Superbowl XLIII was a down-to-the-wire, high-excitement struggle, with the game undecided into the final seconds.
The Steelers started strong, but the Cardinals battled back. The Steelers surged ahead in the third quarter, and again the Cardinals stayed tough. The Cardinals grabbed the lead briefly in the final quarter, but couldn’t hold it.
The game came down to who could make the big play under pressure. Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes did; Arizona couldn’t.
With fifteen seconds left on the clock, Arizona was down four, on the Steelers’ 40-yard line. The Steelers were trying to win their record-setting sixth championship, while the Cardinals were trying to pull off the greatest come-from-behind win in Superbowl history.
In the end, it was the Steelers’ league-leading defense that triumphed, forcing a fumble with five seconds left, giving the Pittsburgh Steelers their sixth franchise Lombardi trophy
Steelers Lead at the Half
The Steelers closed out the first half with the longest scoring play in Superbowl history, as Steelers linebacker James Harrison ran back an interception from the Steelers end zone all the way down the field to score a touchdown. The Steelers went to the locker room, ahead 17–7. (for a more complete first half report please see "Steelers Pull out Last-Second Lead in Superbowl First Half.")
Cards’ Red Zone Defense Impenetrable
On the next drive the Steelers, using short passes to Santonio Holmes, a fortuitous roughing-the-passer penalty, and a fifteen-yard Willie Parker run, got to the Cards’ five-yard line. The Cardinal defense stiffened again, again holding the Steelers to a field goal.
This was reversed by an unfortunate personal foul as Arizona strong safety Adrian Wilson ran over the holder. This gave the Steelers a new set of downs with the ball on the three-yard line. But the Cards defense didn’t wilt. They held the Steelers to a field goal again. This time there was no foul, and the Steelers went up 20–7. This made it a two-score, not a three-score, game for the Cards should they make a comeback.
Cards Won’t Quit
On the first play of the Steelers drive, the Cards got called for defensive holding, raising the penalty yards to 96. The small errors were starting to add up.
The Cards defense made up for it, stopping the next play behind the line of scrimmage and sacking Roethlisberger on the play after that, forcing a punt; but in a game where both teams were playing tough, every missed opportunity made the comeback that much harder.
The Cardinals switched to a no-huddle offense on the next drive, again hitting fifteen- and twenty-yard passes to get inside the Steelers’ ten-yard line. Warner finished the drive by hitting Larry Fitzgerald in the corner of the end zone for six points. The drive took just under four minutes to go eighty-seven yards on eight passes.
With the extra point, the Cardinals now were within a touchdown; the Steelers led 20–14.
Penalties Change the Game
The Steelers got the ball back with seven-and-a half minutes to play. And the Cards came out playing to win. Guard Darnell Stapleton dropped Roethlisberger for a ten-yard loss, forcing the Steelers to punt.
Now the game was in the hands of the Steelers’ league-leading defense. The Steelers had completely shut down the Cardinals’ running game, but had not been able to stop the pass attack.
Warner hit Boldin for a first down on the first play after the kick. Coupled with an Ike Taylor personal foul, this gave the Cards a twenty-six yard gain.
Arizona came back with its no-huddle, empty backfield, four-wide-receiver passing attack. A holding call on tackle Mike Gandy dampened the momentum; the Steelers defenders then stepped up and stopped the drive.
Arizona had to punt—but penalty flags flew yet again. James Harrison had committed an egregious personal foul, punching a Cardinal blocker, leaving Pittsburgh on their own one.
The Cards’ defensive line held the Steelers to no gain until third down. Then a 20-yard pass to Holmes was nullified by an offensive holding call, which cost the Steelers a safety and gave the Cardinals the ball again with just under three minutes to play.
Steelers Make the Big Play
The Cardinals blitzed hard but Roethlisberger was able to evade the rush, finding receivers downfield and keeping the ball moving. Then, with 49 seconds left, Roethlisberger hit Santonio Holmes, and Holmes turned upfield and ran the ball down to the Arizona five-yard line.
Then, with 35 seconds left, Roethlisberger weaved the ball through three Arizona defenders to hit a leaping Santonio Holmes in the very corner of the end zone. Holmes barely got his toes down, but after review, the Steelers got the score, putting Pittsburgh up by four points.
Now, to pull off the biggest comeback in Superbowl history, the Arizona Cardinals had to take the ball the length of the field, with thirty-five seconds and two time-outs, to score a touchdown.
The Cardinals’ Last Chance
With nothing left but a Hail Mary attempt, Warner was swarmed by Steelers defenders; the ball was knocked from his hands, and the Steelers recovered.
One kneel-down later, the Pittsburgh Steelers became the only franchise to with the Superbowl six times. The Cardinals played well, but inopportune penalties slowed them, and the inability to make that big play when they needed it, left them the losers.
