Line of Scrimmage: Steelers, Cardinals Save Best for Last
Posted: Mon Feb 2 12:39 AM
*** Line of Scrimmage: Steelers, Cardinals Save Best for Last *** By Tony Moss, NFL Editor
Tampa, FL (Sports Network) - You may have been bored by the matchup. If you were bored by the game, however, you might want to call an ambulance, or, alternatively, a funeral director. Because you might be dead.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday had a little bit of everything, a lot of it coming in a positively thrilling fourth quarter that saw the teams exchanging blows like a pair of bare-knuckles brawlers.
Things seemed to be meandering along according to script when the fourth quarter began and the Steelers were ahead, 20-7.
The storyline was supposed to dictate that Pittsburgh’s top-rated defense, which had already delivered what should have been the game’s iconic image on James Harrison’s 100-yard interception return to end the first half, would continue to flex its muscles as the Steelers cruised to the finish.
However, for perhaps the first time all season, the Steelers defense failed to get stronger as the game wore on. Defense might win championships, but it didn't win this one, or at least didn't finish it off.
Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, shut down for the better part of three quarters, came alive to the tune of six catches, 115 yards, and two touchdowns in the fourth frame. The second score, a 64-yard catch-and-run, silenced the partisan pro-Steeler crowd at Raymond James Stadium and put Arizona ahead, 23-20, with just 2:47 to play.
Then, it was the turn of the Arizona defense, which had given up a grand total of three points on the previous five drives (and zero first downs on four of those), to come apart at the seams.
It was at that point that Santonio Holmes managed to trump the great Fitzgerald.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed five passes on the subsequent eight-play, 78-yard, scoring drive, and four of them, totaling 73 yards, went to Holmes. Fourteen seconds after Holmes took the Steelers inside the Arizona 10-yard line with a 40-yard catch-and-run, the Ohio State product made a dazzling six-yard touchdown reception along the right side, tip-toeing his feet into the end-zone’s edge to give the Steelers their final 27-23 margin of victory.
"It was a play that we drew up that we were hoping to get open in the back of the corner," said Holmes, who joins Lynn Swann and Hines Ward as Steelers wideouts to be named Super Bowl MVPs, of the play. "The defensive back bit up on the short route and Ben held onto the ball long enough to get it to me."
Kurt Warner (31-of-43 passing, 377 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT), who now owns the three highest passing totals in Super Bowl history, moved Arizona into Pittsburgh territory with 15 seconds to play but was stripped by outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley as he dropped back to pass. The ball was recovered by defensive end Brett Keisel, and the Steelers’ record-setting sixth Super Bowl title was in the books.
Warner, meanwhile, was denied a Disney-like ending to his career, at least for now.
"It is always disappointing when you lose your last game, especially when it’s the Super Bowl," said Warner, who broke Joe Montana’s record for most Super Bowl passing yards (1,156) and his own mark for most yards in a single postseason.
"It is always disappointing when there is a chance at the end and you are leading late in the game. We got the fortunes to change and gave ourselves a chance."
The victory made Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin the youngest Super Bowl-winning coach in history at 36, surpassing Jon Gruden, who led the Buccaneers to their lone title at the age of 39 (with Tomlin on the staff).
"I'm just so happy and proud of them," Tomlin said of his team. "If I could win any way, it would be like that. All people being involved and having to deliver for us is truly special."
BIG-PLAY JAMES
As Super Bowl heroes go, James Harrison is far more likely to settle into the Larry Brown/Dexter Jackson category than to be remembered in the same breath as Namath, Montana, or Rice.
The 30-year-old, late-blooming outside linebacker is a defensive player in a skill player’s league, and, truth be told, might not be a great enough guy to warrant decades of adulation. This is the same Harrison who was arrested in March 2008 for simple assault and criminal mischief stemming from an incident in which he allegedly struck his girlfriend, and you could also witness him picking up a personal foul late in Sunday’s game when he first seemed to swing at, then definitely shoved, Cardinals safety Aaron Francisco to the ground following an Arizona punt.
Harrison had made multiple statements during Super Bowl week to the effect that if he hadn't caught on with the Steelers after being cut by the team a few times, that he would be a) driving a bus or b) flipping burgers. I'm sure the students and alumni of Kent State University, where Harrison attended, just love hearing their highest-profile alum of the moment saying things like that.
But whatever Harrison’s past missteps or future exploits, there is no disputing that his amazing play will forever rank as one of the iconic Super Bowl images of all time. There should also be no disputing that it completely turned the tide of the game in Pittsburgh’s favor, and that the Steelers would have been unlikely to secure title number six without it.
History might forget that the Cardinals, who dominated the second quarter just as they had been dominated by Pittsburgh in the first, were down 10-7 and knocking on the door when Harrison made the biggest play of his life.
If Harrison failed to step in front of Anquan Boldin to make the pick in the end zone, the game likely goes into halftime tied at a contentious 10-10 (a face mask penalty on the play would have pushed the Cardinals back to their own 20), rather than being firmly in Pittsburgh’s grasp at 17-7.
Additionally, if Harrison fails to do what linebackers almost never do, running goal line to goal line and shunning tacklers the entire way, the contest goes into the break at 10-7. Before taking it the distance, the AP’s 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year first had to resist a forceful request from cornerback Deshea Townsend to hand him the football. Had you asked most folks wearing Steelers colors at that moment, players, coaches, or fans, they likely would have requested that Harrison give it to Townsend as well.
But Harrison showed the same perseverance that allowed him to stick out an NFL career that previously looked to be heading nowhere, weaving through would-be tacklers, getting a few select blocks, and then crossing the goal line for a touchdown, probably.
The play was reviewed to determine whether Harrison’s knee touched down before the ball crossed the plane, but there was not sufficient evidence to overturn the TD call.
"It was very tiring, but it was all worth it," said Harrison of the play. "I was just thinking that I had to do whatever I could to get to the other end zone and get seven. I just wanted to help my team win, that was it. That was all I was thinking about."
Harrison’s INT was the longest play in Super Bowl history of any kind, surpassing Desmond Howard’s 99-yard kickoff return for the Packers against New England in Super Bowl XXXI. The previous long INT return was Kelly Herndon of Seattle’s 76-yard return of a Roethlisberger interception in Super Bowl XL.
REDEMPTION FOR BEN
Roethlisberger will continue to be saddled with the record for the lowest passer rating by a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, but at least that performance against the Seahawks won't be his lone Super Sunday showing.
Versus Arizona, the fifth-year quarterback completed 21-of-30 passes for 256 yards, an interception, and the game-winning touchdown pass to Holmes, finishing with a strong passer rating of 93.2.
On the game-winning drive, Roethlisberger was 5-for-7 for 84 yards and the most important touchdown pass of his career to date.
"That was a heck of a drive," said Roethlisberger, who became the 10th quarterback to start and win multiple Super Bowls. "We got backed up early on the drive with the penalties and we had to work the ball all the way down the field. On the scoring play that put us ahead the first read wasn't open, the second read wasn't open and I kind of felt [Holmes] at the last minute, so I let it go and thought the corner dropped off, but [Holmes] went out and just made a heck of a grab."
SILENT RUNNING
Last February, the Giants and Patriots established all-time Super Bowl-lows for combined rushing yards and rushing attempts.
Those records lasted exactly one year.
The Steelers and Cardinals combined for a grand total of 38 rushes for 91 yards, surpassing last year’s marks of 42 totes for 136 yards.
Pittsburgh’s Willie Parker rushed 19 times for 53 yards in the win, while Arizona’s Edgerrin James was limited to 33 yards on nine carries. James also had four catches for 28 yards out of the backfield.
Pittsburgh and Arizona finished 23rd and 32nd, respectively, in NFL rushing offense during the regular season.
PLAYING THROUGH PAIN
Two of the most notable injuries heading into Super Bowl XLIII were to star receivers, with Hines Ward’s knee sprain and, to a lesser extent, Anquan Boldin’s lingering hamstring problem fueling some debate in the days leading up to the game.
Ward made his presence felt early with a 38-yard catch off a Roethlisberger bootleg, a grab that set up a Steelers’ field goal on their opening drive. Thereafter, the MVP of Super Bowl XL was generally quiet, catching just one more pass totaling five yards, though he was often at the center of activity when players had to be separated throughout the oft-chippy contest.
Boldin had a stronger game than Ward, catching a team-high eight passes for 84 yards, including a 45-yarder in the second quarter that set up Arizona’s first touchdown.
In all, the Cardinals’ three 1,000-yard receivers, Boldin, Fitzgerald, and Steve Breaston, combined for 21 receptions, 282 yards, and two touchdowns in the game.
NO PRESSURE?
Though defensive pressure did play a role in the game, predictions of a sack- assault for either defense came up a little shy of the mark.
The teams recorded just two sacks each, with Warner going down only twice for three yards in the face of a Pittsburgh defense that ranked second in the NFL in sacks during the regular season. Both sacks were registered by LaMarr Woodley, including his sack and forced fumble of Warner on Arizona’s final play.
Roethlisberger was also sacked twice in the contest, with Arizona tackle Darnell Dockett recording both. Roethlisberger was sacked a bloated 49 times during the regular season. The Cardinals were also credited with a fourth- quarter safety when center Justin Hartwig was called for holding in the end- zone.
OFFICIAL RECOGNITION
While there were certainly some questionable calls in Super Bowl XLIII, referee Terry McAulay and his crew did a credible job in what could not have been the easiest game the group had ever officiated.
On the major calls that required replay, a Roethlisberger touchdown run in the first quarter (reversed), the Harrison touchdown play at the end of the second (upheld), a Warner fumble in the third (reversed), and the Holmes touchdown catch in the final minute (upheld), it appeared that McAulay made the right decision. The Harrison and Holmes plays were very close, but there did not seem (without the benefit of watching 20 replays on my part, mind you) to be any concrete visual evidence to overturn the original calls.
The biggest quibble from my vantage point comes with the decision not to review the Warner fumble on Arizona’s ill-fated final drive. It sure looked like a fumble to me when I viewed the replay, but with five seconds left in a hotly-contested Super Bowl, didn't the booth want to take some time to make sure they got it right?
Otherwise, nice job by the crew in a game when tensions seemed to be running high on the part of both teams.
THOUGHTS ON THE BOSS
OK, so Bruce Springsteen's rehearsed lines and gag with a fake referee were a little corny. He didn't sound to be in great voice, especially on "Born to Run." But the legend and his E-Street Band’s four-song set was definitely entertaining, also including the concert classics "Tenth-Avenue Freeze-Out" and "Glory Days" (complete with football-adjusted lyrics), and a new song, the title track from his Working on a Dream album, released last week. For the final song, Springsteen brought on a choir to back him.
Discussion question: who will the NFL secure for next year’s Super Bowl in Miami? Most of the mass-appeal, stadium-sized acts have done their round, so the league can either recycle a U2 or Paul McCartney or target an artist like Coldplay that fits the NFL’s desired corporate demographic a little less easily.
We can only hope there will be no crappy country-pop like Toby Keith (Faith Hill doing America the Beautiful was quite enough, thank you) or modern, toothless hip-hop.
Also, truly nice job by Jennifer Hudson on the National Anthem. Was she lip- synching? Couldn't tell from where I was sitting, but it was a terrific rendition.
