the hold on the big punt return happened at the line of scrimmage and then happened later on down the field. The player in question even knew he got caught.

2/7/2006 2:52:55 PM

has anyone seen a horse collar actually flagged this year?

2/7/2006 2:53:44 PM

just a couple times

2/7/2006 2:54:25 PM

horse collar is grabbing the inside of the pads. Looked like porter had jersey which is legal....

2/7/2006 3:05:23 PM

well, it looked as if he grabbed the inside of the pads from the front/side. maybe horse collar is only a penalty if it's from behind, but based on my understanding of the rule it looked as if joey got away with one.

2/7/2006 3:07:12 PM

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=2322300

2/7/2006 4:17:46 PM

^ awesome article

2/7/2006 4:25:38 PM

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keown/060207

2/7/2006 7:16:40 PM

so I read that the back judge that called the offensive PI is from Pittsburgh.

2/7/2006 8:16:43 PM

looks good to me

2/7/2006 9:23:24 PM

Quote :

" What the experts are saying about the Super Bowl officiating Ron Jaworski, former Eagles quarterback and ESPN analyst: "Clearly the fact that we're talking about the officiating the day after the Super Bowl doesn't bode well for Mike Pereira and the referees up on Park Avenue. I think they need to address this situation. It has been inconsistent all season long, magnified in the Super Bowl. I think it's about time the NFL looks to use full-time officials. Just like everyone else is committed to making the game better, I think we need the officials to make that full-time commitment." Michael Irvin, former Cowboys wide receiver and ESPN analyst: "There were some bad calls. Yes, they were wrong. Some touchy calls. I don't think Darrell Jackson -- especially playing wide receiver -- I don't think he gained anything by extending his arm. I don't think there was a holding (call on Locklear). But the thing is, when I think about Seattle, even with all those calls, they still had that game." Tom Jackson, former Broncos linebacker and ESPN analyst: "The reality is that the officiating has not been great the entire year. I think that there was the risk -- whether it was Seattle or anybody else -- that the officiating for the game could be flawed. And unfortunately for the Seahawks, the calls that went against them were all huge calls and as we look back now -- hindsight being 20-20 -- you saw that those calls could have gone a different way." Tony Kornheiser, Washington Post columnist on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption": "If you were one of these people who felt that it was predestined for Pittsburgh to win. That somehow the fix was in. That with all the great stories about Jerome Bettis, and yada-yada-yada, that everybody in the NFL and everybody on the televising crew wanted Pittsburgh to win, you'd be able to wake up this morning screaming about that." Woody Paige, ESPN's "Around the Horn": "The officials just continued the ineptness we saw throughout the playoffs. Why can't they get it right? Ben Roethlisberger, he still hasn't gotten that ball over the goal line. The offensive interference call on the Seattle touchdown, that was a ticky-tack call. Both guys were pushing a little bit." Qadry Ismail, ESPNews: "The referees in the entire playoffs -- it wasn't just this game -- were kind of some questionable calls. I know that we have the best referees that graded out throughout the entire year. For them to come in to the playoffs to make those key, critical mistakes and then in the Super Bowl you'll still see the same, repeated mistakes." Kevin Blackistone, Dallas Morning News on ESPN's "Around the Horn": "Now let's stop this whining going on with the Seattle fans. The litmus test for this is the fact when you talk to the Seattle Seahawks after the game, they didn't talk about the referees. They talked about problems they had of their own making." J.A. Adande, Los Angeles Times on ESPN's "Around the Horn": "The officiating contributed to the outcome. It did not determine the outcome. The bottom line is Seattle still had the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead and Hasselbeck threw that interception. Yeah. There were some questionable things. I've never seen a holding call where a guy only uses one hand. I don't even know if it's possible to hold a defender with one hand. They did call that. They were blowing things all night. But Seattle, the Seahawks were the ones blowing things even worse." Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times on ESPN's "Around the Horn": "When Kelly Herndon intercepts that ball and runs it back, I thought Seattle was going to win the football game. And all those calls pretty much came before that so you can't sit here and say Seattle lost because of the penalties." "

2/8/2006 1:47:41 AM

jesus people cmon. there is no conspiracy. the refs werent THAT bad, I have definitely seen worse. DJax may not have pushed off, but he had his hand on the other guy and it got called. And the Roethlisberger TD was close enough that you cant cry conspiracy at it. Its fun to play the blame game to make yourselves feel better, but eventually youll have to let it go.. might as well be now.

2/8/2006 2:02:24 AM

^the only reason you have seen worse is because you watch ACC basketball games

2/8/2006 7:16:17 AM