NFL 2005-06

[jokabofe]

Even if the TD wasn't counted Pittsburgh still would've won.

How can you say that? If Seattle had held on, and put up a goalline stand, it may have turned the momentum their way. That was 3rd down play if I'm not mistaken, and the D had already stopped them on 1st down and 2nd down.

[Ryan]

Even if the TD wasn't counted Pittsburgh still would've won.

How can you say that? If Seattle had held on, and put up a goalline stand, it may have turned the momentum their way. That was 3rd down play if I'm not mistaken, and the D had already stopped them on 1st down and 2nd down.

Dave's right, taking away one touchdown does more than take away 7 points. It can completely shift the momentum of the game and lead to a whole new outcome.

Jackson did push off in my unbiased opinion

The TD call was really iffy, the tip of the ball only need to touch the front of the goaline and to me there wasn't enough evidence to prove either way. The ref should not have called that a TD

Seahawks were horrible running the clock though and I have to say that has always always been a Holmgren problem

I'm going to have to agree with the Jackson call myself. There was no reason for him to put his hand on the DB, he could have made that catch without the little push off. It may have been a little pushoff but a pushoff it was.

I don't personally think Roethlesiburger crossed the line but, the party I was at was split down the middle, it was a VERY close call.

[Morgbug]

I'm going to have to agree with the Jackson call myself. There was no reason for him to put his hand on the DB, he could have made that catch without the little push off. It may have been a little pushoff but a pushoff it was.

I'm here too.  I do think it was a lame call, the DB had given up.  But no contact and you have a TD.  Any contact and you have a panicky penalty call. 

The TD call was really iffy, the tip of the ball only need to touch the front of the goaline and to me there wasn't enough evidence to prove either way.  The ref should not have called that a TD

I'm here on this one as well.  Looked to me like Roethlisberger was down, then shoveled the ball forward.  If that ball broke the plane before he was down, why'd he move it forward?  And even when he did, and you could clearly see him do that, he barely got it over the line, so how could it have broken the plane in the first place. 

I'll say Pittsburgh played well enough to win though. 

[Ithorian Clergy]

STEELERS BABY!!!!

Now as for the 2 main points:

1.  The Darrell Jackson call was fair in my opinion, he did push off.  The kicker is, I don't think he really had to.  It's tough to say, but I think he may have scored without pushing off. 

2.  I do think Roethlisberger broke the plane of the goal line with the front edge of the ball.  It was close, but I too think he got it.

I gotta add how cool it was for Bettis to retire in front of the crowd and his coach at the same time, standing there in his hometown a Super Bowl Champion.  It doesn't get any better than that.

 

[jokabofe]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: calling a blocking below the knees penalty on Hasselbeck as he's trying to make a tackle?? WTF?? Just one more bad call (and another 15 yards) to add to the rest.

Like I said, I'm not saying the 'hawks played well enough to win. Even without those calls, they might have lost anyway. But you just never know. All the BS calls against them certainly had to take a little wind out of their sails, and get them down on themselves.

And not for nothing, those little tiny push offs happen routinely throughout the entire season. And they never get called. I'm sure none of the Steeler receivers pushed off at all throughout the game.

[Scott]

You haven't watched enough Randy Moss games, that guy gets called for pushing off when he farts on a DB

[Ithorian Clergy]

And now time to chronicle the biggest plays of the game for the NEW Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh STEELERS!!



Tylenol for the headaches Willie Parker cause for the Seahawks defense, $4.

Detergent to remove the grass stain from the post-score tumble, $10.

Diving into the end zone for no apparent reason to complete a 75 yard TD run, the longest run in the history of the Super Bowl...PRICELESS




It's all about breaking the plane:




Gotta love starting the season as a training camp no show holding out for more money, only to end up catching the dagger TD pass in the Super Bowl:



And finally, the BUS!!!

[Rob]

Jackson did push off in my unbiased opinion

Plain as day.

Also, during the replays I thought the ball crossed the line.  My girlfriend thought it didn't - either way there wasn't indisputable evidence enough to overturn it.

Seattle got some bad breaks, but it's not like the refs forced Hassleback to throw key interceptions.  It's also not like the refs forced the Seahawks into letting Willie Parker run untouched 75 yards to paydirt.  It's also not like the refs made the Seahawks miss a few field goals leaving them down by multiple scores at the end of the game instead of down by 8 or even 5...

The Seahawks had their chances - end of story.


Also, did anyone notice Mike Holmgren didn't go meet Cowher out at midfield?  Madden and Michaels were oblivious to it but when they kept showing those shots of Cowher looking around right after everyone flooded the field they kept saying crap like "he's just taking in this moment".   He wasn't.  He was looking for Holmgren - you could hear him say at one point "where's Mike?"

Holmgren snapped at Suzy at the half, and didn't bother going out to shake hands with Cowher after the game - absolutely classesless.

[Ithorian Clergy]

Also, did anyone notice Mike Holmgren didn't go meet Cowher out at midfield?  Madden and Michaels were oblivious to it but when they kept showing those shots of Cowher looking around right after everyone flooded the field they kept saying crap like "he's just taking in this moment".   He wasn't.  He was looking for Holmgren - you could hear him say at one point "where's Mike?"

Holmgren snapped at Suzy at the half, and didn't bother going out to shake hands with Cowher after the game - absolutely classesless.

Was this before the game started?

[Rob]

I'm not sure - it's entirely possible that they found eachother eventually and that I just idnd't see it on the broadcast.  But usually after a loss the other coach isn't all smiles when he greets the winner.  I think that might be beforehand because Cowher was soaking wet at the end after getting doused with Gatorade.

[Jesse James]

First, I'm ecstatic.     This has been a LONG time coming in Pittsburgh, and the city is in a freaking frenzy right now.  Tons of celebrating obviously, only 8 arrests the news said, and no real rioting or anything but just good heavy celebrating.

The game was a rollercoaster...  My stomach's eaten to bits at the moment I think.  I gotta get some Pepto.    Seriously though, this was fun, I'm glad it's over, I'm gonna maybe make the rally downtown (or "DahnTahn" as they say here) on Tuesday...  I thought the game was really good in a competitive way on both team's parts, but at the same time I thought both teams played below their potential on some levels and at their potential on others.  In that way it evened out and that's what made it competitive...  Nobody was mistake-free tonight though, and believe me I was Mother F'n the television a number of times. 

I'm happy as a clam right now, I'm loving this...  The last champion we had was the 92 Penguins team and god knows they're not near that this year.  The Pirates have sucked since about the same time too and haven't won a championship in as long or longer than the Steelers.  So this was nice...  It was also nice that they won again because my dad was a Steel Worker all his life, and a die-hard fan for the Steelers, so I'm glad for him since I know it's a good time for him.

Also the fans in the city are just loving this, it's insane...  Plus guys like Myron Cope (Long-time Steelers announcer who just retired due to failing health) has got to be loving this...  This is f'n great.

Now we just need to keep the Penguins here.   

On the specifics, I'm not going to disagree that officiating in the NFL is sporatic at best Dave, but I do disagree that both plays cited were bad calls.

Jackson pushed off because if you watch his defender's feet, they're both off the ground yet he still moves backwards while leaning towards Jackson...  It wasn't a BIG push, but a push nonetheless by my eyes...

On the Roethlisberger run, I thought it was a TD by watching him in the air in slow...  The rule is he just has to have the ball on the line in any capacity, not over it, and when he's in the air it looks like it to me, and that he's hit and pushed back away from the line...  It was close, but I'm trying to be unbiased in my opinion as hard as that is and I still think it was a TD...  That will be examined and re-examined for a long time I think though.

There were holds and stuff on both sides though that were not called or were iffy calls...  It wasn't the greatest officiated SB, but the playoffs have been a trainwreck this year with officiating so I'm not surprised, and if anything I think it was better than the Pats got in their loss and the Steelers had with Cincy.

As far as Porter's comments, I'll have to go look back if I can and find the quotes.  I don't recall him saying he was gonna hurt people but then again I don't think Porter's shown that he's a "dirty" player either for any quote he made to be considered that way either.  If he said, "I'm taking (Seattle Player's Name) knees out, that's it" or some asinine stuff...  Yeah, that's dumb, but you also don't go into football saying that you're gonna lay the other team down softly when you takcle them...  I think Porter did what he always does, which is talk ****.  The irony is POrter wasn't a big issue in the game today.  He was part of the D overall but not a shining example by any means...  It was all a non-issue and some say around here that it was even perpetuated in an attempt to draw media off Roethlisberger who looked visibly scared prior to the game's start today and who said he has never been so shaken and nervous...  Either way it was a very much non-issue anyway.

[Cory Chaos]

Was this before the game started?

Yep. Bill's dry, and not wearing a hat.

[Rob]

First, I'm ecstatic.     This has been a LONG time coming in Pittsburgh,

Given that the Steelers just won their fifth and the Seahawks hadn't ever been to a Superbowl, I'd say that your opening comment was pretty harsh.

[Jesse James]

Well I didn't say it wasn't coming a while for the Hawks too, but bare in mind we've had a team a LOT longer too I believe.

Of course though I meant that the Steelers have just been working their asses off, so for us it has been a long time coming...  Gotta figure guys like Bettis have really deserved a championship and just never gotten it...  Cowher's been judged all his career on this factor and now it'll be tough to do so...  It's a long time coming for damn near any team that gets it though, that's for sure.  Short of the Pats right now anyway.

[Darth_Anton]

It's hard for me to even really comment on the game. It was about what I expected. The sergical percision of the Sea Hawks verses the brute force of the Steelers.