Super Bowl XLVIII
Follow us here for rolling coverage of the calls and rules interpretations of Super Bowl XLVIII from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (If you see continue reading below, click it to see the entire feed.)
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Today’s crew is headed by Terry McAulay.
| Yr. | Crew | College | Occupation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 77 | Terry McAulay | 16 | Louisiana State | college officiating coordinator | |
| U | 124 | Carl Paganelli | 14 | Winter | Michigan State | retired federal probation officer |
| HL | 48 | Jim Mello | 10 | Vinovich | Northeastern | facilities manager |
| LJ | 100 | Tom Symonette | 10 | Cheffers | Florida | certified public accountant |
| FJ | 88 | Scott Steenson | 23 | Winter | North Texas | commercial real estate developer |
| SJ | 16 | David Wyant | 23 | Triplette | Virginia | consulting engineer |
| BJ | 133 | Steve Freeman | 13 | Triplette | Mississippi State | custom home builder |
| ALT | R | Clete Blakeman | 6 | Blakeman | Nebraska | attorney |
| ALT | U | Paul King | 5 | Vinovich | Nicholls State | school teacher |
| ALT | LoS | Greg Bradley | 5 | McAulay | Tennessee | chemical engineer |
| ALT | SL | James Coleman | 9 | McAulay | Arkansas | electrical engineer |
| ALT | BJ | Terrence Miles | 6 | Blakeman | Arizona State | quality control manager |
- Replay official: Earnie Frantz
- Replay assistant: Brian Matoren
While I know the best team won and would have won anyway, there was a failure on several occasions of the officials allowing defensive holding and pass interference. Replays clearly showed Seattle defensive backs hitting receivers just before the ball arrived and outright holding in pass routes. Calls against an overly aggressive defense would have kept the game more interesting. Instead, the officials’ lack of calls, certainly in the key times earlier in the game made Seattle’s defense seem more invincible than it actually was. It was lopsided enough that I suspected gambling issues. In reality, a hesitancy to throw the flag just made the game frustrating and boring. Poor job zebras.
Before anyone accuses me of just being a frustrated Bronco fan, actually, I am a huge fan of Russell Wilson. I just wanted a decently called game.
This was reported in SI about the lack of calls during the playoffs.
“Per Pro Football Talk, the NFL sent out a video memo to the media this week in which VP of Officiating Dean Blandino insisted that the “let them play†modus operandi that seemed to rule the day in all four games is not what the league wants.”
It was also reported that the Seahawks had the most pass interference penalties during the regular season. The Hawks got to push the envelope in SB 48. The result was a blowout. Boring night NFL.
Hi Ben,
Good blogging.
One point: you didn’t list (or green highlight) the 3rd quarter Wilson short pass to Jermaine Kearse for a 23-yard touchdown reception through four tackles. Seahawks 36-0. #goHawks
Cheers.