I try to think of penalties in terms of the percentage of times that I think an action will be called a penalty.

On the lost touchdown, I think that was a 10% penalty. Most of the time, when an offensive player makes contact like that, the ball isn't in the air and it goes uncalled. When it is in the air, I think it's about 10%.

But if you factor in that it was right in front of the official and that the officials seemed to be more concerned about offensive pass interference than usual (it was called against Pittsburgh later in a less consequential play), then I think it rises to 30 or 40%.

On the holding call, I think that one was a 60% call. It wasn't so blatant as to be called all the time, but it was an illegal hold that stopped a clear sack. I think that many of the times it goes uncalled is because the offense didn't gain real advantage from it.

So, Seattle lost a 30% call and a 60% call on plays that would have otherwise been significantly to their advantage. Disappointing, perhaps, but no cause for conspiracies.

The did, of course, get jobbed on Hasselbeck's tackle/block, but that didn't turn the game as much.

Hard for the Steeler fans to boo Joe Montana when he didn't show up for the celebration...At least, according to Mike and Mike on ESPN, who spent most of the time I listened to them this AM criticizing Montana for being a no-show, apparently because he didn't get a guarantee of $100K in appearance money for the week from the NFL.

On the refereeing--I think that the offensive pass interference call HAS to be called, because even if it does look pretty ticky-tack on the replay, the reality is that that kind of contact (stiff arm to defender while THE BALL IS IN THE AIR, headed in the opposite direction from the defender) makes it virtually impossible to defend a receiver otherwise. His bad luck for doing it right in front of the refs, but when they see it they should call it.

The holding penalties against the Seahawks did seem a little weak/questionable, but whatever. I really thought the Seahawks would score 30+ points against the Steelers, and when you look at the stats from the game it seems like they should have, but they never got a big play (that wasn't called back) and every drive seemed to stall due to penalties or failed 3rd down conversions, and they ended up with missed FGs or punts. I still think that if they played the game again in 2 weeks, I'd put my money on the Seahawks.

Of course, maybe Roethlisberger would have a decent game the second time around...

King, I can't believe you haven't mentioned how close Papa John's came to giving away all those pizzas. Big Ben threw that pick from the Seattle 7 yard line, and Herndon ran it back all the way to the Pittsburgh 20. It would have been the technicality you were waiting for... an 86+ yard forward pass resulting in a touchdown, even if it was to the other team.

So close and yet so far.

Papa Johns has a promotion if the record for longest touchdown pass by a QB in the Super Bowl is broken. Instead, the record for longest rushing touchdown was broken.

The record for the longest TD pass by a wide receiver was broken too.

I wouldn't say Papa John's necessarily lucked out. They have insurance for these things, and the publicity would have been dynamite, not to mention the potential to win new customers if people actually liked those pizzas, or thought the driver was cute, or whatever.

Maybe someone in the marketing biz can correct me, but I don't think companies who run promotions like the pizza giveaway are crossing their fingers that the goal won't be met.

Even if Reebok was hoping that the QBs in the bogus "challenge" would reach the goal, what was so offensive about that was that Reebok was dangling money in front of charities that were never going to get it, and also that it was trying to polish its charitable reputation without actually doing anything charitable.

I don't think Papa John's promotion had any of that element of dishonesty or cynicism. It was a simple publicity stunt.

Does any one else feel that this is a mediocre champion team? I would argue that this is the worst team to win the Super Bowl since I started watching in 86, with the possible exception of the 1991 Redskins and the 2002 Buccaneers.

And again-- the point isn't that the play fits the letter of the law, its that the penalty goes uncalled all the time. I'll go through the Tivo and I promise I can find 3 other plays in that game with similar situations that don't get called, and if I go through the 11 Bears games I still have on my Tivo I promise I can find 100 other similar plays that don't get flagged. I'm not some lone nut on this either; Madden, Steve Young and a host of other commentators have made the same complaint.

I'd say this was the worst Super Bowl I've ever seen, but the Steelers did go 15-1 last year and would probably have gone about 13-3 this year if Big Ben were healthy all year long. They dominated the top three seeds in their conference, all on the road, then beat the best team from the other conference. I don't think it's fair to say this is not a good team just because they only played well enough to win last night. The Baltimore Ravens are easily the worst Super Bowl winner I can think of.

At the end of the game as Seattle mounted their desperation drive Madden suggested that they get into field goal range, kick it, and then try the onside kick, rather than go all the way for the touchdown. Here's the odd thing: he was absolutely right.

Look, there is no good way to try to come back from an 11-point deficit with two minutes to go, but some ways are smarter than others. If Seattle kicks a field goal when they get to the thirty, and recovers the onside kick, then they have 30 seconds to make a touchdown (give or take). It doesn't sound like much, but keep in mind that you can throw a hail mary from your own 40 yard line and get pretty close to the end zone. You have to be on your opponents' 35 in order to reasonably kick a field goal, and even that distance is pushing the limits. In other words, you can score a last-minute desperation touchdown from much farther away than you can a last-minute desperation field goal.

As I said, none of this probably would have worked, but at least it might have given Seattle a chance at the end.