A Bittersweet Super Bowl For Steelers?

HaHaHaHa—-HACK!!!
You bring up the “bittersweet victory” angle only to try and debunk it and claim yourself some sort of “victory” in proclaiming yourself a proud Steeler fan.
HOWEVER, your very discussion of the topic justifies that the Super Bowl win for your team will forever be remembered as a hollow victory and SB40 will always be remembered as joke that exposed the hypocrisy of the NFL. Writers from the east coast and even the Steeler’s players are saying the Seahawks should quit crying but it is so obvious to the entire world (okay, 14 million viewers) that the incompetencies of the officiating crew were the REAL story of the game.
Oh, and you bringing it up in print just proves it—like a little kid with chocolate on his face saying, “I didn’t eat anything!”
As much as you want to disprove it, the “One for the thumb” will forever be tainted.
Print that…

OK, Chris I will bite. Please explain the refs “incompetencies.” Please explain how anything I wrote above is wrong. How were the NFL writers hypocrites when so many journalists complained about the game and the calls? Care to offer some facts?

I’ll give you three because I don’t want to be here all day…by the way this is about public perception, not facts…
What you need to realize is that the public perception is overwhelming regardless of what the NFL is spewing out about the game. This isn’t me saying, “Seahawks got screwed!” it is an entire public of NFL fans who know that the smell in Detroit rivaled the stink from Denmark…we all saw it…
These incompetencies will never be recognized by the NFL…Mike Pierra sounds like “Bagdad Bob”…but here ya go…
1. Allowing a back judge from one of the cities represented in the SB to actually officiate the game…(I know…you’ll dismiss that too as “out of the realm of the strict guidelines the NFL uses to choose their crew…blah, blah, blah”)
2. BLOCK BELOW THE WAIST? Another example of the lame inability of any replay official to intervene and get the call right…once again, that is “out of the realm …” Pierra’s explanation: “It had the elements of a block below the waist…”
3. The Ben Roethlisberger NON-TD. Even Big Ben said he didn’t get in…ON NATIONAL TV!! The incompetency here is that the correct thing for a linesman to do is to NOT make a call and have it reviewed SO THE CALL IS MADE CORRECTLY. IT is incompetent for an official to make the call knowing that there has to evidence to overturn it. That call boils down to one official’s claim that his eyesight, at live speed, is better than twenty-some different angles in slo-mo. Oh, the running in with one hand up and then bringing up the other once he arrived at the pile made him look like he didn’t have a clue anyway..
Oh, and the last time I checked, claiming points you didn’t think you scored is called, CHEATING!
The hypocrisy lies in the fact that so many of the big media outlets are in major deals with the NFL—ESPN (ABC), FOX, NBC, CBS—and that limits the amount of credible journalistic voices that will deride the NFL officiating. Sure, some voices said some things about it for a few days after, but didn’t you notice how they all shut up after that? The only writers who made continuing statements against the NFL after SB40 were from independent outlets. Everyone else just turned into an “NFL Copywriter” and tried to let the issue go away.
But that’s okay, guys like you who deep-down inside know this was a tainted victory keep bringing it up anyway—

I don’t think it will be viewed as bittersweet after this year.

It’s not as if the Seahawks played so great and barely lost. They lost by 11.

Remember - no one ever remembers the Super Bowl loser (unless they are interesting, like Buffalo and the Vikings losing so many). Think about it - the 9ers barely beat the Bengals in 1982. No one remembers that Bengal team…

By 2008 (maybe even 2007, if Super Bowl XLI is a great game), most people won’t even remember that the Seahawks played in the game.

Chris, you’re assuming that some things said by others are true.

1. Ben said “I told coach, “I don’t think I got in.”” He never said “I didn’t get in”, he said he didn’t think he did. There’s a big difference. You complain about the quality of the calls from the guys who are paid to make them, so why do you appear to put so much stock in a call made by someone who’s never had any training in making a call for TD? And what are your qualifications to make the call?

If you’ve seen a shot that shows for certain whether it was a TD or not, I’d like to have the link. I’ve replayed the clip dozens of times in regular and slow speed, and while I can say “I think” I saw the ball cross the goal line before a Seattle player’s helmet hit Ben’s arm and drive it back, I’d never bet on it.

2. Tainted Victory: What are your thoughts on the call blown by the refs when Troy P. made an interception in the Colts game? Or your thoughts on Roethlisberger getting clipped on his interception return, or the Seattle receiver catching the ball, taking two steps, and fumbling, neither of the later being called.
What about Seattle mismanaging the clock at the end of both halves, or not stopping Casey Hampton on a rush when he pushed the center down on the ground with just his left arm, and then sacked Matt. Or what about not picking up Deshea Townsend on the sweetest Corner Blitz I’ve ever seen? Or what about #86 for Seattle dropping %80 of the passes thrown to him?

3. Block Below the Waist: Technically, the call was good. If you watch a replay of the interception, you can see Ike Taylor running up the field with a player on each side. Matt dives, misses the player on Ike’s left, but hits the knees of the player on his right. I don’t think calling the penalty “Blocking Below The Waist” is accurate, but Matt did dive and hit a player in the knees on the play.

Was it the prettiest game ever played? Far from it. Was it the best officiated game? Not even close. But at the end of the day, Pittsburgh took advantage of it’s opportunities to put points on the board, and Seattle did not.

I just found this link on Fox Sports; interesting comments about Ben’s TD.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5338016

I was glad to see this article because now when people, who admittedly only watched the Super Bowl for the commercials, complain about the outcome of the game, I can save my breath and send them here. Thank you!

Mark,
I had read the article you posted above earlier this morning and I think it is pretty good. I disagree that the arguement of having full-time officials is a bad idea—NFL Europe being the main reason why they can employ officials year around, and they can study and train full time just like the athletes. So, any excuse about fiscal efficiency is just hogwash. It’s more of a labor agreement situation more than anything else.
1. I’m not claiming ANY qualifications to make the call, BUT the perception after watching it in slo-mo was, “what did he see (or think) that made him belatedly raise his other hand?” The thing about the officiating mistake on Ben’s TD isn’t whether or not he made it in—the mistake is that the linesman called it one way knowing that once it was called it would take a lot of evidence to overturn it. Why would an official risk a wrong call if he has the review booth to rely on?
And why would Ben repeat that conversation? Because he knew he got lucky, and he knows the whole nation knows the Steelers got lucky that day.
2. Tainted is what I called it…and that describes the NFL. I absolutely hated the call on Troy P.’s interception against Indy. It was a horrendous call and it just further supports that officiating and the NFL’s reaction to the errors they make is just absurd. After that, I guess I could go into detail about what I thought about the clock mismanagement and all that…dropped passes too. Seattle beat themselves, sure…I bet it was a pisser being on that field after that many calls go against you and think that you can STILL win the game. Those calls killed momentum just as much as the dropped passes. I won’t discuss the opinion you have about the good plays Pittsburgh made because you are obviously a proud Steeler fan, “sweetest corner blitz ever…”
3. Why didn’t you bring up Joey Porter’s horsecollar tackle on Shaun Alexander (gee, wasn’t the below the knees call on Hasselback meant to be a protective call?).

Steelerfan21k and you need to realize that this kind of NFL screwup almost cost your team a trip to the SuperBowl, and yes people will remember it. The fact that it is still something that writers have to bring up, whether they are Steeler fans or Seahawk fans, is proof that the system is broken.
Do you really think that those officials would have gotten out of Ford Field without a riot if all those close calls had gone against Pittsburgh and they would have lost?
You can keep sticking your head in the sand just because your team won, though. I mean, nobody would expect Joey Porter to say anything more about bad officiating while he gets a SB ring out of the deal, would you?
He won’t say anything, but he knows…

Very good artical. I came to the same conclusions that you did and went though the same emotions. No matter what you say or what you can show they will feel that they have been robbed and it was fixed. Good teams find a way to win, and when I look back at the losses that the Steelers have had over the years that has kept me going and not complain why we lost in the past. The Seahawk fans have never had a winning season like this so it is a bigger pill to swallow. We won, they lost. Get over it.

Hey Ed,
That’s a great point of view. I guess when you are use to getting screwed so often it is easy to look the other way when the screwing benefits you. You guys must be saying, “Whew, at least it wasn’t us this time!!” Go teach that to your kids.

I could go on, but the short of it is you said it all perfectly.

You have captured the essence of an experience felt by the entire steeler nation and articulated it in a———well————healing way.

Thanks!

Chris, thanks for responding.

My personal opinion is that I don’t like instant replay. It doesn’t have anything to do with calls this year, or in previous years. What I’ve seen is that with or without replay, officials will miss and botch calls. But stopping a game to check instant replay is unnatural, like playing football indoors (again, just my opinion).

In 2004 when New England was pulverized by Pittsburgh on Halloween, New England was driving for a score deep in Steeler territory, when Cowher challenged a call. After play resumed, New England wasn’t in a groove any more. I can’t remember if it was a FG or a turnover, but it wasn’t a TD, which is what it appeared was going to happen before the challenge.

I could live with calls on the field, even if the refs get one wrong once in a while.

I could make the case for Pittsburgh taking advantage of their opportunities in spite of the referees, and if not for the obvious blown opportunities, I could probably do the same for Seattle. Converting a miricle 3rd and 28 into a first and goal, breaking a 75 yard TD run, and running a trick play by no means says the Steeler’s offense was playing well that night.

On the other hand, I thought Seattle’s offense played pretty good the whole game, minus the end of both halfs. Forgetting the call on Matt when he threw the pick, who in the heck was he throwing the ball to? It looked like Ike was on a come back route.

I don’t think Seattle fans have anything to be ashamed about. No one expected much from them all year, even when they had won 11 or 12 in a row, but they showed everyone they were legit.

As much as I like the Steelers, I could make a stronger case for Seattle getting back to the SB next season than for Pittsburgh.

The AFC is a brutal conference right now. Pittsburgh, New England, Denver, Indy, San Diego (with Drew Brees), and possibly Cincy, Jacksonville, KC, and maybe even the Dolphins could make a serious run for a championship next year.

In the NFC, there are a few teams like Carolina, Chicago and Dallas, and possibly the Redskins that appear stronger than the other conference teams, but if the Seahawks resign Alexander, there doesn’t appear to be anyone as balanced on offense and defense.

While I would be surprised if a majority picked Pittsburgh to repeat, I won’t be surprised if they pick Seattle.

In a perfect world there would never be a blown call by a referee. Please articulate how this can be accomplished. If there is a way, the nfl needs to incorporate it into being. Otherwise, shut the hell up. Ya win some, ya lose some, and some get rained out. That’s just the way life is. If ya end up holding the short end of the stick, sure, it hurts. But, one thing is certain, it all eventually evens out in the long run. Every team gets screwed at some point. It just worked out to be Seattle’s turn. These calls, for the most part, were questionable, not blatant errors. The call on Matt was the only blatant error. A questionable call is just that, Questionable.

Great article, Kevin. Thanks.

My biggest problem with fans that complain about officiating is that they are just that: fans, not experts. Even the “big shots” on ESPN haven’t ever officiated a single NFL game.

I haven’t seen any officiating ‘experts’ (even some outside the nfl) say that the Super Bowl was poorly officiated. Only misinformed fans and media members (media that makes money off of ratings) had issues.

Finally, it’s obvious that Chris made up his/her mind before reading your article, so there’s no use in responding.

Kevin, Excellent article!!!!

A breakdown of significant areas of SB XV for those who have issues with the officiating. ( Chris )

Try explaining away the facts won’t change them. Don’t just gloss over the below info. Read it, process it and rebut it with detail, not preconceived, well used, useless rethoric.

1. The Refs didn’t give up the longest run in SB history…Seattle’s defense did.
2. The Refs didn’t bite on a 43 yd trick play, Randle to Ward for a TD…Seattle’s defense did.
3. The Refs didn’t allow Ben to scramble around on a 3rd and 28 and complete a long pass to the 2 yd. line…Seattle’s defense did.
4. The Refs didn’t miss two field goals, that was Seattle.
5. The Refs didn’t fail to step out of bounds late in the 1st half to stop the clock in Pitt territory in a crunch time situation…Seattle’s offense did.
6. The Refs didn’t let the 1st half clock tick down from 48 seconds all the way down to 13 seconds before finally running their next play at Pitt’s 36 yd line…Seattle’s offense did.
7. And on this play, 3rd down, 53 yds away from a FG, it wasn’t the Refs who tried and failed to go deep for a TD rather than a safer 5-7 yd play and timeout setting up a much easier FG attempt….that, again, would be Seattle’s offense.
8. The Refs didn’t get confused by Pitt’s zone defense and throw an INT…that would be Seattle’s QB.
9. The Refs didn’t let a little physical contact intimidate them from catching 4 very catchable passes…that would be the Seattle TE Jeremy Stevens.
10. With approx. 20 seconds left in the game, knowing they need a TD and FG, in no particular order, and in easy FG range on 4th down, it wasn’t the Refs who ignored the FG and elected to throw up a prayer trying for a TD…that AGAIN would be Seattle.

And if you’re Steel salty and steel reaching for excuses…

11. The Refs didn’t constantly punt deep into the end zone, repeatedly giving Pitt the ball at the 20 yd line…that of course was Seattle.
12. It wasn’t the Refs who received a Christmas gift wrapped easy INT lobbed in perfect position to return deep into Pitt territory…the lucky beneficiary of that break would be Seattle.
13. It wasn’t the Refs who got a break when a Steeler DB dropped an easy int early in the game…that too would be a break for Seattle.
14. It wasn’t the Refs who caught a break when a Steeler WR dropped a very catchable TD pass…that break again would go to Seattle.
15. It wasn’t the scapegoat Refs that received a break when a WR caught the ball, turned, stepped, was hit hard enough to cause a fumble, and then ruled INCOMPLETE…that would be of course, another chance for Seattle.
(this was an interesting call considering that after Troy’s famous overruled Int, the NFL stated that it WAS a catch. If so, than this definitely WAS a catch)
16. The Refs werent the ones who caught a break when at the conclusion of a 2nd qtr play, as a Pitt DE was walking away, the Seattle Center blindsided the defenseless player, leveling him to the ground. This mysteriously unseen crime was again another break for Seattle.
17. It wasn’t the Refs who got a break when Pitt QB Big Ben was blocked in the back as he pursued the DB who he’d tossed an int to…that again would go to Seattle.
18. It wasn’t the Refs who stopped Seattle RB Alexander in a few key situations. That would be the Pittsburgh Steelers.
19. It wasn’t the Refs who converted many of their 3rd downs yet stopped their opponent on 3rd down often…that would be the Pittsburgh Steelers.
20. And the very bottom line is this…On plays when there wasn’t any penalties…One team made plays and one team didn’t. The end result was the final score, 21-10.

I came to the same conclusions as the article except that I refused to accept any of the bittersweet emotions. I was among the 250,000 fans that greeted and cheered the Steelers in Pittsburgh. As for suggestions of corruptness in the NFL, that idea is simply the ravings of fair weather fans that don’t know junk about the history of the league or understand the character of people like Paul Taglibue. Pete Roselle or the Rooneys. Maybe those that rant about corruption would be better served by NASCAR.

Daniel, you’ve really analyzed this. Your points are well communicated.

Everyone, don’t be too hard on Chris. If you look past the emotions in his comments, he’s just not happy with the way the officiating or lack of officiating came to the forefront in the Super Bowl, the biggest game of the year. Though I’m a Steeler fan, and embrace their win (like Glenn), the officiating throughout the playoffs was really below what you should be able to expect. I think if anyone takes an objective look at the officating in the Denver/New England game, they’d have to think that the Patriots would have a strong case for complaining.

I can certainly understand the point of view of Seattle fans. They supported their team for 30 years and finally got to the Super Bowl. When you lose on that stage, it’s a very painful loss. I think players recover faster and better than most of us fans do!

Tough calls? Yes. Wrong calls? No Frustrating if your a Seahawks fan? Yes. Tainted win? No. The plays happened as they did and had to be called properly as they were. Seahawks fans inexperienced at dealing with such things? Yes. Deal with it, get better, keep trying. Seahawks fans shouldn’t keep trying to tarnish the victory like some little kid would do as in Chris’s analogy.

I have to agree with Mark’s assessment of Chris - he or she is probably very emotional and you’re not gonna win an argument with him or her. That comment to Ed about teaching that screw thing to your kids was uncalled for, but that’s how emotional people roll. The bottom line is this: as a long-time Steelers fan, when i look at my Super Bowl Champions Steelers t-shirt, i don’t see any asterisks, i don’t see any sidebars about officiating and i don’t see any other marks on it or in the books. Period.
Chris said the calls against Seattle killed momentum as much as Seattle’s dropped passes. if that was true, then the Seahawks couldn’t “man up” at all. When Troy’s INT was overturned at Indy, he could’ve moaned about it to the refs at the game and the Steelers defense could’ve let Manning and the Colts storm for a TD. But what did they do? The dee rebounded, sacked Manning on 4th down and got the ball back for the offense at the 2! Real men and real players overcome bad calls; they REGAIN the momentum! The game wouldn’t have been drama-filled had Bettis not fumbled seconds later. That’s the difference between Pittsburgh and Seattle; the soft ‘Hawks let momentum go in the SB while the Steelers TOOK momentum back from the bad calls that went against them in the entire playoffs. They stepped up while the Seahawks didn’t. Plain and simple. Now if the Seahawks are true men and winners, they won’t sleep well this entire offseason and they will dominate their weak conference, get back to the SB and make things right. We’ll see. But be warned: you know Big Ben is gonna be motivated to get back to the SB and have a better PASSING performance than he did in XL. He wants that SB MVP trophy that Hines got…trust me on that. Before i go, Mark and Daniel, excellent posts. Way to let Chris know that the refs weren’t responsible for ALL of Seattle’s mistakes.

Poor Chris! Poor Seattle!
As the late, great John Facenda (of NFL Films) once said: “The great teams don’t always play great. they only play great when they have to.”
The World Champion Steelers did just that. the Seahawks didn’t. If I were a Seahawks fan THAT would be a hard thing to live with. Their team just plain didn’t get it done…period. and blaming the refs and the NFL and God and anybody else won’t change that fact. Maybe they should blame their QB and kicker and WR for not making the plays that they needed to make?
Its hard when your heroes choke. As Steelers fans we’ve been there, haven’t we?
BUT NOT THIS YEAR!!
Three weeks after the fact and Steelers Nation is still flying high!
HERE WE GO STEELERS! HERE WE GO!

On Tuesday, February 7, along with 250,000 of my closest friends, I greeted the Steelers and thanked them for a great season. There was nothing bittersweet about it.

Mark,
i also wanted to agree with you about the fact that the players get over big game losses quicker than we fans do. You know why? Cause they receive a fat paycheck afterwards! In this year’s AFC title game, both Pittsburgh and Denver got $37,000 for their efforts. i’m not sure, but i think each player received that amount APIECE. i could be wrong, but i don’t think i am. So while we as fans take about a month to get over big losses (like i did when the Steelers lost to NE last year in the AFC title game), you can bet that the majority of players can force a smile once that NFL loot hits their bank accounts. i’d get over a loss better too if i had someone’s salary come to my account afterwards.

Yes, some bad moves were made by the Hawks, but every time they were in the redzone, a flag was thrown. How could Locklear hold a guy with one arm after the steeler jumped offsides twice. How can the Hawks win if flags are thrown after tacklinga guy with the ball. Hasselback did what Rothlisberger did, but the Hawks got flagged. How about the horse-collaring of Alexander, or the TD by Big Ben which he admitted to his coach and Letterman that he never got in. The official motioned him down, ran up to the QB then signaled a TD, or D-Jacks TD flagged five seconds after Hope complained to the refs. And then when Holmgren comes out and says the obvious that “I didn’t know we had to play against the guys in stripes too”, he was about to be fined for those comments, but Joey Porter can make his comments about the officiating in the Colts game about Polumalus INT. Come on you steeler fans, this was a championship to the officials. It is sad that people remember the officals name (Leavy). Horrible called game, the momentum was always being taken away. Fell ashamed Pittsburgh

Also, Holtsberry, you commented that it was an even matched game, that if the steelrs made less mistakes, or if the Hawks capitalized. Thats B.S. you know the stats. The steelers were were outmatched in every aspect of the game. Seattle had more rushing and passing yards, time of possession, won the turnover battle, stopped the steelers from getting a first down the entire first quarter and half of the second. And Rothlisberger may have said “Idon’t think I got in”, to his coach, but he told letterman he didn’t. I can’t write enough about how poorly officiated this game was. Normal SB’s have contraversial calls and is blown over a couple days later, it has been three weeks, stories still pop up. I haven’t had one person come up to me while I wear my seahawk shirt and hat, telling me that we got beat. The fact is, the fact is, the Seahawks got beat by the refs. Come on, over seventy yards in penalties, and there were no flags thrown on the Steelers the entire second half. HOLTSBERRY, you can write to everyone you want, justifying the calls, but when you get hundreds of ESPN/CBS/NBC/Fox analysts calling Jacksons off. interfernece ticky tacky, theres a problem. This is not touch football, how can that miniscule touch Jackson made be called a penalty. If so, call the horse-collaring on Alexander. It was one-sided. You never did defend the comments about the official being from one of the cities.

I keep reading, and i keep getting more pissed. I read that someone wrote that good teams overcome bad calls. True, but when the bad calls turn into double digits, no one can over come that. You cannot play man-to-man football if the officals are against you. Every call that determined points went with the steelers and against the seahawks. You steelrr fans can wear your shirts all you want, but people will rememebr. Its like when you know something isn’t the way it should be, your conscious kicks in. People will remember.

Hey Greg: Officiating? Bad. Calls? Bad? Steelr Victory? Tainted. Seahawk fans? Pissed. You all can write what you want, try to mold it in a way where you make yourselves feel better about how you won, but the fact is, Seattle was the better team in every aspect, and you couldn’t handle that. Every state other than Alaska nad Washington bet on the Hawks, it would have been another loss in our economy, and the NFL just coulnd’t have that.

Hey Daniel,
-Locklear never held on to the defender, the officials called that!
The defender he supposedl held was offsides twice, the oficial never called that.
-Jackson did not commit a pass interference, the official called that
-Rothlisberger never made it in, we all know that, Big Ben admitted it, pictures prove it, but the official said he did.
-Horse-collaring of Alexander, Official never called it
-Hasselback did not low block, Official called that.
You wrote alot of nonsense that no one is debating. Seahawk fans know they gave up that TD run by Parker, and a few other mistakes, but the mistakes we all know were made were made by the officails. The difference is, my list shows a TD given and a TD taken away, and also a a TD most likely gotten on the one-yard line if not called for a holding. Again steelr fans, write all you want, but the majority of SB fans know who really should have won.

Hey Matthew,
These guys don’t care about the details or the truth…plain and simple…the real topic here is that they KNOW it is a tainted victory and officiating is at an all-time low.
If it was such a clear cut victory, then they wouldn’t have to write these articles or get so defensive…kinda like a bunch of sore winners if you think about it.
Just the fact this topic doesn’t easily go away proves that it is an issue. It lead the stories today on the FoxSports.net website—THREE WEEKS LATER!!!!
It’s too bad, I use to like the Steelers—they were my favorite AFC team and I remember thinking before the game that this would be a win-win for me as a fan. Too bad the refs stuck their nose in…and it’s too bad that as NFL fans the Steeler fans can’t see that too.

Matthew….

Your crusade to suggest that there is some huge groundswell of public support for your team is touching and everything, but, like I said - the cold reality of losing the Super Bowl is that no one cares about the Super Bowl loser a year later….

Steeler fans experienced the same thing after Super Bowl XXX. We had a really strong showing against Dallas in the second half, and, two Neil O’Donnell interceptions seemed to be the “margin of defeat” in the second half. Steeler fans spent the next year or so lamenting about this and playing the “what if?” game about O’Donnell and Larry Brown (the unlikely hero/MVP).

But - let’s face it- no one cares about the 1995 Steelers because they lost….

And - I’m not saying this because I am trying to be a jerk. I’m just saying that this whole issue is going to be a moot point within a year or so. Outside of a few diehard Seahawk fans, it will be hard for most people to even remember who played in Super Bowl XL.

Matthew, where to begin…

You will find explanations to most of your problems with the officiating here. (see link below) Hopefully, if you take the time to read through some of the explanantions of some of the rules, you’ll understand the calls a little better.

http://www.insidefootball.com/int/askofficial.html
(scroll down to February 13th and below)

As far as Seattle dominating every stat of the game… I wouldn’t call Seattle’s performance dominating. They had a great first 20 or so minutes, in between the 30 yard lines. And yes, they outgained (not dominated) the Steelers in a few of key stats, but were awful on 3rd down conversions and field goals. Aren’t those important stats, too?

But here’s a little trivia for you. The Patriots won 2 Superbowls while being outgained by the Eagles and Rams. The Cowboys beat the ‘95 Steelers though the Cowboys were outgained in yards, time of possession, first downs, and more. There are many many other cases of teams winning battles, but losing the war, but I’ll let you look those up if you want. Statistics don’t win games, points do.

Even though I disagree with you about the Locklear holding, Haggans #53 allegedly being offsides, and your ‘conclusive’ view of the Roehtlisberger touchdown, consider this… Let’s say that they ruled Roethlisberger short of the goal line on 3rd down. The ball would have been spotted at mos,t 6 inches from the goal line (I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt here).

If you’re not going to give the Steelers those 7 points (Cowher has stated that he would have gone for it on 4th and the Steelers were 100% on 4th and goals in which they went for it this season), then you can’t say that Stevens’ catch at the 2 would have guaranteed anything, not even a field goal.

I’ll stop for now. Check out that ‘Ask the Official’ site and then come back and bash me if you want. (he even answers a question about one of the officials being from the Pittsburgh area.

Hey Lonnie,
Ask The Official?
Why not just let the wolf watch the henhouse…
I’ve heard the officials defend every call, and one by one they try and make each point with a straight face, but the nation saw a game that was badly officiated. FoxSports.net had a poll that had over 60 percent of the voters saying the thing they WILL remember about SBXL is the “Questionable Officiating.” And at the point they removed the poll, over 500,000 people had voted.
Keep coming back with those Steeler fan perspective comments though…it just proves that you have something to prove…which means you aren’t sure yourself…

I hope they allow fans to call all the games next year. That would be awesome!

The fans are always right, right?

Hey Lonnie, some of your stats were true. But Seattle was the first team in history to have had more rushing, passing, less turnovers, and more time of possession. Seattle dominated probably the first half of the game, maybe more if the flags would have stayed tucked in the officials pants. But it is sad that hundreds of millions of dollars are being made during the Super Bowl alone, and that we have a replay systme being reviewed by an official who has an overturning percentage of less than 22% Leavy has only been in the league for five years, and hasn’t officiated with the men who were assigned to the game. Not to mention that one of those officators was actually residing in Pennsylvania. We could go on and on, back and forth with statistics, opinions, quotes from analysts. But it all comes down to what the fans think. It is about time someone noted that Foxsports had over 500,000 votes in which 60% will remember this game for the officiating. You cannot sit there and tell me that this game is like any other. Because no one remebered the officals from the 95 steelers game, or any SB. But everyone will remember Leavy. He got his name mentioned more times than Shaun Alexander. I will admit this, no one will remember twenty years from now the situation or penalties that cost the Hawks a ring, but people will remember the officiating problems of SB 40 and the fact that the Hawks got screwed. People may not remember how or why, but no one will forget. I will still be writing in a month, then in six months, and hopefully, the Hawks will be back here next year. Also, werent you the same people who were bitching about Polamalus Interception? It’s funny, Porter can criticize the officials for trying to give the game to the colt, but Holmgren might be fined for his comments, which practically all of America witnessed the horrible calls.

Oh, it just came to my attention after watching the SB on tape again and the NFL blogs on Fox sports mentioning it as well that towards the end of the first half, Hasselback threw a Td pass to Darrel Jackson which was called out of bounds. The clock was under two minutes, so the booth should have reviewed the play. If you look at the foot of Jackson, his left foot is planted in bounds his right ankle tips the pylon over which constitutes as a foot in bounds, therefore a catch. No one really notices it. Aahh well, just another sad call down in the Laevy books.

If the Seahawks DOMINATED, they should have won the game, right? I’ll bet if you look at the regular season stats, there are at least 2-3 games per week where a team dominates ( statistically ) but doesn’t have a “W” to show for their efforts. Penalized for 70 yards is small change compared to the 80 yards lost by punting the ball into the end-zone. How about not letting 30 seconds run off the clock before halftime? How about hanging on to the ball? How about not throwing an INT deep in the opposing teams territory? ( Ben is guilty of that too ) How about picking up a corner blitz? Was the call on Hasselbeck’s tackle the wrong one? Yes, and even Mike Perriera agreed. Two plays define this game because they were huge scoring plays, and they both belong to Pittsburgh. Seattle could have pulled a gadget play out of the bag too, but they were too busy sulking. Funny that when the momentum swung their way after Ben’s INT that they score a TD, but couldn’t keep the momentum in the can. That’s what defines team character, and the Steelers knew that aside from some calls that went their way, that the Seahawks were playing fairly solid on defense. By necessity, and the right field position at the time, they pulled the gadget out of the bag, it could have failed miserably, but they went for the glory on one play. It paid off in spades. That’s what good teams do. It’s a game of inches, one giant chess match, and the right or wrong play call might mean the difference in victory or defeat. So to the Seahawk faithful, I ask if they could have suited up and made a difference on the 75yd TD ( which wasn’t marred by so called bad officiating ) or would they have stayed home and not bit on the gadget play resulting in a TD? Dominate all you want on paper and stats, but all it takes is one big play to swing a game, and in this game there were two, and that’s hard for any “DOMINATING” team to overcome, especially when time isn’t on your side, and neither is great clock management. I’ll feed your domes a little, and admit that I personally don’t think that the ball broke the plane on Ben’s TD, would they have scored on 4th and inches? We don’t know, that scenario didn’t come to fruition, however, I’d probably venture to say that the odds of being on the 6inch line with a QB that’s listed at 6’6, that a sneak or a high leap with outstretched limbs would put the ball over about 99% of the time. The only thing fans were robbed of, was the kind of drama an intense situation that kind of thing creates. I would have rather seen that happen, but hey, I’m not choosey. Was the right call made? I don’t know, and had there been a better view of the ball on the replay a definitive answer could have been made. I won’t entertain the other calls, because those calls can be made during EVERY game and most likely they are. If Jerramy Stevens catches the balls he missed, they would have added up to nearly the 70yds the Seahawks were penalized during the game. Maybe we should rename Super Bowl XL to Super Bowl IF… that seems to be what the Seahawks fans would like to call it.

Congratulations to teh Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL Referees on winning SB XL . And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE try not to laugh steeler fans . If the tables were reversed and it was your team on the back end of this snow job you would be screamng BLODDY MURDER! Watch tha game again look for all the highlights that have been menchions but watch as a Football fan not as a Pitt fan and then see what the rest of this nation saw . Bad / poor officating and non calls on your defence did decide the outcome of this game .

But as the NFL say we didnt see it that way we called a good game , ummmmmmmm take it from a football fan of 30+ yrs one who has played the game aslo , the NFL will not admit to mistakes in its biggest game they will back the refs 110% so there is no controversy . By doing so the INSLUT the intelligence of all football fans but you Pittsburgh fans .

Enjoy your victory

Both you fans and the refs

This is my problem with the officiating. How in the world did the Steelers play such a clean game, that either no, or basically no penalties were called on them in the last 40+ minutes of the game? That’s what makes it seem like the officials were helping Pittsburgh win. The ticky-tack calls on Seattle were bad enough, but how can the refs call that and ignore far more serious violations by Pittsburgh?

Take the holding call on Locklear. Okay, first…how is Clark Haggans not at least in the neutral zone when the ball is snapped? But you have Locklear getting called for a very ticky tack hold that might not even be a hold at all.

Now look at the right side of the line on Willie Parker’s long TD run. TE Heath Miller is blocking DE Bryce Fisher. Fisher beats him and is in the hole that Fisher will eventually run through. Miller clearly grabs Fisher from behind. A blatant hold. Then shoves him in the back to push him away as Miller is going by. This hold helped spring Miller for the touchdown. How could the officials miss this, and call a much weaker hold, if it is a hold, on Locklear?

Then on Ben’s TD in the first half, Alan Faneca bearhugs a Seattle defender that’s in Ben’s path. Bob Kreider also has a hold that is much worse than what was called on Locklear. Yet, the refs let it go, and Pittsburgh scores. If the refs were calling it evenly, Pittsburgh has 3 points after 3 quarters. They certainly could still win, but a miserably playing Ben would have to lead a dramatic comeback.

Yes, the Seahawks did get the benefit of a no call on the Herndon INT return. We did block Ben in the back. That gave us extra field position. Jerramy did fumble, but Pittsburgh almost surely gained no advantage, and probably actually benefitted from better field position. The ball was going OOB quickly, there’s no guarantee Farrior even gets to the ball in time, or can stop himself from going OOB if he does get it.

Should he be able to stop himself at the 8 yard line and start to return it, he only has Troy to block for him. He’s pinned in the corner…he most likely is going nowhere. It would be a pretty good return just to get to the 20 yard line where Rouen put them after the over punt.

No doubt, Pittsburgh had bad calls in the Indy game. But how did Pittsburgh really overcome those, when you consider Jerome’s fumble? Had the Steelers lost because that fumble was returned for a TD, or Vandy makes the FG and Indy wins in OT, Pittsburgh would’ve absolutely deserved to lose. Jerome’s fumble then would’ve been the biggest goat play in NFL history. Pisarcik, Garo, and Jackie Smith combined wouldn’t be as bad. As bad as the Stevens drops were, and considering Josh Brown probably should’ve made one of the two 50+ field goals in a dome, that still doesn’t compare with Jerome’s fumble as far as deserving to lose a game.

I also hated Mike Pereira’s explanations. Total garbage. At least he admitted Chris Hope made contact with Jackson on the disallowed TD. His reasons why Hope wasn’t called for holding when he grabbed the back of DJack’s shoulder was Hasselbeck was outside the pocket ( he was, barely), and if the receiver hasn’t made his break yet, the no chuck rule isn’t in effect. But Hope grabs Jackson right after he’s made his break on what looks like a post route. So Pereira is wrong. The route’s over when both are in the endzone. So the explanation for Hope’s contact doesn’t work for that either.

Even funnier was Pereira’s explanation of Ben’s touchdown. These are supposed to be the best officials that are working this game…yet Pereira thinks the line judge was confused on whether or not to put up one arm/hand or two on a touchdown? Or that he indicated it was a touchdown because his left foot was on the goal line as he ran toward the pile?

Actually the momentum did go back to seattle after the interception, but rememebr, it was taken away again by the phantom locklear hold and the Steelers offsides twice but never called. Look, I said it once, we all have different opinions, but the only opinions who are right are in sports section every week, and still being debated right now with sports analysts and fans, and ordinary people who never even watch football. All you steeler fans who are defending your tainted ring are trying to justify the win. But all your doing is what you hope will happen, forgetting the whole thing happened. But guess what, you keep writing, and its still out there. And the fact that you even want to argue shows that there is truth in my argument. If it was the other way around, which it was with Polamalus INT, you guys were bithing too, Porter told the nfl not to take the win away, that they wanted the colts to win, but now that the got his undeserved ring, he isn’t saying anything, as if the officials were right this whole time. THE POINT IS, you have to either be a Hawk fan, a fan of the redskins, cowboys, eagles, anyone other than the steelers, or not a fottball fan to see the tainted game. And even so, hundreds of thousands of steeler fans aren’t happy with the way they won. Your right, a lot of teams lose when they dominate or lead many of the statistics. But the the FACT is, 7 point were given to the steelers, 7 points were taken away from the Seahawks, and the catch to the one-yard line which would have been (most likely) a TD, if not for the flag, erased another 7 points. Who cares about a screwed up punt here, or dropped passes there, or a sack or an INT, they all came after these so called penalties. KEEP WRITING STEELER FANS, YOUR MAKING THIS MEMORABLE.

OH YEAH, about the poor clock management, iSeahawks did waist some precious time, but if Hasselback was Rothlisberger, we could have run the clock down to zero and still snapped the ball though the game was over. Just another bad call for the books.

I am a Steelers fan, I write for this website, I am also an usher at Heinz field. I am also celebrating every sweet second of one of the most tremendous runs in playoff history. Not just in the NFL, that includes every sport. I could care less about justifying anything, there is no need. Take your conspiracy theories, complaints, and loser attitudes, and go watch another game. In fact, I recommend the National Spelling Bee, its on ESPN too. There is no possible way to have any human error when judging a spelling contest. The Seahawks don’t have the history, ownership, fan base, or class that the Steelers organization proudly showed the world. A proud Steelers organization started in 1933, but didnt win its first playoff game until 42 years later! Seattle has a LONG way to go. Seattle had/has the opportunity to become a better organization from this, not dwell on what could have been. That will not change a thing. If the game went the other way, as a Steelers fan, I would have complained, thats what the loser does. My team won and I am celebrating, that’s what a winner does. From a Kevin to a Kevin…good article.

I love that folks like Chris Tohm are still upset about the game. Anybody who suggests that any of the calls other than the low block on Hasselbeck (which wouldn’t have changed the complexion of the game) is simply in denial.

The calls and non-calls against the Steelers are always conveiniently overlooked, as well.

There is nothing bittersweet about a Super Bowl victory, though I would have liked it if the Steelers had payed their “A” game instead of their “C” game. Then again, had they done that, the score would have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 45-3 and we wouldn’t be talking about it, would we?

I also love that Mike Holmgren STILL can’t get over the fact that HE lost the game for his team. He was completely outcoached by a coach that had a history of choking in big games. How’s that feel, Mike? Does it make you want to quit the competition committee?

Holmgren is just the loudest voice among a Seattle fanbase full of pussies.

I’m sure if Leavy was conducting the spelling bee, he would still find a way and screw it up. And because your suck-ass steelers took over 40 years to do anything, Seattle has to as well? Seattle was not playing there A game as well, but still was able to hold the steelers to 7 points. But their F game would have done the job if the refs could have kept their yellow flags in their pockets. And you steeler fans bitch about everything, even when you win. Steelers and their fans were bitching about the Palumalu Interception, and it would have been funny if Leavy was at that game, he would have probably called a low block on Rothlisberger, you know why, because you think they wanted the colts in the big game. The diffeence between our comments is that its not just Holmgren complaining, it’s Darrel Jackson, and Alexander who made comments, and over half million people voting on Fox sports, and another half on CBS and NBC, and ESPN, and even some steeler fans who thought it was bias. Your all in denial, and still proving me right, you think it was a bias game because you stil keep writing back. You have a steeler organization filled with crappy players surrounded by some talent in Palumalu and Big Ben. I mean, come on, Jerome Bettis is mediocre at best, especially when Ricky Watters had better stats then Bettis, and in fewer years. Your team got help by the guys in stripes, thats where the real talent is.

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