I apologize if I’m all over the place, but I have a lot to write about.
I wondered last night why Terry Bradshaw was not present while the NFL honored the MVP of each Super Bowl. You would figure that since the Steelers were in the Super Bowl, Bradshaw would definitely be there and enjoy a huge ovation like Lynn Swann and Franco Harris received. Depending on who you believe, Bradshaw was not present because he wanted to be with his family or he wanted more money.
I didn't see it and I have not read about it anywhere, but according to a local talk radio show, Seattle coach Mike Holmgren did not even attempt to shake Bill Cowher's hand after the game. Classy guy.
Speaking of classy people, check out the thoughts of Seahawks fans. Apparently, it was entirely the refs fault that the Seahawks lost.
I know that I'm biased, but let's go through the big calls.
* First, the offensive pass interference on Darrell Jackson. While I don't have the NFL rulebook, I'm guessing it does not say "it is not pass interference if the receiver pushes off just a little bit." Most of the time, the receivers will get away with this. However, this occurred only a few feet in front of the official who saw that Jackson got an advantage (even if it was a slight advantage) by pushing off.
* Ben's TD run. It's iffy. I think Ben's hand was covering the tip of the ball as it touched the goal line which is why it looked like he didn't make it. The shady part of the play was that the official initially ruled Ben down and then signaled TD.
* The holding call on Sean Locklear. I personally thought he tackled Haggans. That's not legal.
* The personal foul blocking call on Hasselbeck. Bad call, although Faneca got called for the exact same foul even though he made the tackle, earlier this season.
Maybe next time, the Seahawks can manage the clock better, hit some field goals, pin the Steelers inside the 10 in the punting game, stop the Steelers from making three big plays and not drop as many passes. Oh converting a few more third downs (the Seahawks were 5 of 17) and stopping the other team on third down (the Steelers were 8 of 15) would also help.
How much money do you think Dan Snyder is going to offer Randle El to play for the Redskins next year?
Who knew that Diddy was a Steelers fan?
First time vistor!
ReplyDeleteI'm from the beautiful Pacific Northwest, home of the "coulda been, woulda been" Seattle Seahawks.
I just wanted to say I agree wholeheartedly with your fair and accurate assessment of the game. At the end of the game Holmgren appeared to be out of site while Bill Cowher hung out at mid-field for 2-3 minutes with an understandable look of anger and disappointment on his face. This really pissed me off. After 30+ years of following the Seahawk franchise with fairly consistent devotion if I don't get some answers to what happened there I think I might just write these guys off. I'm serious.
I think officiating played a huge role in the outcome of this game. But I think it could have gone either way. What bugged me about the enzone pass was that the official seemed to pause on the call until the Steeler player started making a big fuss. I think the official may have simply "whiffed" at his first reach for the flad.
Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers and all their fans. They beat us fair and square. Consider this post the mid-field handshake you should have received after your Super Bowl victory.
Thank you Jim and consider this as a handshake back to you.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the Seahawk players and coaches thought that all of the calls were going against them during the game? If so, that may have really affected how they played. Champions should be able to overcome the penalties, which Seattle could never do. I'm also surprised that there has been little or no talk on two subjects. First, the Seahawks led the league in sacks and is a big part of their defense. They only had 1 sack on Sunday. In addition, the Steelers converted on a 3rd-and-26 (I think) to set up Ben's TD run. If you want to win a Super Bowl, you can't let that happen.
I generally like the Seahawks. I remember when Franco played there and I liked Dave Kreig. I think they will be back next year. Jim, I understand the frustration (the Steelers have lost 4 AFC Championship games and a Super Bowl over the past 11 or 12 years), but as a fan, you can't really write a team off after following them for 30+ years.
There has been some commentary on the 3rd-and-26 conversion -- the Steelers knew the starting safety was injured and this was an example of purposefully picking on his replacement.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there are two other grousings about penalties that WEREN'T called. The time out that they gave to the Steelers was after the play-clock expired, and they should've been flagged 5 yards; and apparently (I missed it) on a Big Ben scramble for a first down, Hines Ward totally mauled some Seahawk that could've made the tackle before the first down.
It's just unclassy for Holmgren to not only refuse to shake hands but also to say "We knew it was going to be tough playing against the Steelers, but I didn't know we were going to have to take on the guys in the striped shirts, too."