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This is true..you can overcome 1 bad call, but when teams are evenly matched...it is impossible to overcome 4 or 5 bad calls.
I hate the officials....they cost me $500
By Skip Bayless
Page 2
DETROIT -- Dear Seahawks fans:
I've been tough on your team the last few weeks. I've called your club the Sea Frauds and said they didn't belong in a Super Bowl. After watching Sunday night's game, I believe that more than ever.
But, as I've also written, your team was blessed all the way to Detroit. This was the first Super Bowl that found itself with two Cinderella stories. These Steelers, the AFC's bottom seed, weren't exactly Terry Bradshaw's Steelers of the late '70s.
But although these Steelers were favored by 4 -- and although I picked them 24-14 -- I'm not sure they deserved to win this game.
And after spending a week in Detroit, I thought the city had cleaned up most of its crime.
The first-quarter offensive pass interference called on Darrell Jackson that turned a touchdown into a field goal was robbery enough. But the fourth-quarter holding call on Sean Locklear made you wonder whether the refs had even less of Aretha's r-e-s-p-E-c-t for your Seahawks than I do.
At that point, your guys had overcome enough mistakes to get blown out in most Super Bowls. In fact, this one had nearly gotten out of hand midway through the third quarter, when the Steelers drove to a first-and-10 at your 11-yard line with a 14-3 lead. But on third-and-6 from the 7, Ben Roethlisberger tossed a throw into the flat that cost him the MVP award and nearly caused coach Bill Cowher's head to explode.
It was, of course, picked off by backup cornerback Kelly Herndon and returned 76 yards. Matt Hasselbeck's 16-yard touchdown fling to Jerramy Stevens rather shockingly turned what looked like a 21-3 game into a 14-10 margin.
And suddenly your Seahawks were going to Motown.
Momentum Town.
The Seahawks forced another Pittsburgh punt, and here they came again. Hasselbeck still makes me nervous because he always looks as if he's running a frantic two-minute offense. But the biggest surprise of this game was how much time Walter Jones and Co. were giving him to throw. Blitzburg, schmitzburg. Your guys had continually knocked the bullies back on their heels and turned down the volume of a Ford Field crowd that looked and sounded more like a Heinz Field crowd.
Joey Porter, the loudest Steeler, was having the quietest game.
And on first-and-10 at the Steelers' 19, Hasselbeck had enough time to listen to Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' "Second that Emotion" before firing another strike to Porter's favorite pregame target -- Stevens. Eighteen-yard completion! First-and-goal at the 2! Seattle about to take a 17-14 lead!
I could almost hear Mount Rainier erupting.
But on this night, the Steelers had their own version of your 12th Man. He wore a striped shirt and a whistle. He threw a flag.
And Locklear went down in Seahawks history.
Way down.
Until the week before the NFC Championship Game, I barely knew who Locklear was. But he made national news by being charged with domestic violence after an incident with his girlfriend outside a Seattle nightclub. He did a couple of nights in jail, but coach Mike Holmgren allowed him to play pending his Feb. 13 hearing.
Now Locklear will be forever remembered in your fair city for an entirely different reason.
Holding, No. 75!
On the replay, I couldn't see Locklear do anything different from what most linemen do on every play. These days, you have to tackle to hold, and Locklear didn't tackle.
Phantom, killer penalty.
Your guys wound up in a third-and-18, and Hasselbeck cut loose one of his mystery balls that Ike Taylor intercepted, as he should have in the first quarter. Worse, Hasselbeck was wrongly flagged for a below-the-waist block when he was trying to make the tackle. Hasselbeck was punished 15 more yards.
At that point, your guys seemed to be hanging their heads as if they had decided the NFL just couldn't live with them winning its showcase game.
Moments later, it took another Pittsburgh trick play -- a reverse pass by Antwaan Randle El to Hines Ward for a 43-yard touchdown -- to basically ice the game on a snowy night. That made it 21-10, and that's the way it stayed.
Too bad your Seahawks didn't have Porter in their postgame locker room. Had he been a Seahawk, he surely would have filled tapes and notebooks telling the media how the refs stole the game.
Jackson definitely gave Steelers safety Chris Hope a little push. But it didn't give Jackson enough of an advantage to prompt a penalty. The ref called it only after Hope turned and begged for it.
That cost your team four points, a little momentum and a little more psychological edge. The Pittsburgh offense isn't built to come from behind or to win a shootout. A 7-0 Seattle lead would have tightened the Steelers' throats more than 3-0 would have.
The holding call on Locklear clearly cost your Seahawks seven more points. Four plus seven equals 11 -- Pittsburgh's margin of victory. And who knows how the Steelers would have responded if they had suddenly found themselves behind early in the fourth quarter?
No, I haven't yet mentioned Roethlisberger's dive for the goal line that was ruled a touchdown late in the first half -- and upheld after a replay review. To me, it looked as if the nose of the ball barely crossed the white line while Roethlisberger was airborne. Either way, it was so close that it was inconclusive and didn't warrant a touchdown reversal.
Besides, the odds were that Pittsburgh could have scored on fourth-and-inches. Then again, Cowher can be so conservative that he might have opted for the field goal that would have only tied the score 3-3.
The Jackson play, the Roethlisberger play, the Locklear play -- as the Rolling Stones sang in their halftime finale, you couldn't get no satisfaction, Seahawks fans.
Your team had only one turnover to Pittsburgh's two … and your team lost.
Your team held Roethlisberger to a 9-for-21 night for only 123 yards, with two interceptions … and your team lost.
Your Shaun Alexander surprised me by running for almost 100 yards (95 on 25 carries) … and your team lost.
Your offense had almost 400 yards (396) against that vaunted Steelers defense … and your team lost.
In the end, it lost because of two bad calls and because Pittsburgh simply made three or four more good plays. The Steelers converted 8 of 15 third downs to your 5 of 17. Too many drops and near-TD catches, too many off-target flings by Hasselbeck at crucial times, too much high-schoolish clock management by the quarterback and coach at the end of the half and game.
I'm sorry, I still don't think he's a top-echelon quarterback. Then again, I'm not convinced Roethlisberger is the next Elway.
The play he made that salvaged a first-half lead for the Steelers -- the scramble left and deep heave from barely behind the line of scrimmage -- should have been batted down or even intercepted by your safety Michael Boulware. Instead, Boulware made a poor play on the ball and Ward caught it.
On Randle El's trick touchdown pass -- Pittsburgh's best pass of the night -- your cornerback Marcus Trufant took a bad angle and ran underneath it.
So two bad plays by your defensive backs helped Ward -- who had dropped two passes, including one that should have been a touchdown -- win the MVP award. Oh, well, it was the kind of game that should have been played in Week 9. The Steelers didn't have one player on offense or defense who was clearly the difference maker.
Your Seahawks lost this game a little more than Pittsburgh won it.
Your defense battled its guts out and mostly stuffed Pittsburgh's run. But one breakdown allowed Willie Parker to escape untouched for a 75-yard TD. You can't overcome mistakes like that in a game like this.
But, no, you can't overcome 11 lost points worth of penalties, either. On this night, you belonged in the Super Bowl as much as Pittsburgh did, for what that's worth.
On this night, the only frauds wore stripes.
This is true..you can overcome 1 bad call, but when teams are evenly matched...it is impossible to overcome 4 or 5 bad calls.
I hate the officials....they cost me $500
It would have been one thing if the calls you question had all come on 3rd downs or put the Seahawks in impossible situations. But in every instance, the Hawks had several downs and were in scoring position. They did nothing with those cir stances. I understand the concern for this happening several times, but still, the Seahawks were in scoring position in each situation and in those 3 situations, they came away with a total of 3 points. Suck it up and execute.
What I thought was telling of the game was that instead of focusing on how poorly his team executed in the latter parts of the first half, Holmgren went after the officials on a call that nobody can say was conclusively wrong or not. At most, there was some evidence in a replay to show that Roethisberger may or may not have gotten in -- anyone who says the replays conclusively showed he didn't break the plane is imagining things; anyone who says that the replays conclusively showed he got in is imagining things, too. But the official made a call and the rules of the game say that unless there is indisputable visual proof to overturn the call, the call must stand. I defy anyone to explain to me how there was indisputable proof that the ball did not break the plane as Roethisberger leaned to the goalline.
People need to just stop! PIT was the better team. There were not "4 or 5 bad calls" the refs did not hand the game to PIT. JUST STOP!
Seattle did get jobbed by the calls. This isn't to say they would've won had the refs not ed up, but those two calls (interference in the end zone and holding on the completed pass to the Pitt 1) basically took 14 points off the board for the Seahawks.
I didn't have a team in this SB, so I feel that my perspective is fairly objective. It's a shame that here in 2006, when multiple views of every play are available via replay, that such obvious human error could have such an impact on the game. This SB was a joke.
The fact of the matter is that ALL of the questionable calls went the Steelers way. That was ridiculous.
I wonder if the Steelers will give Super Bowl rings to the refs.
I didn't like either team..just Love football, but Steelers are the SuperBowl Champs....What is all this debate?
No one's talking about Willie Parker's 75 yard TD Run on the second play in the 3rd! The refs must of been blocking for him as well. No ones talking about that insane reverse pass to Ward from Randle El.
I think overall, Seattle moved the ball better and overall looked like the better team. I think Seattle did get screwed on some calls, but they still had oppurtunity to win, and blew those chances themselves. They did everything well except the 3 drop passes, 2 missed field goals and the time clock. They still could have taken care of business had they not made those mistakes themselves.
I think reguardless of what the refs do, you still have to make your oppurtunities count. Seattle made the best of 1 or 2 oppurtunities outta several and Pittsburgh made the best of 3 outta 4. I hate the ref's calls too, and they were in this game WAY more than they had to be, but the Seahawks did not help themselves either.
The Seahawks DID make plays when they needed to. Unfortunately the refs decided to negate the plays.
THIS WAS THE WORSE REF SUPERBOWL I rember
I am not a fan for either team
IT's funny that the people whining about people whining, are the ones probably WHINING when the Spurs get jobbed.
The Seahawks got robbed, plain and simple. I don't remember seeing and reading so many media (some ex-players) outlets saying they got Robbed. The Seahawks won every aspect of the game yards and defense, but kept getting TD or potential TD's taking away.
If Ross CLEARLY passed the pane, why was the ball far away from the goaline when he landed. He didn't get pushed back in midair, he basically went straight down.
The pass interference on D-Jack was bad, he was basically feeling for the corner, no way did he push off.
That was not holding on the O-line when it should've been 1st and 1. And no way Hassleback should've had that call on him for a low block.
It's amazing Seatle was still in this game, these examples show a 21pt turnaround. and I don't like either team.
In other news, Detroit might be back in the Super Bowl rotation. WOOOOT.
On the Big Ben touchdown. Personally, I believe he made it. While when he was on the ground he was not in the end zone, the ball clearly was on the line while he was in the air.
The Steelers made big plays when they needed and the Seahawks didn't. Do I think the game may have ended differently had some crucial penalties not been called?..of course.
The Steelers won and despite not being a Steelers fan, I am happy for Cowher and Bettis. They are some class act Guys and have put in more than their dues to finally get one. No one can say anything bad about the Steelers, all they are guilty of is playing hard.
Congrats.
These are the results so far from the espn poll.
1) What grade would you give referee Bill Leavy's officiating crew for Super Bowl XL?
46.4% F
26.4% D
15.4% C
9.9% B
2.0% A
2) How do you rate the overall state of officiating in the NFL?
35.5% Average
30.7% Bad
21.2% Good
10.7% Abysmal
1.9% Excellent
3) Did the officiating in Sunday's game unfairly favor one team?
77.7% Unfairly favored the Steelers
17.4% The right calls were made
4.9% Unfairly favored the Seahawks
4) Which played the biggest role in determining the outcome of the game?
54.3% Officials missing calls
31.1% Seahawks not making plays
14.5% Steelers making plays
5) Do you think the official made the right call on Darrell Jackson's offensive pass interference in the endzone, negating a Seattle touchdown in the first quarter?
72.5% No
21.5% Yes
6.0% I'm not sure
6) Do you think the football broke the plane of the goal line on Ben Roethlisberger's touchdown run in the second quarter?
56.7% No
27.9% Yes
15.5% I'm not sure
7) Do you think the official made the right call on Sean Locklear's holding penalty in the fourth quarter, negating an 18-yard reception to the one-yard line by Jerramy Stevens?
73.2% No
16.0% Yes
10.8% I'm not sure
8) Do you feel that you understand what cons utes a ''football move'' on plays involving potential fumbles?
62.8% Yes
37.2% No
9) How much would creating full-time officiating positions, instead of the current part-time positions, help improve the quality of NFL officiating?
44.6% A lot
42.4% A little
13.0% Not at all
10) Which major sport has the best officials?
43.7% MLB
22.6% NHL
20.9% NBA
12.8% NFL
Total Votes: 43,520
Judging by the number of journalists who wrote about the terrible officiating, as well as the results of this poll, it's pretty obvious that there were more than just a handfull of us who actually watched this game with our eyes open.
That is pretty true. MLB officials are pretty damn good. They mess up every now and then but not very often and plus they don't have replay.
MLB Officials have less opportunity to screw up. There's not as much to watch, and their calls have less of an impact on the game than in any other sport.
In Hockey, Basketball, and Football, you could probably call some kind of penalty on every play and it's up to the officials to choose which ones to call.
In baseball, usually the calls are pretty obvious, except on certain balls and strikes and some bang-bang plays at a base.
I dispute calls that are made in some NBA games, but I don't believe that I've ever suggested that the Spurs lost a game because of an official's call. You control what you can control. Teams can't control officials. If officials make bad calls, you have to overcome those calls. If you can't overcome the bad calls, then you don't win.
I always think it's bad form to blame officiating for an outcome.
1) What grade would you give referee Bill Leavy's officiating crew for Super Bowl XL?
I can't decide between D and F. They did reverse the Seattle almost fumble.
2) How do you rate the overall state of officiating in the NFL?
Good in general, but bad in the playoffs.
3) Did the officiating in Sunday's game unfairly favor one team?
I don't think the officials intentionally favored the Steelers. It's just that all the bad calls went on Seattle.
4) Which played the biggest role in determining the outcome of the game?
Biggest? Steelers making plays, followed closely by the officials.
5) Do you think the official made the right call on Darrell Jackson's offensive pass interference in the endzone, negating a Seattle touchdown in the first quarter?
Yes. The receiver stiff-armed the defender right in front of the ref. Hard not to call that.
6) Do you think the football broke the plane of the goal line on Ben Roethlisberger's touchdown run in the second quarter?
You wouldn't have been able to reverse a call either way. That's how close it was.
7) Do you think the official made the right call on Sean Locklear's holding penalty in the fourth quarter, negating an 18-yard reception to the one-yard line by Jerramy Stevens?
No, definitely no.
8) Do you feel that you understand what cons utes a ''football move'' on plays involving potential fumbles?
No. I guess I wasn't listening close enough.
9) How much would creating full-time officiating positions, instead of the current part-time positions, help improve the quality of NFL officiating?
It would a lot, just like it does in the NBA.
10) Which major sport has the best officials?
MLB
Its amazing how people forget what the steelers did by beating the 1, 2 and 3 seed, on the road mind you, and yet people think want to take that away that from them with this re ed thread. For shame
THE STEELERS WERE THE BETTER TEAM YOU BAS SEAHAWK FANS! GET OVER IT! Go back to the NorthWest and become forgotten... AGAIN!
So do I most of the time. But for those of us who were hoping for the exciting, toughly contested, and fairly refereed game that it should have been, this one is a little too much to ignore. And like I said before, I was pulling for Pittsburgh. But above rooting for the Steelers, I was hoping for a good game. All I ever ask from the officials is that it's called the same for both teams. Want to be a hardass? Fine, but be a hardass for both teams. Wanna let em play? Even better. But make sure you let both teams play instead of just one.
As it stands now, this was arguably the most tainted, forgettable, uninteresting, referee dominated game I've seen in the last 25 Super Bowls.
Highly questionable, and imblanced officiating robbed us of a good finish to this football season. Plain and simple. What was supposed to be the grand finale of a long football season, turned out to be nothing more than a fizzle. Go ahead and ignore it if you like. But us old school football fans can remember a time when the refs let em play, and the game was decided amongst the players on the field. Not amongst confused, one-sided officiating.
Last edited by IceColdBrewski; 02-06-2006 at 11:19 PM.
Like I Said Worse Ref Superbowl Ever
Me and Icecold agree 1000000000%
No, sorry. He has to be in bounds. The pylon marks the plane of the goal line. You aren't in bounds if you kick it.
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