is to maul the receivers on every play thinkin they'll not call all the penalties. I witnessed it in the Broncos game,  the Pats game and also in the SB.

 

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i get the whole "let them play" thing, but that should have been a call on smith....he had a handful of crabtree's jersey....i do think harbaugh went overboard with his criticism of the refs, but i agree with him that there should have been a flag. however, they had 3 chances to score before that and they didnt move the ball at all.

In response to redsoxfan94's comment:

I think a few things went into that call.  Crabtree was also doing his fair share of pushing off and more importantly the throw was not great.  One could argue it would have been uncatchable had he even gotten there.  Also from the ref's perspective consider that in a few months no one will be talking about that noncall.  Had they made it and SF had won people would still be talking about it 20 years from now.  Heck people still talk about that PI in the Ohio State/Miami NC game and that was what 11 years ago?

and what's wrong with that? Seriously, you're gonna cry about a no-call with time running out?

Maybe the Patriots need to up their game and play up to that level.  Seriously, you make it sound like the Patriots don't do any of that and are "boy scouts"

In response to pcmIV's comment:

the ball doesnt have to be catchable for there to be a holding call....and as for crabtree pushing off, yes he did....because the guy was bear hugging him.

In response to redsoxfan94's comment:

That might be the official rule, but with the SB on the line if you don't think that was a consideration I think you are being naive. The referees are human.

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I hate the Ravens but no one's talking about that late hit on Flacco late in the game that didn't get called either.  Flacco got nailed out of bounds on the far sideline but the refs kept the flags in their pockets, that would have extended the Ravens drive.

SF wasn't singled out, the refs seemed to just let them play.

In response to pcmIV's comment:

well of course, the situation definitely had alot to do with the no-call. im just saying that a holding call could and should have been called.

In response to pcmIV's comment:

That's right. It was a on-call that should have been called. Calling it by the rules is neutral bias. By not calling it, bias favors the beenficiary. Yes, they're human and committed a human error. But that also means people who did not like the non-call has no beef.

SF may or may not have been robbed, but the lesson to be learned is never let yourself get in the position where your only chance to win requires a first down or a score on a 4th down play with less than two minutes left in the game.  If you end up in that position, you have no one but yourself to blame. 

I believe that when the Patriot DBs were mauling Colt receivers, this board overwhelmingly agreed that it was smart preparation by BB.  He recognized that the officials were not prone to calling these penalties in the play-offs.  Now you seem to think there's something wrong with excessive contact...

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god when the refs make calls people complain, when they don't , people complain. I liked that they let the players play and the game wasn't about them. I wish more games were officiated like that (or maybe they just wanted to see Ray Lewis win)

In response to anonymis' comment:

They don't... The Patriots defensive backs are usually too far away from receivers to hold them!

The 49ers playcalling on that final first and goal was horrible. Three straight passes? He admitted that the play were they wasted the timeout was going to be a Kapaernick run, but did not explain why he changed it after the time out or did not call a different running play. 

It is one thing to loft the ball up and hope for a catch or a PI in a regular season game, but using that strategy on what will probably be your last offensive play of the Super Bowl is dumb. If the refs throws the flag for holding, doesn't he also have to call Crabtree for hands to the face? He was shoving Smith in the facemask. Good non-call.

In response to JulesWinfield's comment:

Uh, seems to me the rules changed since the early 2000's. Go check them out. One of the reassons why scorng is UP. You may learn something. Maybe....

In response to jaxpat's comment:

and go for the head