Steelers earn sixth Super Bowl victory in thriller over Cardinals
Associated Press - From NFL.com
Associated Press - From NFL.com
TAMPA, Fla. -- The winning play in Super Bowl XLIII was right out of a schoolyard.
Scamble right, scramble left, find someone open.
The perfect unscripted ending to a game of improbable swings.
Their Steel Curtain shredded, Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes improvised the 6-yard touchdown pass with 35 seconds left to give the Pittsburgh Steelers a record-setting sixth Super Bowl victory, 27-23 over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night.
"Great players step up in big-time games to make plays," said Holmes, the game's MVP. He said he told Roethlisberger that he "wanted to be the guy to make the plays for this team."
And he was.
Holmes grabbed the ball with both arms stretched fully above his head in the back right corner of the end zone, his toes barely dragging inbounds. He fell, sat up and cradled the ball like the prize it was.
This thriller certainly matched last year's Super Bowl, which ended with New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress' TD catch -- with 35 seconds left, too.
But this one was even wilder. With the last tension-packed seconds ticking away, a kneeling Roethlisberger held Steelers coach Mike Tomlin's hand as Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner led one last, but futile, drive.
"These guys just don't blink," Tomlin said. "They deliver. It's never going to be pretty or perfect, if you will, but they have a great deal of resolve."
The Steelers (15-4), who won their second Super Bowl title in the last four seasons, led 20-7 in the fourth quarter, only to see Warner and the Cardinals stage a remarkable rally to go in front 23-20 with 2:37 remaining.
Warner hit Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald in stride for a 64-yard touchdown pass with 2:37 left. Already owning a slew of playoff receiving marks this year, Fitzgerald sped down the middle of the field, watching himself outrun the Steelers' defense on the huge video screen.
But Fitzgerald could only watch from the sideline as Roethlisberger engineered a 78-yard drive to win the Super Bowl in what resembled Heinz Field South. With waves of twirling Terrible Towels turning Raymond James Stadium into a black-and-gold tableau -- Steelers fans supporting their beloved team, the economy be damned -- Pittsburgh's offense rescued the title.
"I knew it was a touchdown 100 percent," Holmes said, even though the play had to withstand a video review. "My feet never left the ground. All I did was stand up on my toes and extended my hands."
And hauled in the pass that punctuated another Pittsburgh championship, adding to those won in the 1974, '75, '78, '79 and 2005 seasons.
