[RedBloodedAmerican]

Interesting read.

[Andy from Beaverton]

[Paloma_55]

"So, Paul Tagliabue, how does a team lose when it outgains an opponent by 57 yards, controls time of possession and wins the turnover battle?"

Errr.... the other one scores more points??

I agree the officiating sucked. There were a couple of real boners, but Pittsburgh still won decisively. The 2nd half wasn't even close.

[mbynack]

So, Paul Tagliabue, how does a team lose when it outgains an opponent by 57 yards, controls time of possession and wins the turnover battle?

You don't get points for outgaining your opponent, time of possession, and turnovers. Seattle couldn't put the ball in the endzone or kick a long field goal or move the ball in the red zone. That's how you win the statistics and lose the game.

[Echo Talon]

i agree, Super Fraud XL

[z3n]

"Every single questionable, marginal or outright bad call went against the Seahawks...."

I subscribe to the philosophy that bad calls balance out. But lately, it hasn't been working that way. What is worse, in the playoffs, and worse, the superbowl, the bad calls need to balance out in the same game, otherwise, the finality of it seems tragic. Getting bad calls on opponents to balance it out in next year's preseason is not balance at all.

I've seen a lot of teams hurt, even game's fates seemingly turned on bad calls in this post season. I genuinely hope this doesn't happen again next year.

This phenomenon, along with the longer advertising timeouts that make it seem like you are watching more ads than football, could spell the end of the NFLs golden eral.

[yldstrk]

You don't win on stats, you win on points, but the officiating in the playoffs and in the SuperBowl should be the best.

[massgopguy]

I have only seen worse officiating in the ACC.

[dawn53]

I didn't have a "horse" in this race, but I told my husband the officiating was reminding me of the scoring of a boxing match...more than a little suspect.

[Hardastarboard]

Let us not forget that the Seattle receivers appeared to be wearing boxing gloves and blind folds for much of the game.

[AZRepublican]

It's a lot like basketball where the refs blow their whistles for every little touch of air that looks like some incidental contact may have occured. There should be rules that forbid the refs from making calls that are the result of incidental contact of a play and let them play!

[in hoc signo vinces]

No doubt...the worst officiated game I have ever watched. Not even instant replay was allowed to overturn bad calls....yeah, Rothlisberger really put that ball in the end zone all right, Not!

[dfwgator]

You can't say even if the calls didn't go against Seattle, that Seattle would have won the game. Pittsburgh most likely would have done things differently, and perhaps still would have found a way to win the game. But we'll never know. But yes, the NFL botched this big time. Years from now, all that will be remembered about XL, is not Parker's TD run, but the bad officiating.

[george76]

The MVP award should go to the Refs.

The Refs determined the end result.

In so many ways, the Refs were terrible.

[kevkrom]

So, Paul Tagliabue, how does a team lose when it outgains an opponent by 57 yards, controls time of possession and wins the turnover battle?

5-17 on third down.

Dropped passes.

2 missed FGs.

Horrendous clock management.

Whining about the officiating rather than playing the game.

[kevkrom]

"Every single questionable, marginal or outright bad call went against the Seahawks...."

Bull. There was a Seattle turnover that didn't happen (catch and fumble) because the official wrongly blew it dead as an incomplete pass -- not subject to review. None of the Seahawks mourners want to address that bad call, they only care about the calls that hurt them -- evewn the good ones.

[TheBigB]

And the whining continues...

Game's over, people. Steelers won. Get over it.

[NonValueAdded]

While the officiating was terrible, Seattle worked just as hard as the refs to make sure they lost the game. Clock management, "stone fingers" Stevens, sideline routes that stayed in bounds ... you name it. Not a pretty win for the Steelers, but a win ninetheless.

[F16Fighter]

The Zebras affected this game to the max.

Negating one Hawk TD (which would have made it 10-0 and changed the complexion of the game), then killed another catch inside the 2 yard line that might have resulted in yet another TD with a bogus holding call.

[Arkinsaw]

Must be just another crybaby Seahawks fan. Sure are a lot of them these days.
</sarcasm>

[frogjerk]

The Refs made the two Field Goal Attempts (Potential 6 points) go wide.../sarc

Seattle should have been ahead about 14-0 in the first half because the Steelers didn't even show up until after half time.