Glory Days in Pi! ttsburghThe Pittsburgh Steelers were Born to Run, but they won through the air tonight. The Steelers run game was stifled all day by Arizona. This meant Big Ben needed to step up and find his playmakers. Roethlisberger did just that. Santonio Holmes put on a show, including an amazing tip-toe TD catch to win the game. He deserved the MVP, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I expected Willie Parker to be the key factor, but he was not needed tonight. Pittsburgh now has 6 Super Bowl titles, the most all-time. Dallas and San Francisco trail with 5 championships.
Same Old Story
You hear the phrase, "Defense wins championships" every year. You also hear analysts say, "I would take the #1 defense over the #1 offense any day." Super Bowl XLIII continues to prove this theory correct. The Steelers were the best defense in football and they rode it all season long. Arizona had a prolific passing attack and today it was excellent. But, it was not enough. The Steelers defense won the battle. Larry Fitzgerald had the best postseason a WR has ever had, but it was not enough. Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston had great games as well, but it was not enough. Kurt Warner was 31-43 with 377 yards and 3 TDs, but that was not enough. The "Steel Curtain" prevailed like all the great defenses normally do (Baltimore and Tampa Bay come to mind most recently). The Colts of two years ago seem as a lone exception, but their defense was the reason they won that game. Hats off for this Pittsburgh defense and especially 71-y! ear old Dick LeBeau.
Tomlin, Holmes, and the Rise of Big Ben
Mike Tomlin is now the youngest head coach to ever win a Super Bowl at age 36. His success has set a new standard for head coaches. Youngsters Josh McDaniels and Raheem Morris are now head coaches at age 32 because of Mike Tomlin. He has made other organizations realize that young coaches can relate to players in a different way and it can be beneficial. Mike Tomlin will be a great head coach in the! NFL for many years to come.
Santonio Holmes for the most! part wa s a player unknown to the average fan, until tonight. Holmes was a former first round pick out of THE Ohio State University and his play has been electric for Pittsburg
h. Every Super Bowl there is one player who puts his name on the football map, and this year it was Holmes. He has lightning speed, fantastic hands, and an extremely high football IQ. Holmes is poised to be a superstar at the WR position for years to come. Santo! nio would say, " Today was My Lucky Day".Ben Roethlisberger has had a lot of success in his very short NFL career. He has 2 Super Bowl titles in just 4 years. There is an argument that he is just lucky to have such a great team around him, but lets face it, the QB position is the most important and he has been phenomenal. Coming into the season there was doubt he was an elite quarterback. Now, there is no doubt. He is the third best active QB behind Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Big Ben is now an elite superstar and is on his way to a Hall of Fame career.
Arizona Has Seen Better Days
The Cardinals miracle run to a championship hit a wall tonight when they fell 27-23. Arizona was only 9-7 in the regular season, but got hot and rode the heat into Super Bowl XLIII. The Cardinals played good enough to win this game, but the fact is Pittsburgh was the better football team. Kurt Warner is now a free agent and I believe will be headed elsewhere to end his career (how cool would a return to St. Louis be?). Arizona got themselves out of the football cellar this season and legitimized their franchise. Now, they must face the task of the demoralization of this loss. Teams that lose in the Super Bowl usually miss the playoffs the following season (NE 11-5 continued that). Arizona has work to do.
Final Thoughts
This game looked unexciting for the first three and a half quarters, but then it became an instant classic late. Fitzgerald's long catch and then Big Ben's drive to win it, with the Holmes' catch. The NFL is the most unpredictable league out there, but this year the best team won it all. Pittsburgh continues to be a great franchise and as long as the Rooneys are running the ship they will continue to be.
I agree that Warner's arm was in motion on that last play where Pittsburgh recovered the fumble. But, in the end I don't expect Arizona to score. The NFL needs to address instant replay because there were a lot of missed calls this season. B! ut that is for another day, today is the Steelers' day.
T! he Super Bowl was entertaining and for once, so was the halftime show. Bruce Springsteen is a god to many people and he was amazing tonight. Hopefully the NFL will find another great performer next year as well. I hope you enjoyed Super Sunday and the Bruce references throughout this post.
