DETROIT -- The official assessment from the NFL: "Overall it was a well-officiated game. There's no question about it."
That was the word from Greg Aiello, league spokesman. That doesn't mean it was perfectly officiated. Doesn't mean there weren't mistakes. But the league's official word on the officials the day after the Super Bowl was officially positive.
Now what others were saying Monday was something else entirely. Playing Pittsburgh was going to be tough enough, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren told the crowd that gathered at Qwest Field.
"I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well," Holmgren said.
The circumstances of the penalties called on Seattle made it even more significant.
"All the calls that went against them were just such huge calls," said Tom Jackson, the ESPN analyst who is a former Broncos linebacker. "So did they have a legitimate gripe? I would if I was a Seahawk."
The Seahawks were penalized seven times for 70 yards, tied for the third-most penalty yards in any Super Bowl since 1980 and second-most in the past 10 Super Bowls.
Even that doesn't measure the impact. The penalties nullified one touchdown, two first downs and 86 total yards -- 52 yards receiving and 34 yards of a punt return.
Pittsburgh was penalized three times, none in the second half.