POLL: NFL - Contender or Pretender?

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Most of the "experts" are picking the Steelers. So are most of the poeple I know. That makes me nervous, because if people were generally successful in making predictions, bookies would be out of business.

EDIT: However, this made me feel a little better. It's from Bill Simmon's column on Page 2 of ESPN.com. He usually does a pretty good analysis. It's a lengthy read, and only a small portion of it is relevant to what I'm talking about, so I will just cut and paste instead of linking. Here's the 7 reasons why he thinks the Steelers will win.

[ February 03, 2006, 20:44: Message edited by: Aldeth the Foppish Idiot ]

 

That makes me feel a bit better too. I've been thinking all week that we're underestimating seattle. Joey's **** talking has only enforced that beleif, although he didn't start it. I think that the Seahawk's tight end not keeping his mouth shut might cost the Seahawks during the game

that prediction is almost identical to my prediction..which was 18-21

 

I am out of sync for to long to know tha names of the better players. Bettis I know from his Irish games. But not to temper the spirits for the steelers, I like them to, but more teams have been destined to win. Remember the Bills?

 

Today's the big day. My pick...Steelers 27-17...although I'll be rooting for the Seahawks as an underdog.

 

Congratulations to the Steelers for being the third team to win 5 Super Bowl games. Congratulations to the Steelers for being the first team to go from Wild Card to Super Bowl champion. Congratulations to the Steelers for beating the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ranked teams in the AFC IN ADDITION to the 1st ranked team in the NFC. Congratulations to H. Ward for being the MVP, and playing a pretty damned fine game. Congratulations to Roethlisberger for being the youngest Super Bowl champion quarterback ever. Congratulations to Jerome Bettis for winning his final game.

Damn, I'm looking forward to next year... it'll be interesting to watch the Steelers, Patriots, and Colts come autumn.

 

And congratulations to the offiaciting team for ruining the game

 

How did the officials ruin the game? The only truly bad call I saw was the call on Hasselbeck for cut blocking on the INT return.

The PI penalty was the correct call, and Jackson deserved it for doing it when he could have made the catch, and also for doing it right in the refs face.

Trying to say that the defensive player talked the ref into throwing that flag is wrong as well, because under replay(I thought it was a bad call at first too) The ref reaches for the flag and flicks his wrist forward, but didnt grab the flag, which made it look bad when he looked down and then threw it.

Roethlisberger's touchdown was too close to overturn, if they had called it a non touchdown then they would have left the call on the field stand under the review as well.

Seattle was saved a fumble because the ref's called an incomplete on what was clearly a catch under replay(Stevens)...but didn't have the angle to make the call. I don't agree with the overturn of Hasselbecks apparent fumble(fingertips touching his jersey before he went down had nothing to do with him going down), but I do agree it was the correct call.

Seattle held a whole hell of a lot and got away with it, don't be pissed because they got called on it 4 out of 20 blatant holds to save the QB.

Both teams got away with a couple of clips on their respective INT returns(Porter clipped for Pittsburgh and Tatuto(51) for Seattle), and some on ST as well.

 

I watched a bit of this game. I had to laugh in the first half when in a supposedly 'aggressive and physical' sport, a touchdown is denied because one man stroked another mans nipple.

 

Sorry, the game has rules. Touching/shoving a receiver or a cornerback while the ball is in the air is against the rules. It's an evolution necessary for the passing game; otherwise you'd just see defensive linemen in the place of cornerbacks, and they'd just tackle the wide receivers so that passing would never be possible. The pass interference rule applies to both the offense and the defense. In many cases the officials are not close enough to notice the subtle pass interference events such as the pass interference perpetrated by that particular Seahawk player; however, when an official is right there, he WILL see it, and WILL call it.

There are also rules in place to protect players from extraneous injuries when they're in vulnerable positions that have no bearing on the play's outcome (for instance, a quarterback cannot be tackled after a decent amount of time once the ball is thrown; and a kicker cannot be tackled after the ball is in the air but while his kicking leg is still elevated). This isn't some form of streetfighting where excessive, injurious force is encouraged.

American football IS aggressive and physical. HOWEVER it is also disciplined.

 

@LD4 there were bad calls against both teams and I agree with the PI call (if it hadn't been the superbowl it probably wouldn't have been called) and the TD call unclear at best so it couldn't be overturned. But one missed call stands out, Haseelbeck was sacked for a second time when Pittsburgh were clearly offisde, the next play he threw the int which turned the whole game. The refereeing is supposed to be by the best officials it didn't look like it yesterday. I still think the steelers would have won but it would have been closer, and I'm not a seahawks fan.

 

Lol actually I didn't write that whole thing in response to your comment. I copied it directly from my response to a Seahawks troll on the Steelers boards. I must have missed the sack that your talking about. Do you remember who made the sack?

Lol tbh Ike Taylors(I'm assuming your talking of Hasselbecks pick) lack of hands was gods gift to the Seahawks...he dropped 3 picks and got one, 2 were sure touchdowns.

 

Not offhand no it was a good game I just think better officiating was nedded overall, besides my bet was on the steelers by 4!

 

All in all, it was a disappointment to anyone who wasn't a Steelers fan. Sloppy play, lackluster performances, questionable officiating, dropped balls, missed opportunites (for both sides), bad clock management...the best play of the game didn't come until the 4th quarter, the WR option pass to Ward for the TD. The commercials and half-time show really sucked too...couldn't someone have told the Rolling Stones that they're all supposed to do the same song at the same time?

Best moment of the entire game was seeing all the MVP's from past SuperBowls...that was awesome...but even that was flawed. Where the hell were Montana and Bradshaw?

My congrats to the Steelers and their fans.

 

No way! No part of his elbow crossed the line, let alone the ball. His elbow hit a few inches behind the white line, and the ball (even in the air) was a few inches away at most. That ref rarely overturns calls (23% of them overturned with a minimum of 3 years, they showed at the beginning of the game). With a different judge, it would have been the correct call.

 

I think that his elbow did cross personally...I admit when the refs screw something up most of the time, but the call really was close...seeing it on NFL access, I think the tip of the ball crossed in air.(during the game i thought it was the wrong call)

I was very irritated that Bradshaw and Montana weren't there, and still haven't found a reason for it...i must say when Franco harris pulled out his terrible towel i was completely surprised. Lynn Swann woulda secured his election had he done that

 

Well, Bradshaw claimed that one of his daughters was playing a basketball game that afternoon, and he never misses her games. He watched the Super Bowl at home with his family. Regardless of what you think of Bradshaw, you really can't knock the guy for going to one of his kid's games.

Montana is another matter. Multiple media outlets are reporting that Montana wasn't there because he demanded a $100,000 appearance fee that the NFL didn't want to pay. Why he would do this is entirely beyond me, because there's no way Joe is hurting for money.

Agreed. I don't think either team played a good game. The Seahawks have to be disappointed, because they lost even though the Steelers didn't come with their "A" game. If the Seahawks had played a good game, they would have won. I think both Roethlisberger and Hasselbeck had horrendous interception throws deep in opposition's territory. At least I know what Roethlisberger did wrong, but with Hasselbeck's I don't even know who he was throwing to.

Some notes about the calls, and I'll focus on 4 that have been given a lot of press.

1. Roethlisberger's dive into the endzone. When asked on Letterman last night if he thought he had got into the endzone, Roethlisberger said, "To be honest, no." He went on to explain that he has no way of knowing whether or not the ball crossed the line while he was in the air. What he is sure about is when he landed, the ball was a couple of inches short. He even told Cowher on the sidelines that he thought he was short, and the Steelers had already decided to call on quarterback sneak on 4th and inches until they found out the touchdown was upheld. As a QB sneak that needs a couple of inches is a high percentage play, there is no reason to suspect that the call, even if it was wrong would have changed the outcome of the game.

2. Jackson's offensive pass interference in the endzone. At least I think it was Jackson - or was it Engram? Regardless, using a literal interpretation of the rules, that was offensive pass interference. He used his arms to get separation between himself and the cornerback. However, I've seen a lot more contact that doesn't get called. If a super star did that - say like someone like Steve Smith - it doesn't get called. So your interpretation of this judgement entirely rests with your rooting interest. If you're rooting for the Steelers, you obviously want the rules strictly interpreted in this instance. If you're rooting for Seattle, you want the more common rules used which means it most likely wasn't interference.

3. 15-yard low block penalty on Hasselbeck. This one was total . The rules clearly state that you can't hit a guy at the knees or lower on a return unless you are attempting to make a tackle. In other words, you can go low to make a tackle, but you can't block someone by going low. Hasselbeck was clearly attempting to make a tackle. We know this because he was successful - he actually got credited for the tackle. This to me is the only call that was clearly blown by the officials.

4. The completion to Stevens at the 1-yard line that was called back for offensive holding. It's hard to see from the angle you are given on the replay, but the offensive lineman for Seattle (I apologize for not knowing which one) chicken-winged Foote's inside arm that impeded his motion. That's holding. You need to see a side angle to see the holding. Most replays show it from the opposite endzone where it is impossible to see the location of his inside arm. From the opposite side it is definitely holding.

If you get NFL Network, you may want to check out the program where they have the head official on to discuss penalties - they do so every Wednesday night, at I believe 8pm EST. I have watched this program several times, and when asked about questionable calls, more often than not the official gives a reasonable explanation. Sometimes it's because as fans we don't know the exact wording of a rule, or an interpretation. But the vast majority of calls are correct. In fact, the only plays for the entire playoffs that the head official said were blown were 1.) Polamalu's interception against Indy, and 2.) Play clock expiring in Bears vs. Panthers.

I see how some Seahawks fans may feel that some calls went against them. There is one definite blown call (low block), one questionable call (interferene), another questionable call that may or may not have mattered depending on what happened on the next play (Roethlisberger's TD dive), and a call that turned out to be correct.

You still have to explain some other things to me. How did the officials fail to cover Hines Ward on two separate 40+ yard receptions? How did the officials not expect that the Steelers would run a trick play using Randle El? The Steelers only ran what, about 10 trick plays with Randle El throughout the year? It can hardly be said to be unexpected. How did the officials not tackle Willie Parker on his 75-yard TD run? How did the officials not better manage the clock at the end of the first half especially, and at the end of the game (less so at the end, because even with better clock management it was extremely unlikely that Seattle could have scored twice)? Oh wait... That's what the Seahawks or their coaching staff should have done, right? The point is, sometimes you get calls that go against you. It happened against Pittsburgh in the Indianapolis game. Sometimes you have to overcome calls and win anyway. When you don't, and instead decide to belly-ache about it, it shows very, very, poor sportsmanship.

 

It's a little long, but the Sports Guy at ESPN.com kept a journal of the game.

Some funny moments, even if he is a Patriots fan.

 

Actually I've seen the OPI called quite a bit this year. CJ had it called against the ratbirds and I saw Moss called for it 2 times. Plexico gets it called on him all the time...some of them for less than what they called on Jackson....still I don't think that it would have been called if it hadn't been the Superbowl.

 

Well after the shaky start the steelers where more creative with plays. The TD was short, but I referee myself(not footbal, but fieldhockey) and know that sometimes you cannot come back on a call even if you wanted too. As for the PI, come on that was a cheap call. But still, the Seahawks did it themselves. The steelers could have lost the game in the first half, but adapted better in the second.

As for the halftime show, can someone please tell the rolling stones that not only the 60's are over, but also the 80's.

 

I'm sorry, but the pass interference call was justified. It WAS pass interference according to the definition. It was an entirely legitimate call.

As for the Roethlisberger TD: the line judge said it was good, and there was inconclusive evidence to overturn it... so what can you do? All of the TV replays I saw were ambiguous as to where the ball actually was when Roethlisberger's elbow landed. From the angle, it's easy to see how part of the ball could have broken the plane of the endzone before Roethlisberger's arm was forced back some due to contact. It's because the view of the ball's position was blocked that the play couldn't be overturned. The only truly bad call was the Hasselback tackle/block call.

I'm sorry to any Seahawks fans, but this game was not won or lost on officiating. It was won and lost based on properly-made calls. Seattle could've won the game if they hadn't botched their red-zone execution (penalty-wise, position-wise, and in the field of time management).

Hmm....can we abolish the NFC as it stands and send around 1/4th of the AFC's teams over there to make it competitive? Maybe the Bengals, Pats, Chiefs, and Chargers for a "good" NFC division. As it is, I think I'm gonna start considering the AFC championship as the real Super Bowl...

Come on, NFC! Dallas, San Fran, New York, Green Bay...get your acts together! Do you not hunger for victory?