Steelers win Super Bowl XL
Ward the MVP, The Bus finishes his career in his hometown
For a team with a long-standing hard-nosed, no-nonsense image, the play that sealed a 21-10 Super Bowl XL victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers resonated with flash.
On a reverse, wide receiver Antwaan Randle El took a toss from Willie Parker, ran to his right, and cut loose a 43-yard touchdown strike to an open Hines Ward with 8:48 left.
The first touchdown pass by a wide receiver in Super Bowl history sealed Pittsburgh’s first Super Bowl victory since 1979, made Ward the fifth receiver to earn a Super Bowl MVP, and likely closed the book on the league’s fourth all-time leading rusher’s career in his hometown.
"It's been an incredible ride," said Jerome Bettis, the Steelers’ unquestioned team leader. "I played this game to win a championship. I'm a champion, and I think the Bus' last stop is here in Detroit."
In this game the Bus took a backseat to Ward, who finished with 123 yards on five catches. His other pivotal grab came in the first quarter when Ben Roethlisberger hit him for a 37-yard strike to get to the Seattle 3-yard line, leading to Pittsburgh’s first touchdown.
While not the glitziest Super Bowl, the game was defined by the big play and Super Bowl firsts. Willie Parker broke off the longest run from scrimmage in Super Bowl history, a 75-yard touchdown to put the Steelers up 14-3 just 22 seconds into the third quarter. Later in the period, defensive back Kelly Herndon appeared to turn the game around for the Seahawks with the longest interception return in Super Bowl history, picking off Roethlisberger at the Seattle 4-yard line and taking it back 76 yards.
Ward’s score was especially devastating considering the preceding events. After a Pittsburgh punt was downed at the two, Seattle had nearly completed a 98-yard drive to take the lead when Jeremy Stevens caught an 18-yard pass from Matt Hasselbeck at the Steelers’ 1-yard line. But a disputed holding call pushed the Seahawks back to the 29.
Hasselbeck was intercepted three plays later by Ike Taylor, and four plays after that, Randle El and Ward buried the Seahawks.
"We've been working on that play for seven weeks," tackle Max Starks said. "We knew they were over-pursuing our toss play."
Seahawks, meanwhile, gained 397 yards of total offense and turned the ball over just once, yet failed to score on two of three red zone visits and managed just the 10 points.
"This is a tough pill to swallow," Holmgren said, "but we accomplished a lot this year. While you don't have a great feeling after a game like this, I want them to remember this feeling, so they can build on it."
League MVP Shaun Alexander led all rushers with 95 yards on 20 carries, but was shut out of the end zone. Aside from Parker’s run the Pittsburgh running game did little damage, with Bettis averaging 3.1 yards per carry and Parker being held to 18 yards on nine carries minus his record-setting run.
Matt Hasselbeck was efficient most of the game despite missing on six of his last eight passes in the final, desperation drive. He completed 26 of 49 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown, out-dueling his counterpart Roethlisberger, who completed only 9 of 21 passes for 123 yards and ran for a heavily debated 1-yard score, which the referees upheld upon review that Roethlisberger got a sliver of the ball across the plane.
That score with 1:55 left in the half set the stage for an early sign that the Seahawks might not come up big in the clutch. Hasselbeck moved the offense 33 yards to the Steelers’ 40 in less than a minute.
But on the next play Darren Jackson, who had 50 receiving yards in the first quarter alone, caught a ball inside the five but made a weak attempt to get his second foot in bounds. Then a peculiar play call to Alexander up the middle with 48 seconds left in the half netted four yards. Hasselbeck, with the clock running, attempted a lengthy audible, but the Steelers called timeout with 13 seconds on the clock. Another incompletion forced an ill-fated Josh Brown 54-yard field goal attempt, and the Steelers clung to their 7-3 halftime lead.
The Steelers wasted no time in the second half with Parker’s record breaking run, and appeared to be ready to put the game away on their next possession, driving 53 yards in seven plays to reach the Seahawks’ 7-yard line. But Herndon stepped in front of Roethlisberger’s pass at the 4 and the return put the Seahawks deep in Steeler territory.
Three plays later Hasselbeck found Jeremy Stevens in the end zone for a 16-yard strike to bring the score to 14-10, partially redeeming Stevens for two earlier drops.
Each of the three ensuing Seattle drives would gain at least 32 yards and penetrate Steeler territory, but the Seahawks wound up empty handed. The biggest play was a five yard sack by Deshea Townsend on third-and-eight from the Pittsburgh 47, repelling Seattle from Steeler territory and forcing a punt with 6:28 left.
The Steelers then all but ended the game in true Steeler fashion, running the ball on eight of nine plays, chewing up over four minutes and all three Seattle timeouts. The one pass was a 7-yard shovel pass on third-and-six with just under five minutes left, caught by, of all people, the highest rated thrower of the day, Randle El.
