The Steelers sure have been involved with some interesting finishes this year. Going back to their regular season game with the Chargers, a last-second play to end the game that would have resulted in the Steelers winning 17-10 and covering the spread wound up being overturned. I’m guessing it’s no coincidence that the Steelers also happened to be favored by 5.5 points in that game. And back in Super Bowl 40, before this glorious site was up and running, it seemed to me (and many others) that the Steelers got away with lots of calls while the Seahawks got screwed. In Super Bowl 43, the story wasn’t much different. The end total shows Arizona’s penalty yards almost doubling Pittsburgh’s — 7 for 56 by the Steelers, 11 for 106 by the Cardinals. I agree that Arizona committed more penalties than Pittsburgh, but I’d really like to have some answers to a few questions.
Let’s start with the Santonio Holmes touchdown celebration. As I showed in the post, Holmes used the ball as a prop in his LeBron-like celebration. Jeff pointed out in the comments that such a celebration deserves a 15-yard penalty. Why wasn’t it called? And how about the Karlos Dansby roughing the passer penalty for 15 yards? Didn’t that seem questionable considering it was borderline part of the game rather than a blatantly late hit? Putting those two aside, the most egregious error by the officials came at the end of the game. How was the “fumble” by Kurt Warner not reviewed in the final seconds of the game? The probability that they would have scored in the final play is unlikely, but hey, isn’t that where we got the name “Hail Mary” from? That just didn’t seem like the right way for things to end.
The refs have a lot of pressure on them and record-breaking television audiences watching every moment of the game, so it’s hard for them to work flawlessly without some criticism. In large part I’m guessing they did a good job. I’m not going to blame refs for the Steelers winning, but I’m really wondering how the Holmes penalty wasn’t called and why the fumble wasn’t reviewed. Someone has to ’splain me that one.
More Hot Stories at larrybrownsports.com
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 and is filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
the NFL said the fumble by Warner at the end of the game was reviewed. The League i heard also said they (the on filed officials) got it right.
I think anyone watching the game could tell they didn’t review it, or spend the time on the play that they should have. The head of officials is going to back his guys in this situation, so his word is meaningless to me.
The NFL also said that the refs got it all correct 3 years ago against Seattle. The refs(bill actual-pitt-fan levy), just like in the NBA,
are ‘company men’ who are smart enough to realize their calls can make their boss a ton of money. Questionable
calls, like in the NBA, are too often excused as random…then how come the beneficiaries of such calls are not
so random? Why is it never the Bucks getting 30 more free throws than the lakers? It’s always the other way around.
I’m not saying this occurs all season in the NFL, but when it comes down to the final few teams where a game is
often decided by 1 or 2 plays, it’s also decided by 1 or 2 bad calls. I know that, refs know that, etc.
My first experience with a fixed game was in my high school years. Our team was the worst and hadn’t won a
game, but we were winning our final one against a team that needed to beat us to make the state tourney.
We were up 7-6 early in the 4th quarter when the ref threw a 15yrd foul…no explanation, we didn’t
do anything. The coach is yelling: What did we do? Who did it? and the ref throws a flag towards our sideline
and calls 15more yards on him. This made coach mad but he still kept his composure, talked to the refs for
a minute and they threw up another flag. Moved the opposing team 45yrds in one shot down near the
goal line. They went up 13-6. Every possession we had after that we were flagged for holding. Lost the game 13-6.
After the game, the league looked into it and saw that 3 of the officials actually went to that school, and
1 of them managed to switch games with another ref to do our game. So it was fixed. Just to win a crumby
suburb school football league. No doubt it goes on witha hunnert million worth of Steelers merchandise
on the line. I learned pretty young that this stuff goes on.
as far as the ‘review’ goes, people keep telling me they looked at it in the booth…sure…but they’re supposed
to call down to the head official and HE reviews it, not them. That last Ariz play was from the 44 yard line. To
make things right add on 15yards for the prop celebration, add 15yards for the foul after their last play, and
you have the Cards at the 14yard line with 5 seconds left. But no way the NFL could risk that happening.
My final prediction before the game was this:
If it’s called fairly: Ariz 27-20
If it’s called unfairly: Pitt 27-20
Just like my on air prediction of the Miami heat Dallas series where I said:
If the refs call it fair, Dallas in 6.
If the refs call it unfair: Miami in 6
Pretty sad when you can predict a fix.
THANK YOU TIM DONAGHY!
The NFL appears to be very comfortable with the Steelers winning Super Bowls.
woops I said we lost 13-6, I meant 13-7. stupid typo for something that still bothers me 17 years later.
- The ticky-tack holding for a safety
- Cardinal Bryan Robinson punching Chris Kemoeatu and taking a swing at Hines without getting flagged
- Fitz tackling James Harrison from out of bounds on the INT TD
- Gandy holding Harrison on nearly every pass rush from the offensive left side, but only getting flagged once or twice
- Ben’s TD getting overturned despite no real conclusive evidence. Was that shadow really Ben’s knee?
-Fitz’s jump-ball TD that hit the ground and was still moving in his hands, but noone seems to remember that
My point is that there were questionable calls against both sides, but we can’t complain about it because our team won. And if AZ won, we’d be called crybabies if we brought any of this up. Steelers conspiracy? Come on.
People keep crying tuck rule for that last Warner fumble. It’s not the tuck rule, which is when a QB is about to throw, but brings the ball back to his body. Woodley hit the ball outta Warner’s hand before he even had the chance to move it forward. Instant Replay has made us all into armchair “officials,” and everyone thinks they now know the correct calls.
Every champion from here on out is going to get fileted by the public, and only their fans will support them.
If a guy can’t celebrate a SB-winning TD in the final seconds, then I pity the future of the game and the future fans.
1ticky tack holding? is that what you call outright tackling cardinal rushers?
2you call that a punch? you’re reaching more than he is
3what does Fitz stepping out of bounds at any point have to do with tackling anyone?
4ok now you’re just expressing an opinion,they could call holding on every play
5knee+ground=down
6we’ve seen the fitz catcha hunnert times. he had it just fine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCrAbErvQ54
“He oughta be thrown out for that” -Madden
holmes used the ball as a prop. do you really question that? automatic 15 yards. I’ve not seen 1
guy get away with that this year…until of course it could endanger a steelers superbowl. Goodell’s
Rooney handjob might have ended earlyif they called it.
you remind me of the miami heat defenders who said dallas didn’t get the calls because they didn’t
shoot inside. Problem is shot charts tell a different story.
Thank you for proving my point.
You see things differently…but we still notice discrepancies in the officiating. Your opinions on everything I laid out are not right or wrong, but everyone will shit on the Steelers since they won. But does that make the Cards fans opinions right or wrong? Everyone will side with them because they lost. Get a hobby or something instead of feeding into the same tired script of doing anything to discount a winning teams’ success.
Here’s the Robinson punch…with the refs looking squarely at him.
http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2009/02/jeff-george-memorial-least-of-the-week-aaron-francisco.html
And on the Harrison play, you don’t see Fransisco going to take out Harrison’s knees first. Focus only on what you want to and you can make anything fit your argument.
Tecmo,
2 things:
first your comment “If a guy can’t celebrate a SB-winning TD in the final seconds, then I pity the future of the game and the future fans.”
As much as I agree with you that the rule is a bit too harsh in its current state, there is currently a rule that institutes a 15 yard penalty. It’s not subjective at all (even if its to celebrate a SB winning TD. BTW, you didnt see Fitz doing that with just over 2 minutes left). That’s like saying, if a guy can’t go faster than 65 on the freeway I pity the future of automobile travel. Just because you might have an open road in front of you and a car that can do 120 mph, doesn’t make it ok to go faster than the posted limit without getting a ticket if caught.
My second point: I have a completely unbiased opinion of the winner of the game. I like both teams just the same. You saying that everyone is feeding into the same tired script is just nonsense. I think it’s fair to bring up officiating discrepancies, without taking away the success of the winning team. I personally feel that yes, the ref’s blew a few calls in the last minute of the game. Do I think it’s a conspiracy, no, but I do think it took away the possibility of AZ having a chance. That being said, I think the real reason AZ lost wasn’t because of the officiating, but that last play of the first half interception for a touchdown. That changed the entire momentum of the game.
It’s not a conspiracy, it’s another c. Company men. Officials who know what result their boss
wishes to see. The same boss that determines if they get to call these type of games again. Can you
imagine being the ref who forces his boss david stern to hand a championship trophy to
mark cuban? Yea right.
Take the game tonight, Lakers vs. Raptors. Tied up in the 4th, Lakers go on to win by a few points. Both
teams separated by 4 free throws. Nothing funny there…except when you watch it and look at the box
score you see that in the 4th quarter miracle Laker run they were called for 3 fouls and Toronto 9.
It’s never the other way around. Random coincidences like this are always in favour of certain teams.
I get what you’re saying, no doubt. But everyone will say that there’s a conspiracy for the Steelers because they won. Without that final drive, you could argue that it was fixed for the Cards, what with the questionable calls I laid out above coupled with their last long TD. And why wouldn’t the NFL favor a team featuring an amazing WR who doesn’t showboat and who is primed to make everyone forget about the drama queens like TO and CJ? I love Fitz…loved watching him at Pitt.
My point is that since we won, everyone will shit on us. For the rest of my life, if I bring up SBs XL or XLIII, I’m guaranteed of someone saying something along the lines of “enjoy your tainted championship.” Everyone will cleverly forget that there were questionable calls that went against us, too.
We can harp on the refs, but they did nothing to make the Steelers march 80+ yards in under 2 and a half minutes.
Everyone harps on the refs in XL, but they didn’t make Seattle give up a miracle 3rd and 28, as well as a gadget play from Antwaan that we ran 1,000 times that year.
I get pissed at topics like this, because its alays something with Pittsburgh. Everyone says we’re favored, although we’re in something like the 26th media market, or something that makes no sense to favor the city. We can’t actively root for the Penguins, because Sidney whines, although every captain does the same thing. And the Pens are only good because the team sucked and the city went bankrupt, but we did it on purpose to stockpile high draft picks.
What I’m saying is that anytime our city tastes success, someone comes up with something to try and tear us down. I knew there’d be something in this SB that would piss off the fans, and it happened. Sometimes, it isn;t the league or its officials favoring a certain team, its the court of public opinion that repeatedly finds fault with the city of Pittsburgh.
People will always question the teams that come out on top and frankly, when there are so many odd things that happen in games, it’s not hard to think there are some conspiracies going on. Donaghy really helped ruin our opinions of sports. I said that the last play should have been reviewed more carefully and that Holmes should have been flagged for his celebration. Those plays were missed. Still, it took the Steelers executing on the final drive to pull out the win. There’s only so much the refs can do to aid things, the players have to take care of most of it.
techmo finally said the magic words: “Everyone says we’re favored”
we? that pretty much nullifies those opinions.
By the way it was nice to hear the head of officials Perrera come out and say they f’d some things up
like not flagging santonio holmes and not reviewing the final play.
LB – Completely agree. Donaghy changed a lot, and every champion will be lombasted from here on out. But the losing teams have to learn to take fault for the loss (the Eagles D against AZ, and AZ’s D against us).
Spin – I mean that about you in the comments, and fans everywhere that have said the same stuff after XL and now XLIII. The refs said Tone should’ve gotten flagged. I agree, but if they don’t see it, then they can’t flag. The officials didn’t see, apparently, some of the discrepancies that I laid out against AZ, and there was no flags either. There’s a thing called human error.
And yes, they should’ve reviewed that final play, but look at the facts. It was called a fumble on the field, there was no INDISPUTABLE evidence to say it was not a fumble, and Perreira said that even if it was reviewed, it was still a fumble. Why everyone keeps crying about the non-replay as if it would’ve changed something is beyond me. I know there’s the courtesy of a review, but it was a damn fumble.
You think we’ve never gotten apologies from officials? The past few years, we’ve gotten more in the offseason than I can count. Off the top of my head…the Bettis coin-flip disaster in OT to the Lions (longer ago, but still), Troy’s pick against the Colts that should’ve sealed the win during the XL playoffs that was wronfully overturned, but luckily didn’t come back to haunt us. And last year’s playoffs, when Dave Garrard made a miracle 4th down rush for like 30 yards to win the wild card game and knocked us out of the playoffs, then Perreira said that holding should’ve been called on the Jags a few weeks later. Every team has calls go against them…the refs aren’t robots…learn to deal with it and move on.
I can’t say “we?” I can’t take pride in my team?
the blaming the refs thing gets a tiresome. Refs are gonna make some, miss some, and get a few wrong, but most right. Losers usually do the complaining. I think it bothers Pitt fans because of the performance in XL. Neither team played well in that one, but Pitt deserved to win due to a few big plays. In XL111, Pitt had the game until the 4th, where every call went against them, holding in the endzone, holding on their final drive on first down. The game was a classic and both teams played well enough to win, but Pitt only trailed for 2 minutes of the entire game. Calls that went AZ’s way, and they are obvious:
1.Block in the back on Pitt defender during Boldin’s TD set-up catch.
2. Warner taking off his helmet to scream at the ref after his first fumble, automatic 15 yarder, which they hit Pitt with at the end of the game.
3. Fitz’s 1st TD should’ve been challenged, ball was moving as it hit the ground (tomlins fault)
4. Fitz ran 40 yards out of bounds(penalty), ran into a player not involved in the play (penalty), and tackled Harrison without establishing himself back in the field of play (penalty, 3 on one play!)
5. Ben’s 1st td didn’t show inconclusive evidence to overturn. The shot they showed was from the vantage point behind ben, distoring perspective. where is the straight-on shot? I wouldn’t have overturned it
6. Robinson’s punch toward Steeler (obvious, and they called a 15 yarder on harrison for a punch)
7. Holding in endzone, even though the hold was on the inside, which is legal to my knowledge, and a pretty big game changer (game over if that 1st down counts)
8.Holding on many more plays, and not light holding, major holding on Harison by Gandy (and he shoulda had a 15 yarder on one of the ones called, facemask).
9. Having the tool madden call the game, biggest steeler hater out there, bound to throw a jab whenever he can.
Watching the game I felt they were trying to hurt Pitt more than AZ, so it all depends on perspective. The roughing the passer on the cards was pretty petty, but the roughing the holder was absolutely correct. The only reason you don’t see it is because nobody is foolish enough to do it. The fumble at the end was clearly a fumble, reviewed by all. All the plays that could’ve went one way or another and it was still a great game, with each team having a chance to win. pitt was the better team.
And if AZ wants to cry foul, see the Philly/AZ game in the championship where PI should’ve been called, and wasn’t. Ref complaining is pretty soulless. Good teams overcome. Congrats Pitt