06 February 2006

Seahawks XS, Zebras XXS

Mike Tanier at the always-excellent Football Outsiders site comments on the officiating fiasco (via Deadspin):
So what do Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Tanier have in common? Neither of us crossed the goal line in the first half.

I try to not to complain about calls, but c’mon.

. . . .

Absolutely, viciously terrible officiating. I hate putting the game on the ref’s shoulders, but I could not believe what I was watching on several plays. I really have a hard time writing about what the Steelers did well or what the Seahawks did poorly. Yes, the Steelers made big plays on offense and shut down the run fairly well on defense. But I know if I was a Seahawks fan this would ruin my spring and summer. I watched the Eagles get beat last year. The Seahawks … I just hate to use the term “robbed”. But …

In all fairness, this isn't the first time someone's been robbed in Detroit, is it?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Likewise, I am reluctant to ever put the outcome of a game on the officials (no matter what sport we're talking about.) And while the officiating was an utter embarrassment (my girlfriend, an unabashed "sports-hater" even recognized the brutality) I don't think the Seahawks can comfortabily point their fingers at the zebras.

Had they, I don't know, put together a couple of effective series, not shot themselves in the foot when they were in Pittsburg territory, etc. etc. etc. they could have overcome the handful of officiating errors.

In the end, I think the most accurate analysis goes something like this: the anemic Seahawks, with sporadic help from the officials, lost to a nearly as pathetic Steelers squad.

In any event, I really wish Coach Holmgren would pipe down and let bygones be bygones. I know it's difficult to let something of this magnitude on this stage slide but no amount of vigorous bellyaching is going to change the final score at this point.