The taking of penalties IS the officiating in some cases. Jet. The only bad penalty I saw the Cards commit was that running over the kicker thing. The player should have known better than to take that line if that is the rule.
Really, the Cards got a break when the Steelers only got three points from the opening drive, but there was only one truly bad play that killed them. That Harrison pick-six to end the half was at least a ten point swing if not 14. Of course, the question remains whether or not they would have found their offensive stride in the fourth if they hadn't fallen behind like that.
In any case, the result is the result.
As far as a big halftime show, I sort of agree with you. All season long, there is a structure to a football game. The teams prove they are the best playing within that structure only to show up for the championship game and alter it with an extra-long break for the half. A pre-game or post-game show on a larger scale might be cool to help the fans feel they got their money's worth for the hefty ticket prices, but the excessive halftime celebration isn't necessary.
Anybody see any commercials that they found particularly entertaining? There seemed to be an awful lot of in-your-face sex selling but minimal real creativity. The top three we remember were the potato heads, the Clydesdale in love, and the Cheetos birds.
