NFL Says SB Properly Officiated!

[SouperMeister]

Originally Posted by LongTimeSkinsFan

"The game was properly officiated, including, as in most NFL games, some tight plays that produced disagreement about the calls made by the officials," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement.


Either we weren't watching the same game, or give me some of what he's smokin'!!!!!

The pass interference call was a good call. Jackson only gained separation with his light shove (with arm extended) at the last instant before the ball arrived. Roethlisburger probably didn't break the plane, on his TD run, but if Pittsburgh had to go for it on 4th down at the 2 inch line, I like their chances with a 240 pound QB on a sneak. The hold on the punt return was borderline, but certainly not a phantom call. The most disappointing call was the holding on Locklear when Stevens caught the pass to the 1-yard line. If you get a chance to see the replay, notice that the pass rusher Locklear was blocking jumped an instant before the snap, and should have been penalized for offsides. The most ridiculous call was Hasselbeck flagged for making a legal tackle after his INT. The fact that nobody from a full crew of officials tried to correct that bogus call is amazing. The ref did get a crucial review correct when Hasselbeck was down by contact on his fumble. Bottom line, Seattle didn't make enough plays to deserve the win. To dominate for the first 20 minutes and only have 3 points to show is the reason they lost the game.

[LongTimeSkinsFan]

While my tone might imply that I felt Seattle should have won the game with proper officiating that's not the case. My argument here is simply the NFL has the nerve to say the game was properly officiated and I feel that was the furthest thing from the truth. In fact, I'll stick my neck out here and say that I think this has been the WORST year in recent memory for officiating blunders. I totally disagree with the NFL FO that this game was properly officiated. In my perfect NFL world, team A plays team B and the better team wins. In real life, team A plays team B and the team that plays well enough to overcome bad officiating and their opponent wins. Addressing your points:

1. Jackson and Hope were tangling in the end zone. It could have just as easily been illegal contact on Hope as much as it was PI on Jackson.

2. If Roethlisburger didn't break the plane and score, I still would have appreciated the formality of a 4th down play. Call me anal but I like it when a team earns a score rather than just have it handed to them.

3. The holding call killed a Seattle scoring op and the illegal block/tackle on Hasselbeck gives Pitt another 15 yds. I think the ensuing drive featured the flea flicker TD pass, right? If that's true, a case could be made that the gadget play might not be called without the extra 15 yds of field position from the penalty.

Regardless, Pittsburgh still deserved to win that game given the circumstances, simply because Seattle didn't play well enough to (a) capitalize on the Steelers mistakes and (b) overcome any errant calls from the officiating crew.