There weren’t any spectacularly awful performances in the Super Bowl, so the Least is a little difficult to determine in this, its final installment of the year. Mike Gandy did get called for three holding calls, but then he was blocking DPOY James Harrison. Clancy Pendergast gets a big fail for the Cards lack of pressure and coverage schemes on the Steelers’ final drive. It could go to the three Cardinals blanketing Santonio Holmes in the end zone, but then Roethlisberger did make an amazing throw.

Then Maj suggested it go to Aaron Francisco for getting roughed up by James Harrison in the 4th quarter, which puts me in a fun position to write about it while pretending not to boast about an obvious foul by one of my favorite players. Lots of people think Harrison should have been ejected and point to him only receiving a personal foul as proof that the refs favored the newly renamed (guh) Sixburgh Steelers.

Then again, on the first play of the second quarter Cardinals defensive end Bryan Robinson punches Chris Kemoeatu after he goes to the ground, then gets up and throws a right hook at Hines Ward, for which he receives no flag. But NBC didn’t grant it a replay and Madden didn’t get all huffy about it so no one seized on the incident as part of some kooky officiating conspiracy (Quoth Punter: “The Steelers will never lose a Super Bowl as long as Goodell and Rooney are both in power”). So, in the end, these things kind of even out.

In conclusion: The Dansby roughing the passer call was the only truly horrible one in the game. Everything else was at worst borderline and bad calls swung both ways. Don’t be gay like Jason Whitlock, Bill Simmons or Punter and blame the refs. The game is over. Let’s get back to the dick jokes.

/dick joke