Despite what ESPN.com headlines say about Big Ben "propel[ling]" the Steelers to a win, it wasn't he of 22.6 QB rating with two interceptions who brought Lombardi back to Pittsburgh.
It wasn't Moron Porter with a measly three tackles, whose mouth proved bigger than his play.
Nor was it Troy Polamalu who was essentially a non-factor. As I predicted, Michael Boulware proved to have a bigger impact than this one-time SC safety. Though both had five tackles, Boulware had an interception, which unfortunately the 'Hawks offense couldn't turn into points.
The press wanted it to be Jerome "the short bus" Bettis, but on two consecutive tries, he couldn't punch it into the endzone leading to Rothlisberger's phantom touchdown.
Nope, it wasn't any of these guys.
The NFL wanted Bettis to win it--they were sympathetic to Cowher and his SuperIneptness too. And Detroit, a city of burned out buildings; a city whose greatest recent contributions to American society and culture are Kid Rock and Eminem? This city needed some kind of connection to a game their team will never see. They found it in Bettis and he delivered 43 yards on 14 carries. And color me dumbfounded that they didn't just say, "what the heck, everyone wants it, lets just give the MVP to Bettis."
They should have given it to the officials.
Seattle was the #1 or #2 least penalized team in the NFL. In the Super Bowl they were penalized 7 times for 70 yards, but even that doesn't tell the whole story. As Michael Smith of ESPN.com points out,
The Seahawks lost 161 yards to penalties when you combine the penalty yards (70) and the plays the flags wiped out (91). By halftime alone, when it trailed 7-3, Seattle had had 73 hard-earned yards and a touchdown eliminated.While the Steelers, an oft-penalized team during the regular season, only had 3 penalties for 20 yards--two of which were blatant false start penalties in the first quarter. Apparently not even the blatent horse collar tackle of Alexander by MotorMouth Porter was enough to draw a little yellow for the Hawks. Not only did the officials turn a blind eye to Pittsburgh penalties throughout the game, they called ridiculous ones on the Seahawks.
Case #1: Jackson's TD was called back on a weak "push off" in the endzone. This horrible call turned a touchdown into a field goal and sucked momentum away from the Seahawks. As I discussed with Justin, a Jazz fan from Salt Lake, Jordan pushed off, but Jackson didn't.
Case #2: Hat tip to Matt from Kennewick for this one and the accompanying article. Again, from Michael Smith:
Some penalties meant points; others meant field position. A holding call in the second quarter negated Peter Warrick's 34-yard punt return that would have started Seattle in Pittsburgh territory.When Pittsburgh couldn't make the tackle, an official was always there to make the play.
Case #3: Early in the 4th quarter, with the 'Hawks down 14-10, Hasselbeck completes a pass to Stevens taking them to the 1 yard line only to be called back because of a holding penalty. Locklear's hold in the 1st quarter was legit, this one was a farce.
Case #4: On the next play Hasselbeck was sacked and on the next play he threw an interception. Adding insult to insult was the "low block" penalty called against Hasselbeck--the guy who made the tackle on the runner. This penalty was among the worst I have ever seen. They could have picked up the flag when they realized that it was indeed Hasselbeck who had made the tackle, but they didn't. They decided it was better to be wrong and ignorant than right and fair. Holmgren was right to complain to the officials at the half.
Case #5: This one is best told by the Seattle PI's Jim Moore.
In the fourth quarter, while the Steelers milked the clock, I swear I saw the play clock tick down to "0" before the ball was snapped, but Pittsburgh magically called a timeout, apparently with a nanosecond to spare.The Steelers always seemed to get a call from the officials just when they needed it. Talk about performing in the clutch.
Instead of a delay-of-game penalty and a third-and-11, the Steelers, of course, came out of the timeout and got the first down on a pass to Antwaan Randle El.
The company (NFL) storyline was a storybook ending for the Bus in Detroit. The officials know who signs their checks and delivered accordingly.
Despite the horrible officiating, the Seahawks still had a chance to win this one. A failed conversion on 3rd down by one of my favorite players, Mack strong, three dropped passes by Jerramy Stevens and two missed field goals by Josh Brown probably would have been enough to give Seattle the win. With the odds stacked against them, those mistakes and the officials in their pocket will give the Steelers the win every time.
7 comments:
Well I'm happy the Steelers won! GO STEELERS! In spite of the boo-hooing and sour grapes here on this blog! *lol*
good, but tough game. seattle should've won. i definitely agree on the "push off" call. it should've been a touchdown. but it's no use complaining over the should have's and could have's.....i've learned from experience that it doesn't change the outcome of the game (aka Rose Bowl)
I would like to use a great analogy i heard this morning on ESPN radio. It is like the seahawks were on the greatest first date of their lives. Everything was going as planned and the girl was laughing at all his jokes. Then just as it came time to make his move and "score" the waiter(referrees) comes in and shuts him down for no reason at all. This then happens every time he makes his move. In the end the momentum of the date is killed and so are the seahawks.
better luck next time
Check this out:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs05/columns/story?columnist=smith_michael&id=2320683
Jake, lets just face it, being tucked so far back here in the Northwest with the nearest football team 800 miles away in San Francisco, we are just not a marketable team by the NFL. This was a classic NFL marketing scam. The east coast controls most of the population, so who wants to see Seattle take the Superbowl. Combine this with the fact that the Steelers used to have a dynasty in the 70's and that it is a perfect fairytale story to have Bettis finally win one in his home town of Detroit, and wam!! you have a pre-determined Superbowl winner. How else does one explain the fact that a six seeded team in their conference has a 4.5 point spread on Seattle who has been red hot all year long and won their conference with ease. The NFL has scammed us again!! This sport has become as bad as boxing or do i dare say it, as bad as WWE wrestling. But yes the ignorant east coasters will be happy (can you believe that i read that many people interviewed actually believed that the Seahawks were from Alaska), and so will the NFL who will now be able to market the return of the Steelers dynasty. As for me, i have vowed that i will never watch another NFL game again. That's right I'll just stick to college ball until that becomes so coorupted that the BCS will be pre-decided.
School vouchers and Health Savings Accounts be damned. What get us fired up are NFL scandals!
For those of you Seahawks fans, I feel your pain- the frustration and sense of helplessness; the what-ifs; the anger at the poor officiating... poor officiating that delivered a tainted and legitimacy-lacking victor. Yes, I remember when Bush was first "elected." Jake, you can at least take comfort in the fact that the Steelers won't be bumbling down an uninspired and fanatical path with the United States in tow. Some disasters are worse than others.
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