even 45, I think totally goes on the coaches head. The angle is just so low and tough. Distance isn't the issue, it's getting that distance, while clearing the height of the blockers, AND nailing it between the uprights. Still, I have a feeling a more clutch kicker would have made at least one of them. Still, I don't blame him though.

[northzax]

30. and the one time he bounced the punt at the ten

the cover guy hit the ball inside the endzone.

The Seahawks in general just were not there last night, bonehead play after bonehead play, and bonehead playcalling to go along with it. DJ not getting his feet in, Stevens dropping everything, d-backs just not covering anyone, people tripping, it was a mess. In an ugly game, the Steelers were slightly less ugly.

[JVS]

21. Yeah, that was poor playing

[Feenicks]

25. Yes, and 2 misses gets inside a guy's head.... nt

[erpowers]

41. Not Everybody is Vinateri

It is possible that Vinateri would have made those field goals. However, not everyone is Vinateri. At the end of the game Holmgren should have tried for the field goal which would have happened from about within the 30 and then tried for the onside kick. I think would have been a better way to end things.

[JVS]

19. On #2, It looked like it broke the plane and then the impact drove it back

But IIRC if they had overturned it it would have been 4th down and they'd have made it.

[Beetwasher]

22. I Really Thought He Did Not Make It In

I looked at it over and over and the only thing that MIGHT have TOUCHED the very edge of the plane was MAYBE a knuckle of the hand holding the ball, but not the ball.

[JVS]

24. Remember that the plane is at the beginning of the white line.

Once you get onto the line it is a TD

[Beetwasher]

28. I Know

And I really think the ball did not break the plane. I'm not even sure the knuckle of his hand broke the plane and that's the ONLY thing I would MAYBE give him, and even then it would have been the very tip of the knuckle, but the hand/knuckle doesn't count, it's gotta be the ball, and I just really don't think it broke the plane.

I had absolutely no horse in this race. I'm a Jets fan and really had no bias whatsoever. I'm just calling it like I see it. :shrug:

[JVS]

45. look

[Beetwasher]

49. At What???

You can't possibly by saying that it's clear that the ball is breaking the plane in that pic. No way.

I'm willing to actually give him that TD because it's so close the call should stand because it's NOT definitive (at least from that pic), but that pic proves nothing. Although I will say the Ref was NOT calling a TD at first and then, amazingly, changed his call to a TD a second later. His first instinct was obviously no TD.

In all honesty, to me, it does not appear the ball is breaking the plane, though it's extremely blurred and hard to tell. I don't think that's a touchdown.

[Mike Daniels]

38. I don't know if they would have gone for the TD on 4th

A field goal may have been sufficient at that time esp. since it would have been sure points from that yardage.

[kick-ass-bob]

20. Seattle's coaching staff gave up when they punted

from midfield with 6 minutes to go, needing 11 points.

Game was over right then.

[DaveinMD]

29. three questionable calls

don't forget the phantom hold on the catch down to the 1 yard line in the 4th quarter.

[northzax]

31. and, while it was overturned

the default call on the Hasselback fumble. Every close call went to the Steelers, forcing the crew tht overturns the fewest calls in the NFL to review two crucial calls. If the TD was not a score on the field (which it shouldn't have been) it would not have been overturned, and the game would have been different.

so the holding, offensive interference, fumble and TD were questionable, but the blocking on Hasselback was simply wrong. I mean not questionable, wrong. And something that the NFL should apologize for, like the Steeler interception earlier in the playoffs.

Funny, I notice that there was no complaining by Jerry Porter about the referees not giving a fair shake to one team this time, was there? So he doesn't actually want fairness, he just favouritism for his side. Good to know.

oh, and that crew should never ref a playoff game again.

[DaveinMD]

32. it was pathetic

The only thing worse was the 2002 Giants Niners playoff game.

[Loge23]

33. Bad call #3: The hold that wasn't

Seattle had just completed a pass to the 2 yard line when the refs took that back on alleged Holding penalty that clearly didn't happen.
Like many posts here, I agree that the Seahawks just didn't do themselves any favors with their play; but the Super Bowl deserves much better officiating than we saw last night.

[northzax]

35. yes, the point that the Steelers were the favourites is fine

but that everyone outside of Western PA is talking, not about the Steelers, but about the referees is sad, frankly. Even all the commentators who called the game before hand for the Steelers are talking about the reffing, not the plays, not the winners. It's bad for everyone.

here, for instance, is Mike Wilbon, who spent the last two weeks saying the Steelers would win (he even called the 21 points for the team) so he should be talking about the team, right? nope. it's all about the reffing. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/02/03/DI2006020301709.html

[blitzburgh55]

51. It was a hold

Locklear hooked Haggans arm after he got beat. In fact, holding could have been called several times on Locklear all night.

Why won't anyone bring up the non calls against the Steelers?

The illegal block in the back on Ben after his int.

Stevens DID fumble the ball, it wasn't an incomplete pass.

[northzax]

36. Bad Call Number 4

the no-call on the horse tackle of Alexander. textbook case of a horse tackle, right in front of a Zebra. 15 yards. or not.

[frylock]

40. yep. clearly horse collared him..

I remember yelling out something about Roy Williams at the time.

[friesianrider]

46. I'll give you the Roeth. TD was 50/50, but the offensive PI...

Was obviously a penalty. I was watching ESPN today and everyne said the Roethlisberger TD could have gone either way but the offensive pass interference was a definite penalty.

It's the rules of the game, unfortunately. Even if you take away the Roethlisberger TD, Pitt still wins by at least 3 (or more likely 6 considering they would have gone for a FG on 4th down).

[eridani]

48. Munch, munch, the ref brought his lunch

Eat it, ref! Eat it!

http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2006/02/seahawks-doomed-by-horrible.html

Like other Seattle fans, I'm depressed that the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl, but I'm angry that we were robbed of any chance at victory thanks to horrible officiating.

As the AP's Dave Goldberg saw it:

-Darrell Jackson was called for offensive pass interference for pushing off Chris Hope on what would have been a 16-yard completion from Matt Hasselbeck. The call was a little ticky-tacky, but it was a penalty.

-A holding penalty on Chris Gray that negated an 18-yard completion from Hasselbeck to Jackson that would have given the Seahawks a first down at the Pittsburgh 23.

-A 34-yard punt return by Peter Warrick to the Pittsburgh 46 was called back by a holding penalty on Etric Pruitt. Although to be fair, there's nothing unusual about a penalty on any punt or kick in any game?

-Finally, some dubious clock management and play calling that forced Josh Brown into trying a 54-yard field goal late in the half. It was wide right, so the Steelers led 7-3 at intermission despite being outplayed for most of the half.

But that only was a preface for the mistakes in the second half - the Roethlisberger interception, a couple of more Stevens drops, then finally, the decisive penalty on Locklear.
And then, of course, there was that touchdown made by Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger that was questionable in the first half.

The Seahawks were cheated out of a Super Bowl title by bad officiating. Just about every time the Seahawks made a key play, the referees called a penalty and Pittsburgh got a break. The Steelers were outplayed in the first half and even some in the second half. Yet they got points and the Seahawks didn't.

[fishwax]

50. Big Ben's TD was legitimate

The tip of the ball crossed the front edge of the plane. I had no dog in this fight, but the TD looked conclusive to me on the replay (not that it had to be).