What Could Make This Offseason More Tedious?

Hey, I know! A pointless revisit to the Super Bowl XL officiating discussion! Fun fun fun!

So the big news late in the week was referee Bill Leavy coming forward to say he's still souring over missing two calls in the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XL. Diddums, Bill.

The two calls in question: the clipping penalty assessed on Matt Hasselbeck and the holding call on Sean Locklear earlier in the drive. Such admissions, of course, have only brought the conspiracy theorists to a froth and given cause to facile bloggers to conclude

Of course, the problem with all these arguments is that they always see to focus on the Seahawks grievances. Nowhere in Doug Farrar's Shutdown Corner post is any mention of the blatantly incorrect ruling that Jerramy Steven's catch, five steps and a fumble was ruled an incomplete pass. I mean, yeah, what does that matter? It's only a turnover.

With Farrar's post, there's also the problematic assumption that because these two calls were wrong, then somehow all the other contentious ones were as well and it's only a matter of time before they are admitted by an official. Of course, there's no evidentiary grounds to make that argument, but it follows well the easy media narrative that has followed the game from its conclusion. This call is wrong, therefore they are all wrong and I'm free to make whatever conclusions I like!

Farrar claims that neither the Steelers nor the Seahawks played well enough to win. This is a meaningless statement, because what is the baseline winning performance? The Seahawks outgained the Steelers by 58 yards, got one more turnover and held the ball for seven more minutes. Sure, these stats would suggest that the Seahawks would win the game the majority of time, but certainly not always. Hell, at one point in the second half, the Steelers were a few yards away from taking a commanding 21-3 lead before Roethlisberger threw his worst pass of the game in the endzone. If the Steelers were truly manhandled, as he and others foolishly claim, how is it possible they could be in that position after not having a single first down in the first quarter of the game?

Let's examine the calls Leavy is discussing. First off, that the Hasselbeck personal foul call was incorrect comes as news to absolutely no one. It was a dreadful misstep, albeit one that didn't change a great deal what happened after that. Say the post-possession foul is never called. Most likely Hines Ward runs an additional 15 yards on Randle El's trick throw and the outcome is the same. Obviously, things might have played out differently, but 15 yards in that scenario didn't put the Steelers in a position where they absolutely were going to score. Not anywhere close.

That Leavy considers the holding call on Haggans to be incorrect is a surprise. I've watched the game at least six times and I haven't once thought that it definitely wasn't a hold. Steelers tackle Max Starks is still certainly of the opinion that it is one. For the sake of argument, let's say that it is indeed wrong. Then the Hasselbeck interception never happens. Quite possibly, the Seahawks score to take a 17-14 lead. We know the Steelers score on the next drive. This, of course, would have given the Seahawks one more chance to take the lead. The way Mike Holmgren was managing the clock in that game, do you really think they would have done it? I don't.

Then again, the refs didn't force Hasselbeck to respond to the holding call, right or wrong, by throwing an extremely costly interception. And there lies the critical difference between the two teams in that game: the Steelers made the splash plays, as Mike Tomlin would call them. At one point, Ben Roethlisberger, who played an overall poor game, did convert a 3rd and 23 to Hines Ward to set up the game's first touchdown. Willie Parker had the longest run in Super Bowl history. Randle El hit Hines on a deep pass to clinch the victory. Can you think of one big play that Seattle had in that game?

By the way, but sorry, the Roethlisberger rushing TD was ruled a touchdown on the field. Even if you think the video evidence doesn't show that Roethlisberger broke the plane - I think it does - you must admit that it's too inconclusive to overturn the call on the field. Therefore, again, it's a touchdown. Them's the rules.

The longest play the Seahawks had from scrimmage was 31 yards. The Steelers, by contrast, had two plays of at least 40 yards, both of which went for touchdowns. When you have long, plodding marches that extend down the field that result in a missed field goal or a turnover, you're probably going to have the advantage in yardage and time of possession. Unfortunately, you're also probably going to lose.

The sad legacy of Super Bowl XL wasn't that it had a few incorrect calls (affecting both teams, mind you) and a few more borderline ones. The same can be said of lots and lots of games. It's that the losing team pathetically, disgracefully and publicly whined about it. Yes, Steelers players and fans have taken issue with calls in the past. For all the bitchy talk that the Steelers are always the beneficiaries of the referees' help, let's recall that they've lost two playoff games in the last decade on highly questionable calls (the Dwayne Washington's running into the kicker penalty against the Titans in 2003 and the uncalled hold - later acknowledged by and apologized for the NFL - on the critical 4th and 2 against the Jaguars in 2007). In neither of these incidents did the Steelers carry on like they had been robbed and make mewling comments during press conferences. Why? Because in each case they had other opportunities to win and didn't take advantage. Three weeks prior to Super Bowl XL, the Steelers were the victims of a huge incorrect call that overturned a Troy Polamalu interception that would have clinched the game against the Colts. And you know what? The Steelers won anyway. Sure, it made the game closer than it needed to be, but bad calls happen and great teams rise above.

Believe me, I'd love never to have this discussion again, but it'll continue to crop up pointlessly now and again, mostly because of Madden's complaining during the Super Bowl broadcast and the Seahawks whining immediately thereafter. And, of course, the fact that many people hate the Steelers and have to try to discredit one of their titles to be able to accept the fact that it happened. For those unwilling to actually analyze what happened, that's enough to convince them that the referees were the deciding factor in this game. But anyone who is honest with themselves knows that, ugly as it was, it was victory that was earned, not awarded.