Referees Ruined Superbowl 40

Superbowl 40, between the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers, will always be remembered more for the referees than anything else because the referees never gave Seattle a legitimate chance to win.The officiating bias had a devastating effect on the game. The reason it had such a strong affect on the game was because it was completely one-sided. While we can expect an occasional mistake from officials, we cannot expect repeated mistakes going against the same team, and nothing harmful to the other team. We also cannot expect so many mistakes at critical times, like scoring opportunities and third down conversions.The bias was amazingly subtle because many bad calls involved “judgment calls,” like holding and pass interference. There is some holding on every play, and usually some incidental contact that could be called passing interference on most pass plays. Numerous questionable calls on Seattle, as well as blatant fouls by Pittsburgh that were ignored, profoundly influenced the game. Sometimes the refs have a “let them play” attitude and only call clear violations. Other times, they want to keep the game under control and make strict calls. They can be at either extreme, or somewhere in between. Nobody can argue as long as the calls are consistent for both teams, but we will see that the discrepancy in this game is self-evident when we thoroughly analyze the game.There is some incidental holding between linemen battling on every play, which is okay when the players are engaging each other. But when the defensive player is no longer engaged, the offensive player must not hold. We will see several examples of Seattle players letting up when defensive players turn away and STILL get called for holding. On the other hand, Pittsburgh players continue to hold when the defensive player is no longer battling them and the referees ignored it. The more you analyze the game, the more you see the double standard.One of the more famous bad calls was the offensive pass interference call on Darrell Jackson:http://www.wordonly.net...That was an inexcusable call! Now let's compare the "objectivity" of the officiating on that play with this play in the third quarter:http://www.wordonly.net...Because of this penalty, Seattle had to settle for a field goal, instead of a touchdown.At this point, Pittsburgh had no first downs. Seattle kicks off to them, and they again cannot pick up a first down, and have to punt. On this punt, Seattle gets a good return, to the Pittsburgh 46. But again, there is a questionable penalty. In fact, the camera crew does not even find the actual penalty. Notice that the referee says, "Ten yards from the spot of the foul." Yet when the replay tries to show holding, it is showing action at the Pittsburgh line of scrimmage, at their own 20 yard line. This took place immediately after the punt, while the ball was still in the air. This was a very nit-picky hold, that would only get called on Seattle this day by these refs. We will see several worse violations by Pittsburgh that are ignored by the refs.If they mark the penalty from the spot of this foul(sic), Seattle would start at the Pittsburgh 30, in better shape than the actual return. So this was not the penalty called by the officials.Since Seattle started near the 25 yard line, then the penalty must have occurred near the 35 yard line. There is some action near the 35 yard line, by Pruitt (35) who was called for the penalty. I have made annotations of the blocking, to try and spot a foul, but I don't see anything. Whatever happened on that play was much less than some ignored violations by Pittsburgh that I will show later. Here is the play:http://www.wordonly.net...This penalty cost Seattle 30 yards of field position. At this point, Seattle has completely dominated Pittsburgh, Seattle has moved the ball well. They scored a touchdown, but had to settle for a field goal because of a terrible call. Pittsburgh had not even picked up a first down in the game. After the touchdown, Seattle kicks off and Pittsburgh again fails to get a first down and they have to punt. Momentum is totally on Seattle's side, and they get a great return into Pittsburgh territory, and get another bad penalty.Seattle should be way ahead by now, but the referees are keeping Pittsburgh in the game!Finally, Pittsburgh gets going and scores a touchdown. However, Pittsburgh would not have scored if the refs had been as nit-picky with them as they had been with Seattle. Here is a holding violation that is usually called, but since the refs had a "let them play" attitude for Pittsburgh, they ignored it.http://www.wordonly.net...This enabled them to convert a critical third down on their touchdown drive. But an even more blatant hold was ignored on Ben's "touchdown." Leroy Hill (56) would have tackled Ben around the two, but got held by Fanaika (66). This was a blatant violation that should have been called even with a "let them play" approach. Hill was clearly by him and Faneca grabs him from behind with his left arm. This is NOT a "judgment" call; it is penalty no matter how liberal the officiating.http://www.wordonly.net...So many people argue about whether or not Ben crossed the goalline, but that is irrelevant. The play should have been moved back ten yards for holding. It was third and two, so this would have made it third and 12. But, as expected, the refs ignored it. So far, Seattle has dominated Pittsburgh, but has had a touchdown called back because of a terrible penalty, and a punt return brought back 30 yards on a holding penalty that cannot be found on camera. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has a scoring drive that was helped along by the refs ignoring violations.It is interesting to listen to the commentary at halftime. There are two overriding themes to their discussion. One is how they all agreed that the offensive pass interference penalty was terrible. Another thing is how they were mystified at how much Seattle dominated Pittsburgh and yet they were behind. http://www.wordonly.net...So far, the refs are the MVPs for Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, it doesn't get any better in the second half, which I will show in the next round.Now I await a response. Thank you.