Pro Sports Press: Super Bowl XLIII- Steelers win in Santonio Show

Super Bowl XLIII- Steelers win in Santonio Show
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Pro Sports Writer on 01 February, 2009 01:16:00
 
First of all, let’s get one thing out of the way. This was a great game.
Great effort by the Cardinals, and even greater victory for the now 6-time super
bowl champion Steelers. We’re suckers for last second come backs, and big
catches, but come on Mr. Goodell. To say this game tops last year’s Super
Bowl is an insult to NFL fans, the New York Giants, and yes, the New England
Patriots. We know you want to promote your product, but don’t cheapen it
by comparing it to Super bowl XLII.
Now that we have that out of the way, we can talk about the game. Pittsburgh did
exactly what we expected them to do. Whether Pittsburgh was the better team
tonight is debatable, but at the end of the day, its 27-23 Pittsburgh Steelers,
and that certainly makes them the better team.
They had everything Arizona lacked. Sure Kurt Warner has been there before, but
they showed they were a team that wasn’t yet ready. The Steelers showed
the poise, the confidence, and made the big plays. That along with a little bit
of luck makes for memorable nights and Super Bowl victories.
The Steelers came out firing on all cylinders, making a 75 yard drive in the
first 5 minutes of the game. With 3rd down on the 1 yard line, in a play
reminiscent to Super bowl XL, Ben Roethlisberger made a scrambling dash for the
end zone. It looked good as the men in stripes signaled touch down, but was
quickly called back after being challenged by Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt.
The Steelers ended up with a field goal as the Cardinals dodged a bullet on the
opening drive. With 14:09 left in the 2nd quarter, short-yardage back Gary
Russell brought it in for the first touchdown of the game. After the extra
point, the score stood at 10-0 Pittsburgh.
All signs were pointing towards Arizona getting embarrassed. The Steelers were
dominating the game. They had complete control. Arizona couldn’t start up
their offense. Larry Fitzgerald hadn’t yet made a catch. The Steelers had
double coverage on him seemingly all night. He was being shadowed hard by Troy
Polamalu.
The Cardinals finally made their first break through of the game on the
subsequent drive to the Steelers’ touchdown. Kurt Warner brought the ball
down 87 yards before making a 1 yard touchdown pass to TE Ben Patrick.
Arizona-7, Pittsburgh-10.
At the end of the half with the score still standing at 10-7, in what went on to
be perhaps the deciding play of the game, Kurt Warner through an interception at
the Pittsburgh 1. The pass was intended for receiver Anquan Boldin, but never
made it to its intended target as James Harrison picked it clean and took it
back a 100 yards as time expired to give the Steelers a 17-7 lead going into the
second half. He showed why he’s the defensive player of the year.
It was a decisive play as it would have given the Cardinals the lead if the pass
made it to Boldin, but instead padded the Steelers lead and deflated the
Cardinals going into half time. It could have been a 14-10 Cardinal lead, but
Harrison’s 100 yard run, beating and juking defenders all the way to the
end zone made it 17-7.
The Cardinals weren’t able to accomplish anything in the 3rd quarter
offensively, but it was their defense that came up big, and perhaps inspired the
4th quarter comeback. They gave up a field goal at the end of the quarter to
make it Steelers 20, Cardinals 7, but it’s the fact that they only gave
up the field goal is what’s impressive.
With first down at the Arizona  5 yard line, the Steelers were poised to score
another touchdown, and put the finishing touch on their 2nd Super Bowl in 4
years, but the Arizona defense was ready. They made three key stops pushing the
Steelers back to the 9 yard line. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin sent out the
field goal unit. The field goal was good, but brought back. Arizona defensive
leader Adrian Wilson made what could have been the bone-head play of the game.
Unnecessary roughness- 5 yard penalty- First Down Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh was given three more chance to score from the now 4 yard line after
the 5 yard penalty. In an uplifting performance by the Arizona defense, they
took Wilson off the hook, and shut down the Steelers with three more big plays.
Tomlin once again sent out the field goal unit. The FG was good.
Steelers-20, Cardinals-7. The Cardinals were down 13, but were now confident and
hopeful of a 4th quarter run after the exhilarating, Super Bowl caliber
performance by the defense. Now it was the offense’s turn to go out and
put up some points.
We had by then accepted that it was going to be a one-sided Super Bowl. Oh well.
You can’t have two great Super Bowls in-a-row.
Then Larry Fitzgerald happened. It’s as simple as that. No disrespect to
Randy Moss, but Fitzgerald is easily the most dynamic receiver in the game
today.
And when he wakes up, be afraid.
Fitzgerald made his first touchdown catch with 7:41 left in the 4th quarter.
Steelers-20, Cardinals-17.
After another quick stop by the defense, Kurt Warner came out smelling blood.
Arizona started on their 36 yard line. With 2:58 left in the game, Arizona had
to take it 64 yards. On first down, Warner tried to hit Boldin through the
middle, but the pass was knocked down.
2:47 left. Then came the big play.
With no safety in the deep, Fitzgerald came inside, curled, and cut back through
the middle. Warner hit him in stride. The defense had no shot. Fitzgerald was
gone, and there are not many people in the NFL that can catch him.
Cardinals-23, Steelers-20.
The Cardinals had stunned the world. They were 2 minutes away from winning their
first Super Bowl in 62 years, proving fairy tales do come true.
But then this is the Super Bowl we’re talking about. It couldn’t
end like that. The Steelers weren’t going to have it. As the Steelers
were going down the field with 2 minutes left, and a 3 point deficit, people
started screaming overtime. Well my friend, Super Bowls don’t go to
overtime. It’s just the way it is.
What resulted was a drive that would make Eli Manning and the Giants proud.
After having a sub-par game, Ben Roethlisberger showed what Super Bowl Champions
are made of. He made all the big plays down the stretch.
In the last 2 minutes of the game, Santonio Holmes made arguably the biggest
impact of any receiver in Super Bowl history. He made big catch after big catch.
Pittsburgh 12-yard line- (1st Down-20 yards)
-2:24- Roethlisberger passes short right to Holmes. 14 yard pick-up.
Pittsburgh 26-yard line- (3rd Down- 6 yards)
-1:56- Roethlisberger passes short right to Holmes. 13 yard pick-up.
Arizona 46-yard line- (2nd down- 6 yards)
-1:02- Roethlisberger passes short right to Holmes. 40 yard pick-up
Arizona 6-yard line- (2nd down- 6 yards)
-0:42- Roethlisberger passes short right to Holmes. 6 yard pick-up. TOUCH DOWN.
Steelers-27, Arizona-23.
As Rafael Nadal said to Roger Federer this morning- Game, set, and match.
With 0:35 seconds left on the clock, the Cardinals came out to make a token
attempt to pull out another miracle, but it was over.
Santonio Holmes made one of the biggest catches you will ever see. I know
you’re a little used to hearing that, especially after David
Tyree’s helmet grab last year, but this truly was a great catch. Go up
and read the catch recap for Holmes on the last drive. See something that sticks
out in every pass? ‘Roethlisberger passes short right to Holmes.’
This time the Cardinals were ready. They had three players surrounding Holmes as
he cut through the end zone going right. Roethlisberger still threw it up there.
He had confidence in his man, and yeah, you guessed it. Holmes brought it down,
and managed to keep his feet inbounds. The look on Fitzgerald’s face said
it all. ‘Oh no’. Yes Larry, it’s over.
For his trouble, Mr. Holmes gets to take home the Super Bowl MVP trophy, not to
mention a new diamond ring.
36-year-old Pittsburgh coach, Mike Tomlin becomes the youngest coach in NFL
history to win a Super Bowl. He summed it up perfectly. “Steeler football
is 60 minutes. It’s not gonna be pretty or perfect, but they have a great
deal of belief in each other and a great deal of resolve.”
The Steelers defense wasn’t great tonight. Other than the interception to
Harrison, Warner picked the defense apart. The rush that was expected from the
Steelers came only in spurts. Give credit to the Cardinal Offensive line.
Warner showed he’s a veteran, and did everything right. His connections
with Fitzgerald in the 4th quarter should have won the game for him, but they
didn’t.
Warner finished with 377 passing yards, throwing 3 touchdowns and 1
interception. Larry Fitzgerald caught 2 TDs and went for 127 yards on 7 catches.
After the game, Warner praised the Steelers, “Obviously it’s
disappointing to lose after coming so close to being World Champions, but they
deserve to be champs.” “I tip my hat to them”, added
Fitzgerald.
Sadly Warner will only be remembered for his interception to Harrison, but he
showed he deserves to be in the Hall-of-Fame one day. Steelers’ defensive
coordinator Dick LeBeau was proud of his Defensive Player of the Year.
“Without James Harrison, we don’t win this game”.
In the end the Steelers stole this Super Bowl, but that’s what great
teams do. The resolve it takes to win is the difference between a champion and a
loser, but in no way or form are the Cardinals losers tonight. They played hard,
and with a little luck and a play here or there, they could have won. They
should be proud of the way they played.
Their coach Ken Whisenhunt said it best. "I'm disappointed for our team. This is
a group of men I'm really proud of. They played very hard in circumstances where
nobody believed in them but themselves."
On this night though, the Steelers are champions. Ben Roethlisberger becomes the
2nd youngest quarter back in NFL history to win multiple Super Bowls, and
it’s safe to say, this probably won’t be his last. He
doesn’t always make the pretty plays, but he gets it done, and does what
he has to do to win the game. The grit Roethlisberger plays with is evident in
both Super Bowl XL and XLIII.
Roethlisberger finished with 256 passing yards throwing 1 TD and 1 interception,
but tonight was the Santonio show. Santonio Holmes grabbed 9 catches for a game
high 131 receiving yards, and oh yeah. He grabbed the game winning touchdown.
This couldn’t get any better. This is exactly what the Super Bowl is. It
is exactly the reason millions of people are watching, not only in the United
States, but around the world. It is exactly the reason the cost of a 30 second
commercial during the Super Bowl costs $3 million. Just when you think you
can’t have anymore miracles, anymore thrills, we get Super Bowl XLIII.
Let’s see what Super Bowl XLIV has in store.
From Pro Sports Press, Steelers 27, Arizona 23. Good night, and have a nice time
getting to work tomorrow.
The Steelers have now won the most Super Bowls in NFL history with 6:
Super Bowl IX- 01/12/1975- Pittsburgh Steelers(16) – Minnesota Vikings(6)
Super Bowl X- 01/18/1976- Pittsburgh Steelers(21) – Dallas Cowboys(17)
Super Bowl XIII- 01/21/1979- Pittsburgh Steelers(35) – Dallas Cowboys(31)
Super Bowl XIV- 01/20/1980- Pittsburgh Steelers(31) – Los Angeles
Rams(19)
Super Bowl XL- 02/05/2006- Pittsburgh Steelers(21) – Seattle Seahawks(10)
Super Bowl XLIII- 02/01/2009- Pittsburgh Steelers(27) – Arizona
Cardinals(23)