I hate to call this one of the best Super Bowls ever, simply because of who won. I wanted badly for the Cardinals to pull it out, and the fact that they didn't was very disappointing from that perspective. But it was a dramatic, thrilling heavyweight prize fight, and it will be well-remembered for years to come. And at least, as a Miami University graduate, I can be proud of my alma-mater-mate, Ben Roethlisberger. I'm not, but I can be, if I so choose.
I will now go through the game, highlight by highlight:
The Steelers' opening drive was impressive, and it seemed inevitable that they would score a touchdown. But Arizona held them tough, and of course a Roethlisberger touchdown got called back on replay. That was huge -- had Roethlisberger gotten maybe an inch farther with the ball, it would have been six, and probably seven. So one inch was worth four points, if you follow. ... Still, the way Big Ben and the Steelers drove through the Cards' D on that drive seemed to portend ill for those who prefer a tight game, and for those who were rooting for the men in red.
Of course, Kurt Warner and his gang hadn't taken the field yet. Warner, as we all know, was a Super Bowl MVP 10 years ago for the Rams, and seems to have regained his form. There has been talk over the last two weeks of a plaque for Warner in Canton, and while I can't say I really think of him as a Hall of Famer, he has at least proved this winter that at age 37, he still has the goods. But the Cardinals stalled and punted, which led to the first Australian-born player ever to play in a Super Bowl, playing in a Super Bowl. That, of course, is Cardinals punter Ben Graham. That graphic flashed across the screen, and all I could do was laugh. The things they keep track of these days, huh?
On the ensuing Pittsburgh drive, Roethlisberger started showing off his scrambling legs, making a great play to get free on an across-the-field first-down throw to Heath Miller. A quarterback who can do that is pretty dadgummed hard to stop, as we would see over and over again throughout the course of the game. Benny-boy gave credit to his offensive line in the post-game interview, but the protection really wasn't that great. He just wouldn't let those big, mean defensive linemen get to him. The Steelers, of course, banged it in on that drive, and it was 10-0. And the rout was on, it seemed.
But Kurt Warner and his three 1,000-yard receivers went to work on the next drive. Warner made some big throws on that drive, and Ben Patrick -- who hadn't caught a touchdown pass the entire season up to that point -- made a great catch in traffic to make it 10-7. And now we knew we were going to have a game.
Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes combined for a big gainer on the ensuing drive, but it got called back for holding, and the Steelers were forced to punt to Steve Breaston. The Michigan grad returned it all the way to the Steelers' 42 as the second quarter started to wane, but a big Lamar Woodley sack on Warner stalled that drive. Ah, but Carlos Dansby picked a Roethlisberger pass that had been tipped at the line, and the Cards were in bidness again.
Unfortunately, that set up what was to be probably the play of the game. On what was to be the last play of the second quarter, Warner tried to find Anquan Boldin in the end zone, but he was well-covered by defensive end James Harrison. And, it turns out, Harrison can catch, and Harrison can run. As you are no doubt aware by now, his 100-yard interception return for a touchdown was the longest play in Super Bowl history. The longest play in Super Bowl history -- made by a DEFENSIVE END. It seemed the football gods wanted the Steelers to win. Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston -- two wide receivers -- managed to catch up to Harrison before he got into the end zone, but they were not able to make the tackle. It's usually pretty comical to watch a wide receiver try to make a tackle, and this was no exception. Fitzgerald actually took Harrison down, but the only reason Harrison's knee didn't touch the ground is because Fitzgerald's body was in the way. Had Fitzgerald been maybe an inch or two to the left or right, Harrison's knee might have hit the ground, and it might have been 10-7 going into halftime. So in this case, an inch meant seven points. And it's worth noting that had the pass fallen incomplete, the Cardinals would have had time for at least one more play, maybe two. So what could have been a 14-10 Arizona lead was instead a 17-7 Pittsburgh lead. Gut-wrenching stuff, Clevelanders. How does a freaking defensive end run 100 yards for a touchdown? Come on! A defensive end!
The Cardinals no doubt were champing at the bit to get back out there and close the gap, but they had to wait through a Super Bowl-length halftime. I don't actually know how long it was, but with Bruce Springsteen out there, it seemed like about four hours. (Yeah, I'm not a fan, and I don't care who knows.) It must have been at least 20 minutes, though, and we all know halftime of a regulation NFL game is supposed to be 15 minutes. I don't care what the entertainment is at halftime, I think it's wrong to stretch it out any longer. Whatever pageantry has been assembled should automatically be subordinate to the interest of the game. Harrumph and grumble. The halftime entertainment at the Super Bowl has become a story in itself, and I'm tired of it. Call me a curmudgeon if you will, but I think if you sit down to watch the Super Bowl, you should be most interested in watching a football game, and not some dumbass singer who wears jewelry on her nipple.
Now then, getting back to the game ...
The Cardinals didn't do much on their first drive of the second half, dodging a bullet when what was originally ruled a Warner fumble that Pittsburgh's Harrison recovered, was ruled an incomplete pass on replay. His arm wasn't moving forward very much, but it definitely was moving forward. Maybe an inch.
After the Steelers got it back, it seemed the Cardinals were bound and determined to let them score, simply by giving them penalty yardage. The Cards were called for three personal fouls on that drive, though I will say one of them -- a roughing-the-passer call against Dansby -- was pretty ticky-tack. They again held the Steelers to a field goal (though Adrian Wilson gave them a second chance to go for a touchdown by steamrolling the holder on their first attempt), so it was 20-7, and starting to look like the Cardinals might want to think about their post-game plans.
The teams exchanged fruitless possessions before Warner and the Cardinals started to go to work again. Warner did a lot of dinking and dunking on that drive, completing almost all of his passes, before Fitzgerald made a fan-freaking-tastic catch on a ball the Steelers' Ike Taylor had a hand on. And now it was 20-14, and the barn was starting to burn.
A sack of Roethlisberger on second-and-six was the key to stopping the Steelers' next possession, and Warner went back to work. Taylor helped them out with a late hit out of bounds on a Boldin catch, but on two separate occasions in the next sequence, Warner almost threw an interception, and the Cards had to punt again. When the punt pinned Big Ben's Boys back behind the 1, everybody at the party I attended was yelling for a safety. Even in that situation, a safety is highly unlikely, but darned if it didn't happen, due to a holding penalty in the end zone. That made it 20-16. Given that that happened with less than four minutes to go, the points didn't make a huge difference, but the key is the Cardinals got the ball back with plenty of time to work the ball down the field.
They didn't use much -- Warner and Fitzgerald connected on a 64-yard catch and run that gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game at 23-20 with 2:37 to go in the game. Breaston and Boldin ran out routes that took the corners toward the sidelines, and Fitzgerald caught a slant pass and outran everybody to paydirt. It was a thing of beauty, and I'm not ashamed to admit I jumped for joy.
But that 2:37 was, as we now know, more than enough time for Roethlisberger, Holmes and the boys. Roethlisberger ran wild in the pocket on the next drive, completing a big third-down pass to Holmes on one play after scrambling and another big one to Holmes after stepping up in the pocket, though his 40-yard pass to Holmes that took it down to the 6 was made from a stationary position. As the clock ticked to under a minute, it looked like we might be looking at our first overtime Super Bowl, but then Holmes made a tremendous catch in the corner of the end zone, and managed to get both feet down. Maybe it was my Browns-fan glasses, but it sure looked to me like he didn't get his right foot down before he went out. But of course, it doesn't matter what I think. Had his foot been an inch off the ground, it would have been an incomplete pass. So in this case, one inch was worth the game.
Warner didn't have enough time to return the punch, and fumbled it away while trying to make a miracle happen with five seconds left. And one of the best Super Bowls I ever saw was in the books, gone to the stinking Steelers, for the sixth stinking time.
As Slim Pickens said in "Blazing Saddles," I sure am depressed.
