Super Bowl XL

[Lee]

That was the first whole NFL match I have seen, I usually glanced at them whenever nothing was on but I thought I'd actually watch this one and, although I didn't get half of it, it was pretty entertaining.

That game also had the longest running touchdown or something like that, (Sorry I'm a complete noob to NFL I will watch more whenever it is next on).

I was kinda routing for Seattle seeing as they have not won it before right? Oh well, they did drop a hell of alot of passes so Pittsburgh deserved it.

Worth staying up till half 3 in the morning for.

 

[Danoff]

The Seahawk feild goal early in the game should have been a TD - stupid pass interference call that obviously should not have been made.

So that would put the Seahawks at 14.

The steelers TD from big ben should not have been awarded. That would have left the coach with a choice. Go for it on 4th and inches to get the TD, or kick a feild goal. I believe they would have gone for it. Which means we'll never know who should have won the game. If they'd have gotten the TD on 4th down it would have been 21 to 14 steelers. If not, it would have been 14-14. Every single one of Pitt's scores could easily have gone the other way, and many of the Seahawk drives could have resulted in more points.

Crappy game. Both teams looked worse than they really are. The Hawks were dropping pass all over the place. I honestly think they were the more talented team, but Pitt got the job done with trick plays, a little luck on the running game, and some breaks from the officiating crew.

Whatever, I'm glad this season is over. This was a nasty set of playoffs - worse than many of the regular season games. Hopefully next year will be better.

Edit: Kudos to Bettis getting the job done at the end of the game. I was very impressed with his ability to keep picking up 1st downs to keep the clock moving even though Seattle was ready for the bettis-up-the-middle play every time. He's truly a great running back.

 

[xXSilencerXx]

The Seahawks played a ****ty game straight up. They lost it for themselves. The only bogus call in the game would probably be the Rothisbegre TD. Other than that the rest of the calls were good.

THat pass interference call was good on the early TD. If you extend your arm all the way out and force the defender to take a complete step step backwards its obviously a penalty.

 

[Famine]

I don't get why these blokes in armour aren't allowed to hold someone, but that's just me...

 

[Danoff]

The Seahawks played a ****ty game straight up. They lost it for themselves. The only bogus call in the game would probably be the Rothisbegre TD. Other than that the rest of the calls were good.

THat pass interference call was good on the early TD. If you extend your arm all the way out and force the defender to take a complete step step backwards its obviously a penalty.

That pass interference call was pretty weak. Offensive pass interference almost never gets called. I've seen offensive players practically undress the defender and they still don't get called - so the refs need to be more consistent, especially with a penalty as wishy-washy as pass interference.

 

[Omnis]

I hope the seahawks go again next year. It would be interesting to see them in the superbowl again, taking on the Dolphins, of course.

 

[Max Powers]

The numbers aren't with teams who lost the super bowl the previous year. The Eagles got hit pretty hard by the Superbowl hangover.

The Dolphins are my pick to win the AFC East next year, but I don't know about the superbowl, I think the Steelers will take those honors in the AFC again.

 

[Driftster]

Problems I saw...the touchdown(wasn't a touchdown)..
The Offensive pass interferance...Wasn't that...And the Low block...Was complete BS....

the out of bounds were all legitament calls..

It seemed a very very very one sided flagged game..And those calls were the difference between the w and the l........

but then again you think about it..

The Steelers GM probably isn't going to be around much longer, and has probably contributed an AZZ load of $$$ so they might have pulled some strings so his team can be up there with the 49'ers(best team ever in the world Ever...GOOOOOO 9'ERS!!!)

 

[Max Powers]

Problems I saw...the touchdown(wasn't a touchdown)..
The Offensive pass interferance...Wasn't that...And the Low block...Was complete BS....

the out of bounds were all legitament calls..

It seemed a very very very one sided flagged game..And those calls were the difference between the w and the l........

but then again you think about it..

The Steelers GM probably isn't going to be around much longer, and has probably contributed an AZZ load of $$$ so they might have pulled some strings so his team can be up there with the 49'ers(best team ever in the world Ever...GOOOOOO 9'ERS!!!)

Complete bull****, especially that last paragraph, nobody paid off the refs. Art Rooney is a respectable man, and would never pay off the refs.

They reviewed Ben's TD again after the game and the ball did indeed cross the goal line when he was in the air, there goes one argument right out the window.

The low block had very little impact on the game anyway, Roethlisberger got called for the same thing a few weeks back and you didn't see us *****ing about it.

 

[Flerbizky]

The low block had very little impact on the game anyway, Roethlisberger got called for the same thing a few weeks back and you didn't see us *****ing about it.

Well - A "few weeks back" wasn't exactly the Superbowl

I'm over it though.. Too friggin' bad the Seahawks lost. Hope to see them back in SB, hopefully it won't take 40 years this time !...

 

[Famine]

Hold up...

The only thing required for a touchdown is that the ball, while in the possession of an attacking player, intersects the vertical plane of the goal line, however microscopically?


With which part of "touch" or even "down" does that correspond?

 

[Driftster]

oh they reviewed it AFTER the game and it crossed the line...as apposed to reviewing it DURRING the game....where it's under completely different circumstances...

i'm sure they brought out the time machine right? or the X ray camera to tell where teh tip of the leather was burried in his arms....

Roth got the same thing called on him...that's great...now if you'd stop using the blatent bias by saying "US"......

Anywho, i'm sure the opposing team got some calls against them correct?

Now, show me where they took a TD away from the Steelers for illegit reasons and you not "***ch" as you so gracefully put it....Or perhaps, had the seahawks dove for a TD and it been ruled fair...you not look "that much closer" to see if the ball did infact cross the line..


but there I go...talking about 2 teams I really don't give 2 schiets about...

I mean it was more of a superbowl between cities I hated the least...and i'm sorry but Pittsburg is way below Seatle on my list of places to go...

BTW...No one said ART rooney paid off ANY ref...I don't know where you read that...

I'm simply saying..he's probably not going to be around for much longer....And his team was only one ring away from tieing a big record....and i'm sure throughout his years he's contributed alot of money to the league and to other affiliations......So wouldn't that be a nice going away gift so to speak?

 

[Flerbizky]

Hold up...

The only thing required for a touchdown is that the ball, while in the possession of an attacking player, intersects the vertical plane of the goal line, however microscopically?

Exactly....

With which part of "touch" or even "down" does that correspond?

Got me...

[Edit:] But then again. Some dude standing on his feet catching a ball also represents a Touchdown... Heck.. I think we should just enjoy the game Al Bundy style and leave the rulebook to the americans...

 

[xXSilencerXx]

Hold up...

The only thing required for a touchdown is that the ball, while in the possession of an attacking player, intersects the vertical plane of the goal line, however microscopically?


With which part of "touch" or even "down" does that correspond?

Yep, All you have to do is cross the line while in posession of the ball and haven't touch the ground out of bounds. That and have two feet down in bounds if its a catch.

 

[Omnis]

Hold up...

The only thing required for a touchdown is that the ball, while in the possession of an attacking player, intersects the vertical plane of the goal line, however microscopically?


With which part of "touch" or even "down" does that correspond?

A player must make a full completion before progress is counted. If he had both feet land in bounds while in complete possession of the ball before entering the touchdown plane, it would've been a touchdown upon the ball crossing over that plane.

However, he never had both feet land in bounds while he caught the ball (which was indeed over the plane). Remember, his foot knocked over the outside of the pylon. If he is being forced out, knocking over the pylon from the inside (ie, in bounds, going out), then it is counted as a touchdown. This was not the case, besides the fact that his foot never hit the inside of the pylon in the first place.

 

[Fonce Diablo]

Sorry, Seattle fans. Won't be seeing you next February.

Because my Panthers are going to come to their senses and sign Alexander when you guys won't pay him the coin.

...At least, that's how it goes in my ideal football world. He also rushes for 40,000 yards in it, too. XD

 

[Famine]

A player must make a full completion before progress is counted. If he had both feet land in bounds while in complete possession of the ball before entering the touchdown plane, it would've been a touchdown upon the ball crossing over that plane.

However, he never had both feet land in bounds while he caught the ball (which was indeed over the plane). Remember, his foot knocked over the outside of the pylon. If he is being forced out, knocking over the pylon from the inside (ie, in bounds, going out), then it is counted as a touchdown. This was not the case, besides the fact that his foot never hit the inside of the pylon in the first place.

Umm... what?

Are you talking about the time when the Seattle player caught the ball on the 1 yard line? Because I wasn't.

In any case, slow motion pictures on Sky showed that the player had both hands on the ball and both feet in contact with green turf in play at the same time. He was in the process of leaving play and his next step took him out of bounds - and not in the direction of the endzone. Which leads me to think we're talking about different plays.

 

[xXSilencerXx]

Umm... what?

Are you talking about the time when the Seattle player caught the ball on the 1 yard line? Because I wasn't.

In any case, slow motion pictures on Sky showed that the player had both hands on the ball and both feet in contact with green turf in play at the same time. He was in the process of leaving play and his next step took him out of bounds - and not in the direction of the endzone. Which leads me to think we're talking about different plays.

I'm pretty sure he caught the ball had one foot down but the next one landed out of bound to the outside of the pylon.

 

[Driftster]

^---correct that was a 100% legitament call..

ANYONE could see that he was out of bounds...his next step was about 2 feet off the field.

 

[Kylehnat]

Pass interference: That was not, and you know it. The ref only threw the flag after Chris Hope started screaming in his face. And that particular official is from Pittsburgh...

Famine, dig this: a player RUNNING the football into the end zone only has to have ANY part of his body cross over the pylon for the play to be ruled a touchdown. That's right, a touchdown can be scored when the player's entire body (and the ball for that matter) is 5 feet out of bounds. All the player has to do is get a fingernail over that pylon. Players catching the ball, however, have to have complete possesion of the ball, two feet in bounds, and the 7th moon of Jupiter has to be aligned with the 8th moon of Neptune. The NFL has some wacky rules, indeed

 

[JohnBM01]

Wait a minute... Famine talking about AMERICAN football? I got an irregular heartbeat... in a coma... died. Wait:

(up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start)

30 lives! Woohoo! Back to normal! Anyhow, I kind of confuse college rules with the NFL. I can remember when the Texans hosted the Jaguars two years ago or so, and when it was 2 seconds left in the game, he leaped forward, and the ball crossed the plane and won. That booth review on Roethlisberger's QB keeper seemed like it crossed the plane, but it was very close. I think even if you took that touchdown away, it would have been 14-10, Steelers. Now if that Offensive Pass Interference wasn't called (which I thought was kind of dumb because it wasn't like the ball was uncatchable), would have been 21-17.

Credit Seattle's defense, though. They say defense wins championships. And if that was true, there was no reason Seattle could LOSE in MoTown. I still love that gadget play Pittsburgh set up in that game to get six on the board. Probably the best non-game moment had to be seeing all those Super Bowl MVPs from the past 39 Super Bowls.

 

[Driftster]

it's not just score that woulda changed..

it's the morale that would have changed..which could have played a bigger role than any of us will ever know.

 

[Famine]

^---correct that was a 100% legitament call..

ANYONE could see that he was out of bounds...his next step was about 2 feet off the field.

In any case, slow motion pictures on Sky showed that the player had both hands on the ball and both feet in contact with green turf in play at the same time. He was in the process of leaving play and his next step took him out of bounds

I suspect there's some cross purposes going on here. The play I saw was a Seattle 2nd down. Hasselbenk made the throw and the receiver, who was running perpendicular to the endzone not AT it, caught the ball at around the 2 yard line. At the time ball was in both hands, both feet were ON the pitch. However, the next step took him out of bounds, because he was running that way anyway. He subsequently controlled the ball and brought it into his body but was out of bounds at that time and it's probably that which made the pass incomplete.

I make no pretence about knowing the finer rules of American Football - as the fact that I was foolish enough to think a touchdown involved either touching or down in some respect - and do not claim that the call was good or bad OTHER THAN the fact that the player who received the ball was in play at the time the ball was in contact with both of his hands and, though he was not in full control of the ball it did not leave his contact in any way.

I would have thought that since both hands were touching the ball and both feet were touching the pitch it ought to be a valid, completed pass, but, as I said, I would have thought that a touchdown would involve some aspect of touching down...


And to think, you guys find the offside rule bizarre...

Dolphins for 2007.. .

 

[Danoff]

I suspect there's some cross purposes going on here. The play I saw was a Seattle 2nd down. Hasselbenk made the throw and the receiver, who was running perpendicular to the endzone not AT it, caught the ball at around the 2 yard line. At the time ball was in both hands, both feet were ON the pitch. However, the next step took him out of bounds, because he was running that way anyway. He subsequently controlled the ball and brought it into his body but was out of bounds at that time and it's probably that which made the pass incomplete.

I make no pretence about knowing the finer rules of American Football - as the fact that I was foolish enough to think a touchdown involved either touching or down in some respect - and do not claim that the call was good or bad OTHER THAN the fact that the player who received the ball was in play at the time the ball was in contact with both of his hands and, though he was not in full control of the ball it did not leave his contact in any way.

I would have thought that since both hands were touching the ball and both feet were touching the pitch it ought to be a valid, completed pass, but, as I said, I would have thought that a touchdown would involve some aspect of touching down...


And to think, you guys find the offside rule bizarre...

Dolphins for 2007.. .

If he's juggling the ball as he goes out of bounds then it doesn't count. You have to have "possession" with both feet inbounds. That being said I didn't see the same replay you did (somehow), so I don't remember any of the out-of-bounds calls being wrong. Still, I think you've got a good case. If he had the ball with two feet in it should have been ruled a catch.

Also, a touch down invovles touching the end zone (ish), and being down (as in the play is over). Like 1st down, 2nd down, touched-the-end-zone down.

You just have to imagine that the end zone isn't just the ground, but extends into the air - in which case once you cross the plane you've touched it.


Since you bring up offsides though, Pitt was offsides all night and never got flagged for it. I noticed multiple times where the defender jumped across early and got away with it.

 

[Famine]

I'm going to have to Sky+ a rerun if I can and record this slo-mo...

Something else we find wierd is that in almost all of our sports, when a line is painted to demarcate regions, the object being played with must entirely cross that line (all of the object must be over the line, so that play area can be seen between it and the line) to be considered within that area.

 

[JFM92_GTRacer]

Read my sig.

 

[Solid Lifters]

I'm going to have to Sky+ a rerun if I can and record this slo-mo...

Something else we find wierd is that in almost all of our sports, when a line is painted to demarcate regions, the object being played with must entirely cross that line (all of the object must be over the line, so that play area can be seen between it and the line) to be considered within that area.

Our rules on that are similar to target shooting competition. Just touch the line on the ring on the target, and it scores that next ring. Odd how it relates to football, since the drawn lines are so damn wide, but the very edge of the line represents the "other" territory.

 

[Omnis]

Umm... what?

Are you talking about the time when the Seattle player caught the ball on the 1 yard line? Because I wasn't.

In any case, slow motion pictures on Sky showed that the player had both hands on the ball and both feet in contact with green turf in play at the same time. He was in the process of leaving play and his next step took him out of bounds - and not in the direction of the endzone. Which leads me to think we're talking about different plays.

No, I was giving a hypothetical situation, not like what actually happened. If both feet would've landed before the endzone, it would've obviously been a TD.

 

[tha_con]

The bad calls had very little to do with the Steelers victory, Seattle puts up a front beacuse they played poorly in the end zone.

Total yards, TOP, none of that matters if you fail to produce points int he end zone. Don't give me any crap about bad officiating, because champions over come such things.

Just look at our game against Denver, we had a TD TAKEN AWAY on a holding call, and then we came back from a 3rd and long to get a TD.

Seattle threw an interception, that was their mistake, not the ref's.

Seattle for the loss, and the team of my home city, PITTSBURGH, for the win.

 

[Danoff]

the team of my home city, PITTSBURGH, for the win.

I think this sums up quite nicely your position on the ref calls. You'd be on the other side of the fence if Pitt has lost due to bad ref calls and you know it.