SB XL just simply Xtra Lousy.

[GOD]

The officiating was atrocious. Maybe the worst officiated SB ever. Surely the worst I have seen with my own eyes. It's bad enough that there were a few crucial horrible calls in the biggest game in all of sports. But to have them all go against one team??? Despicable!

What a disgraceful way to end a season. The NFL has a serious problem on their hands now. When the league reviews the officiating in this game, only the biggest game of the year I might add, they are going to have to find a way to not let this happen again. It's bad enough that this officiating crew consistantly killed Seattle's momentum with bad calls, but they also took many points away from them. Pontentially 2 touchdowns. The first on that bogus offensive PI call which WAS a TD, and the bogus holding call that negated a 1st & goal from the 1 yard line that more than likely would have ended up with another TD.

I am just thoroughly disgusted. Believe me when I say I would feel the same way had it been the Steelers that got robbed and screwed the way Seattle did. Maybe I would not feel as bad for the Steelers, but that's just a personal thing.

ESPN has a poll this morning right now. What will you remember most about Super Bowl XL? Poor Officiating is the clear cut leader at 40%.

The other poll asks if the Steelers will win the SB next year too, and a whopping 82% say no. That is a testiment as to how the Steelers looked in last night's game.

IMO, Seattle was clearly the better team that got screwed at every corner, to the point where some will say the game was fixed. That is how bad the officiating was and how costly those calls were to Seattle.

Personaly, I don't think the game is fixed, never was and never will be, however after watching last night's debacle, it would be hard to defend that comment against those who say it is fixed.

NFL, you have your hands full this morning. Let's hope this never happens again. The sport is too great to be ruined by poor officiating. If we have to make ALL plays reviewable, then do it. These teams work too hard to just end up being beat by the officials, and not the opposing team.

 

[bideau]

I said it in another thread and I'll say it again here, a very poorly played game by both teams. This game will go down near the bottom when ranking Super Bowls.

But, there had to be a winner and Pitt isn't going to be giving back the trophy.

 

[dropKickMurphy]

I said it in another thread and I'll say it again here, a very poorly played game by both teams. This game will go down near the bottom when ranking Super Bowls.

I agree 100%, and I honestly don't think it is a case of sour grapes. Way too many mistakes all around...horrible INTs by both QBs; dropped balls by Seattle receivers; poor clock management; and especially poor officiating.

I really didn't care who won this game, but I did want to see a good game. It was exciting, with several dramatic turns. Most of the drama was the result of poor plays and questionable calls.

I can't say for sure that the officials determined the final outcome. They did, however, call a very one sided game. At least 4 big calls went against Seattle: offensive PI, offensive holding, the Rothlesberger TD, and the Hasselbeck 'blocking below the waist(?!?!). I thought they got all 4 of those wrong.

The officiating in the post season has been horrendous. Especially in the playoffs, the league really needs to provide a level playing field for all the teams. That just didn't happen this year. As a result, I think the fans were left questioning whether the results were determined by the teams or the officials.

 

[mikiemo83]

The clock management at the half and the end of the game was horrible, makes me appreiciate what Brady does even more


BUT


the drops by Stevens after running his mouth (ok, he mumbled about taking the trophy home not the bus) were the killer.

The pass interference was called because the ref was right there, he could not have been closer and it fit the description in the rule book (I thought it was a questionable call at best)


the Holding on the right tackle (his second on a big play) that was called on stevens catch at the 2 and led to the interception that hasselback was called for hitting below the waist was total BS as was the hitting below the Waste call.



a random thought, about minute left in the game the showed the Seahawks kicker and while I was thinking it my wife blurts out " he looks like he is about to poop his pants" (kids in the room).
th poor guy would not have made an extra point nevermind a field goal at that point. He missed 2 earlier and was not going to get another chance even if they did get into his range of 15 -20 yards.

alteast he was closer then Vanderjerk against Pitt

 

[Hawg73]

As the only guy in the room that thought Pittsburgh would win, I didn't think Seattle got jobbed as much as a lot of people did, but that call on Hasselbeck was one of the lamest calls I've ever seen.

At that point I really began to wonder if the game was on the level or not, because you simply can't make a call like that and not expect people will be wondering. Ridiculous. Glaring. Embarassing. Fire the guy that made that call on the spot, because he has no business at a football game.

The pushing off on Seattle was pushing off, but it wasn't really an blatant case. Could have gone either way, I thought. That's a play that I would not want to have to decide whether to throw a flag or not.

If the ref didn't throw it, then Pittsburgh stood a decent chance of the TD being overturned on a challenge based on the evidence.

I did think that Ben broke the plane by about .001 of an inch and as much as I hate that rule -- it is what it is. That one seemed to piss a lot of people off, but looked like it was technically a TD according to the rules, no matter how feeble it looked.

I also wondered if the league was playing makeup for some of the calls that went the other way when Pitt played Indy, but they don't do stuff like that.

Do they? The fact that people are wondering says a lot. That game cheapened a great sport and that's a shame.

 

[Annihilus]

For the conspiracy theorists out there.....

 

[bideau]

The pushing off on Seattle was pushing off, but it wasn't really an blatant case. Could have gone either way, I thought. That's a play that I would not want to have to decide whether to throw a flag or not.

If the ref didn't throw it, then Pittsburgh stood a decent chance of the TD being overturned on a challenge based on the evidence.

Lack of a penalty on that play would not have been reviewable.

It was a border line call. Most refs probably would not have called it.

And you can't overlook the phantom holding call. It was the biggest play of the game. There isn't a single analyst who's looked at the replay who thought there was holding. It wasn't even a case of it being a questionable call. It simply wasn't there. On top of that, Hagans, who was supposedly held, was offsides. He was then offsides again the next play when Hasslebeck got sacked. And then to finish that off with the chop block made it a misaerably officiated sequence.

 

[#1Patsfan_chica]

Super Bowl was horrible. I was falling asleep in the 3rd quarter and couldn't wait for the game to be over. The commercials sucked as did the halftime show. I'm not a Rolling Stones fan so I don't know anything but I had an argument with my friend yesterday over who is Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. Can somebody tell me which one is who?

 

[raven]

Lack of a penalty on that play would not have been reviewable.

It was a border line call. Most refs probably would not have called it.

And you can't overlook the phantom holding call. It was the biggest play of the game. There isn't a single analyst who's looked at the replay who thought there was holding. It wasn't even a case of it being a questionable call. It simply wasn't there. On top of that, Hagans, who was supposedly held, was offsides. He was then offsides again the next play when Hasslebeck got sacked. And then to finish that off with the chop block made it a misaerably officiated sequence.

The thing that bothered me about the Seattle offensive PI call was that it wasn't called until the Pitt db complained to the official.

Ben's TD, I thought, could have gone either way and appeared to be so vague (tho I thought the ball didn't break the plane) that it would not have been reversed, either way it was called.

The phantom holding call and Hasselbecks 15 yrd penalty were the worst, I thought.

At the beginning, one of the announcers mentioned that it was the head ref's first SB officiating; I would have thought the NFL would have been extra careful after the playoffs.

Neither team did much to distinguish itself in this game; Parker's 79 (I think) TD run and the Seattle corner who returned the interception are the only real stand outs. Pitts gadget play, how could they have missed it??? We were saying "here comes that funky Pitt play!"

Well Pitt had a good playoff run so congrats to them (tho the evil me was enjoying Bens less than stellar performance, and the evil me will miss firecoachcowher.com) It really looked like Seattle was falling apart tho, which I didn't expect, considering all the SB coaching experience there (Holmgren looked like his head was going to explode).

Michael Smith hostile take on it:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs05/columns/story?columnist=smith_michael&id=2320683

 

[MadStork]

Well, I chose the Steelers a couple of weeks back, but I don't think they won this game.

The pass interference on the Seahawk WR was bogus. Had it really been necessary to throw a flag, it should have been on the Steeler defender who had contact with the WR all the way into the end zone. Or, is that no-contact rule for Patriot's defenders only? This should have been a Seahawk TD.

No way Ben had a touchdown. It's very clear on one of the replays that he was holding the ball at his sternum while turning in the air. His sternum landed about 10 inches from the goal line. He lost the ball when he hit the ground, retrieved it and dragged it forward to break the plane. I don't know what Leavy was looking at, but it wasn't the ball.

Twice, in back-to-back plays a Steeler rusher on the left side blatantly jumped the snap. Twice. No flags.

That ghost holding call which brought the ball back from the Steeler one ... pathetic. Then, to add injury to insult, Hasselback gets flagged for an illegal block? Do these Refs not know the difference between a block and a tackle?

Porter has 3 tackles all game and one of them is a blatant horse-collar tackle. A 15 yard penalty - no flag.

These were calls, or non-calls which determined the outcome of the game.

Having said that, both teams pretty much sucked - with the exception of that 75 yard TD run. That was a thing of beauty.

At the end of the 1st half - terrible clock management, piss poor play calling by the Seahawks. Same thing at the end of the game.

Two missed field goals, a TD stolen by a bad flag, another probable taken away by another poor holding call ... this should have been a Seattle win, even with all of their mistakes.

Congratulations, Pittsburgh. A win is a win ...

 

[thomas144]

I didn't actually see the Rothlisberger touchdown when it happened but it looked like a touchdown to me on the replay, however I think it's good to get Seattle fans all riled up about nothing.

I just never thought Seattle had any chance in the game. I actually found myself rooting for them simply because I like their uniforms, and I didn't like all the still photos of Steelers holding the trophy, but I just thought it shows that a good AFC team can beat any NFC team playing their worst game.

To me, the clock management stuff at the end of each half just shows how bad football is in the NFC.

 

[Cletusaurus]

Super Bowl was horrible. I was falling asleep in the 3rd quarter and couldn't wait for the game to be over. The commercials sucked as did the halftime show. I'm not a Rolling Stones fan so I don't know anything but I had an argument with my friend yesterday over who is Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. Can somebody tell me which one is who?

Mick is the singer, Keith was the bored-looking skeleton that played guitar and barely moved away from the drum kit.

 

[Number Cruncher]

I did think that Ben broke the plane by about .001 of an inch and as much as I hate that rule -- it is what it is. That one seemed to piss a lot of people off, but looked like it was technically a TD according to the rules, no matter how feeble it looked.

While I agree that Ben R COULD have broken the plane (although I would argue close but no cigar), the thing that really bothered me about the play was the actions of the ref who made the call.....

IF, IF Ben did break the plane, he did so on his initial lunge. By the time the ball hit the ground he was outside the endzone (and he quickly regrouped and put the ball over the plane (or back over the plane) after hitting the ground).

IF the ref had seen the initial lunge he would have immediately signaled TD, but instead came running in from the side, one arm raised (signalling 4th down) and with his path indicating he was going to spot the ball on the 1 ft line. By the time he got in there, the ball was across the line and he signaled TD.

I believe his call was made on the final resting place of the ball, after it had hit the ground in the field of play and subsequently moved by Ben R. I don't believe he made it on the initial lunge (which may or may not have made it), or if he did, he took waaaaaay to long to review it in his mind to come up with his call.

 

[kirjtc2]

I believe his call was made on the final resting place of the ball, after it had hit the ground in the field of play and subsequently moved by Ben R. I don't believe he made it on the initial lunge (which may or may not have made it), or if he did, he took waaaaaay to long to review it in his mind to come up with his call.

If the final resting place was always used, the Titans would have won against the Rams.

This game may have been worse than the Broncos game. I think the NFL needs to fire everyone and start over again.

 

[TrueBeliever]

Actually I was thinking of starting a thread about my own thoughts on this game.

Maybe it's just still latent disappointment over the Pats not being in it, but this Super Bowl just didn't seem very "super". Watching the game it just didn't seem to me that these were the best two teams in the NFL. Granted, it was close in the first half and was never really lopsided, but you just didn't get that sense of a "clash of the titans" as I like to call it.

Nothing against the Steelers or the Seahawks, I'm not saying they didn't deserve to be there or anything like that. They were rather evenly matched.

Course, maybe part of it is that there's so damn much hype leading up to the game that the game itself can never live up to it.

 

[Annihilus]

Course, maybe part of it is that there's so damn much hype leading up to the game that the game itself can never live up to it.

Although the game did manage to live up to the hype in SB 36, 38 and 39. Three of the best Superbowls ever.

This one just plain sucked.

 

[runnerone]

The funny thing, (or maybe not so much), is last night many commentators, even the ESPN half time crew, were criticizing the officiating, yet today, they are saying that although the officiating was less than perfect, it did not determine the outcome of the game.

While this may be true,
and yes the Seahawks really blew this game time and time again, and no they did not overcome the adversity of bad play calling and put their anger (Holmgren at the end of the first half) behind them move on and try to win..

I didn't think the object of football was to overcome the bad, ridiculously bad officiating that we witnessed in SB XL.

Yes I believe this game was blown by bad officiating. Momentum was taken from the Seahawks time and time again. That can't be quantified by how many scoring opps and points they missed out on. Momentum has a way of building, and there is no telling what the outcome of this game would have been, without the emotional and concentration toll that was taken by poor officiating.

Full time officials and accountability for their mistakes is the only way out of this mess.

As Hawg said the game was cheapened by this debacle, and I wonder what kind of a hit the SB took in the eyes of the world with so many watching an obviously sub-par product as this game and the half time show.

Tags had better reign this in before damage is done.

 

[Fl1ppah]

While I agree that Ben R COULD have broken the plane (although I would argue close but no cigar),

He did.

As for the other calls, what did you expect from the rest of the playoffs (i.e. Colts/Steelers, Pats/Broncos)?

Hopefully, professional refs will be the norm next year.

 

[TrueBeliever]

Mike Wilbon called for the NFL to switch to full-time officials on today's PTI.

 

[Alcoholic9*]

What's the rule anyway? Does that white line = the end zone? I think we can all agree he got the ball to touch the white line. He did not get it across the white line though. Is that a touchdown?