[Super Bowl] Does Any One Else Suspect The Game Was Rigged?

The game was won on two plays. The 75 yard run, and the 3rd and long hail Mary pass that led to a touchdown.

In a close game, the Hawks had to stop those.

 

It's not rigged I think that would be impossible to pull off. It was just horrible officating. I think the whole crew should not be allowed to ref another NFL game except in Tennesse.

But lets say it was. Why would the NFL want Pitsburgh to win this game?

 

What is that supposed to mean?

 

they're the more interesting team. there was no storylines about the Seahawks at all.

Besides, maybe the refs had money on the Steelers

 

I know exactly what you were talking about. I was saying that the Rose Bowl wasn't rigged in any fashion because even with the missed call on the VY toss, there was an equally important call missed that went against Texas later on, neutralizing it.

 

Rigged? No.

But it was the most boring Super Bowl game in years, and perhaps the worst officiated Super Bowl in history.

Honestly, I found the game to be so boring that I fell asleep midway through the 3rd quarter and woke up just as the game was ending.

 

I wanted the Steelers to win, so yes, it's possible I'm biased.

However, if I'm an official, that's a hold. I'm sorry. Haggins had a good jump (might've been offsides or a false start, but that's another story) and had a direct angle to Hasselbeck. The RT initially tugged down on his shoulder pads, then hooked him around his right arm and delayed him for a couple of seconds. It wasn't a literal hold - he didn't pull the jersey - and he didn't throw him down - but it was an impediment that directly impacted the result of the play. Those couple of seconds were what gave Hasselbeck the time to look downfield and find the open receiver inside the 5.

Also, I don't see how it's possible to get that upset over the offensive pass interference either. No, I don't think it was the right call. No, I don't think that contact had much of an impact on the play. But when a receiver stands right in front of an official and sticks both hands out and uses them in a manner to (seemingly) try to create separation from a defender, he's asking for a penalty. It was a tight call... but if you're Seattle, you just can't do that in front of an official. It's asking for it. Stupid, stupid play that really wasn't necessary as Jackson had the inside position anyway.

If y'all want to play the "what if" game, think about what TheFreak said. He's right. If not for Roethlisberger's pass - which was honestly the worst throw I can remember seeing all year - this is a blowout and we're not even discussing it.

 

If you want to win the super bowl,

a. don't give up 75 yard TD runs.
b. don't let teams convert on 3rd and 28
c. don't have a TE who drops 5 passes
d. learn something about clock management

The PI call was questionable. Its like in hoops, if you reach in, even if you get all ball, the refs are likely to call a foul. But even, so play through it. The Steelers had the ball first down around the Seattle 20, got a holding call and a sack on back to back plays. Then Ben converts the 3rd and 28.

The Ben touchdown...no conclusive evidence. The QB doesn't need to land over the goalline, just have the nose of the ball, at any point, break the plane of the white line. To overturn that call would be BS.

Bottom line, if you give up that many big plays, you aren't going to win.

 

If Haggans gives up on the play, it looks like a more legit hold. The thing is, Haggans got held, played through, and beat the RT anyway. Haggans got pressure all game. He had a sack, and forced Hasselbeck to step up right into Casey Hampton for another sack.

 

For those very reasons, I'm not too pissed at the ref's even though I've been a Seahawks fan for years.

It did seem that all the big calls went against the Birds, (and there sure were a lot of them), but the Seattle did a fine job of losing the game on its own.

 

I agree with that. A lot of people last night acted like it wasn't a hold because he got through... I don't understand it. It's almost as if these analysts are punishing Haggans because he kept on playing and eventually got through it. He did break through, but he was held up (literally) for a couple of seconds, and that was the time Hasselbeck needed to make the play.

I usually despise offensive holding calls because you can call them on every play. But they do deserve to be called when there's an absolute direct relationship between the infraction and how the play developed. In my opinion, that was a no-brainer... if not for the penalty, that pass is never made.

 

Someone get the devil a coat. The Cat is defending referees.

 

Sooner or later they had to favor one of my teams...

 

I doubt it was rigged, but the bad officiating and the terrible time management by the Seahawks left me with an empty feeling after the game. I was rooting for the Steelers, but I didn't want them to win because the refs and Seahawks laid down for them. Which is essentially what happened.

 

what if the refs made a bogus holding call on the 75 yard run and called it back? what if they had mistakenly called ward for PI on the 3rd and 28 catch and called that back to mid field and pitt didn't score. now pitt has 7 points and is losing (to appease bobrek, i know we can't know exactly how it would play out but until i complete my time machine and can replay games from certain points, i just have what happened afterwards to go by).

what if the ref says big ben didn't get in on the 50/50 TD, then that probably doesn't get overturned either and pitt only kicks a fg probably.

as much as seattle messed up, pitt messed up in equal proportions. they hardly played like they deserved a super bowl. i mean didn't they give up 400 yards to seattle? it's not like seattle just did nothing all game. it was just that most of their somethings were overturned.

as far as whoever mentioned it not being a game if big ben doesn't throw that goal line int, well ben plays for the steelers and thus his actions having a direct impact on the game is to be expected and is actually how all of sports are set up. the officials having a direct impact is not to be expected and is not how things are set up.


as for the holding. i never have any idea what holding is or isn't. guys get tackled and nothing is called, someone ruffles a jersey and it's called, i've never understood the technical definition. however, the announcers didn't seem to think it was holding, and the espn guys, most of whom played in the nfl, didn't seem to think it was either. so i'm inclined to think whatever the o-lineman did wasn't holding. that's why i liked the rose bowl officials so much, not one damn holding call all game. i'm sure it happened everywhere, but i'd rather see it not called at all than in the arbitrary manner it usually is called in.

 

A lot of what ifs.

While it was as close as could be, I thought the tip of the ball broke the plane at the front of the endzone on Ben's TD. The instant replay wasn't clear enough to overturn the call. I am willing to bet that the ref thought TD, but was figuring that the instant replay would prove conclusive one way or the other. Instant replay didn't clear things up, so the call stood as called on the field, so TD.

The blocking penalty on Hasselbeck was bad, but not a game killer.

The pass interference call was tough in a game like that, but if not viewed in slow motion, it should look like he pushed off on the defender. Keep your hands to yourself in the future.

Not the best Super Bowl I have ever watched. Reminds me of that snoozer when the Ravens won. Aside from the Parker TD and Ward TD, the only things that got my attention were controversial calls and missed FG's.

The Super Bowl could have used a wardrobe malfuntion, but not on the Stones. Maybe a cheerleader or two.

 

I propose we form an angry mob and burn down the homes of the referees! Press "1" if you wish to continue.

 

Exactly my point! Seattle lost the Super Bowl all on their own. Despite a few questionable calls that could have gone either way, the Seahawks had more than their share of chances to win this game. Fact of the matter is this was a rather mundane Super Bowl, and aside from a couple of breakout, impressive plays by the Steelers, neither team played at a championship level for 60 minutes. The Seahhawks would have won if they had not squandered missed oportunities.

And why the hell would the game be fixed. Nobody (media and I'm betting the NFL too) outside these two cities even wanted the Steelers and Seahawks in the big show in the first place.

If this game was rigged, then just about every damn sports game in the history of sports is rigged.

 

I don't think it was rigged, but terrible officiating. Seattle got jobbed on the TD pass (2nd quarter) and the 1st down at the 3 (4th quarter) on phantom penalties (and another phantom hold on the 2nd or 3rd drive of the game half that would have resulted in points). Pittsburgh gets called for no holds all game I believe (only 3 penalties for 20 yards?) and is blatantly offsides on a play they get a sack (4th quarter). Since when to refs miss off sides? The Hasselbeck illegal tackle was one of the worst calls I have seen in the NFL, but it really only cost 10 yards. Not as critical, but more blatantly the wrong call. The Big Ben play end zone was 50/50--I think he didn't quite make it but a very close call, but I believe Pittsburgh could probably have gained an inch on 4th down to score anyway. On that drive whether Big Big cross the LOS was more critical--I don't know (I'll get to this later).

But the Hawks have equal blame to themselves. Dropped passes, incompetent 2 minute drills, sloppy tackling and poor secondary play. Countless times the secondary on 3rd down just made dumb plays (Big Ben duck to Ward that Bullware doesn't knock down, the 1st TD drive was possible because Troufant let his man go for a 1st down on a long 3rd down play thinking the ball wasn't caught by the WR I guess)

Also, Seattle's coaching staff got schooled. Seattle's players were tense and mistake prone. Seattle got burned on the trick play. How about not challenging Big Ben for crossing the line of scrimmage on the duck to Ward at the 3, Seattle burned a time out on the play but didn't even challenge? So as bad as the officiating was, I give = blame to the Seattle players and coaches. The best team didn’t win yesterday, but they deserve = blame as the refs for not being prepared and focused, maybe even more blame than the refs.

BTW should Jeremy Stevens get the pansy of the year award or what for the last week or so? Joey Porter is an idiot and buffoon in the mold of Shannon Sharpe and Terrel Owens, but these guys did show up on Sundays after they run their trap.

It is probably the ugliest of the Superbowls and Superbowl champions ever, but nontheless it all boils down to the Pittsburgh Stealers have what, 4* or 5* trophies now depending on how you look at it.

 

correct...if the Steelers didn't make those plays they wouldn't have won the game.

Officials make bad calls, players make bad plays...fact of the game. As a team, you have to overcome those obstacles, not dwell on them. Holmgren was too busy worrying/complaining about the Ben TD before the half, and neglected to lead his team in the 2 minute drill.

The Steelers drove all the way to the Seahawk 6, and Ben threw a pick returned for 75 yards, and the Seahawks scored. The Steelers overcame it.

The steelers got pushed back to the 45 after getting inside the Seattle 20 in the 2nd quarter, after Heath Miller was called for offensive pass interference on a screen to Bettis. They overcame it.