Seahawks, valiant effort

[MickeyFinn]

Yesterday my brother and I debated whether it was going to be 21-17, or 21-10. I won with 21-10 but I was secretly hoping I would be very wrong. They could have survived and perhaps even won if Holmgren could hold a candle to "The Chin" when it comes to coaching ability... And in all honesty, the referees made a number of questionable calls.




Season in summary for the 'Hawks from my perspective:



Mack Strong doesn't get enough credit.

Shaun Alexander is nowhere near the league MVP, imo. Not even close.

Hasselbeck panics too much to pull through in a pinch.

[Rooster]

Yeah, but the calls were mostly tame.. and fairly accurate - not enough in replay to overturn.

It was a good game overall - I really felt like the 'hawks had a great chance... just couldn't close it out.

[Bedpost]

That pass interference penalty that took away the seahawks touchdown was pretty freaking lame. Yes technically by the rules that was a penalty. Come on though there is so much contact that goes on between receiver and DB that, that was a pretty lame call I thought.

The touchdown Ben got before half I thought at live speed and replay that he did not get in.

the holding penalty that took the seahawks away from being first and goal from the 2 and made it 1 and 20 from the 30 I thought was an awful call. (Brown missed a 50 yard field goal after this)

the holding penalty that brought back the seahawks good punt return was an awful call. Granted the guy did hold earlier on in the play, however, the time that it was called it was NOT holding.

this has nothing to do with the refs, but how does that seahawk DB get caught after that interception. yes Randel El is fast, but come on he was on the complete other side of the field

The steelers played OK, the seahawks did some pretty awful things to help the steelers out. Then the Refs put the icing on the cake for the steelers to allow them to win.

[MickeyFinn]

How about the one where Hasselbeck was charged with a 15 yard penalty for making a legal tackle? How can you block below the waist when you are on defense?

[Bedpost]

Oh yes that one was TOTAL Bull shit. I forgot about that call.

The rule is that if you're on defense you cannot take a blocker out by going down at his knees. There is NOTHING wrong with making a tackle that way. The ref said that he was taking a blocker out... hmmm somehow he made the tackle though and never touched that blocker?

The NFL needs to take a look at itself because if there are too many more games like the Steelers/colts game and this one. I think people are going to start talking about the games being fixed like the NBA.

Steelers colts game was horribly officiated and one sided just like this one was

[binder_pellinor]

I had thought the game was fixed. Lots of questionable calls going against the seahawks. I was suprised the fumble by the seahawk quarterback was reversed considering the way the officiating was going.

[Aezon]

I myself am a Redskins fan and won't take sides on which team should have won the game. All I know is that it didn't look like Roethlisberger broke the plane of the endzone with the ball (even though he himself made it over the line before he was down) for the first-half TD. And, that offensive pass interference call negating a Seahawks TD was bogus. There was contact from the defensive player well before the ball was even in the air with no flag for illegal contact. Even then, all the receiver did when he drew the flag was put his arm up to find the defender and shift direction back towards the QB... I didn't see him push off of the defender. Sorry Seahawks fans. Hope you all make it back to the playoffs next year so that the Redskins can get some payback. <evil grin>

[WAnk]

it sure felt like they were looking for calls to make when it could hurt the seahawks the most. i don't remember there being many penalties, but i do remember some huge questionable ones at the most inopportune moments. maybe next year it will be chargers-seahawks or something and the refs won't care enough to tinker :)

i shouldn't complain too much though. the seahawks weren't looking great. they looked better than the steelers, but not good enough for a win. next year, our defense will have a year more experience :) the great thing about our DT rotation is that if we lose rocky bernard, we won't be hurting too much. i would hate to lose him, he is one of my favorite players, but he might cost too much if we resign both hutch and alexander. bah, football season is way too far away. why do the mariners have to suck again.

[Sayj]

http://komo4.com/stories/41713.htm yeah, the finger

[Rooster]

I saw the one frame where Rothlisburger crossed the plane.. (it was the ONLY frame that showed it) - the rest were inconclusive... but not enough to reverse the decision.

The push-off, yeah, it was there -- but again.. even if he had challenged.. the guy did push off.. but it was weak.

Yall are cryin' awful hard over some really close calls.. not blatant like the Panthers had to put up with for the last 4 games.

And just cause he blocked someone low "while" getting the tackle.. doesn't mean he tackled the guy (with the ball) low (which is legal).

Update from someone more knowledgeable than I:

The striped shirts didn't cause tight end Jerramy Stevens (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=5914) to drop four passes. The striped shirts didn't cause the Seahawks defense to give up a Steelers first down on a third-and-28 situation (which later led to the Roethlisberger disputed TD). The striped shirts didn't cause the Seahawks defense to give up the longest touchdown run in Super Bowl history. They also didn't cause Etric Pruitt (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=6945) to sprint up from his safety position, only to be fooled by the trick play that resulted in Randle El's 43-yard TD pass to Ward (and by the way, if everyone knows the Steelers like to run gadget plays near midfield, don't you think the Seahawks knew it too?). Or cause Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4416) to throw a killer interception with nearly 11 minutes left in the game and Seattle trailing by only four points.