Officiating dictates Super Bowl XLIII to the unreviewed end

[flarendep1]

Guys,

Not sure if anyone has brought this up:


I will bring up one more point under the "be consistent on the call no matter the circumstance".


When Holmes caught the winning TD, he celebrated by using the football as a prop.

He made like he was shaking salt or something out of the top of it.

Is it a stupid rule?? Really does not matter since it IS the rule.

If it is in the regular season, it gets called and the Steelers would have had to kick off from there own 20. Could have made a huge difference.


If an official had the balls to call that and it would have allowed Arizona to score, maybe these guys would stop with the dumb celebrations. Then again, maybe the league should revisit the rule. It is hard not to celebrate when you make a play like that.

Overall, it was a great game and the officiating was a little bad on both sides so it evened out IMO. Arizona has no one to blame but themselves for the loss, they had thier chances and lost it. Pittsburgh and Big Ben do what they always do, give them a chance and they will come back and beat you.

I would have given Co-MVP's to BR and Holmes. In BR's defense, playing QB is way harder than WR and way more pressure throughout.


Congrats to the Steelers and the Cards, they made a great game of it, one of the best.

[Hao Bush]

It's called gambling. Some of the officials had Arizona some had Pitt, some had the under and some had the over.
That's our society, from NFL,NCAA,NBA,NHL,HS,tennis, you name it.
Calls were first going Pitt's way until another score would have put AZ's cover in harms way. Then the AZ backers said hell with this, I got money on this game too.

Got to be a little naive that there's no corruption.

[Dkngstn9]

Let's add some more to the conspiracy. I'm listening to espn radio Sunday morning and Colin Cowherd said that the stock market will gain 25% or something like that if the Steelers win. Now I'm in the retail business of selling sportscards,pennants,keychains, etc. etc. and believe me corperate america wanted Pittsburgh to win (just like in 2005). I had that thought in my mind then (2005) but said no way, now i hear someone on espn mention the stock market and both times the Steelers win. I'm a Giants fan and always root for the NFC IN THE SUPERBOWL but for business porposes i rooted for the Steelers in 2005 & yesterday because of who they were playing SEATTLE & ARIZONA i'm not selling anything related to those teams unless you live in those states. Just a thought.

[DBURGH]

I bet on Arizona and im not complaining because shit happens, but these officials were absolutely horrible in this game. To let the game end on that play without a review is unreal, whether or not it would have been overturned is irrelevant the point is it should have been looked at .. the calls the officials were making against arizona were also unreal, roughing the holder ?? give me a break this is the nfl... not to mention the 5 holds that werent called on the pick six at the end of the first half ... the nfl really needs to look into this because its ruining the game....

#1 - The roughing the holder should have been called and was a penalty.
#2 - 5 holds on that return? What did you watch?
#3 - Did you see any of the 4th quarter? How were the calls going against the Cards then? As I saw it, they ALL went against Pitt. And the officials took a TD away from Pitt, if I am correct you are suppossed to have indisputable evidence to overturn a call on the field, and from every angle I saw, never once did we see visual evidence that his knee came down. Oh did I mention the safety that was given to the Cards. Not that I don't think that it was a hold, but still if we are saying its fixed, then why would they call it?
#4 - It is hurting the game. Yep, that game really sucked, and was not worth watching, maybe next year watch a yahtzee tournament.
#5 - 6 Time World Champs!!!

[NEJAKE]

It's called gambling. Some of the officials had Arizona some had Pitt, some had the under and some had the over.
That's our society, from NFL,NCAA,NBA,NHL,HS,tennis, you name it.
Calls were first going Pitt's way until another score would have put AZ's cover in harms way. Then the AZ backers said hell with this, I got money on this game too.

Got to be a little naive that there's no corruption.

If officials are betting on games they work then were all fucked!

[slappy's son]

The ball would have been at the 29, a 15 yard penalty was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play. AZ with one shot from the 30 is very doable. This is the SB, and there was maybe 40 seconds from the end of the play to the hike of the kneeldown, that is in no way sufficient time to review a play, IMO.

I have no idea what you're talking about. Arizona was NEVER at the Steeler 29!! The ball ended up there after the fumble recovery and 15-yd penalty "against the Steelers". If that were ruled an incomplete pass after review, Arizona would have had the ball their the Steeler "44" with 5 seconds remaining. Warner can't throw the ball 50+ yards for a Hail Mary anyway, especially with 6 defenders at the goal line. The game was over at that point.....but it was obviously a fumble, so why review. They don't review EVERY single play. The obvious ones they don't waste the time.
And even if they reviewed it, the outcome would have been the same = fumble recovered by Pittsburgh. End of friggin story.

[Three Jack]

I can't believe all the whining about the officials. Find me a game in any sport that has been officiated perfectly! Every call that was made makes someone upset but officials did not decide the outcome of this game. All AZ had to do was MAKE A Play on that last drive and they are World Champs.

And anyone who thinks that the officiating is ruining the game is nuts, IMO. The sport has never been more popular. Are there questionable calls...absolutely. But players make misdakes...officials can't???? It's the human element that makes sports great.

And Slappy, Ben came no where close to scoring on that first drive. That was a perfect example if instant replay working the way it is supposed to.

[mavskidd02]

I have no idea what you're talking about. Arizona was NEVER at the Steeler 29!! The ball ended up there after the fumble recovery and 15-yd penalty "against the Steelers". If that were ruled an incomplete pass after review, Arizona would have had the ball their the Steeler "44" with 5 seconds remaining. Warner can't throw the ball 50+ yards for a Hail Mary anyway, especially with 6 defenders at the goal line. The game was over at that point.....but it was obviously a fumble, so why review. They don't review EVERY single play. The obvious ones they don't waste the time.
And even if they reviewed it, the outcome would have been the same = fumble recovered by Pittsburgh. End of friggin story.

I never said they had it at the 29, i said if the play was reviewed and overturned AZ keeps the ball, they were at the 44, the 15 yard penalty gets enforced, no matter who has the ball. That would put the ball at the 29. So if it was overturned AZ has 5 seconds with the ball 30 yards away.