The 49'ers actually benefited since they recovered a subsequent fumble 15 yards or so upfield from where they would have had it on the Bowman play. That said, I agree that: 1) the stripes missed a number of calls, and 2) the outcome was affected more by player errors than the officiating. Letting Baldwin get away for the long pass play when Wilson was running for his life was big as were Kaepernick's miscues. In the end, Kaepernick couldn't make enough plays to overcome his errors. Tough loss for the "D", which was, for the most part, remarkable.

Phantomfan;842265961 said:

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This is just a terribly officiated game. Just flat ridiculous. The NFL should be ashamed to have a championship game officiated like this.

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These officials must have been borrowed from the Pac-12. They were bad.

Golden One;842266522 said:

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These officials must have been borrowed from the Pac-12. They were bad.

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Some of the ticky-tack fouls made me think the Pac-12 refs had somehow gotten themselves on the field for this game.

Phantomfan;842266486 said:

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The roughing the kicker led to a TD...

Especially bad because the roughing injured the kicker, or the 49ers likely would have kicked again.

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I guess I'm saying that even if the roughing the kicker was called, there's no way to predict that SF would have scored.

It's what ifs - either way. The calls - bad or otherwise - didn't affect the outcome.

I think the officiating has been pretty good this year. Remember, these are usually bang bang plays and very hard to judge in real time. With the advent of HDTV and some amazing camera work covering every angle, we are seeing things that the viewer at home simply would never have seen just a few years before.

I will agree that the running into the kicker was a bad call. As far as the fumble, and I could be wrong on this, but the only view that clearly showed Bowman with the football was from the overhead cam. I think every other view just showed a sea of people.

philly1121;842266524 said:

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I guess I'm saying that even if the roughing the kicker was called, there's no way to predict that SF would have scored.

It's what ifs - either way. The calls - bad or otherwise - didn't affect the outcome.

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Well yeah, duh, that's what we have been saying. But you asked why we'd call out bad calls even if the outcome wasn't affected. The answer is that they were still bad and should be called out because they COULD have affected the game -- it was only subsequent events that absolved the refs.

philly1121;842266479 said:

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Why would you call out a "bad call" during a game when those calls had no bearing on the outcome of the game? The push out of bounds had zero bearing on the game and since it was a spot foul, the 49ers still got the ball.

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Actually. Niners would have gotten the ball around their own 37 or so. I believe they had most of their time outs and 20 seconds left. They needed about 30 yards for a fg attempt.
Not out of the question at all.

3 points there changes the game completely.

Mr. Triangle;842266535 said:

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I think the officiating has been pretty good this year. Remember, these are usually bang bang plays and very hard to judge in real time. With the advent of HDTV and some amazing camera work covering every angle, we are seeing things that the viewer at home simply would never have seen just a few years before.

I will agree that the running into the kicker was a bad call. As far as the fumble, and I could be wrong on this, but the only view that clearly showed Bowman with the football was from the overhead cam. I think every other view just showed a sea of people.

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Hard to judge. I think the bigger problem is that the hardest calls to make are split second judgement decisions and instead of using technology to assist in making sure the correct calls are being made the NFL has granted the officials more areas in which they msut make judgement calls.

The worst thing the NFL has ever done was to create the absurd process of the catch interpretation. It has completely made it a judgement call as opposed to the prior method which had much less contraversy and people could conceptualize what was a catch and what wasn't.

The catch process in the end zone makes little sense because a runner in the field of play can cross the goaline and lsoe control of the ball and its a touch down where as player can catch the ball in the end zone put to feet down and then land and lose control and its not a touchdown which is completely contradictory to the first scenario.

There are quite a few other "rules" which have made the game nearly unwatchable.

Given how many rules have been changed to have QBs throw for 5k yards a year the defenses on the field last night would be better than any defenses in the last 25 years including that Ravers D from 2001.

Yeah, I was serious.

I wanted you to articulate your argument, so there could be discussion. Not just bitchin and moanin

sycasey;842266550 said:

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Well yeah, duh, that's what we have been saying. But you asked why we'd call out bad calls even if the outcome wasn't affected. The answer is that they were still bad and should be called out because they COULD have affected the game -- it was only subsequent events that absolved the refs.

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Ok, I'll say it. The refs did NOT affect the outcome of the game. Anything else is speculation and wishful thinking. 49er fans - get over it. You had a great season - but it's over.

You are not allowed to hit a guy with your shoulder if said hit is to the opponent's head, and it was. Not sure what that idiot Aikman was talking about, but Whitner's shoulder/elbow, clearly hit the receiver right in the head, snapping his head back. VERY dangerous play that should be called and in college would lead to an ejection.

philly1121;842266662 said:

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Ok, I'll say it. The refs did NOT affect the outcome of the game. Anything else is speculation and wishful thinking. 49er fans - get over it. You had a great season - but it's over.

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Actually that is speculation too. In fact, we don't know and will never know if they did or didn't. The refs made some bad calls but the Niners probably lost the game because Kap turned the ball over 3 times in the 4th quarter and you simply can't do that against a good defense...The last one was a great play by Sherman, the first 2 were Kaps fault IMO.

philly1121;842266662 said:

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Ok, I'll say it. The refs did NOT affect the outcome of the game. Anything else is speculation and wishful thinking. 49er fans - get over it. You had a great season - but it's over.

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I agree. We did not win the game. Period.

philly1121;842266662 said:

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Ok, I'll say it. The refs did NOT affect the outcome of the game. Anything else is speculation and wishful thinking. 49er fans - get over it. You had a great season - but it's over.

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Again, no one is really disputing the outcome. But thanks for the advice.

sycasey;842266701 said:

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Again, no one is really disputing the outcome. But thanks for the advice.

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No problem. Just trying to help you through the phases of grief.

Phantomfan;842266488 said:

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The thread topic is officiating.

The only disputes that hold water (so far) is that it is OK, because the 49ers would have lost anyway...


So you are agreeing that the officiating was terrible?

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Other than the fumble, it wasn't that bad. The 9ers got some calls their way early on (just as they've gotten most of the calls against Carolina). Roughing/running into the kicker is a fine line and grey zone.

This thread is mostly about 9er fans venting off after a bad loss.

Cal88;842266769 said:

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Roughing/running into the kicker is a fine line and grey zone.

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It actually isn't. If you run into the plant leg like the Seahawks player did it's supposed to be automatic roughing.

Cal88;842266769 said:

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This thread is mostly about 9er fans venting off after a bad loss.

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FWIW, this thread was actually started before the game was over.

You writing idiot posts......that will never change.....

We always notice QBs errors, but there were lots of little errors by many players that added up in this game. Aldon Smith, who made big plays (as did Kap), jumped offside twice in crucial situations that hurt big....can't understand how he continues to do that and can't seem to get this problem fixed. Donte Whitner inexcusably let receiver jog right past him and complete Seahawks first big play of game leading to 3 points. Special teams break down at worst time after Niners had scored 4th quarter TD---you think they'd be fired up to make a big play, but amazingly it looked like no one was even near the return man (Baldwin, I believe?) for 60 or 70 yards. Less major, but still a bonehead play, Crabtree inexplicably fails to go out of bounds on last drive to fight for 3 more yards.....he could have had the same 3 yards and gone out of bounds to save a timeout---this wasted time, wasted a timeout, and I believe, added to the teams urgency just a bit at the end when time was ticking away. They probably would have regrouped and maybe called a better play by taking a timeout when they reached the 20 yard line (just speculation on my part). Finally, coaching was decent, but I still believe Roman's
"innovative" play calling is overrated. He called some beauties, but rarely goes back to these gems after using them once.....instead he plays so close to the vest....I counted about a dozen or so Gore first down up the gut plays, only about 2, maybe 3, that got even decent yardage. Kap constantly faces 2nd and 10, or 2nd and 12.....this does not help against a good defense on the road. It got to the point where I was telling my buddies,
hey, just flip the down marker along the sidelines before you even run the play, just make it 2nd and 10.....sheesh! Oh, how I miss the days of Bill Walsh, who used to routinely scheme first down pass plays that went for 6-7 yards.....much easier to face 2nd and 3 or 2nd and 4......defense was always kept off balance, never knew what was coming. Please excuse me for kicking a dead horse (but the example fits), but Roman play calling too often reminds me of Tedford.....so called complicated playbook, but too predictable,
doesn't use Kap's talents well enough (most of Kap's big plays are improvised), too often plays for field goals (first sequence of playcalling after Smith's big strip and fumble recovery at start of game was atrocious), general lack of imagination. All in all, I guess
I'm saying that, yes, Kap made some mistakes, which he acknowledged and took the blame for, but he also made some great plays. Many mistakes made by others also contributed to this oh-so-close loss (oh, and I forgot to mention the 2 Boldin drops in the first half---hey, I'll cut this guy some slack, though, he made super catches all year, including the TD catch yesterday). If these mistakes had been eliminated, then maybe the Niners are up by 10 in the 4th quarter instead of behind, and Kap doesn't throw his 2 INTs. Obviously, this game could have gone either way, but in the end it was a team loss.

Relax, the league took notice and they are replaying the game instead of the pro bowl this weekend

Davidson;842266813 said:

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Relax, the league took notice and they are replaying the game instead of the pro bowl this weekend

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But I was really looking forward to seeing the Pro Bowl (said no one, ever).

One call I thought was blown that I haven't seen discussed was on Baldwin's big, KO return...I thought there was an obvious hold not called...49er player's jersey was practically pulled up over his helmet, the way hockey players try to get an advantage in a fight.

"Everything evens out." Oh, please, that is a total crock! Just not true. Bad calls too often effect outcome of close games, regardless of who is playing. NFL officiating is too often an embarrassment. And to say it evens out is just being naive.

You are right, though, about calling timeout at the end. And I think Crabtree's decision not to go out of bounds a couple plays before hurt. He could have gained those same 3 extra yards by stepping toward the sidelines. I think this added just a bit to the Niners sense of urgency---they wasted a little time and blew a timeout from his poor decision. If they still have 40+ seconds and 3 timeouts when they reached the 20, I believe there is a good chance they immediately call timeout and regroup and get a decent play called---I was hoping they would set up a play for Vernon Davis over the middle. This is pure speculation on my part, but Crabtree's failure to go out of bounds was a fundamental error (any grade-school kid knows better), and this cost precious seconds and wasted a precious timeout.

The officiating was bad at times, but I didn't think it was as bad or outcome-influencing and Pittsburgh-Seattle, or Green Bay-Seattle, e.g.

Did you guys hear that the head ref -- I forget his name -- reffed college basketball games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights? I'm guessing that the others weren't focused on this game all week, either.

It's stunning to me that a league that takes in this much cake won't pay for full-time officials.

CalBarn;842266808 said:

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We always notice QBs errors, but there were lots of little errors by many players that added up in this game. Aldon Smith, who made big plays (as did Kap), jumped offside twice in crucial situations that hurt big....can't understand how he continues to do that and can't seem to get this problem fixed. Donte Whitner inexcusably let receiver jog right past him and complete Seahawks first big play of game leading to 3 points. Special teams break down at worst time after Niners had scored 4th quarter TD---you think they'd be fired up to make a big play, but amazingly it looked like no one was even near the return man (Baldwin, I believe?) for 60 or 70 yards. Less major, but still a bonehead play, Crabtree inexplicably fails to go out of bounds on last drive to fight for 3 more yards.....he could have had the same 3 yards and gone out of bounds to save a timeout---this wasted time, wasted a timeout, and I believe, added to the teams urgency just a bit at the end when time was ticking away. They probably would have regrouped and maybe called a better play by taking a timeout when they reached the 20 yard line (just speculation on my part). Finally, coaching was decent, but I still believe Roman's
"innovative" play calling is overrated. He called some beauties, but rarely goes back to these gems after using them once.....instead he plays so close to the vest....I counted about a dozen or so Gore first down up the gut plays, only about 2, maybe 3, that got even decent yardage. Kap constantly faces 2nd and 10, or 2nd and 12.....this does not help against a good defense on the road. It got to the point where I was telling my buddies,
hey, just flip the down marker along the sidelines before you even run the play, just make it 2nd and 10.....sheesh! Oh, how I miss the days of Bill Walsh, who used to routinely scheme first down pass plays that went for 6-7 yards.....much easier to face 2nd and 3 or 2nd and 4......defense was always kept off balance, never knew what was coming. Please excuse me for kicking a dead horse (but the example fits), but Roman play calling too often reminds me of Tedford.....so called complicated playbook, but too predictable,
doesn't use Kap's talents well enough (most of Kap's big plays are improvised), too often plays for field goals (first sequence of playcalling after Smith's big strip and fumble recovery at start of game was atrocious), general lack of imagination. All in all, I guess
I'm saying that, yes, Kap made some mistakes, which he acknowledged and took the blame for, but he also made some great plays. Many mistakes made by others also contributed to this oh-so-close loss (oh, and I forgot to mention the 2 Boldin drops in the first half---hey, I'll cut this guy some slack, though, he made super catches all year, including the TD catch yesterday). If these mistakes had been eliminated, then maybe the Niners are up by 10 in the 4th quarter instead of behind, and Kap doesn't throw his 2 INTs. Obviously, this game could have gone either way, but in the end it was a team loss.

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14 yards on 11 carries for Gore... Seattle stuffed the run completely and forced SF to beat them through the pass. CK is a below average pocket passer and couldn't get it done. That's the story in a nutshell.