Could it be??
- Thread starter owtkast3
- Start date
- Nov 17, 2006
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Yea genius it is, I guess you are just full of them. You dont think that will go down as one of the greatest plays in SB history? Ok
TAMPA, Fla. -- Do you believe in miracles?
The longest play in Super Bowl history -- a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison -- was overshadowed by a breathtaking, helter-skelter second half of what may have been the most exciting Super Bowl ever.
Just when it looked like the Arizona Cardinals had authored the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history -- scoring 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter -- the Steelers answered with a monstrous, improbable drive. Ben Roethlisberger's 6-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds left gave Pittsburgh a soaring 27-23 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium.
Mr. Clutch
Ben Roethlisberger stepped up when the Steelers needed him the most... again. The two-time Super Bowl champion posted a passer rating of 151.2 while leading Pittsburgh down the field for the game-winning touchdown -- which he threw. Here's a look at his final drive by the numbers:
Big Ben In The Clutch Before Winning Drive
Comp-Att 16-23 5-7
Yards 172 84
TD-Int 0-1 1-0
Pass rating 73.1 151.2
When Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley knocked the ball loose from Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner and Brett Keisel recovered with seven seconds left, it was over.
From end to end, this one was even better than last year's crazy Giants victory over the undefeated New England Patriots.
And so, the Steelers distanced themselves from some of the greatest franchises in the league's history. Pittsburgh won its sixth Super Bowl, one more than Dallas and San Francisco, and were thoroughly impressive across the board.
The defense harnessed the high-scoring Cardinals, who had averaged 32 points in three previous playoff games, for much of the game. Roethlisberger was his efficient, muscular self and quelled any fears that there would be a repeat of his nervous sophomore-year performance in Super Bowl XL.
As it is, the Steelers have now won two Super Bowls in four seasons, leaving them the dynasty of the moment in the NFL.
The Steelers' most outstanding player was Holmes, who caught nine passes for 131 yards, hauled in the winning touchdown and took home MVP honors.
The Longest Yards
James Harrison's 100-yard interception return of Kurt Warner's second-quarter attempt marked the longest scoring play in Super Bowl history, bettering Desmond Howard's 99-yard kickoff scamper against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI.
Longest Plays In Super
Bowl History Yards Player Game
100 James Harrison, PIT XLIII
99 Desmond Howard, GB XXXI
98 Fulton Walker, MIA XVII
98 Andre Coleman, SD XXIX
One of the game's central questions was essentially answered two and one-half hours before kickoff. Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward came out for warmups and appeared to move fairly easily after suffering a sprained right knee in the AFC Championship Game. Steelers fans, the vast majority, roared when he appeared on the big screen.
The Cardinals won the coin toss, but elected to defer and kicked off to the Steelers. About five minutes later, the game provided its first major second-guessing opportunity. First and second, actually.
Pittsburgh roared down the field, with a nearly flawless drive from Roethlisberger. He completed a 38-yard pass to Ward and, later, a 21-yarder to tight end Heath Miller. On third-and-goal at the Arizona 1-yard-line, Roethlisberger rolled to the right side and was met at the goal line. Center Justin Hartwig pulled him into the end zone -- or so it appeared when officials signaled a touchdown.
But Arizona head coach Ken Whisehunt challenged the play and subsequent replays showed that Roethlisberger's left knee was down before he crossed the goal line. Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin, faced with a fourth-and-goal at the 1, made the conservative choice to send in Jeff Reed to kick an 18-yard field goal. The Cardinals were lucky the deferral didn't blow up in their face as a touchdown, while Tomlin could be questioned for not trying to put the Cards in a bigger hole.
The Cardinals' first series was a fiasco. Running back Edgerrin James fumbled and recovered, then fell down on the next. The Steelers' blitzing Lawrence Timmons pressured Warner into an incomplete pass and the Cardinals were forced to punt.
Again, Roethlisberger drove the Steelers down the field. The drive's signature play: a crazy, heady left-right-left scramble by Big Ben and an 11-yard completion to Miller on third-and-10. On the ninth play, short-yardage running back Gary Russell ran into the end zone behind the right side of the Steelers' offensive line and it was 10-0.
With the game seemingly spinning out of their grasp -- Pittsburgh outgained Arizona 140 yards to 13 in the first quarter -- the Cardinals rallied famously. They moved 89 yards for a seven-point answer, the biggest chunk a 45-yard play from Warner to Anquan Boldin. The score was a sweet 1-yard jump ball to backup tight end Ben Patrick, who outdueled flailing linebacker Larry Foote for the ball. With six minutes and 26 seconds gone in the second quarter, the score was now 10-7 and, suddenly, the boisterous Steelers fans weren't twirling their Terrible Towels.
In two previous playoff games, Roethlisberger hadn't turned the ball over when Cardinals nose tackle Bryan Robinson tipped his pass at the line of scrimmage and linebacker Karlos Dansby fielded a soft blooper. The Cardinals were in business at the Steelers' 43-yard-line with an even two minutes to play in the first half.
What happened next vaulted instantly into the pantheon of great plays in Super Bowl history. All things considered, make that sports history.
There were 18 seconds left in the first half when, with the Steelers showing blitz, Harrison suddenly veered backwards at the snap of the ball and filled the void where Warner's short slant pass on the left side was headed toward Boldin. Warner never saw him. The two-time MVP was flat-out fooled by this year's defensive player of the year. Harrison gathered in the ball and took off on a (insert seven or eight of your most breathless adjectives here) run down the right sideline. He was touched by three different Cardinals players, including Warner, and though he stumbled and bobbled, Harrison never lost his feet. Larry Fitzgerald hit him just short of the goal line, but Harrison's knee landed on the Cardinals' receiver and he tumbled head-first into the end zone.
The play was good, very good, for 100 yards, the longest play in Super Bowl history. Because of its exquisite timing, it may have supplanted Giants receiver David Tyree's miraculous catch on the winning drive in last year's Super Bowl.
For it was more than just a fancy, century-mark record. With the Cardinals poised to take a 14-10 lead into halftime, or a 10-all tie at worst, Harrison completely ruined the Cardinals' morale and left them undeniably dispirited, heading into the locker room trailing 17-7. Momentum has rarely swung so viciously hard from one direction to the other.
James Harrison returns an INT 100 yards for the longest touchdown in Super Bowl history.
Perhaps nothing less than Harrison's play might have left a lingering feeling that Bruce Springsteen's halftime appearance was somehow vaguely anticlimactic. Really.
The Steelers' defense, No. 1 in fewest points and yards allowed over the regular season, made another big play in the Cardinals' first drive of the second half. James Farrior knocked the ball loose from Warner and Harrison recovered what was ruled as a fumble. But Whisenhunt challenged successfully for the second time and the replay confirmed that because Warner had control of the ball, it was merely an incomplete pass.
At this juncture, the Cardinals lost their composure in fatal fashion with three personal fouls worth 34 yards. First, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was flagged for a facemask of Holmes, Dansby was whistled for roughing the passer on an incomplete pass and, finally, Adrian Wilson gave the Steelers three more cracks at a touchdown when he steam-rolled holder Mitch Berger. The Cardinals' defense proved stout and held, barely, for another Reed field goal, this one from 21 yards out.
And so it was 20-7 late in the third quarter and Arizona had entered the no-margin-for-error zone.
The Cardinals responded with a one-yard pass from Warner to the strangely silent Fitzgerald and, with 7:33 remaining, Arizona still was viable, trailing 20-14.
After a big defensive stop, the Cardinals found themselves on their 25, 75 yards from the lead, with five minutes and 28 seconds left. Arizona moved all the way to the Steelers' 26-yard-line -- and had a first down, but backed up, all the way out of field goal range.
The Steelers, starting from their own 1-yard-line, were charged with a two-point safety when a holding call wiped out a critical first down. After Pittsburgh punted, the Cardinals came back with that 64-yard touchdown from Warner to Fitzgerald.
If you are a Steelers fan, Roethlisberger's winning touchdown pass to Holmes was a thing of beauty. There were three Cardinals between Holmes and the ball and only a square yard of end zone to operate in. Holmes leaped to snare the ball and managed to just touch his toes down before going out of bounds.
Holmes was mobbed in the corner of the end zone, but even if he could have risen to his feet, he may not have had the strength to stand.
It was that kind of game.
Greg Garber is a columnist for ESPN.com.
I guess it was his first super bowl ever also.
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