Amazing game overshadows all the distractions - Kansas City Star 


Usually I'm right there with Jason Whitlock. His takes are nearly always right on: Carl Peterson, Royals ownership, Chiefs quarterbacks, Carl Peterson.

But he's got this one wrong. So much so that I'm not talking about incredible interception returns or the great play calling by the coordinators or the Career Builder commercial, which was by far the best of the lot.

The officals ruined what could have been one of the best SuperBowls of all time.

And it's not just the fumble at the end. It was debatable and the head official should have seen it. But at least it was a real call. The roughing the passer called on Karlos Dansby was a joke. The holding call against Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was one of the worst calls I've ever seen. I mean, this is the Super Bowl. No one wants officials calling ticky-tack penalties in the playoffs, let alone in the game that determines the NFL Championship. Let 'em play.


But if you're not, call it even. The holding no-calls on the Steelers were just as clear as the Cardinals holding calls. The personal foul on James Harrison was rendered 1/30th of its normal effectiveness. Dude got to punch a guy, stay in the game, and his team took a one yard loss for it. Some penalty. The biggest joke of them all came in the fourth quarter. The officials called defensive holding in the secondary (a penalty that happens while the receiver is running his route) after Larry Fitzgerald had caught the ball and had made five steps.

It wasn't just that the penalties were called more often on Arizona. It happens. It just seemed that, save the holding call in the end zone, the penalties were not costly for Pittsburgh. And they were devistating for Arizona.

I went in rooting Cardinals, but I would have been satisfied either way. But when the game was over, I felt animosity toward the Steelers for winning that way—like they were celebrating something they hadn't earned.

Congrats to the Steelers. You had a great season. But the best season? We'll never really know.