Questionable Calls Superbowl 43

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by 3mnkys

thanks, I mis-typed, the push was not flagrant, the punch sure seemed to be, as it was done from a superior position to a player on the ground in a position where he looked like he was not defending himself...anyway, thanks for a response...I just joined tonight, am an umpire and HS admin...so football is not something I would comment on, just ask questions on...

I believe the specific penalty was called unnecessary roughness. I saw nothing that was deemed as flagrant.

Peace

[JasonTX]

Originally Posted by fljet

whatever Im not a Cardinals or Steelers fan and I did not enjoy the game tonight as with the other 20 or so folks, due to the lopsided officiating, many were judgement calls but to average fans, and not trained officials the game was poorly officiated. We can argue about it all week but the bottom line is that the Cardinals got robbed.

If you can review the entire game film and still come to the same conclusion then you must be a Pittsburgh bandwagon fan, I guarantee that this crew will receive a less than perfect grade.

Yeah. I thought the officials threw a bad pass in the end zone that was picked off and ran back 100 yards. Surely one those officials could have made the tackle if only they would have tried harder. I also thought Field Judge should have provided better defense on the game winning TD pass. How can the officials let a guy get in that position to make that catch. Clearly the officials handed them that.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by fljet

In 23 years of watching multiple NFL games per week, I have never seen that call

Hold up fellas, we are in the presence of an expert. Show your respect.

[Warrenkicker]

The things I saw.

R should have not had a fumble on Warner in the third quarter I think. I understand letting the play play out but that wasn't a good call. Replay fixed that one but that was about the worst error all night. Arizona should not have had to depend on a replay to fix that one.

The roughing the holder was a great call. That is an odd call because nobody does it.

Perhaps Harrison did deserve to be ejected but not from the replays I saw. But I may not have seen the entire action.

All of the holds called, mostly against Arizona, were there and they were big. The hold in the end zone against Pittsburgh was a great call.

If the NFL wants to call USC for using the ball then it should have been called. I think it took so long for Holmes to do it that the officials may have moved off to get ready for the try and perhaps just didn't see it.

The block at about the 15 at the end of the long return at the end of the first half is never called a block in the back in the NFL. There is a block like that on a lot of long returns in the NFL and even in college and it is never called because it is legal.

So that is about it except for that great tackle the umpire made. He tried to move but didn't get away quickly enough. At least he didn't end up on the bottom.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by JasonTX

Yeah. I thought the officials threw a bad pass in the end zone that was picked off and ran back 100 yards. Surely one those officials could have made the tackle if only they would have tried harder. I also thought Field Judge should have provided better defense on the game winning TD pass. How can the officials let a guy get in that position to make that catch. Clearly the officials handed them that.

I thought they were done after the last play of the first half. They actually defended that final touchdown pretty well, but it was a perfect pass and a perfect catch.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by fljet

Bottom line I thought the officials had a below all-star performance, and I think this the NFL is rigged for ratings!!

Try thinking your logic through for a second, Art Bell. Think the NFL would be able to rig this without even one disgruntled referee coming forward with proof? Not possible, a conspiracy of this level would require too many participants to stay hidden.

[Trap]

Most of the calls i thought were correct. The one call i didn't get a chance to see, was the roughing the passer call. On the radio, they thought the flag was for intentional grounding and couldn't believe the call. I did not see, so i have no comment.

The one place i was a little dissapointed, and thought the officials ( i consider the replay official a member of the group) was not reviewing the last fumble. Tho i thought the call was probably correct. I can't understand why they didn't take the 5 minutes to review it.

Please don't give me the BS that Pereira said about they checked in the booth, between plays. He is just doing a CYA, so his officials don't look bad. That guy is more about PR, than integrity of the game.

Overall, I thought the game officials did a good job, lots of penalties, but they were consistant.

[Sonofanump]

I only question I had was the roughing the passer call. But, you have to remember the NFL's policy on their million dollar QBs.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by zm1283

The worse no-call on the 100 yard return was the blatant block in the back at about the 10 or 15 yard line.

Oops, my bad, I thought you were talking about Fitzgerald's block on Bolden's 45yd reception. Must have been similar blocks that did not get flagged.

[Tom.OH]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Hold up fellas, we are in the presence of an expert. Show your respect.

Now define an expert:
an "ex" is a has been and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure

[kdf5]

There were lots of flags but every replay showed they were right on the money as far as the advantage/disadvantage. The roughing call was the only one I questioned and only because I was rooting for the Cards but like others have said losing QB's in the NFL has a huge ripple effect across the league and the league has spoken loud and clear about it.

Hey fljet: You should contact your local high school and college associations and get yourself some games as referee. I'm not sure how football ever made it this far without you and it sure can't wait any longer. Don't delay, we need you.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by fljet

whatever Im not a Cardinals or Steelers fan and I did not enjoy the game tonight as with the other 20 or so folks, due to the lopsided officiating, many were judgement calls but to average fans, and not trained officials the game was poorly officiated. We can argue about it all week but the bottom line is that the Cardinals got robbed.

If you can review the entire game film and still come to the same conclusion then you must be a Pittsburgh bandwagon fan, I guarantee that this crew will receive a less than perfect grade.

emphasis on the "AVERAGE FANS"!

Will you put that guarantee in writing? And define perfect?

[Andy]

This thread answers most of my questions.

I am a Cardinals fan, not a football official, but I do officiate other sports.

I was frustrated with the number of flags, but like the general concensus here, the only one I really would question is the roughing the passer penalty. It appeared to me to be one of those that could be flagged or not and somebody is going to be upset.

Even with the number of flags, I thought the game was well officiated from the little I know about football officiating. The officiating did not decide the game one way or the other, as usual.

I did hear an interesting comment today on the sports radio shows - McAuley's (?) crew threw more flags this season than any other crew. Just thought that was interesting and can use it to try to convince the average bonehead fanboy that just because you throw a lot of flags, it does not mean you are a bad official.

[bossman72]

I thought the officials did an outstanding job. Like warren said, the one call they blew was the warner fumble that was overturned by replay. I agree with warren again that the santonio celebration was very late and the officials were probably setting up for another play. There were some CLOSE calls in BIG situations and they nailed all of them, IMO.

...it's always a screw job when the steelers win the superbowl. that's all that #2 talk. sheesh!

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by Andy

This thread answers most of my questions.

I am a Cardinals fan, not a football official, but I do officiate other sports.

I was frustrated with the number of flags, but like the general concensus here, the only one I really would question is the roughing the passer penalty. It appeared to me to be one of those that could be flagged or not and somebody is going to be upset.

Even with the number of flags, I thought the game was well officiated from the little I know about football officiating. The officiating did not decide the game one way or the other, as usual.

I did hear an interesting comment today on the sports radio shows - McAuley's (?) crew threw more flags this season than any other crew. Just thought that was interesting and can use it to try to convince the average bonehead fanboy that just because you throw a lot of flags, it does not mean you are a bad official.

I agree with you Andy.....one really can't whine about the 50/50 calls in the game....those are judgment calls and how can you argue with an impartial opinion? You can't. So you attack the guys position by saying it was rigged.