A Steel City Six Pack

A Steel City Six Pack

For the second year in a row now, football fans across the nation were treated to one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever played. It had it all. Comebacks, drama, overturned calls, amazing catches, and even game winning drive at the end as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 in Super Bowl XLIII. The two teams contrasted each other so well.

There were the hard hitting Steelers, who win with a bruising defense and a hard nose run the ball offence. They were playing for their now league leading 6th Super Bowl victory. Then there were the Cardinals, who were playing for their 6th playoff win in team history. The Cardinals came in with a Quarterback who had an MVP caliber season in Kurt Warner, two Pro Bowl receivers in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, and an offence that had been throwing the ball all around the field this season.

The game was thrilling from start to finish, caped off with a 6 yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds left in the game to go up 27-23. Holmes, who is enjoying himself a Disney World right now, was named Super Bowl XLIII for his 9 catches for 131 yards, and 1 game winning touchdown catch. The catch was as good if not better than the David Tyree helmet pinning catch from last years Super Bowl. Roethlisberger found Holmes behind three Arizona defenders in the back corner of the endzone and Holmes was somehow able to keep both feet in and bring the ball down for the go ahead score.

The Cardinals played an amazing football game, no player more impressive than Larry Fitzgerald. He was quiet for the first half but he came back in the second half catch two touchdowns in the forth quarter to lead the Cardinals comeback in the forth. He gave Arizona the lead 23-20, after trailing by as many as 13, with a 64 for yard catch and run up the middle of the field with 2:37 left in the forth. Maybe, even more impressive was the 1 yard touchdown catch he made on a fade route in the back corner of the endzone to bring the Cardinals within six points at the 7:33 mark of the forth quarter.

Ben Roethlisberger could have been named MVP for his performance. He completed 21 of 30 passes for 256 yards and that game winning drive and touchdown pass. What does not show up on the stat sheet is what put him apart from Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner. Roethlisberger made plays time and time again to help his team win the game. Numerous times throughout the game he had to improvise and scramble out or around the pocket to extend a play and try to find someone open. He was for the most part successful at it.

That is something Kurt Warner could not do. Yes, his stat sheet is very impressive. He was 31-43 for 377 yards, and three touchdowns. However, he was not mobile enough to make the plays that Roethlisberger did. He was sacked twice but hit even more. He also threw one very important interception. Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison intercepted Warner on the last play of the first half, and ran it back 100 yards for a Pittsburgh 17-7 lead. Warner had two turnovers, none more costly than the last one with 15 seconds left in the game. Warner was hit by Steelers linebacker Lamarr Woodley and fumbled the ball. Pittsburgh’s Brett Keisel recovered the ball to seal the fate of the game.

That fumble by Warner will be remembered by Cardinal fans for the rest of time. With that fumble he dropped not just a ball, but also a chance for Cardinal fan to not be associated with losing anymore. It will also be remembered for what did not happen. The play was never reviewed. In that situation under those circumstances that play had to be reviewed. The referees dropped the ball on that. The play actually looked like Warner was passing the ball and had it been overturned; Arizona would have had another chance to score that game winning touchdown. It stings Cardinal fans even more because of the 15 yard penalty against the Steelers that would have put Arizona on Pittsburgh’s 31 yard line. That would have given the Cardinals a legitimate chance at taking a few shots at the endzone and winning the game. But the referees blew it.

That is not taking anything away from what Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers did on Sunday night. That last drive by the Steelers will go down in history as one of the greatest moments in Super Bowl history as well as the catch that caped the drive by Santonio Holmes. This was truly one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played. It is in the same category as last year’s Super bowl between the Giants and Patriots, or Super Bowl XXXIV between the Titans and Rams, where the Titans came up a yard short. The last drive will be compared to John Elway’s drive with the Broncos to win Super Bowl XXXIII. It was a drive that will be remembered forever, and a drive that gave Pittsburgh one for the other hand.