NEW ORLEANS – In championship games, there are pivotal moments that are decided by officials down the stretch. Clearly, the officiating crew in Super Bowl XLVII didn’t get that memo.
With 1:50 left and the Niners trailing the Baltimore Ravens 34-29 in Super Bowl XLVII, Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick would throw a endzone-fade route to wide receiver Michael Crabtree on fourth down and five from the Ravens five-yard line, who would be clearly held and obstructed by Ravens defensive back Jimmy Smith from making a play.
The pass would end up going incomplete in the corner of the endzone, but not before Niners head coach Jim Harbuagh and many Niners supporters would express their collective outrage at the blatantly missed non-call.
If there was a moment, in which the NFL could validate bringing back the regular officials and not let a post-season game—let alone one of the most thrilling Super Bowls in recent memory be remembered—this moment would be considered Exhibit A.
Forget the 34-minute power outage that would delay the game, nor the near record-setting comeback that the Niners almost completed, this Super Bowl will not go down as Ray Lewis’ swan song, nor the elevation of Joe Flacco into the rarified company of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger into the pantheon of elite NFL quarterbacks.
Instead, this game will go down as one of the most egregiously called games in history, thanks to the virtual mugging and man-handling of Crabtree witnessed by every NFL fan worldwide.
Obviously, if you’re a Ravens fan, you would feel differently about the non-holding call on Smith, but to every football fan outside of the greater Baltimore area, the non-call on Smith is a travesty of justice that ranks alongside the questionable—and still debatable—pass interference call in the 2002 BCS Championship Game between the Miami Hurricanes and Ohio State Buckeyes.
Even the nightmarishly officiated Seattle Seahawks-Pittsburgh Steelers debacle in Super Bowl XL, looks pale in comparison to the inept Jerome Boger-led cadre of zebras, which in itself is truly pathetic.
For once, Roger Goodell cannot be blamed for anything.
They say that life comes full circle in the NFL, and to think that not even one year ago, it was the Ravens who was on the short end of the proverbial stick, thanks to a dropped pass by Lee Evans against the New England Patriots, now fast-forward one year later, and now it is the Ravens who are the benefactors of what can be called football’s version of karma.
Perhaps the “Beyonce Blackout” was a sign from above that snubbing former Ravens owner Art Modell from Canton was a way of exacting a proverbial form of payback, but the football team from the gritty, crime-infested metropolis known as “Charm City” lived up to it’s moniker as the Ravens showed that had a charmed life on the gridiron.
Robert D. Cobb is the Founder/CEO/Senior Editor-In-Chief Of The Inscriber : Digital Magazine, for questions, comments and concerns email me at robcobb@theinscriber.com and follow the Inscriber : Digital Magazine on Twitter at @TheInscriber
I don’t buy it. I don’t think it’s tainted. The no-call was the right thing. It isn’t like Super Bowl XL at least.
Pretty sure Michael Crabtree initiated contact on that 4th down play. Deion Sanders said it himself that it was a good play by Jimmy Smith and that it wasn’t a penalty because Crabtree initiated contact first. That’s the truth.
How did Crabtree initiate the contact? He ran his route and was grabbed he didn’t attempt to use his left hand to push off until after he was bear hugged by Jimmy Smith. Secondly, these calls are made all the time where a wide receiver gets off the line and a cornerback just wraps him up.
By the way contact is allowed between the two players within five yards, grabbing a player is not at any point allowed.
Then the 49ers got away with Bowman mugging Roddy White then huh?
The two aren’t comparable Bowman never impeded the process of the catch
Yeah right. He was grabbing White as the ball was in the air. That’s contact. He held on to him too. Something that you said was illegal regardless of the five yard process.
Let’s not forget Torrey Smith was interfered with earlier in the game when the Ravens were up 14-3 and no flag. If we’re going to be picky on calls that were and weren’t made, we have to be picky on all calls, not just the ones that happened in the 4th quarter.
Bowman and White were in close proximity extremely difficult for a referee to see as White was still able to put a full effort into catching the pass, Crabtree wasn’t afforded that with Smith grabbing from the start of the play.