Niner fans blame the refs.

[Edman]

I respect and give props to the 49ers on a fine effort against the Steelers today. They played them tougher than the Bills and Clowns. But the moment you bring up the refs for reasons why you lost, that respect goes flying straight out the window.

"Typical"? F that. If I were angrier, I'd say F the Niners.

http://forums.49ers.com/messageboard...ad.php?t=34520

[I-Want-Troy's-Hair]

Yeah they are whining in the papers also

Strange ruling mystifies 49ers in loss
By Dennis Georgatos

PITTSBURGH - Coach Mike Nolan won a replay challenge overturning a fumble by tight end Vernon Davis, but the puzzling ruling that came out of it proved damaging for the 49ers in a 37-16 loss Sunday at Pittsburgh.

Davis latched on to the 22-yard pass from Alex Smith an instant before being upended at the Pittsburgh 10-yard line by safety Troy Polamalu, losing the ball after crashing head-first into the ground.

Initially, officials ruled it was Pittsburgh's ball at the 47-yard line after safety Ryan Clark recovered the ball and took it 43 yards the other way. Following the review, the third-down throw to Davis was determined to be an incomplete pass.

In a statement to a pool reporter after the game, referee Gerald Austin said that Davis had not gotten both feet clearly on the ground before being turned over, hitting the ground and losing the ball.

Instead of first-and-goal at the 10 with a chance to pull within four points of the Steelers with a touchdown, the 49ers (2-1) were left with fourth-and-13 at the 32. Joe Nedney came on to kick a 49-yard field goal to make it 17-9 with 4:46 left in the third quarter but the Steelers (3-0) regained the momentum, outscoring the 49ers 20-7 the rest of the way to hand them their first loss of the season.

"It was a big change in the game," said Nolan, who joked bitterly that he had offered his prescription sun glasses to an official after hearing his interpretation. "I thought it was a clear catch-and-down (by contact) but you can't use that as an excuse."

Davis, who suffered a right knee sprain on Polamalu's hit and did not return, was even more emphatic than his coach. Both his shoulder and his elbow hit the ground before the ball came out.

"It should have been a catch. I was stunned," Davis said. " That was a big turning point because we were coming on. We were attacking those guys. We were throwing the ball, running. We were doing well."

Austin said Davis got only one foot down and the toe of his other foot just glanced off the turf before being hit and crashing to the turf.

"You have to be clearly down, and if he goes to the ground, he has to maintain control of the ball," Austin said. "That is the rule of the process of the game, two feet clearly down and if he goes to the ground, he has to hold it."

Pittsburgh Coach Mike Tomlin said the officials' ruling was no surprise.

"When you don't establish possession as a receiver, you have to maintain possession of the ball through contact with the ground," Tomlin said. "He caught it, he got hit, the ball hit the ground, banged out, incomplete pass. Hats off to the officials. They're right as usual."

Not much went right for the 49ers after that.

Ben Roesthlisberger slipped a couple of sacks to keep a drive alive, leading to a 49-yard field goal that started the Steelers' 20-7 fourth-quarter run.

With Frank Gore bottled up - he was held to 39 yards by a Pittsburgh defense that didn't allow a 100-yard rusher for a 28th straight game - and down by 14 points with time running low, the 49ers began putting the ball up.

Smith's first interception of the season followed. Thinking Taylor Jacobs was breaking out, Smith put a pass right into Bryant McFadden's arms, and the Steelers defensive back returned it 50 yards for a touchdown.

The 49ers quarterback, who threw for a season-high 209 yards while completing 17 of 35 throws, went back to Jacobs for a 21-yard scoring pass - his first touchdown pass of the year.

But the Steelers got another score late on Najeh Davenport's 39-yard touchdown run.

The 49ers, foiled in their bid for their first 3-0 start since 1998, actually scored first. Davis turned a short pass from Smith into a 31-yard gain to the Steelers' 14. But two passes to Davis into the end zone fell incomplete, and the 49ers settled for Nedney's 32-yard field goal.

"The pressure was coming," Davis said. "Alex had to let it go and he couldn't land them the way he would normally."

Allen Rossum returned the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, breaking up the middle, eluding a diving tackle by one defender at about the 30 and shooting past Nedney and into the clear. No 49er laid a hand on Rossum in the first kickoff return for a touchdown against San Francisco since Dallas' Woody Danzler went 84 yards on Dec. 8, 2002.

The defense, playing without linebacker Manny Lawson after the linebacker suffered a season-ending knee injury Wednesday in practice, gave the offense another scoring opportunity. Lawson's replacement, Hannibal Navies, broke through to sack Roethlisberger and force a fumble that he recovered at the Pittsburgh 22.

But the 49ers made little headway and Nedney kicked a 22-yard field goal to pull to 7-6.

"We've got to capitalize more," Gore said. "Three points is good but seven is better. Our offense just has to come together. We're not together right now. The defense is doing everything they can out there and we're not matching them at all."

http://www.insidebayarea.com/49ers/ci_6978899

[stillers4me]

waaaaaaaaaaaa............

Several calls went against us. The refs suck. They shall now be known as Beli-Refs.

[TroysBadDawg]

I believe most of the NFL refs suck sewer water. They are weekend refs who are not responsible to anybody but themselves, it appears. They constantly make horrendous calls, and nothing is done but the excuse is made they are human. But most of these calls go one sided. The get them larger televisions for the instant replays but still limit the time they are allowed to look at the replay. But they still have television timeouts to make money, but not to try to correct bad calls. Why is it, the fans can see them, the announcers can see them and replay them on television but the refs can not see them. I guess they wear special glasses, similar to my kids hearing, selective, very selective, when you want them to do something. In the refs case, when you want them to see something properly, that the rest of the world can see.

[polamalufan43]

Somebody call the Wha-ambulance , ref haters and blamers in San Fran, on the double

~PF43

[Edman]

Terrible calls happen all the time. But this time, I think it's magnified thanks to the Seachicken's insessive whining after XL. Now, everyone wants to blame the refs when they lose. Instead of just realizing that bad calls will happen, and you have to keep playing.

Do you realize how many apologies Bill Cowher recieved from the refs back in the 90's from blown calls? Please, do NOT act like this is something new.

[polamalufan43]

Originally Posted by Edman

Do you realize how many apologies Bill Cowher recieved from the refs back in the 90's and from blown calls? Please, do NOT act like this is something new.

Well, I dont think were treating it like something new really.
I personally am just dumbfounded at the fact that it has been going on for so long and the teams that have lost cannot accept that they did. I figure if it's been going on for that long, teams should get over it. Unless the refs make a formal apology like in the Colts/Steelers playoff game. Of course, the teams are going to blame the refs cause they can't think of a better excuse...

~PF43

[Indy_Steelers]

The refs are not the problem. We gave them the ball inside our own 25 and they could not score a TD. That was not the refs fault.

[fansince'76]

Another team that got their asses whipped and they can't handle it. Go figure.

[polamalufan43]

Originally Posted by Indy_Steelers

The refs are not the problem. We gave them the ball inside our own 25 and they could not score a TD. That was not the refs fault.

Ding Ding Ding....we have a winnner.

Today, we won, and were blaming the refs.
I mean come on, be unfair to us! Letting us get a TD when it was clearly out-of-bounds? Ref, how did u not catch that? Gosh, oh, and that play were you called the Db's catch an INT and not a incomplete pass, total garbage.

Yeah, oh well, if they want to whine, they whine. Yes, it annoys the crap outta me, lol.

~Polamalufan43