DETROIT — Matt Hasselbeck angrily unsnapped his chin strap with a hard flick of his right wrist. Steelers linebacker Joey Porter then added to his anger by taunting Hasselbeck from behind.
Seconds earlier, the Seahawks quarterback’s wrist had flicked something worse — perhaps the worst throw of his Pro Bowl season.
A woefully overthrown pass far beyond Darrell Jackson’s arms landed in Ike Taylor’s near the Pittsburgh 15, killing Seattle’s chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Super Bowl.
But that wasn’t the Seahawks’ only lost opportunity in their 21-10 loss to the Steelers. It just happened to be the last one.
The Seahawks’ wondrous, record-setting season ended somewhere beneath an avalanche of mistakes and missed opportunities.
Four crucial penalties. Two missed field goals by Josh Brown. Three dropped passes, all by tight end Jerramy Stevens — the co-creator of last week’s only controversy with Porter. A catch on the goal line with only one foot inbounds. Two calls by the officials that Seattle will be debating all winter, spring and summer.
That mess directly resulted in 18 lost points _ including a disputed Steelers touchdown — two lost first downs, 176 lost yards.
And one, bitterly lost Super Bowl.
Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, a loser for the second time in three games as a Super Bowl head coach, spent most of his frustrating night on the sideline expressionless or with his arms crossed across his chest.
But Holmgren, denied in becoming the first coach to win Super Bowls with two teams, was in full boil late in the second quarter.
He and his staff still believe Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did not get the ball to touch the goal-line plane on his 1-yard score with 1:55 left in the second quarter that put the Seahawks behind for good, 7-3.
Referee Bill Leavy upheld the call after a replay review. Holmgren then upbraided Leavy on his way off the field at halftime.
Holmgren walked over to Leavy, a fifth-year referee calling his first Super Bowl, and could be seen angrily telling him, “It wasn’t even close.”
But the rest of the Seahawks’ night was.
The Seahawks had three crucial penalties in the first half, which cost them 69 yards, a first down and a touchdown. The first flag was right guard Chris Gray holding Pittsburgh’s James Farrior. That negated Jackson’s 18-yard, third-down catch to the Steelers 23. Seattle punted two plays later.
On the Seahawks’ next drive, Jackson was called for pushing Chris Hope away as he broke to catch Hasselbeck’s pass in the back of the end zone. Replays showed Jackson extended his arm, but Jackson argued vainly there was no push involved. Seattle settled for Brown’s 47-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead — instead of a 7-0 one.
The third flag came while Peter Warrick returned a punt 34 yards to the Pittsburgh 46. Recently elevated practice-squad player Etric Pruitt’s holding penalty cost Seattle 29 yards, as the Seahawks began a fruitless drive at their own 25 instead.
And on the last drive of the first half, Jackson got only one foot inbounds near the goal-line pylon while making a catch on Seattle’s next-to-last play. Brown pushed a 54-yard field goal wide right on the next play after the incompletion.
The second half brought more Seahawks frustration.
Officials flagged first-year starting right tackle Sean Locklear for holding when Stevens did finally catch a pass, a 17-yard grab at the Steelers 2 with 12:11 left and Seattle trailing 14-10. On the next play, Casey Hampton bowled through Pro Bowl blockers Robbie Tobeck and Steve Hutchinson for a sack.
One play after that, Hasselbeck threw his game-breaking interception to doom Seattle’s last chance of the game and of a suddenly lost season.
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