In an incredible and exciting fashion, the Pittsburgh Steelers captured their sixth NFL Championship Sunday night with a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Pittsburgh proved winning is just what its franchise does, winning two Super Bowls in the past four seasons with Ben Roethlisberger under center.’
In the fourth quarter, viewers thought the Cardinals had pulled off an incredible comeback after Larry Fitzgerald’s 64-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Kurt Warner silenced the heavily Steelers-supportive crowd.
The Steelers trailed for the first time, 23-20, with more than two minutes left, but they knew Big Ben would lead them into scoring position. Roethlisburger did just that, leading his team down the field into field goal range, but decided to go for the win.
On first down, Roethlisburger’s pass to the back corner of the endzone on the left side of the field to wide receiver Santonio Holmes fell incomplete.
The same play worked perfectly on second down, only this time it was in the back corner of the endzone on the right side of the field over three Cardinals defenders. The play gave the Steelers a 27-23 lead and secured another Super Bowl victory for the Rooney family.
Holmes, in his second year out of Ohio State University, proved that speed kills. He had nine receptions for 131 yards and the game-winning touchdown reception with 35 seconds left on the clock.
The touchdown catch was a shoestring grab, as Holmes managed to keep both of his feet in bounds. This may have been the greatest play in Super Bowl history.
Holmes deserved the Super Bowl’s Most Valuable Player award. He also had remarkable performances in the playoffs, grabbing a touchdown in every game.
Holmes, Pittsburgh’s No. 2 receiver, had 13 receptions for two touchdowns and returned a punt for a touchdown against San Diego in the divisional round, proving Holmes was a better pick than former Buckeye teammate Ted Ginn Jr. in the 2007 NFL draft.
Holmes joins former Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann and teammate Hines Ward as Super Bowl MVPs.
After falling behind 20-7, the Cardinals scored 16 unanswered points off two Fitzgerald touchdowns and a Steelers safety. Despite this huge shift in momentum, the Steelers proved the Cardinals left them with too much time.
‘ The game started slow, but became quite exciting when the longest play in Super Bowl History occurred. The Cardinals were on the doorstep of taking the lead at the end of the second quarter when Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison made the play of his career.
The linebacker picked off a Warner pass intended for wide receiver Anquan Boldin on the goal line and took it 100 yards in the other direction for a touchdown, giving the Steelers a 17-7 cushion at halftime.
Give the Cardinals and veteran Warner credit for fighting hard and never giving up after proving everyone wrong this season and reaching the Super Bowl despite winning only nine games in the regular season.
Warner had another great Super Bowl, passing for 377 yards and three touchdowns. In Warner’s three appearances, he has delivered the top three individual passing yard performances in Super Bowl history.
Boldin and wide receiver Steve Breaston combined for 14 receptions and 155 yards in the defeat.
Congratulations to Pittsburgh on its sixth Super Bowl championship, the most ever by a team in NFL history.
