Now
Steelers join elite class with XL
win over Seattle
Monday, February
6th
Antwaan Randle El threw 43 yards for a touchdown on a trick play and
Willie Parker set a record with a 75-yard scoring run to highlight
Pittsburgh's fifth championship, a 21-10 victory over the Seattle
Seahawks in Super Bowl XL at Ford Field.
Ben Roethlisberger's controversial one-yard touchdown scramble with 1:55
left in the second quarter gave Pittsburgh the lead for good. The
23-year-old Roethlisberger became the youngest starting quarterback to
win a Super Bowl, as the Steelers made it five titles in six trips to
the big game. That equals the championship load carried by the Dallas
Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.
After the game, Steelers running back and Detroit native Jerome Bettis
announced his retirement after 13 NFL seasons.
"It's been an incredible ride and there's always a time when you have to
call it quits," Bettis said. "I played this game to win a championship.
I'm a champion and I think the Bus...the last time is here in Detroit."
Ike Taylor came up with a key interception to deny the Seahawks of a
potential go-ahead TD early in the fourth quarter. The Steelers then
worked the gadget play as Randle El, a former college quarterback, took
the ball from Parker on a reverse and threw to Hines Ward to give
Pittsburgh a 21-10 lead with 8:56 remaining.
Seattle punted on its next possession and the Steelers chewed up most of
the remaining time with Roethlisberger passing and scrambling for first
downs to finally give head coach Bill Cowher a Super Bowl title in his
14th season as head coach of the team.
It was special for Cowher in that he got a chance to present the
Lombardi Trophy to Steelers owner Dan Rooney.
"He's what's great about the NFL," Cowher said. "I'm very fortunate and
blessed to work for organization and a man like that."
The Steelers won the Super Bowl for the first time since January 20,
1980 against the Los Angeles Rams. Pittsburgh lost in its return to the
big game to Dallas following the 1995 season.
Roethlisberger completed just 9-of-21 passes for 123 yards and was
picked off twice, Parker ran for 93 yards on 10 carries, and Ward caught
five balls for 123 yards and was named the game's MVP.
"It feels amazing," Roethlisberger. "To be able to win this here with
Jerome in his hometown and with the offensive linemen and the other guys
that put in a lot of work, it's just absolutely amazing. I finally get
to shave, so I can't wait."
Matt Hasselbeck connected on 26-of-49 passes for 273 yards with a TD,
but was picked off by Taylor at the Pittsburgh five early in the last
quarter. Shaun Alexander, the season's NFL rushing champion, gained 95
yards on 20 carries.
"We just stalled out in the red zone," Hasselbeck said. "We just had
opportunities to score touchdowns, but we didn't score touchdowns. We
were moving the ball fine, rhythm, time of possession, first downs,
yards...we just couldn't score touchdowns."
The Seahawks, in the Super Bowl for the first time in their 30-year
history, were hurt by the kicking of Josh Brown, who missed two of his
three field goal attempts. They were also penalized seven times for 70
yards.
Seattle took the ball from its own two-yard line to the Pittsburgh 27,
bridging the end of the third into the fourth quarter. However,
Hasselbeck's pass intended for Darrell Jackson was picked off by Taylor
on the left side of the field and he returned the ball to the Pittsburgh
29. A low block penalty on Hasselbeck moved the ball to the 44.
Earlier in the sequence, an offensive holding call negated Hasselbeck's
18- yard completion to Jerramy Stevens that would have put Seattle at
the one-yard line.
Roethlisberger ran for a first down on 3rd-and-2 and on the next play,
the Steelers pulled the rabbit out of the hat and sealed the victory
with Randle El's TD strike to Ward.
"It was a good play call and we kind of got them with their pants down,"
Parker said.
Seattle's last two possessions of the fourth resulted in a punt and
turning the ball over on downs. Seattle got the ball back with 1:51
remaining and moved from its own 20 to the Pittsburgh 23, but had poor
clock management before Hasselbeck's fourth down pass to Stevens fell
incomplete with three seconds left.
"They accomplished, as a football team, quite a bit this year, and you
can build on that," Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren said. "You don't
have a great feeling after a game like this. I want them to remember
that feeling and use it the next time they get in a game like this."
Brown's 47-yard field goal with 22 seconds left in the first quarter
gave Seattle the lead, but he missed a 54-yard attempt with two seconds
left in the half.
The Seahawks had a touchdown called back in the first quarter before
Brown's field goal. Hasselbeck threw 16 yards over the middle for a
score to Jackson, but it was taken away as the wide receiver was called
for offensive pass interference.
Roethlisberger used his scrambling abilities to engineer an 11-play,
59-yard drive for the game's first TD. Grant Wistrom sacked
Roethlisberger to push the ball back to the Seattle 40, setting up a
3rd-and-28. Roethlisberger then scrambled out of the pocket to the left
side of the field before launching a 37-yard pass to Ward in the middle
of the field.
Bettis was stopped on two runs up the middle, but on 3rd-and-goal
Roethlisberger ran to the left and dove toward the end zone and was met
by the shoulder of linebacker D.D. Lewis, and the ball barely hit the
goal line. The play was reviewed by the officials, but the call stood
and Holmgren argued and questioned the ruling when the half came to an
end.
"To convert on that and have Ben score a touchdown, we had momentum
going into (halftime)," Ward said. "We came out in the second half and
Willie busted a wide open touchdown that put us up 14-3, so that was a
huge play."
On just the second play from scrimmage of the second half, Parker found
a hole on the right side and outraced the defense for the longest
running play in Super Bowl history for a 14-3 Pittsburgh lead. That
eclipsed the 74-yard TD run by the Raiders' Marcus Allen against
Washington in Super Bowl XVIII.
Brown was wide left on a 50-yard field attempt on the Seahawks' next
possession. Pittsburgh then drove to the Seattle 7, but faced with a
3rd- and-6, Roethlisberger's pass attempt to Cedrick Wilson on the right
side was picked off by Kelly Herndon, who returned the ball a Super
Bowl-record 76 yards.
The interception led to Hasselbeck's 16-yard TD strike to Stevens on the
right side on a third down play with 6:45 left in the third.
Game Notes
Herndon's INT return eclipses the 75-yard effort from Oakland's Willie
Brown in Super Bowl XI against Minnesota...Joe Jurevicius caught five
passes for 93 yards and Bobby Engram had six catches for 70 yards for
Seattle...Holmgren was attempting to become the first head coach to take
two teams to Super Bowl titles. He won it with Green Bay over New
England following the 1996 season...The Rolling Stones performed at
halftime...Tom Brady, a three-time Super Bowl winner and two-time MVP
with the Patriots, performed the coin toss...Seattle held the ball for
33:02 and outgained the Steelers, 396-339...The 31 total points are the
fewest since the Steelers beat the Vikings, 16-6, in Super Bowl IX...The
26-year gap between titles is the second-longest in NFL history to the
Packers, who went 29 years between championships...It's the first title
for the city of Pittsburgh since the 1991-92 Penguins won the second of
two straight Stanley Cups...The Steelers were the No. 6 seed in the AFC
in the playoffs and derailed Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Denver on the
road before playing in Detroit, less than 300 miles from
Pittsburgh...Seattle was the No. 1 seed in the NFC and beat Washington
and Carolina in the playoffs...Seahawks defensive back Marquand Manuel
suffered a hip injury, while Rocky Bernard pulled his right hamstring.
Source: Vipsports
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Now Steelers join elite class with XL
win over Seattle
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