SuperBowl officiating was Horrible/Game was fixed/Steelers Stole it...

[MiamiHitman]

First off, I just wanna say that, obviously, I am a Dolphins fan, so I am being pretty unbiased with my opinions about what happened in this superbowl.

That being said, I think the referees did an atrocious job officiating this Superbowl, and directly influenced the outcome of this game.

Four plays immediately come to mind:

1) The Roethlisberger TD run where he didn't break the plane of the goal-line. The ref started to call Roethlisberger down, but then changed his mind after watching Big Ben crawl forward another couple yards into the endzone. That was not a TD. And how was it not over-turned? Geez.

2) Offensive pass interference against the Seahawks in the endzone that negated a TD. Of all the bad calls, this is the one that I could let slide if this were the only bad call of the game, but that is not the case here.

3) The phantom holding call that took away a nice play that would have given Seattle a 1st down at the 1-yard line. This call was really, REALLY bad.

4) And why the heck was Hasselbeck called for a personal foul for making a tackle?

In recap, I can think of reasons for wanting either team to win. I was really just hoping for a good, clean, exciting Superbowl and these referees really ruined it for me.

 

[MiamiHitman]

SuperBowl officiating was an absolute tragedy

Sorry, I double-posted.

 

[NJL52]

Yea, expect to hear ALOT about this hte next week or so. Never thought I would ever quesiton the legitimacy of the NFL.

NFL is now at the level of WWE and WWF.

 

[Roman529]

How could they call pass interference on the Seahawks when they scored their first TD in the 1st quarter that got called back.

 

[Caps]

How could they call pass interference on the Seahawks when they scored their first TD in the 1st quarter that got called back.

That was probably the worst call in the game, but one among many. This is the ****ing Superbowl, you can't call ticky tack fouls like that in a game of this magnitude.

 

[finfansince72]

I was embarrassed to be watching this game. The officiating was either complete amateur night or biased against the hawks. There were so many 'phatom' calls that it was inexcusable. Travesty, the Hawks never had a shot. They would have had to get into scoring range on every single drive they had to overcome the terrible officiating. I feel for the Hawks, they never had a chance.
I like Cowher, on some level Im glad he won a Superbowl, hes a good guy.

 

[SeahawkFinFan]

I'm glad I'm not just being a homer. This game is an insult to every single fan who loves the NFL. The teams played fairly tight, and it SHOULD have been a good, exciting game. Instead it made me feel sick to my stomach. Not as a Hawks fan, but as a FOOTBALL fan.

 

[MiamiHitman]

SuperBowl officiating was an absolute tragedy

This was the worst officiating I have ever seen in a big game .... in any sport.

 

[Manican]

First off, I just wanna say that, obviously, I am a Dolphins fan, so I am being pretty unbiased with my opinions about what happened in this superbowl.

That being said, I think the referees did an atrocious job officiating this Superbowl, and directly influenced the outcome of this game.

Four plays immediately come to mind:

1) The Roethlisberger TD run where he didn't break the plane of the goal-line. The ref started to call Roethlisberger down, but then changed his mind after watching Big Ben crawl forward another couple yards into the endzone. That was not a TD. And how was it not over-turned? Geez.

2) Offensive pass interference against the Seahawks in the endzone that negated a TD. Of all the bad calls, this is the one that I could let slide if this were the only bad call of the game, but that is not the case here.

3) The phantom holding call that took away a nice play that would have given Seattle a 1st down at the 1-yard line. This call was really, REALLY bad.

4) And why the heck was Hasselbeck called for a personal foul for making a tackle?

In recap, I can think of reasons for wanting either team to win. I was really just hoping, for a good, clean, exciting Superbowl and these referees really ruined it for me.

I agree, it was an absolute joke. I won't go into other reasons why the officiating was bad, but there were atleast a half dozen plays they called in Pittsburgh's favor. Again, like you, I didn't care who won.

 

[PHANTASTIC 13]

Don't forget about that horse collar tackle the Steelers made that would have been a first down for Seattle, even Michael's and Madden saw it.

 

[AquaAssasin]

First off, I just wanna say that, obviously, I am a Dolphins fan, so I am being pretty unbiased with my opinions about what happened in this superbowl.

That being said, I think the referees did an atrocious job officiating this Superbowl, and directly influenced the outcome of this game.

Four plays immediately come to mind:

1) The Roethlisberger TD run where he didn't break the plane of the goal-line. The ref started to call Roethlisberger down, but then changed his mind after watching Big Ben crawl forward another couple yards into the endzone. That was not a TD. And how was it not over-turned? Geez.

2) Offensive pass interference against the Seahawks in the endzone that negated a TD. Of all the bad calls, this is the one that I could let slide if this were the only bad call of the game, but that is not the case here.

3) The phantom holding call that took away a nice play that would have given Seattle a 1st down at the 1-yard line. This call was really, REALLY bad.

4) And why the heck was Hasselbeck called for a personal foul for making a tackle?

In recap, I can think of reasons for wanting either team to win. I was really just hoping, for a good, clean, exciting Superbowl and these referees really ruined it for me.

Man, im glad im not the only one that thinks this way. I really thought the refs were the worst. All those plays were critical plays that would changed the outcome. Seattle was easily moving the football during the pass plays..

These refs need to be held accountable and another thing i really thought the superbowl didnt live up to the hype.

 

[ZThomas54]

unlike the both of you, i did care who won. (i'm from pittsburgh and i HATE hearing the fair weather steeler fans). and yes, the officiating was horrible. I think paul tagliabue called em up before the game and said "Listen, we almost screwed the steelers on that polamalu interception 3 weeks ago, we gotta give em these ones". also i think joey porter told jerramy stevens that if he caught more than one pass he'd murder him or something. i don't understand how he dropped some of those.

 

[dm416]

It's sad to see things like this.

 

[DolfanISS]

First off, I just wanna say that, obviously, I am a Dolphins fan, so I am being pretty unbiased with my opinions about what happened in this superbowl.

That being said, I think the referees did an atrocious job officiating this Superbowl, and directly influenced the outcome of this game.

Four plays immediately come to mind:

1) The Roethlisberger TD run where he didn't break the plane of the goal-line. The ref started to call Roethlisberger down, but then changed his mind after watching Big Ben crawl forward another couple yards into the endzone. That was not a TD. And how was it not over-turned? Geez.

2) Offensive pass interference against the Seahawks in the endzone that negated a TD. Of all the bad calls, this is the one that I could let slide if this were the only bad call of the game, but that is not the case here.

3) The phantom holding call that took away a nice play that would have given Seattle a 1st down at the 1-yard line. This call was really, REALLY bad.

4) And why the heck was Hasselbeck called for a personal foul for making a tackle?

In recap, I can think of reasons for wanting either team to win. I was really just hoping, for a good, clean, exciting Superbowl and these referees really ruined it for me.

The first 2 I could live with. The Ben TD was centimters and millimeters, could have been called any way. The last 2, especially the holding call, were not only embarrasing, they were game changing. I hope Vince McMahon, ah I mean Paul Tagliabue gets this fixed because the officiating in the 2005 playoffs, was a joke.

Now this thread will be moved.

 

[earl the pearl]

i honestly thought the 'berger td was legitimate...before his arm hit the ground i think it crossed over the line a littlleeee bit...but it was still sketchy.

2) that one was for sure PI. he completely straightened his arm and pushed.

3) if i'm thinking of the same play, the tackle rode the end into the ground

4) this one is a turd call...they pulled the same one in a game earlier this year. Basically, on an INT return, you can't take out the blockers low, but usually the blockers are running next to the guy with the ball. What ends up happening is the person trying to tackle the guy with the ball goes low and the refs think hes trying to take out the blocker...this one was definitely a BS call, i agree