I don't think I've ever seen one before but that must be what a fixed game looks like.

I can safely say I've never seen so many questionable calls go against a team at crucial points in a game. If I were a seattle fan I'd be furious, I actually started out pulling hard for the Steelers and ended up being disgusted that they won.

Not the best night for the NFL imo.

L-yes Wrote:I don't think I've ever seen one before but that must be what a fixed game looks like.

I can safely say I've never seen so many questionable calls go against a team at crucial points in a game. If I were a seattle fan I'd be furious, I actually started out pulling hard for the Steelers and ended up being disgusted that they won.

Not the best night for the NFL imo.

I did not see that way. Steelers had the better defense, hence they won.

Agreed, the officiating was very sketchy tonight. Steelers earned everything they got this playoffs after the Bengals game. So grats to them.

My best friend is a Steelers fan and I have to see him at school tomorrow. Life sucks

L-yes Wrote:I don't think I've ever seen one before but that must be what a fixed game looks like.

I can safely say I've never seen so many questionable calls go against a team at crucial points in a game. If I were a seattle fan I'd be furious, I actually started out pulling hard for the Steelers and ended up being disgusted that they won.

Not the best night for the NFL imo.

L-Yes, you did not hear. Vince McMahon bought the National Fixed League.

JFlight21 Wrote:Agreed, the officiating was very sketchy tonight. Steelers earned everything they got this playoffs after the Bengals game.

Not true. The Squealers earned it against the Bengals too. Van LardenGluden (or whatever his name is) put 100% effort into injuring Palmer's knee. Therfore, the Squealers earned that too.

Hasselbeck is a BC grad. He was probably shaving points. ;-)

Shannon Panther Wrote:Hasselbeck is a BC grad. He was probably shaving points. ;-)

And so was Bill Leavy. The real SuperBowl MVP.

I felt the Rothlisburger TD was "barely" legit. He scores on 4th down if it wasn't called a TD.

The "chop block" call on Hasselbeck was very questionable.

The pass inteference call on Jackson was legit.

The holding call on Locklear was "barely" legit. Looked like a hold to me in live action.

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Seattle had its chances to win this game, both early and late, but didn't get it done.

One of the worst officiated games in memory! What ashame it was disaster from the horrible National Anthem, to poor play, to terrible calls, a
very bad and old halftime to more bad calls, and more bad play ... The Steelers toughed it out but it was no SUPER Bowl!

The Seahawks may have won had they:

1 - been able to score. They missed 2 field goals, and were held in check pretty much all game. The pushoff in the endzone may have been a ticky-tack call, but it WAS a pushoff.

2 - stopped the Steelers big plays. A 76 yard touchdown run by Willie Parker was not handed to Pittsburgh by the refs, nor was Ben Roethlisberger's gutsy throw on 3rd and 28 to Hines Ward inside the 5 yard line. Ben DID cross the goal line on his touchdown. Barely, yes. But all he has to do is get the nose across the plane. Steelers also had a big play on the Randall-El to Hines Ward pass. You allow big plays like that in the Super Bowl, you are unlikely to win.

3 - stopped the Steelers on that final drive. Pittsburgh ultimately had to punt, but not until they had moved the ball downfiled using the running game, and left the Seahawks with only 2 minutes and no timeouts to work with.

Were a couple calls worthy of discussion? Yeah. But it wasn't the refs that handed this game to the Steelers. Pittsburgh got the key plays when they needed to, and Seattle didn't - pure and simple. If it had not been for Ben's interception that was returned 76 yards, Pittsburgh may have gone on to win this game 21-3 or 28-3. A game that was within an eyelash of being a blowout does not indicate to me a game that was handed to one team by the refs.

wvucrazed Wrote:A game that was within an eyelash of being a blowout does not indicate to me a game that was handed to one team by the refs.

Then again, it could be said the game was within an eyelash of a blowout only because the Seahawks' big plays had been called back. I think their first touchdown should've stood, and that illegal block call on Hasselbeck (after the interception) was bogus. But there was also a disconnect in the Seattle offense somewhere. They outgained Pittsburgh but bombed in the red zone, due to both play calling and execution. Overall their offense was more consistent, as 1/3 of Pitt's total yardage came on two plays. Game was closer than indicated, and clearly not the best game ever.

I'm happy for Cowher and the Steeler faithful, but it'd be nice if their defensive backfield would gain some class now.

BTW, I think Jerramy Stevens just dropped another pass...

One play I forgot about was what I thought WAS a Seattle TD near the end of the 1st half where Jackson caught the ball, and it appeared to me that one foot was inbounds and the other foot made contact with the pylon. It was ruled out-of-bounds, but it looked like a TD to me...

Anyone else remember that one..?

GunnerFan Wrote:Then again, it could be said the game was within an eyelash of a blowout only because the Seahawks' big plays had been called back. I think their first touchdown should've stood, and that illegal block call on Hasselbeck (after the interception) was bogus. But there was also a disconnect in the Seattle offense somewhere. They outgained Pittsburgh but bombed in the red zone, due to both play calling and execution. Overall their offense was more consistent, as 1/3 of Pitt's total yardage came on two plays. Game was closer than indicated, and clearly not the best game ever.

The only big Seattle play that was called back that I can recall was the pushoff penalty... was there another? The illegal block call on Hasslebeck only resulted in an additional 15 yards... I don't think that made a huge difference in the outcome. I'll agree it was a questionable call. But the Steelers have certainly had their share of calls go against them in the playoffs, and they were able to overcome that.

Seattle will always remember this game for what might have been. It really was theirs for the taking with Pittsburgh not playing well offensively, but give the Steelers defense credit. They contained Alexander for the most part, and made some key plays at opportune moments (the interception, a key sack on Hasselbeck that created a 3rd a long, etc.) It was an ugly game, but I think the Steelers defense has made alot of teams look ugly this post-season.

wvucrazed Wrote:

GunnerFan Wrote:Then again, it could be said the game was within an eyelash of a blowout only because the Seahawks' big plays had been called back. I think their first touchdown should've stood, and that illegal block call on Hasselbeck (after the interception) was bogus. But there was also a disconnect in the Seattle offense somewhere. They outgained Pittsburgh but bombed in the red zone, due to both play calling and execution. Overall their offense was more consistent, as 1/3 of Pitt's total yardage came on two plays. Game was closer than indicated, and clearly not the best game ever.

The only big Seattle play that was called back that I can recall was the pushoff penalty... was there another? The illegal block call on Hasslebeck only resulted in an additional 15 yards... I don't think that made a huge difference in the outcome. I'll agree it was a questionable call. But the Steelers have certainly had their share of calls go against them in the playoffs, and they were able to overcome that.

Seattle will always remember this game for what might have been. It really was theirs for the taking with Pittsburgh not playing well offensively, but give the Steelers defense credit. They contained Alexander for the most part, and made some key plays at opportune moments (the interception, a key sack on Hasselbeck that created a 3rd a long, etc.) It was an ugly game, but I think the Steelers defense has made alot of teams look ugly this post-season.

Yeah, that 20 Rushes for 95 yards was really contining him. The problem with the 15 yard penalty was it gave Pittsburgh excellent field position. Plus with the none-hold-(it was actually Pittsburgh offsides) the Steelers should not have gotten the ball anyway. But with the extra field position it allowed them to run one of their gadget plays. They almost never run those in their own territory.

Maize Wrote:

wvucrazed Wrote:

GunnerFan Wrote:Then again, it could be said the game was within an eyelash of a blowout only because the Seahawks' big plays had been called back. I think their first touchdown should've stood, and that illegal block call on Hasselbeck (after the interception) was bogus. But there was also a disconnect in the Seattle offense somewhere. They outgained Pittsburgh but bombed in the red zone, due to both play calling and execution. Overall their offense was more consistent, as 1/3 of Pitt's total yardage came on two plays. Game was closer than indicated, and clearly not the best game ever.

The only big Seattle play that was called back that I can recall was the pushoff penalty... was there another? The illegal block call on Hasslebeck only resulted in an additional 15 yards... I don't think that made a huge difference in the outcome. I'll agree it was a questionable call. But the Steelers have certainly had their share of calls go against them in the playoffs, and they were able to overcome that.

Seattle will always remember this game for what might have been. It really was theirs for the taking with Pittsburgh not playing well offensively, but give the Steelers defense credit. They contained Alexander for the most part, and made some key plays at opportune moments (the interception, a key sack on Hasselbeck that created a 3rd a long, etc.) It was an ugly game, but I think the Steelers defense has made alot of teams look ugly this post-season.

Yeah, that 20 Rushes for 95 yards was really contining him. The problem with the 15 yard penalty was it gave Pittsburgh excellent field position. Plus with the none-hold-(it was actually Pittsburgh offsides) the Steelers should not have gotten the ball anyway. But with the extra field position it allowed them to run one of their gadget plays. They almost never run those in their own territory.

Alexander got 95 yards, but I didn't think he had a huge impact on the game. He didn't make any big plays like Willie Parker did. And as for the 15 yards, Pittsburgh may have put themselves in the same position with a few running plays.... we just don't know. What we do know is that Seattle was burned on the gadget play, and on Willie Parker's long run. Seattle wasn't able to answer with big plays of their own.

MongoSlade Wrote:One play I forgot about was what I thought WAS a Seattle TD near the end of the 1st half where Jackson caught the ball, and it appeared to me that one foot was inbounds and the other foot made contact with the pylon. It was ruled out-of-bounds, but it looked like a TD to me...

Anyone else remember that one..?

I thought it was out of bounds.. did Seattle challenge it? I don't recall, but I don't think they did.

wvucrazed Wrote:

MongoSlade Wrote:One play I forgot about was what I thought WAS a Seattle TD near the end of the 1st half where Jackson caught the ball, and it appeared to me that one foot was inbounds and the other foot made contact with the pylon. It was ruled out-of-bounds, but it looked like a TD to me...

Anyone else remember that one..?

I thought it was out of bounds.. did Seattle challenge it? I don't recall, but I don't think they did.

They could not challenge it, it was within the final 2 minutes of the half.

Steeler fans be happy with your title but just beware many are and will continue to question the refs motives. Much like Joey Porter did the same in the Steelers-Colts game. Instead of everyone wanting Peyton Manning to win this time it could be said the NFL wanted Jerome Bettis to win in his final game in his hometown.

Maize Wrote:

wvucrazed Wrote:

MongoSlade Wrote:One play I forgot about was what I thought WAS a Seattle TD near the end of the 1st half where Jackson caught the ball, and it appeared to me that one foot was inbounds and the other foot made contact with the pylon. It was ruled out-of-bounds, but it looked like a TD to me...

Anyone else remember that one..?

I thought it was out of bounds.. did Seattle challenge it? I don't recall, but I don't think they did.

They could not challenge it, it was within the final 2 minutes of the half.

Steeler fans be happy with your title but just beware many are and will continue to question the refs motives. Much like Joey Porter did the same in the Steelers-Colts game. Instead of everyone wanting Peyton Manning to win this time it could be said the NFL wanted Jerome Bettis to win in his final game in his hometown.

Questioning the refs performance in a game is legit, but questioning their motives is, in my mind, a little silly. I mean, come on. Does anybody honestly believe the refs wanted one team or another to win? These guys are professionals, and have been doing this for a long time. I thought Porter's comments after the Indy game were out of line. Just because a few calls don't go your way, doesn't mean the refs were trying to cost you the game. With as much scrutiny as there is in a Super Bowl, I find the notion ludicrous that the refs would actively try and influence the results of the game.

MongoSlade Wrote:I felt the Rothlisburger TD was "barely" legit. He scores on 4th down if it wasn't called a TD.

The "chop block" call on Hasselbeck was very questionable.

The pass inteference call on Jackson was legit.

The holding call on Locklear was "barely" legit. Looked like a hold to me in live action.

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Seattle had its chances to win this game, both early and late, but didn't get it done.

I watched the replay of the Rothlisberger TD carefully. It could not be said one way or the other as to whether he crossed the plane of the goal line due to the slight angle. The camera was not directly on the goal line for a definitive determination to be made. Therefore, the ruling on the field should stand for inconclusive evidence. I agree with the ruling.

The chop block was a bad call, but it came after the interception so it had no bearing on the outcome.

Not going to comment on the Jackson pass interference call other than to say it was the right call.

The holding call on Locklear was legit. Looked like a hold in live action and on the replay. NFL referees could call holding on every down if they interpreted the rule exactly as it is written. They don't, so controversy arises whenever they do make a call.

Seattle did move the ball well, but couldn't cross the goal. Pittsburgh didn't move the ball well, but crossed the goal 3 times. Enough said.

Can we just celebrate the NFL season is finally over!?! Now we can move on to better things.