Shadow Wrought's Journal: Super Bowl XL

Congratulations to Pittsburgh and their fans. They are the best of the best of the best, and are the Champions! Their title is well deserved and I am glad that they won (and yes I would have been glad if the 'Hawks had won, too), but what I like best about it is the type of play that they espouse. No showboating, no huge egos getting in the way of the time, just class and smashmouth football. Bill Cowher has been with them for 14 years which is a forever in this day and age. So I like the way they do business in Pittsburgh, and I like that it was rewarded. What follows are my thoughts on the game.

• The officiating was awful. The problem is not so much that there were bad calls as that all of the bad calls went against Seattle. Including:
  1. The ticky-tack pass intereference negating a Seattle touchdown.
  2. The ticky-tack holding which cost them first and goal at the one.
  3. The WTF illegal block below the waist on Hasselback when tackling the runner. and
  4. the Roethlisberger Touchdown.
• That being said, the Roethlisberger touchdown was too close to overturn, so that was good. The problem was that when the ref ran in his right hand was out signalling that he was down without the TD. Then when he got close he changed it to TD. As the replay showed though, Ben brought the ball forward after he was down, which is what the call ont he field looked to be based on. Now while it's still a bad call, the reality is that the 'Hawks have only a 1 in 100 chance of stopping Pittsburgh on 4th down. The frustration for me, is that they were denied that chance. Those are the times when Superbowl legends are born, but they were denied tha chance by a poor call.
• Each team had a handful of opportunities to score. Pittsburgh did a great job of making the most of their opportunities and that's why they won. The problem with the ticky-tack calls, is that they denied Seattle when they did comvert and they did make a difference in the game.
• That being said, Seattle botched enough other opportunities that the the bad calls did not decide the game. The calls did influence it though and made it much harder for Seattle to come back. That's the part that sucks.
• Seattle's clock management was atrocious. WTF was that?
• A Joey Porter thought- when he railed against the league for wanting "Indianapolis to win" because of the all the calls against Pittsburgh, does he now think that the league wanted the Steelers to win?
• Bottom line- if it had not been for the calls the game would have been significantly closer, but I think Pittsburgh would have still won. Its just really a shame that such glaringly bad calls all went against Seattle at key times.

And, finally, the calls in no way invalidate what Pittsburgh did. They played hard, tough, and smart, and their pride in victory was earned.

OK, I'm a Steeler fan...

[ellem]

So take that as you will...

The endzone pass interference was exactly why that rule was invented. That was the textbook version of that type of pass interference. Frankly I think the rule sucks, but it is what it is.

If the rule is the football is AT the whote line Ben's touchdown was fine. I always thought it need to BREAK the line in which case that's not a great call.

There was play wherein a rather BLATANT clipping penalty was not called against the Seahawks who proceeded to march down the field.

I think

Re:OK, I'm a Steeler fan...

[Shadow Wrought]

I've always thought it was breaking the goal line, but it was one close play. Even so, I think Bettis up the gut gets a touchdown an inch from the goal line;-)

It makes me feel better that the 'Hawks capitalized on at least one bad call. As long as the officiating sucks, it really should be neutral in its suckage.

A nice day for Pittsburgh indeed!

Re:OK, I'm a Steeler fan...

[NFLFan]

I always thought that some part of the ball had to break, so I guess probably just touch, the front plane of the endzone. I don't know what that means for that Roethlisberger score but it was close, real close.

Mostly a good game.

[NFLFan]

I thought the game good for the most part. Yes, a call or two went against the Seahawks that were questionable but not as many as people are suggesting and there were some non-calls that helped the Seahawks. I thought the game was competitive until the end and very watcheable.

And, finally, the calls in no way invalidate what Pittsburgh did. They played hard, tough, and smart, and their pride in victory was earned.

Totally right. They are the champs now and nothing is going to change that. Everybody shoul