TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - The winning play of the Super Bowl 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 with 35 seconds left that
gave 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.
This thriller certainly matched last year's upset of the New
England Patriots by the New York Giants that ended with Plaxico
Burress' TD catch - with 35 seconds left, too.
But this one was even wilder. As the seconds ticked away, a
kneeling Roethlisberger held coach Mike Tomlin's hand as 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), winning their second Super Bowl in 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 All-Pro receiver Larry Fitzgerald in stride for a
64-yard touchdown with 2:37 left. Already owning a slew of
postseason receiving marks this year, Fitzgerald sped down the
middle of the field, watching himself outrun the Steelers on the
huge video screen.
Fitzgerald could only watch from the sideline as Roethlisberger
engineered a 78-yard drive to win it 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 it 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
'05 seasons.
The stunning swings overshadowed Pittsburgh linebacker James
Harrison's record 100-yard interception return for a touchdown to
end the first half. That looked like the signature play until the
final quarter, when both teams shook off apparent knockout punches
to throw haymakers of their own.
Big Ben and Holmes struck the last blow, and when Warner fumbled
in the final seconds, the Cardinals' dream of winning their first
NFL crown since 1947 were gone.
"I said it's now or never, I told the guys all the film study
you put in doesn't matter unless you do it now," Roethlisberger
said. "I'm really proud of the way they responded."
The Cardinals (12-8), playing in their first Super Bowl and
first championship game of any kind since 1948, lost their
composure after Harrison's heroics. They had three penalties to
keep Pittsburgh's 79-yard drive going, a 16-play march that ended
with Jeff Reed's 21-yard field goal for a 20-7 lead.
And they couldn't get Fitzgerald free until very late. But boy
did he get free.
The All-Pro who already had set a postseason record for yards
receiving and had five touchdowns in the playoffs was a nonentity
until an 87-yard fourth-quarter drive he capped with a leaping
1-yard catch over Ike Taylor. He made four receptions on that
series on which Warner hit all eight passes for all the yards.
And then he struck swiftly for the 64-yarder that put Arizona
within minutes of a remarkable victory - a victory that never came
because of the resilience of this Steelers team.
"I'm disappointed for our team," said Cardinals coach Ken
Whisenhunt, the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh when the
Steelers won the 2005 title. "This is a group of men that I'm very
proud of. They played very hard in circumstances where nobody
believed in them.
"We learned a lot about our team, it's just unfortunate it had
to come out that way."
Pittsburgh looked like the offensive juggernaut to open the
game, smoothly driving 71 yards in eight plays. But the 72nd yard
that would have given the Steelers a touchdown never came.
It looked like it had when Roethlisberger's short run was ruled
a TD. Whisenhunt challenged, and the score was overturned, leaving
Tomlin his first difficult decision.
He took the points, Reed's 18-yard field goal, the shortest in a
Super Bowl since 1976.
After forcing a punt, the Steelers kept the ball the remainder
of the first quarter - 11:28 in all, outgaining Arizona 140-13,
getting seven first downs to one for the Cardinals. As Warner and
the usually potent Cardinals' offense watched, frustrated, from the
sideline, Pittsburgh plowed it in on Gary Russell's 1-yard run to
make it 10-0.
When Arizona finally got the ball back, it knocked the Steelers
off balance with short passes - and one huge play.
Warner, handed the NFL Man of the Year trophy just before
kickoff, then hit Anquan Boldin streaking from left to right. He
was upended at the Pittsburgh 1, and Warner's lob to Ben Patrick
got Arizona on the board. It was the tight end's first touchdown
this season.
Arizona's defense then emulated the Steel Curtain with a big
play. Bryan Robinson tipped Roethlisberger's pass high into the air
and Karlos Dansby corralled it at the Pittsburgh 34. The Cardinals
got to the 1, then, perhaps jealous, the Steelers' D asserted
itself - magnificently.
Harrison, the defensive player of the year, stepped in front of
Boldin at the goal line, picked off Warner's throw and began a
journey down the right sideline that ended as the longest play in
Super Bowl history.
Harrison ran past or through most of the Cardinals, nearly
stepped out of bounds at one point, and was dragged down by
Fitzgerald as he fell to the goal line. The play was reviewed as
several Cardinals knelt on one knee, exhausted from the chase and
disheartened by the result.
"Those last couple of yards were probably tougher than anything
I've done in my life, but probably more gratifying than anything
I've done in football," Harrison said.
"I didn't see him around my offensive line," Warner said. "He
made a great play and a great run to get them a touchdown."
The previous longest play was Desmond Howard's 99-yard kickoff
return for Green Bay in 1997.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
