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Pittsburgh wins Super Bowl XL 21-10 over Seattle
By Dave Zizmor February 6, 2006 |
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The Pittsburgh Steelers are the new champions of the NFL, winning Super Bowl XL 21-10 over the Seattle Seahawks. However, were it not for a couple of big plays and controversial calls, this game might have been a lot closer. Seattle did a pretty good job of moving the ball in the first quarter and managed to fight their way into Pittsburgh’s red zone around the quarter’s two minute mark. Matt Hasselbeck fired a perfect 16-yard strike to Darrell Jackson for a touchdown…or so it seemed. Instead, Jackson was flagged for a dubious offensive interference call and the Seahawks had to settle for a 47-yard Josh Brown field goal. Both defenses held tough until the Steelers put together a 59 yard drive late in the second quarter. Big passes from Ben Roethlisberger to Cedrick Wilson and Hines Ward for 20 and 37 yards each put Pittsburgh at Seattle’s 3 yard line. Everyone knew Jerome Bettis would get the ball and he did, but The Bus couldn’t get it into the end zone on two straight tries. So on 3rd down, Roethlisberger faked to Bettis, bootlegged to the left and slammed into several Seattle defenders. The referees signaled touchdown but replays were unclear as to whether the ball actually broke the plane of the goal line. After the officials went to the review booth, the call came: touchdown Pittsburgh. The nose of the ball just barely broke the goal line and there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the call on the field. The Steelers went into the half holding a 7-3 lead. The third quarter got underway in a flash. On just the second play, Fast Willie Parker took the ball over the right side and flew down the field. 75 yards later he playfully dove into the end zone to extend Pittsburgh’s lead to eleven. Not only had he given a huge boost to his team, but he had scored on the longest run from scrimmage in Super Bowl history, surpassing the Marcus Allen’s infamous 74 yard run against Washington in the Raiders’ Super Bowl XVIII victory. When the Steelers’ defense held tough and got the ball back, they seemed in total control. Roethlisberger and Bettis marched the team down the field to the Seattle 7-yard line. Again, Bettis got the ball twice but couldn’t find paydirt. On third and six, Big Ben floated a pass into the right flat that never should have been thrown – backup DB Kelly Herndon picked it off and returned the ball a Super Bowl record 76 yards to the Pittsburgh 20. When Jeramy Stevens hauled in a 16 yard touchdown pass shortly thereafter, the momentum completely shifted in the Seahawks’ favor. Seattle’s defense was in a frenzy, forcing the Steelers to go three and out on consecutive possessions. As the fourth quarter began, Seattle was marching down the field with Pittsburgh seemingly unable to stop them: Shaun Alexander up the middle; Hasselbeck passes over the top; Bobby Engram hauling in the tough ones. The Seahawks cruised to the Pittsburgh 19 when everything went wrong. First there was a holding call on Sean Locklear that replays showed was non-existent. Then Pro-Bowl nose tackle Casey Hampton busted through the line to sack Hasselbeck for a 5 yard loss. And on third and 18, a pass down the left sideline intended for Darrell Jackson was poorly thrown. Ike Taylor stepped in front for the interception and the game was essentially over. Pittsburgh pushed their way to midfield and delivered the crushing blow. Over the course of the season, the Steelers have managed to pull off some picture perfect gadget plays and they saved one for the biggest stage. Roethlisberger pitched the ball to Willie Parker who appeared headed for a sweep to the left. However, Anwaan Randle-El, a former college quarterback, took the ball from Parker on the reverse and brought it back to the right, looked downfield, and hit Hines Ward for a sweet 43 yard touchdown pass. Seattle never recovered. The Pittsburgh defense clamped down, the running game did its normal grinding and that was that. When the clock ran out, Hines Ward had won the MVP trophy and the Steelers had collected their fifth Lombardi Trophy, joining the 49ers and Cowboys as the only teams to win five Super Bowls. More importantly, Bill Cowher finally won the championship that had eluded him over the years and everybody’s favorite Bus – Jerome Bettis – went out on top. |
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