Conflicted on Officiating in the Super Bowl. Opinions please.

[termyt]

All I’m hearing now is that the officials cost the Seahawks the game, but I didn’t get that impression and that wasn’t the consensus opinion among the people who watched it with me. So I’m interested in your opinions on the matter.

I have one request regarding this discussion. I am soliciting opinions, not a debate on other people’s opinion. Please limit your posts to your opinions with why you think they are right instead of why someone else’s opinion is wrong. Thanks.

Here are the controversial calls as I know them:

1) Offensive pass interference call negating a Seahawk touchdown.

2) Illegal block called on Seattle QB Hasslebeck while he was trying to make a tackle on the interception return.

3) Holding call that negated a First and Goal on the two yard line.

4) Roethlisberger touchdown

5) Hasslebeck fumble

My comments follow:

Mike Holmgren officially blamed the refs. I guess that’s easier than blaming your number one receiver who dropped more balls than he caught and the fact the he himself seemed dazed and confused at the half – perhaps part of the reason that the Seahawks wasted 20 seconds of the final minute forcing them to attempt a 50+ yard field goal instead of trying to get closer to the goal. The Seahawk two minute drill was simply awful in both halves. But whatever, don't blame poor performance when you can say it was the refs that cost them the game.

On the calls:
1) The receiver pushed the defensive back backwards preventing any play on the ball by the defensive player. That is the text book definition of offensive pass interference. I’m sorry a penalty negated a touchdown, but it was the right call.

2) Bad call. The only clearly bad call in the game. The others can be regretted and debated, but this one is the only one that was truly bad. Hasslebeck was trying to tackle a ball carrier. It is not illegal to tackle a ball carrier by diving at his legs.

3) This was questionable. The lineman had the defensive player’s arm hooked with his own. Sometimes, offensive linemen get away with this, sometimes they don’t. This time he didn’t.

4) This was a tough call. It looked like the end of the ball touched the edge of the stripe. It was very hard to tell since the NFL refused to place cameras directly on the goal line. The video evidence was not enough to overturn the call on the field either way, so the play stood as called.

5) The Hasslebeck fumble. Has Hasslebeck fell, a Steeler grazed him with his hand. Upon review, they called him down by contact, so no fumble. This was a correct call. Any contact, no matter how light, while a player is down or falling down makes the player down by contact. No one is talking about this play, which is good since it was a good call. But why is this obscure rule understood by the talking heads on TV but offensive pass interference isn’t? Unless you are looking to stir up unnecessary controversy, I’m not sure.

[shooraijin]

I don't remember all the calls, but the Seahawks would have lost no matter what the calls were. You can't chalk up an 11-point deficit wholly to bad officials.

[mitsuki lover]

We were robbed!
As Mike Holmgren himself stated:"I knew we had to fight the Steelers,I didn't know we also had to fight the Officials."
The fact of the matter is clearly illustrated in a cartoon that ran today in the Opinion page of the Spokesman-Review where it shows a ref with the #12 flagging Holmgren with his left hand while giving the Lombardi trophy to Cowhere with his right hand.Underneath is the caption:THE STEELERS' TWELFTH MAN
Compare the stats after the game and you will see that except in rushing yards the
'Hawks clearly had an edge.
How a team that clearly held the ball longer and was much more successful passing then the other team could loose is a mystery that can only be solved if there was a bit of official interference in the game.
The fact is the Seahawks clearly would ahve WON if the officials HAD done their job properly.
On the other hand the Superbowl did show up that the Steelers were the most mediocre team to have won it in quite some time.
Hasselback only threw one interception against a vaulted secondary that was as full of holes during the game as Swiss cheese.
Prediction:Don't expect Pittsburgh back in the near future,they are a has been team.

[CDLviking]

I'm basicly in agreement with Termyt. The Seahawk's own mismanagement of the clock was their biggest weakness. I don't recall observing any bad officiating during the game, or any one complaining about it (it was loud, so I couldn't always hear the announcers). It has all come up after the fact.

I only observed two of the calls close enough to offer my opinion on them.

1) The receiver clearly pushes off the defenseman's left wrist. Whether it would have been reversed with a challenge will never be known, but it certainly seemed like a good call to challenge, and it is the Seahawks fault for not doing so. Good call ref.

4) If any part of the ball breaks any part of the plane, touchdown. It certainly appeared that the ball reached the line, even if it didn't cross it entirely. Good call ref.

[Nate]

You can't chalk up an 11-point deficit wholly to bad officials.

Agreed. If it had been a closer game, I think there would've been a cause for complaint, but 11 points? That's not a result of bad calls; that's a result of bitter fans trying to find a lame excuse for their team simply not playing up to snuff.

[CDLviking]

It's even more unprofessional for Mike Holmgren to make such a statement.

[Yojimbo]

The Seahawks plain and simply just did not play a good enough game to beat Pittsburgh. By the time the second half came around they were already mentally destroyed. The Hassleback tackle was the only clearly bad call that I noticed. People can be Monday morning quarterback's all they want but there's no excuse if your team just doesn't up to snuff.

[ClosetOtaku]

Some bad calls, granted. However, to answer your questions:

1. Interference. By rule, the call was correct. No contact (other than "incidental") is permitted past five yards of the line of scrimmage. That contact wasn't incidental, regardless of how ineffective or unnecessary it might have been.

2. Illegal Block. My memory of the event (and replays) was that H'beck went to take down the ball carrier and unintentionally contacted another player. But I haven't re-watched it, so I don't know for sure.

3. Holding. You can almost call holding on every play. It's a judgment call. Probably a little over-interpreted...

4. Touchdown. Not sure we'll ever know the truth on this one. It was really, really close. However, when the Line Judge signaled the TD, and the booth ordered the replay, the Referee made the correct call: not enough evidence to overturn the call on the field.

5. Hasselbeck fumble. He didn't, and the replay showed he didn't. Understandable why the call on the field was for a fumble, but it is good that it was properly overturned.

[Stephen]

LOL. Its always fun to hear whining after a team loses. In 10 years, nobody is gonna care about the Seattle Seawhawks this past season, because they lost. Deal with it, get over it, and move on. Raiders fans had to when they got shafted by bad calls in the New England Snow Bowl, and other teams deal with it too. Newsflash, watch the Indy Pitt game earlier in the Playoffs this year...seemed they wanted Indy to win. So its not just Seattle that got bad calls. As far as Has-been teams? Seattle is a big fish in a small pond. Being good in the NFC is a cakewalk. You Seattle fans are lucky there not in the AFC...probably would not have made it into the first round of the playoffs this year. The NFC is the weaker devision, and it showed in the Superbowl. Next year they can try again. Till then though, feel free to run down the team that won...and claim you were robbed. Sadly, like the losing teams year...your complaints will be forgotten too.

Prediction:Don't expect Pittsburgh back in the near future,they are a has been team.

Gee, could that also be because there losing like 9 players to contract endings and retirement? Wow. I called Seattle choking back when the playoffs started. I really rooted for them the year they had Jerry Rice..and they showed me they could not win the big one...and it just showed again this year. Root for an AFC team folks.