Posted on 02/06/2006 8:53:10 AM PST by highlander_UW
DETROIT -- Three weeks ago, after the Steelers held on to upset Indianapolis, Joey Porter was unhappy about the overturning of Troy Polamalu's fourth-quarter interception that could have sealed the win much earlier. Believing that deep down the league preferred Peyton Manning and the Colts to win, Porter publicly criticized the game officials, asking them not to "take the game from us."
Well, the Steelers can call it even now, as the officials who performed well enough throughout the season to earn the privilege of working Super Bowl XL performed Sunday as though they were trying to make it up to the Steelers by giving them the game -- not just any game, but the biggest game. And, yes, this time the other guys, the Seahawks, cried conspiracy, only not quite as loudly as Porter.
"You know, that's what happens when the world is against you," one Seahawk said after the 21-10 loss at Ford/Heinz Field. "No one wanted us to win. They wanted Jerome Bettis to win and go out a hero, and they got it."
Seattle had its share of goats: in particular, tight end Jerramy Stevens, who dropped four balls, and kicker Josh Brown, who missed two field-goal attempts. Almost to a man, the Seahawks pointed the blame finger at themselves for converting only one of three red zone attempts (when they had been the best in the league in that area, scoring a touchdown on 71.7 percent of their trips inside the 20-yard line); for allowing Ben Roethlisberger to improvise and complete a 37-yard pass to game MVP Hines Ward to the 1; for giving up a 75-yard touchdown run to Willie Parker; and for getting beaten by a trick play on Antwaan Randle El's pass to fellow receiver Ward for a touchdown, a first in Super Bowl history. If you read between the lines, though, they pretty much spelled out in bold letters that they had plenty of help in handing Pittsburgh its fifth Lombardi Trophy.
Namely, the boys in black and white.
"Those things are out of our control," Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said of the three major penalties that helped change the game completely. Not saying the outcome of the game would have been any different, but for sure it would have been a different game. "That's the way [the officials] called them," Hasselbeck continued. "The Steelers played well enough to win tonight, and we didn't. They should get credit. It's disappointing, it's hard, but what are you going to do?"
Here's what referee Bill Leavy's crew did, point blank: It robbed Seattle. The Seahawks could have played better, sure. They could have done more to overcome the poor officiating. We understand that those things happen and all, but even with all the points Seattle left on the field, there's a good chance the Seahawks would have scored more than the Steelers if the officials had let the players play.
In the biggest game of the year, the biggest game in sports, even, the officials were just a little too visible. In that regard, the Super Bowl provided a fitting conclusion to a postseason packed with pitiful performances by the game's third team. There were incorrect down-by-contact rulings in both NFC wild-card games; a touchdown that could have gone either way and should have gone the other way -- in favor of Tampa Bay -- in the Bucs' loss to the Redskins; the Patriots got no love in Denver in being hit with a bogus pass interference penalty and not catching a break on Champ Bailey's fumble at the goal line that looked as though it could have been a touchback; and, of course, the Polamalu play.
Still, what happened to the Seahawks wasn't the same as, say, New England going into Denver and playing badly (five turnovers) on top of the bad calls. Seattle gained almost 400 yards and turned it over just once.
You see, you can spend weeks -- and we did; two, in fact -- analyzing and dissecting matchups and giving each team the edge in certain areas and trying to figure out how the game is going to play out, but the two things you can't account for are turnovers and officials. The latter were the X-factor Sunday. Edge: Steelers.
It actually was a fairly clean game from a penalty standpoint, without a whole lot of yellow on the field -- 10 accepted penalties between the teams. Seven were against the Seahawks, though, a team that tied with Indianapolis for the second-fewest penalties (94) in the regular season. But those calls against the Seahawks stuck out like the Space Needle on the Seattle skyline.
Consider: The Seahawks lost 161 yards to penalties when you combine the penalty yards (70) and the plays the flags wiped out (91). By halftime alone, when it trailed 7-3, Seattle had had 73 hard-earned yards and a touchdown eliminated.
Hasselbeck hit Darrell Jackson with an apparent 16-yard scoring pass in the first quarter, but the play came back when Jackson was called for offensive pass interference. It was a touch foul. Jackson extended his arm, yes, but both players were fighting for position, and he didn't create any separation by doing so. It was like a referee calling a hand-check in a key moment of Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
The Seahawks had to settle for three instead of seven.
Still, that was early, and that one didn't change the game as much as did a holding call against Sean Locklear early in the fourth quarter with Pittsburgh leading 14-10. That one wiped out an 18-yard catch by Stevens that would have taken the ball to the 1. Locklear supposedly held Clark Haggans, so instead of first-and-goal at the 1 and the chance to complete a 98-yard touchdown drive and take a three-point lead, Seattle faced first-and-20 at the 29.
Three plays later, Ike Taylor picked off a Hasselbeck pass, and Hasselbeck went low to make the tackle on Taylor's return and was called for a 15-yard personal foul for a low block. The Steelers set up shop at their 44. That one right there made no sense.
Pittsburgh likes to run its trick plays in the middle of the field. Boom! Four plays later, from Seattle's 43, Randle El took a reverse and threw a sweet strike on the run to Ward. It was 21-10, and that was all she wrote. Everyone knows how important it is to play Pittsburgh with a lead or with the score tied. The Steelers don't lose when they're up by 11.
Eleven just so happens to be the total points taken away by bogus calls. Some penalties meant points; others meant field position. A holding call in the second quarter negated Peter Warrick's 34-yard punt return that would have started Seattle in Pittsburgh territory.
By contrast, the Steelers might have gotten a break on Roethlisberger's 1-yard touchdown plunge on third-and-goal in the second quarter. Leavy reviewed the play under the booth's orders, since it occurred inside the two-minute mark, and while still photos of an airborne Roethlisberger showed that the ball might have broken the plane of the goal line, he landed short of it and reached the ball over. It was close. Head linesman Mark Hittner didn't seem so sure of it, hesitating before signaling touchdown.
"I don't think he scored," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said.
It was that kind of evening for the Seahawks, who represent a town where residents know all too well that when it rains, it pours. If having what seemed like 90 percent of the 68,200 in attendance waving Terrible Towels wasn't enough to make Seattle feel as though it was playing on the road, the officials called it as though the Seahawks actually were.
Pittsburgh capitalized on its opportunities. And guys like Bill Cowher, Ward, Dan Rooney and The Bus are all very deserving of a championship -- and it's nice to see them win one -- but it would have been better had it not happened like this. It's like the Seahawks said: Not taking anything away from the Steelers, but keep it real.
"We had a touchdown taken away from us, the first one we scored," said Hasselbeck, who was measured in his words but clear in his frustration, "and then we had the ball at the 1-yard line, they called a penalty on us. That was unfortunate."
"I thought they were offside [on the play Locklear was called for holding]," center Robbie Tobeck said. "I thought we had a free play on because they had two guys come across. You know, that's the game. In a game, there's situations you have to overcome, and all night long we didn't do a good job of overcoming those things, and that's something we've done all year."
In the offseason, 31 teams will be back at the drawing board, evaluating what they need to do to knock off the Steelers in the fall. After the postseason they just had, Mike Pereira and the NFL's crew of officials would be wise to take a long, hard look at themselves. It's a real shame when, on the game's biggest stage, the major players aren't players at all. We saw too much of the third team in Super Bowl XL and not enough Seahawks and Steelers.
Michael Smith is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
LOL!
Amen to that. I've got the Center Ice package and I can't believe some of what I'm seeing every night. There isn't a referee in the NHL that has any idea what hooking is - and that's just one example.
The push-off may not have "moved" the DB, but it did help the receiver move backwards to reach the ball and kept the DB from following - the receiver may not have reached the ball if he hadn't pushed off. Don't forget the "incomplete pass" call after the Seattle receiver caught the ball, put both feet on the ground, and turned before being hit and coughing it up - A Steeler was pursuing the ball, with no opposition in the area, when the ref. blew it dead as incomplete. There were some bad calls, but the bad calls didn't change the game results. Seattle didn't bring their "A" game and a struggling Steeler team managed to pull one out.
Your mathematics is astounding...do you work for the DNC balancing the books?
Worse and more obviously bad calls were made in the PIT-IND playoff game. Famously the one on Troy Polo-the hair guy, which was still wrongly called after review.
3 of those represented 11 points and the difference between having the ball on the 1 yd line vs the other team outside the 40.
I think Rothelsberger got the debatable touchdown as well, but I think he clinched it with those pleading puppy eyes he flashed at the ref as he was stretching the ball back over the line.
It was nice watching the Steelers win last night. The big trophy is in Pittsburgh where it belongs. The Steelers now have five Super Bowl wins and only one loss, as good as any team in NFL history and better than most. It gives me a great feeling and warms my heart. Steeler fans are celebrating and joyful everywhere.
All the moaning and whining in the world can't take the joy of winning away from Steeler fans. We won, they lost. End of story.
i was thinking of the typical democrat - they'll participate in the open arena as long as they win. when they lose they always go whining to someone else and blaming everyone and everything BUT their candidate.
the officiating wasn't perfect, but then again it never is. the idea of having the sportscasters decide issues is ludicrous.
I wasn't sure that that steeler's touchdown was the right call or not, but I didn't see enough evidence that the ref was wrong to overturn his call. it's very possible that he was correct. you don't overturn a calll simply because there might be another side to it, you need a clear and compellign reason, absolute proof that the call was in error. it looked like the ball might have broken the plane - as the ref said it did.
there's no such thing as perfect officiating. I do find it amusing how many fans of the losing side carp about it tho. bet they wouldn't say peep had their side won.
That was a terrible call. As well as the Seahawks receiver taking three steps and then getting popped resulting in an "Incomplete"...it an absolute fumble if I ever saw one.
Sure you can, but didn't Hasselback also clip a player without the ball? He's an inexperienced tackler. What does the rule say?
No such thing as perfect officiating, but a team should have a reasonable expectation that the officiating of any game will be as impartial and correct as possible.
Or
the officiating election wasn't perfect, but then again it never is. the idea of having the sportscasters the New York Times decide issues is ludicrous.
I heard WA Gov Gregoire is asking for two recounts.
No, how can he clip another player if he is infront of him? It was an awful call even after the replay. The only man Hasselback touched was the man with the ball.
First of all, the hold that negated Steven's catch WAS a hold. No doubt about it. I called out "it's coming back" as I watched the game, and I was pulling for Seattle. The DE blew by his man, and the guy held like crazy. If he hadn't have held, it would have been a sack for sure. That call is a no-brainer.
Remember, all the ball has to do is have one molecule of it cross the plain. That's all. And that IS what happened, so Big Ben's TD was legit.
If a receiver pushes off of a defender to catch the ball, it is interference. Those of you saying that he didn't move the defender are talking like liberal judges "interpreting" the constitution. "The right to bear arms doesn't mean you can bear arms". "Pushing off of a defender is illegal means that pushing off of a defender is legal if he doesn't move". That's the rule, live with it. I'm a Raider fan, and I can make peace with the tuck rule, which is a much worse rule than this. Don't be a Ginsberg on this.
Face it, Seattle beat themselves. The two series at the end of the halves were horrible. Especially the first half, when they ran not ONE but TWO routes out of bounds that would have probably clinched a TD. Clock management was horrible, and they missed two FG's.
Having said that, the call on Hass' tackle was bad, but what was the score by then? And even that caught them for 15 yards, the Steelers still had to go the rest of the way down the field for the score.
A couple years ago, I had to watch Tom Brady fumble, then win the game anyway. I made peace by realizing two things. First, that the refs didn't do as bad a job as I originally thought, and I simply WANTED to blame them. As many of you are now. And secondly, the Raiders didn't deserve to win. I mean, they let Tom Brady throw for 300 yards in a frickin blizzard. The refs didn't take the game from Seattle, the Seahawks threw it away themselves.
I thought that was how a winner was determined, but based on the wailing and gnashing of teeth I've been hearing this morning, there is apparently some other arcane, esoteric calculation that apparently has not been factored into this year's super bowl. Actually, based on this newly discovered NFL fairness formula, neither the Steelers or Seahawks were the clear winners yesterday, and the rings will be awarded to the Saints as soon as they all get back from their Vegas vacations.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.