FoxSports: Seattle was the better team...

[Taco John]

Refs were far from super in this one

Kevin Hench / FOXSports.com

This is the space where I get to crow about the frightening precision of my Super Bowl prediction.

Where I get to remind everyone that I guaranteed the Steelers would win the title after they beat the Colts. That they were the only championship-caliber team among the final four. That they would dismantle the Broncos in Denver and waylay whomever the NFC sent at them. This is the space where I get to wag a finger at my colleague Ian O'Connor, with whom I'd waged a dueling columns battle of opposing prognostication. He picked the Seahawks and made a very strong case for them.

This is the space where I get to say, I told ya so. But I won't. I can't.

I've never felt so empty being right. I feel dirty. I wish I'd been wrong. The Steelers did not deserve to win this game. They were not the better team. O'Connor was right. Seattle was the better team.

So, Paul Tagliabue, how does a team lose when it outgains an opponent by 57 yards, controls time of possession and wins the turnover battle?

Like a crazed CIA analyst running through the halls of Langley screaming into open offices about some impending calamity, I've been shrieking hysterically about the terrible officiating in the NFL and warning that some day the brutal calls were going to affect the outcome of the Super Bowl.

That some day was Sunday.

Every single questionable, marginal or outright bad call went against the Seahawks.

Their first three big plays were all wiped out by penalty calls. On their second drive, Darrell Jackson caught an 18-yard pass on 3rd-and-6 that would have given Seattle a first down at the 23. But Chris Gray was called for holding James Farrior. When Farrior pushed upfield, Gray did hook him with his right arm, and Farrior went down. When referee Bill Levy flagged Gray, it was a bad omen for the Seahawks. Instead of being on the edge of the red zone, they came away without any points.

On their third drive, the Seahawks looked to take a 7-0 lead when Jackson separated from Chris Hope in the end zone and Matt Hasselbeck delivered a perfect strike to his outside shoulder. The back judge looked uncertain —sound familiar, Patriots fans? — then finally jerked his flag out and called offensive pass interference to wipe out the touchdown. The replay showed receiver and defender hand-fighting with Jackson getting the slightest push into Hope's chest before turning to catch the ball. ABC's John Madden thought the call was dubious. FOX analyst and all-time great offensive lineman Brian Baldinger had no doubts, calling it "absolutely horrendous" on his FOXSports.com Super Bowl Instant Analysis. ESPN's Steve Young and Michael Irvin also had no uncertainty, dismissing the call as ticky-tack and insisting the Seahawks got robbed of a TD.

Then came a huge call on the first play of the second quarter. Peter Warrick ripped off a 33-yard punt return to give Seattle the ball at the Steelers 46. But Etric Pruitt was called for holding. How clear was it? Well, Madden thought the call was for Pruitt holding the gunner at the beginning of the play. It wasn't. The flag came in during the runback and it looked pretty minor. Another example of an official searching to make a call.

So despite totally dominating the first 20 minutes of the game, the Seahawks led only 3-0.

Then came Pittsbugh's first touchdown. Whether you think Roethlisberger broke the plane of the goal line seems to depend on which team you were rooting for. The odd part was the line judge seemed to have determined that Big Ben had come up short as he ran in from the sideline. Since Roethlisberger had been pushed back well short of the goal line I don't know what he could have seen as he got closer to the pile that would have made him change his mind. But up went the arms. Had Roethlisberger been ruled short of the plane, that call would no doubt have stood too. But you figure the Black and Gold would have pounded it in from the two-inch line on fourth down so there's not that much here for Seattle fans to complain about except for the continuing storyline that every single call was going the Steelers' way. And the worst was yet to come.

The Seahawks were on the verge of taking a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter when officiating disaster struck. Hasselbeck had drilled a pass down the seam to Jerramy Stevens to set up first-and-goal at the one when suddenly Levy appeared in the middle of the screen to call the play back on account of holding on Sean Locklear. No less a source than newly-minted Hall of Famer John Madden came right out and said it was a bad call. This penalty was beyond ticky-tack. Baldinger called it "another terrible call" and added that the Steelers were offsides on the play. It was yet another official searching for a call, desperate to throw his flag, yearning to impact the action. Why, why, oh, why? That's 14 points the officials simply took away from the Seahawks. Incredible.

After a sack, Hasselbeck threw a pick and then was penalized 15 yards for making the tackle. I'm not kidding. The same thing happened in the Indy-Pittsburgh game in the regular season. It's like the officials become so discombobulated during the change of possession that they just randomly start throwing flags. The call was that Hasselbeck had thrown an illegal block below the waist on the return. Never mind that Hasselbeck wasn't trying to block anybody and did, in fact, make the tackle. Just another terrible call that cannot be reviewed in Paul Tagliabue's NFL.

The Steelers took quick advantage of their enhanced field position and just like that it was 21-10 Pittsburgh when it should have been 17-14 Seattle.
But the stripes weren't done.

First, they blew a fumble call on the field — of course against Seattle — before overturning it after replay. Then, with the Steelers trying to run out the clock, Levy granted Roethlisberger a timeout, even though the play clock clearly read zero before the quarterback signaled for time. It ended up being the final bad call in Seattle's coffin. As Madden and Al Michaels watched the replay they shared a laugh about a similar bad non-call in an earlier playoff game between the Bears and Panthers. This is what it has come to:

Announcers comparing the bad calls happening before them to the bad calls from earlier rounds of the playoffs. Is this really what the NFL wants?


Did the refs get this Ben Roethlisberger touchdown call right? It's certainly up for debate. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)

With Cris Collinsworth lobbying for pass interference to be eligible for review on Inside the NFL after New England got jobbed in Denver; Joey Porter inveighing against the league after the game in Indy; Young and Irvin railing at halftime of the Super Bowl; Baldinger being spot-on with his Instant Analysis critique of the officials; and Madden and Michaels wondering aloud about the officiating during the game ... is anybody in the league office listening?

Or can we pretty much count on next year's playoffs being dominated by the officials too?

Was that Mike Holmgren or Mike Martz?

The one area where most people agreed Seattle might have an edge was on the sidelines. Mike Holmgren was supposed to be a better game coach than Bill Cowher. But a funny thing happened to Holmgren at the end of the first half (and again at the end of the game): he became Mike Martz. Not once, but twice, Holmgren basically ran the clock out on himself.

One other decision Holmgren made should haunt him. After Mack Strong did a shameful job of not stretching out for a first down — on a tackle by a cornerback no less — the Seahawks faced 4th-and-inches at their own 26 with a 3-0 lead in the second quarter. The situation reminded me of when Bill Belichick went for it in a similar situation against the Colts in the playoffs three years ago, made it and sent a statement. Despite having an MVP tailback who was 16-for-16 on 3rd-and-1 this season, Holmgren went the safe route and punted. The Steelers scored and Seattle never led again.

Darrell Jackson, what might have been

After tying a Super Bowl record with five catches in the first quarter, Darrell Jackson was shut out. But, oh, what might have been. If not for a holding call, a marginal offensive pass interference penalty and a momentary lapse of knowing where he was on the field, Darrell Jackson could have had eight catches in the first half for 124 yards and two touchdowns.

As it turned out, his five catches for 50 yards will be easily forgotten.

Joey Porter vs. Jerramy Stevens

Joey Porter was pretty invisible. Jerramy Stevens wished he was. Despite scoring a touchdown, he had three huge drops, two of which were drive killers when the Seahawks were marching deep in Steelers territory. Porter may have had only three tackles and no sacks, but the "soft" label he hung on Stevens sure seemed to fit as the 6-foot-7 tight end short-armed several passes and seemed to be hearing footsteps all night.

Kevin Hench is supervising producer of The Sports List on Fox Sports Net.


http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5310192

[Mike in SW-MO]

I missed the second hold call and the out-of bouncds play, so I can't offer opinions on those.

I thought the offensive pass interference call was absolutely correct. the fact that it frequently isn't called doesn't change the fact that the receiver pusshed off. Not only did the receiver extend his arm with his hand on the defenders body, but the defender went from leaning forward toward the receiver to leaning backward with his weight on his heals, away from the receiver. The writer points out all of the people that thought it was a bad call. Every one of thm except Madden was an offensive player. I'd like to get the opinion of a defensive back.

The first holding call was correct as well. The RT hooked his arm around the throat of the defender and pulled him backwards in a classic bulldog maneuver. Can't do that.

The fumble call would have been wasy to miss by an official depending on where was standing. On one replay from the hasselbeck's left I said no way he was touched. Fumble. From the other angle, he was clearly swiped going down. Down by contact. The right call was made. Whether or not the original call was a bad call or just wrong depends on where the ifficial was standing. Anyone catch where he was at?

Originally Posted by arc

You can sell a lot more merchandise if an east coast team wins, than if a small market in a distant outpost wins.

How is Pittsburgh "east coast"? They're 6 hours from the Atlantic.

I enjoyed the game. Stevens sure is lucky the refs sucked or the finger would be pointed where it belongs - at him - despite his TD reception.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Phobia

How is Pittsburgh "east coast"? They're 6 hours from the Atlantic.

I enjoyed the game. Stevens sure is lucky the refs sucked or the finger would be pointed where it belongs - at him - despite his TD reception.

Pittsburgh isn't 'east coast' but they are a 'storied franchise' of the NFL. That alone gives them a much greater fan base all over the country, which translates well when hocking NFL material. All the fairweather fans now in their 40's and 50's who grew up 'steeler fans' (similiar to the cowboy and 49er fans of my generation) now have a reason to go out and buy another steeler jersey and or sweatshirt.

As a fan of Mizzou football, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Chiefs, I feel I am well-versed in pointing out instances when officials jobbed the other team

In fact, last night was so bad, it reminded me of when Vince McMahon screwed Bret Hart out of the WWF title by having Earl Hebner ring the bell when Hart never submitted (the Montreal Screwjob...yes it's sad to say I made that comparision).

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Phobia

How is Pittsburgh "east coast"? They're 6 hours from the Atlantic.

BFD. Spokane (in eastern Washington) is six hours from Seattle. Would you consider it on the West Coast?

Besides, from our point of view, anything east of the Mississippi is "east coast".

[morphius]

I thought the push off in the end zone was a fair call, does it always get called, no, should it, hell yes. I wasn't rooting for either team to win, so my bias is at an all time low. Watching in HD damn close to the TV made it more then obvious that Ben's dive the ball did go over the goal line, maybe by a full centimeter, but it was obvious that it was a TD. The holding by Pruiit was also obvious he pulled the guys shirt over his sholder blade while on the line of scrimmage, easy call to make.

That holding call late on the Stevens catch though was complete BS, as well as the 15 yarder against Hasselbeck for making a great tackle. It seems that if you get within half a second of the clock reaching zero the refs almost always seem to miss the false start, should be such an easy thing to get right, but the stupid refs blow this all the time. I would love to see this moved up to the booth, put a big red light that goes off around their screen (like the backboards in NBA games) when the clock reaches 0. Should make it obvious enough and they could call it down to the field.

For the most part it was a boring game, and it wasn't the penaltis that really made either of these teams look good or bad, when I look back at this game it will not be the bad calls that stick in my head, it will be how neither team looked sharp at all that I will remember.

Spokane west coast? Not really. No more so than Las Vegas.

[Chiefs Express]

Originally Posted by memyselfI

It's not just you. I'm not into conspiracy theories regarding the NFL but I do believe they have a preference for a certain team winning. It was clear last night that Seattle was NOT the preferred team.

The two penalties, both questionable, were HUGE calls that impacted scoring opportunities. With the addition of the non-touchdown for Pitt, the Stealers win.

[morphius]

The way the group that I was with saw the out of bounds catch was that his second foot clearly was down out of bounds before the other foor hit the pylon.

The fumble was also a good reversal, watching at live speed he didn't look like he was touched, but obviously he was. I'd take that over a down by contact any day, because they were able to at least make the right call in the end, whereas if some idiot judge comes running in pointing at the ground even if he didn't blow his whistle before the ball changed hands, suddenly it isn't reversable.

[Chiefs Express]

I don't agree with Fox.

The Seahawks had some opportunities to score and didn't. The penalties were called at inopportune times, but looked like penalties in almost every instance. The call on Hasslebeck for blocking below the knees seemed like a stretch.

If I were going to back a team, it would have been the Steelers to stay with the AFC.

The bottom line is that in the end, regardless of the penalties called, the Steelers would have won the game. When they needed to perform, they did and Seattle did not.

[Chiefs Pantalones]

Chiefs fans have joined the Bronco faithful in the blame it on the ref game...

Officials or no officials...the Steelers would've won regardless. The NFC is wicked bad.

[vailpass]

Scoreboard.

[Taco John]

Originally Posted by Phobia

Spokane west coast? Not really. No more so than Las Vegas.

People in Spokane consider themselves West Coast... Hell, so do people in Boise...

[StcChief]

The Seahag's recievers continue to Drop balls on critical situations. SSDY.

Don't blame the Zebras.

[HC_Chief]

Worst SB officiating ever.

[jidar]

That was offensive pass interferance. He pushed the guy and the guys weight went back onto his heels. I don't understand how so many people could think otherwise, he reached up and shoved the guy, how the hell more blatant would it have to be? Do we only call it if they shove them hard enough to knock them down?
sheesh