NFL 2008

[Stennick]

I've seen a lot of Steelers hate on the board tonight. Flat out Arizona let them drive down the field and score. Arizona's D played solid that second half until it mattered most. The offense did its job but Arizona's D lost them this game. I saw several calls go against the Steelers. Hell they had an un sportsman like that gave the Cards 15 yards, they had the holding call that was a safety. I didn't really care one way or another who won this game but people are really buying into this Steelers were handed the game gimmick.

[Maxx]

Someone FINALLY makes light of the fact that Graham is the first Aussie in the SB.

I like this Could.Go.All.The.Way guy.

Hear enough of him and that'll change.

[Slogger]

Someone FINALLY makes light of the fact that Graham is the first Aussie in the SB.

I like this Could.Go.All.The.Way guy.

Hear enough of him and that'll change.

I don't care so long as he doesn't start talking about a player's DNA every 5 seconds, It's creepy.

[Mysterio2000X]

I've seen a lot of Steelers hate on the board tonight. Flat out Arizona let them drive down the field and score. Arizona's D played solid that second half until it mattered most. The offense did its job but Arizona's D lost them this game. I saw several calls go against the Steelers. Hell they had an un sportsman like that gave the Cards 15 yards, they had the holding call that was a safety. I didn't really care one way or another who won this game but people are really buying into this Steelers were handed the game gimmick.

What? No, our defense started the game and ended it badly, but I seriously have no idea how you don't at least take that last play to review, considering it'll decide the entire NFL season. The refs didn't win the game for Pitt, but they sure as fuck lost it for the Cards.

[naiwf]

I've seen a lot of Steelers hate on the board tonight. Flat out Arizona let them drive down the field and score. Arizona's D played solid that second half until it mattered most. The offense did its job but Arizona's D lost them this game. I saw several calls go against the Steelers. Hell they had an un sportsman like that gave the Cards 15 yards, they had the holding call that was a safety. I didn't really care one way or another who won this game but people are really buying into this Steelers were handed the game gimmick.

Harrison didn't get ejected when he should have on that unnecessary roughness play since it was a punch in the middle of the field.

Holmes didn't get hit with an "excessive celebration" when he should have following the TD. Which means that Pittsburgh kicked from their 30 instead of the 15.

Warner did NOT fumble and they didn't review it.

Perhaps most importantly if they call that an incomplete pass, Arizona gets one play from the PIT 28 to win it because there was a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct play on Farrior for taking off his helmet. If Arizona had received the penalty on Holmes like they should have at the start of that drive they would have been even closer to the end zone since that's 30 yards of field position that they didn't get thanks to the officials swallowing the whistle.

The fact that they called that penalty on Farrior means that they know the rulebook and chose to ignore the other infractions. All of the calls that went against Pittsburgh were legitimate. The calls that did NOT go against Pittsburgh were a huge factor in the outcome of the game. Hence, people are outraged since we saw this same shit 3 years ago when the Cardinals were played by the Seattle Seahawks.

Edited February 2, 2009 by naiwf

[Slogger]

Wow, When you put it like that, It makes it so clear that the officials screwed the pooch.

[Maxx]

Can't wait for Chase to refute those claims

[JStarr]

I think we all can, really.

[Red Devil-Taker316]

I was quite surprised that wasn't reviewed, as said before, the Cards woulda had the ball at the 28 yard line.

And really, that was doable. I personally believe Larry Fitz can catch anything.

Crazy NFL season.

[Stennick]

I think the Steelers should have lost not because the ref's blew the game but because they were being dickheads with the game on the line. unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike, all while the cards are driving down the field trying to take the lead. How can a team make such stupid mistakes and lose their tempers like that KNOWING they handing the offense thats been eating them alive the whole qtr free yards.

[mystikz]

I've seen a lot of Steelers hate on the board tonight. Flat out Arizona let them drive down the field and score. Arizona's D played solid that second half until it mattered most. The offense did its job but Arizona's D lost them this game. I saw several calls go against the Steelers. Hell they had an un sportsman like that gave the Cards 15 yards, they had the holding call that was a safety. I didn't really care one way or another who won this game but people are really buying into this Steelers were handed the game gimmick.

Harrison didn't get ejected when he should have on that unnecessary roughness play since it was a punch in the middle of the field.

Holmes didn't get hit with an "excessive celebration" when he should have following the TD. Which means that Pittsburgh kicked from their 30 instead of the 15.

Warner did NOT fumble and they didn't review it.

Perhaps most importantly if they call that an incomplete pass, Arizona gets one play from the PIT 28 to win it because there was a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct play on Farrior for taking off his helmet. If Arizona had received the penalty on Holmes like they should have at the start of that drive they would have been even closer to the end zone since that's 30 yards of field position that they didn't get thanks to the officials swallowing the whistle.

The fact that they called that penalty on Farrior means that they know the rulebook and chose to ignore the other infractions. All of the calls that went against Pittsburgh were legitimate. The calls that did NOT go against Pittsburgh were a huge factor in the outcome of the game. Hence, people are outraged since we saw this same shit 3 years ago when the Cardinals were played by the Seattle Seahawks.

yeah completely agree with everything you said and I was somewhat supporting the steelers going into it but again came out from the game with a bad taste. I just couldn't believe it was done like that without being taken to the booth at the end. Remember though noone can say anything or they'll get fined like mike holmgren did after the bad calls back then.

[sahyder1]

Lets just relax on that last play. It was a fumble since the ball was stripped....if he had dropped it then you would have an argument. Doesn't matter if his arm was going forward since it was stripped. Yes, the play should still have been reviewed though. I'm surprised a penalty wasn't called on that punt return.....I was sure he didn't give him 2 yards to catch the ball.

Edit: Just watched the play again....definitely is a fumble.

Edited February 2, 2009 by sahyder1

[Ananas]

I dunno. I agreed that the first reversal was definitely not a fumble, but I thought the slow-mo replay of the last play showed that Woodley had a hand on the ball before Warner went forward. That said, it was a tremendous fourth quarter and one that the Steelers were undoubtedly lucky to escape. The defence did not look good at all, and I was really worried about giving Warner one last chance to put the ball up. Roethlisberger took 55 minutes to really get his shit together but man he showed a shit load of poise when the game was on the line. Warner was awesome all night though, and kudos to him for taking a 9-7 team to within a minute of the Super Bowl. And really, if he'd gotten a bit more discipline out of his teammates, maybe he'd be the one celebrating. Great game to cap off a ridiculously awesome weekend of sports.

[ROZAY]

I'm not all the way familiar with all the rules as far as reviews from the booth go (I'm not a really big football fan barring just watching the Eagles), so please forgive me for the following question if it seems rather stupid, but it's an honest question that I'd like to know the answer to.

Are fumbles or incomplete passes of that nature even reviewable from the booth? I know in some of the games I have seen this year, similar things have happened and I believe that the announcers or referees stated that such things like that aren't reviewable plays from the booth once it's been ruled a fumble or incomplete pass. If I am wrong then I apologize, but if someone could answer that for me it would help me understand more as I was pretty confused why the Steelers got the ball back when it looked like Warner went forward with his throwing motion, which as far as I know is an incomplete pass.

[sahyder1]

Fumbles and incomplete passes are reviewable as long as the ref hadn't blown his whistle to blow the play dead. Inside 2 minutes of each half the review comes from the official....other then that you can use one of your challenges.

If you're referring to the last play the ball went to Pittsburgh because they stripped him of the ball as he was going to throw it.

How did ESPN just leave Norwood off of the Top 10 Super Bowl moments list?

Edited February 2, 2009 by sahyder1

[ROZAY]

Fumbles and incomplete passes are reviewable as long as the ref hadn't blown his whistle to blow the play dead. Inside 2 minutes of each half the review comes from the official....other then that you can use one of your challenges.

How did ESPN just leave Norwood off of the Top 10 Super Bowl moments list?

Ah, alright. Thanks for clearing that up, but that leads me to two other questions. Can the ref blow a play dead inside the 2 minutes of each half and thus no booth review, and if so, did the ref blow the play dead after it happened? Or are booth reviews automatic no matter what within the 2 minutes of each half?

[Pepsi]

Lets just relax on that last play. It was a fumble since the ball was stripped....if he had dropped it then you would have an argument. Doesn't matter if his arm was going forward since it was stripped. Yes, the play should still have been reviewed though. I'm surprised a penalty wasn't called on that punt return.....I was sure he didn't give him 2 yards to catch the ball.

Edit: Just watched the play again....definitely is a fumble.

Well at least I'm not the only one who thinks so.

[sahyder1]

Booth reviews I believe are automatic. Plays where the ref blows the play dead are usually not reviewed because refs blow the whistle to protect players from injuries and thus not most players have stopped. I don't think the ref blew a whistle on that last play since they didn't do a kneel down for a last play. The main supervisor of the referees did say after the game that the correct call was made and after watching about 50 replays I agree.

[naiwf]

I'm not all the way familiar with all the rules as far as reviews from the booth go (I'm not a really big football fan barring just watching the Eagles), so please forgive me for the following question if it seems rather stupid, but it's an honest question that I'd like to know the answer to.

Are fumbles or incomplete passes of that nature even reviewable from the booth? I know in some of the games I have seen this year, similar things have happened and I believe that the announcers or referees stated that such things like that aren't reviewable plays from the booth once it's been ruled a fumble or incomplete pass. If I am wrong then I apologize, but if someone could answer that for me it would help me understand more as I was pretty confused why the Steelers got the ball back when it looked like Warner went forward with his throwing motion, which as far as I know is an incomplete pass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuck_rule

That specific kind of play (was his arm coming forward or wasn't it?) is reviewable. I forget when in the game it happened, but there was a similar instance that was called an implementation of the much hated "tuck rule" aka "the Brady rule". There's also a slight variation of this called the "empty hand" rule. If you're making a motion to throw the ball forward but it slips out of your hand before your arm comes forward it should be ruled a fumble as opposed to an incomplete pass. This is the kind of blown call that made Ed Hochuli (in)famous earlier this season when Jay Cutler clearly fumbled a ball, but Hochuli blew the whistle and called it an incomplete pass/dead play. That is the only time that that kind of play is NOT reviewable. Any time the zebras say a play is dead it is, even if shouldn't be. An example would be the Arizona/Philly playoff game where the ball never went out of bounds, but the blind ref said that it did which makes HIM right even though every replay showed he was incorrect and it should have been a fumble/recovered kick for the Cards.

[ROZAY]

Alright then, thanks.

Anyway, it was a great game. Not as great as last years, but a great game nonetheless and has actually made me more of a football fan. Outside watching the Eagles since I live in Philadelphia now and these Philly guys are crazy about them, the Giants and the Lions ( ) being my two hometown teams, all I really watch is the playoffs and superbowl and they surely didn't disappoint.

Edit: Thanks naiwf for clearing that up as well. I remember that happening in the Cardinals/Eagles game, and I knew that something similar happened earlier in the season in a Broncos game and the play was blown dead and ruled an incomplete pass, so that's where my confusion came from. I believe it was against the Chargers, right?

I'm still not sure on what exactly should have been ruled, but I guess that doesn't really matter now anyway. What's done is done.

Edited February 2, 2009 by The Aztec Warrior