Super Dud

[rick6886]

Despite being outplayed for most of the evening Pittsburgh got one huge run from Willie Parker and a trick pass play to defeat the Seahawks.

Seattle went up and down the field for most of the game, but got some huge drops from Jeremy Stevens and missed kicks by Josh Brown. The Steelers also got a lot of help from the officials when Darrel Jackson was flagged for offensive pass interference (barely touched the defender) on a TD and a phantom holding call when Seattle would have had the ball 1st and goal on the 1.

Super Bowl winning QB Big Ben was a fantastic 9-21 for 123 yards 0 TD and 2 INT, arguably the worst line from a winning QB in the history of the Super Bowl.

The game was rather blah, it got mildly interesting when Seattle was about to make it 17-14 before the officials took the game away from them, it was over then you could feel it.

This was not the same Pittsburgh team that buried the Broncos and Colts, this looked like the Steelers team that got decimated by New England in the AFC title game last year.

A very ugly win for Pittsburgh in a very forgettable Super Bowl...

my humble 2 cents

Rick

[tidbit]

Agreed.  The weather (outside the dome) was lousy, too.

[Weeble]

Maybe the Officals wanted Jerome to go out on top???  

[Jim Abb]

Seattle didn't get any breaks on the calls, but then again, they let some good drives come up short, too.
As far as Big Ben, remember, we're talking youngest winning superbowl  QB and he did deliver some important runs, including a (very barely) TD.
The Steeler defense did a respectable job on one of the great running backs, Alexander, too.

Maybe not too exciting (except for Steeler fans, of course) but some good commercials!

[spurly]

It was a defensive masterpiece!  I love defense!

[rick6886]

Maybe the Officals wanted Jerome to go out on top???  

Remember when Joey Porter was bitterly complaining after they beat the Colts that the "NFL wanted Manning in the Super Bowl".

Funny I didn't hear Porter complain one bit about how the "NFL wanted the Bus to ride out on top".

The officiating was a travesty in this game. You can really make a case that Seattle should have won. They were the better team, they committed fewer turnovers, had 400 yards of offense and played much better defense than the Steelers (who didn't get a 1st down until the 2nd quarter). Throw in the fact that Seattle had 2 TD's taken away by the officiating crew and the Steelers were handed this game on a silver platter.

There have been very few Super Bowls (in fact I can't think of any) where I thought at the end of the game the wrong team won. But this was a hardly a "statement" performance by the Steelers, basically they showed expecting to have this game handed to them, and in the end that is exactly what happened...

my humble 2 cents

Rick[/color]

[CDHealy]

Hey . . . an ugly win is still a win.

And one can argue that officiating has been going against Pittsburgh throughout the playoffs--it was about time it went their way.

Still and all, unless I'm misremembering, there was only one TD "taken away" from Seattle (the PI pseudo-call).

And the Big Ben TD was called both by the official who was right there on the line as well as sustained official review.  I'm not saying it is an indisputable call, by any means.  But it's not like the TD was "given" to the Steelers.

The fact is, when the calls went against the Steelers in the playoffs, they still put it together to win.  The Seahawks did not.

I'll give it to Seattle, they did, in fact, play the better game in a lot of categories.  But two missed FGs is not a result of bad officiating.  A pass interception late in the game is not the result of officiating.  Did Seattle play a good game and still lose?  Overall yes.  Did the Steelers play one crappy lousy game and still win? Yes.  Did the officiating suck?  On key plays: Yes.  Can you argue that Seattle deserved to win?  Probably.

But if every team that deserved to win and that had bad calls made against it actually won, it wouldn't be a game.  It would be a formulated script.

Michael Novak has a good piece on luck and football.

[Jimbob]

Anyone see the pregame?  That story on the Pop Warner team in East Greenbush, NY was definitely the best football on that night.  That's a quick drive from here (had lunch at CB there before the Bowl, in fact).

[rick6886]

I guess I need to learn to let things go, but I haven't for 37 years so why start now  :D

And one can argue that officiating has been going against Pittsburgh throughout the playoffs--it was about time it went their way.

They got one bad call in Indy, not 3 or 4 each game...

Still and all, unless I'm misremembering, there was only one TD "taken away" from Seattle (the PI pseudo-call).

Darrell Jackson's was  taken away. The other time Seattle would have the ball 1st and Goal at the 1 had it not bee for the phantom holding penalty and would certainly gotten a TD there, so its a matter of semantics...

And the Big Ben TD was called both by the official who was right there on the line as well as sustained official review.  I'm not saying it is an indisputable call, by any means.  But it's not like the TD was "given" to the Steelers.

Actually the official had raised his hand up signally 4th down, then as he was walking towards the goal line with the play clearly over changed his mind and ruled TD. Had he not changed his mind after the play was over it would have been 4th and 1 and Cowher who is extremly conservative would have kicked a FG making it 3-3 instead of 7-3. What posessed this official to change his mind after he clearly signaled 4th down? Conspiracy?

The fact is, when the calls went against the Steelers in the playoffs, they still put it together to win.  The Seahawks did not.

Again I reiterate the Steelers had one bad call against them, and at the time had an 11 point lead when the call went against them. Seattle who had already been robbed of one TD was robbed of a chance to get another go ahead TD when the official flagged a phantom holding play. And an official change his mind giving the Steelers a TD. Had the Steelers been held to a FG and Seattle gotten both of their TD's that is a 15 point swing in favor of the Seahawks, the way Big Ben was playing this was huge no way Pittsburgh would of came back.

But two missed FGs is not a result of bad officiating.

A 50 and a 54 yard FG were missed, most kickers are under 50% at this range. You are implying he missed 2 easy chip shots...

A pass interception late in the game is not the result of officiating.

The pass interception was 2 plays after the phantom holding call which knocked Seattle practically out of FG range and Hasselback had to be semi desperate. Then adding insult to injury they flag Hasselback for another 15 yards for unnecessary roughness on the tackle. A QB "unnecassarily" roughing a defender on a tackle, are you kidding me?!?!

At this point the game was over, no matter what Seattle did the officiating made it real clear we are going to give this game to the Steelers.

If I were the Steelers I would be embarrassed, this was far from a Super Bowl winning performance, the officials stopped Seattle not the Steelers D.

Of course the Steelers who cried loudly after the Indy game have been awfully silent about the officiating of the Super Bowl. I can never recall a championship game or series where so many bad calls at so many key times went against one team. Plain Pitiful. A very tarnished and undeserving title for the city of Pittsburgh, unlike the ones they won in the 70's...

my humble 2 cents

Rick[/color]

[CDHealy]

Rick:

No, there's no convincing you.

I do find it interesting, however, that you can look into that crystal ball of yours and know some facts about what would most definitely have happened:

Seattle would have scored if the PI hadn't been called
Pittsburgh wouldn't have gone for it if Big Ben's TD had been called back.
Etc.

And apparently you can read officials' minds and know when they mean to signal fourth down and when they mean to signal a TD (oh, and you didn't address the official review, either).  But then to desparately cling to the hinted "conspiracy"?  Yeah, right.  Desperation indeed.

Oh, and by the way, it wasn't like it was there was only one bad call against Pittsburgh in the Colts game.  There was the missed offsides against the Colts, after which Ben ran a sneak for the first down.  There was the second quarter mugging of Cedric Wilson that wasn't even called.

But let me point out to you that there were what, two or three, incompletions from the Seahawks receivers because the guys couldn't keep their feet inbounds (one of which would have been a touchdown).  And you didn't at all address the clock management issue: what were Holmgren/Hasselback thinking at the end of the first half, and the fourth quarter.

As I said, that first half made me real nervous.  Had both defenses not been tough as nails in that first half, it would have been an astronomically high scoring game.

And as I also admitted, the Steelers got the lucky breaks in the game, no doubt about it.  But they also took advantage of those breaks.  And sometimes the difference between a winning team and a championship team is not simple execution but the instinct to capitalize on the breaks.  

The Seahawks were certainly disadvantaged by the calls, that's for sure.  But then again they also played sloppy.  The numbers don't show the sort of mistakes and poor judgment that Seattle had on the field apart from any officiating.

All this won't change your mind, I know.  Us Steelers fans just have to get used to all you haters.  Ya'll want your pretty boy Montanas and media darling Mannings.

[Barry]

Steelers won -- case closed -- stop the whining.

And BTW, I agree it was one of the most boring Superbowls ever.

Barry

[rick6886]

Steelers won -- case closed -- stop the whining.

And BTW, I agree it was one of the most boring Superbowls ever.

Barry

I will not stop whining!!!
I will not stop whining!!!
I will not stop whining!!!

ok I will stop...  :cry:  :cry:  :cry:

my humble 2 cents

Rick[/color]

[extranos]

I reviewed the Big Ben run TD last night over and over and I think the evidence is overwhelming that the ball crossed the plane.  I think Cowher would have challenged the call if it had NOT been scored as a TD and would have won the challenge (although at that point it may not have been challengeable).

The PI call was legitimate.  Nobody argues that the Seattle player did NOT push off and extend his arm to gain an advantage.  The complaint is only that it should not have been called.  It's like calling travelling on Jordan - he did it all the time, but for goodness' sake let's not actually CALL it!  Sheesh.  Everybody wants offense and high scores, so the defense isn't supposed to get any breaks anymore. The stupid thing about the play is that the push was unnecessary.  Seattle had a TD without the push.  LAMEBRAIN RECEIVER, not bad call.

Pittsburgh had a Seattle catch and fumble taken away in the 3rd, I think it was.  The Seattle receiver caught the pass and turned with both feet moving and the football under control and then it came out on a hit.  The play was ruled an incomplete pass.

Did anybody wonder if this rule, from nfl.com, came into play on the lone Seattle touchdown:
[span style=\'color:red\']1) What is the difference between an illegal pick play and a legal pick play or crossing pattern?

If a player makes contact against a defender more than 1 yard beyond the line of scrimmage and his contact frees a teammate to make a reception, this is an illegal pick and offensive pass interference. The only time a pick can be legal is if it occurs at or behind the line of scrimmage. In that case, there is no foul.[/span]

[Skip]

One could also argue that Texas was helped to the BCS Championship by the refs in a much closer game.

And that the Chicago White Sox seemed, at times, to be the darlings of the refs, er, umps.

And with the Olympics around the corner...

[Jimbob]

"The PI call was legitimate.  Nobody argues that the Seattle player did NOT push off and extend his arm to gain an advantage.  The complaint is only that it should not have been called."

Yeah, I thought that was pretty lame.

[samloveall]

re: no 1st down on the 1 for a sure TD because of a bad holding call:


you cannot both say "Seattle would have scored from the one" AND say "Ben didn't score from the one".  If Ben was stopped, then Seattle could have been stopped.  No sure thing there.


The "no catch/no fumble" was absoLUTEly a catch.  The receiver had the ball in his hands, and then TUCKED IT UNDER HIS ARM as he turned.  That's a catch.


As I wrote in a theology thread, the bigger investigation should be - - from which team was Jeremy Stevens getting a paycheck?

[rick6886]

I am being a good boy and will not take the bait to reply to my critics...









yet...

my humble 2 cents

Rick

[kanham]

I personally like to look for consistency. Are the refs calling it the same for both teams. Refs will make bad calls. My wife is one and every game she knows she missed some calls and made some that were not. That is how it works when you have to make split second decisions during live action.

The holding call looked like holding until slow motion replay and analysis. Did Pittsburgh get called for holding? Should we go back and slow motion analyze each of those calls?

Unless we want every play to be analyzed by a group of guys in the booth then you just have to move on.

That is all one can really look for IMO. If Pittsburgh's receivers were blatantly pushing off and getting away with it then I could see an issue. If on Hines Wards catch he shoved a guy to get open then I would think Seattle got yanked. I have heard no such claim and have seen no such evidence.

I started to wonder if the people calling the game had a bias against Pittsburgh. :D

[spurly]

I think the only reason that the Kansas City Royals didn't make it to the world series last year was that the umpires made bad calls against them all year long on purpose.  :p