The Pittsburgh Steelers clinched a record sixth Super Bowl with a thrilling 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Tampa.
Holmes hangs on for game-winning touchdown in final minute
The Pittsburgh Steelers clinched a record sixth Super Bowl with a thrilling 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
Santonio Holmes caught the game-winning touchdown with just 35 seconds to play to settle a topsy-turvy contest that went right down to the wire.
Larry Fitzgerald had scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Cardinals overcame a 13-point deficit to take a 23-20 lead.
However, their hopes of pulling off the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, as well as securing the franchise's first title since they relocated from Chicago, were dashed in the final minute.
Composure
Ben Roethlisberger kept his composure with the clock ticking to engineer a drive that culminated with a six-yard scoring pass to Holmes.
The wide receiver managed to pull off a stunning catch despite the attentions of three defenders, dragging his feet perfectly when in full control of the ball.
Arizona did their best to rally again but there was to be no fairytale finish for the underdogs, Kurt Warner's fumble finally ending their title dreams.
The quarterback must've thought he had already done enough to earn himself a second Super Bowl ring when he hit Fitzgerald over the middle and then watched the receiver gallop 64 yards to the end zone.
The pair had already hooked up at the start of the fourth quarter on a one-yard pass to give the Cardinals renewed hope after they had trailed 17-7 at half time.
It could have been all so different at the interval had James Harrison not picked off a Warner pass in his own end zone before going the length of the field to score.
The linebacker's 100-yard interception return set a new record for the longest play in Super Bowl history and gave the Steelers a comfortable cushion just when they had seemed set to fall behind.
To their credit the Cardinals refused to give in, just as they had done when Pittsburgh pushed out to a 10-0 lead off the back of a dominating opening quarter.
Roethlisberger looked to have capped a five-minute opening drive when he dived for the end zone only for the play to be successfully challenged by Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt.
Instead the Steelers had to settle for a field goal from Jeff Reed, though they didn't make the same mistake second time around as Gary Russell ran in from a yard out at the start of the second quarter
Arizona responded by going 89 yards to score through an unlikely source, back-up tight end Ben Patrick catching his first touchdown pass of the season.
A Roethlisberger interception, his only mistake in an otherwise polished performance, set up Warner and the offence again only for Harrison to deny them on the line, the defensive player of the year somehow getting up a head of steam strong enough to get him all the way to the other end of the field.
Top-ranked defence
Reed's second field goal in the third quarter made it 20-7 and with the top-ranked defence at their disposal, Pittsburgh must've thought they had done enough to seal a second title in the space of four years.
In the end they managed to do so by the skin of their teeth after the resolute Cardinals came back in style - Fitzgerald starting the recovery with the first of his two touchdowns. He finished with 127 yards on seven catches.
After Pittsburgh centre Justin Hartwig was called for holding - one of 18 penalties in a 'chippy' game - in the end zone to give away a safety, Fitzgerald found the end zone again to give Arizona their first lead with just two minutes and 37 seconds to play.
As it turned out the score left just enough time for Pittsburgh to march down the field. Holmes' ninth catch was the most telling act in a showpiece event that certainly lived up the hype. His efforts also earned him the MVP award.
Victory means at 36 Mike Tomlin becomes the youngest coach to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy, while Roethlisberger, who completed 21-of-30 passes for 256 yards, joins Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks to win two Super Bowls by the age of 26.
