Suspense does not normally come in that big of a package.
The Super Bowl had become an event of mythic proportions not just for sports, but for the country as well; it’s practically a holiday. The hidden reality of that myth is the fact that the game’s excitement does not usually match the pre game excitement. And while last year’s did have a thrilling finish, Super Bowl XLIII featured a much better game than Super Bowl XLII with a better finish to boot.
Santonio Holmes caught the game-winner with a catch out of a movie and James Harrison completed the best season of his career with a 100-yard interception return to end the first half, the longest play in Super Bowl history. Both are plays that will be on highlight reels forever and are now ingrained in our culture as moments of glory and being clutch in the most clutch of situations. Kurt Warner may have punched his ticket to Canton even in defeat and the Joe Montana comparisons (for that final drive at least) will never stop as even Big Ben acknowledged the similarities noting that he didn’t see John Candy in the crowd, but knew what to tell his men before marching down the field one last time this year.
The MVP turned out to be the most interesting part of the game as almost anyone could’ve won it. Holmes took home the prize with 132 yards receiving on nine catches and the game-winning touchdown. Ben Roethlisberger went 21/30 for 256 yards with the touchdown pass to Holmes and one interception. Even Kurt Warner as a losing MVP with a 31/43, 377 yard (second most to his 414 in SB XXXIV), three touchdown, and one interception performance seemed tempting. I would’ve picked Big Ben, but Holmes’ touchdown was the most recent thing in people’s brains—plus it was the play of the year, maybe play of the decade—and he did put in a hell of a game with Hines Ward not being at 100% and the Steeler running game being nonexistent.
Had Arizona held on there might have been a receiver MVP regardless, as Larry Fitzgerald seemed a perfect pick for the award. Fitzgerald caught seven passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns with six of those catches, 115 of those yards, and both scores coming in the final frame. For twelve minutes of the final quarter, Larry Fitzgerald was the final quarter, as if Frankenstein’s monster had finally come alive and raising all kinds of hell on a football field.
I was right when I said that the Steeler defense would decide how this game went in the sense that they caused the game clinching turnover, had the score right before half, and when they were on, Arizona was completely off. The Cardinals comeback came during those moments when the Steelers slipped up defensively and made a few mistakes they don’t normally make, like leaving the middle of the field open.
What I didn’t predict, and wouldn’t have given the choice, was Big Ben leading a 78-yard drive to win the Super Bowl in the final two minutes of the game. Big Ben had made his reputation as a big quarterback who could move and did more by doing less. In this game, he had to do more and did it, even when asked to do what up until that moment was impossible for this man to do. Had this been the Big Ben of Super Bowl XL, the Cards would’ve won. But that was Ben Roethlisberger, the 23-year-old young stud of the NFL; the Ben Rothlisberger of Super Bowl XLIII was a little smarter, a little more mature, and a lot better of a football player. And that is scary.
With the win, the Steelers became the first franchise to win six Super Bowls, and the fifth with at least six NFL championships. Mike Tomlin became the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl with the win, but more revolutionary to his profession, Tomlin became the second black head coach in the last three years to win a Super Bowl.
So was it the best Super Bowl ever? I’m going to say no even though most people are saying yes. Granted, most of those people are ones who said that last year’s Super Bowl was the greatest ever. I judge a came ¼ by the historical significance (before and after) of the game and ¾ by the game itself. Last year’s game had all the historical significance in the world and will live on because of that; the game itself was as slow and sloppy as a bad outing from two good teams could be through three quarters and then there was a thrilling fourth quarter complete with two late touchdown drives and a miracle catch during the Giants’ game-winning drive. This year’s game won’t have much historical significance past the fact that it was the Steelers’ sixth Super Bowl and it featured the longest play in Super Bowl history. The game on the other hand was a tough, but slow one through three with Pittsburgh’s defense keeping Arizona in check for the most part and Pittsburgh’s offense keeping Arizona’s offense off the field. The final quarter was without a doubt the greatest quarter in Super Bowl history with long plays, aerial acrobatics all over the place, a game-winning drive for the ages complete with a game-winning catch for the ages, and the kind of suspense that you can’t think up for this game.
So with three quarters of action, but not that close of a game and the best quarter in Super Bowl, this one would be in the top five, but is not #1.
Phil’s Top 5 Super Bowls (in order)
1. Super Bowl XXXII (Denver/Green Bay)
2. Super Bowl XIII (Pittsburgh/Dallas)
3. Super Bowl XLIII (Pittsburgh/Arizona)
4. Super Bowl XXV (New York/Buffalo)
5. Super Bowl XXXVIII (New England/Carolina)
This was the best Super Bowl in over a decade as it provided the delicate balance of being a defensive game and an offensive game all within the same sixty minutes. Along the way we were treated to heroic performances from two field generals—one old and one young—as well as plays that defied logic and created heroes. Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner have gone back to Arizona hopefully content with the magical journey they helped take this franchise on this year and despite coming up just short, can still be proud of all they accomplished; they both did literally everything in their power to win on Sunday. For Harrison, Holmes, Big Ben, Hines Ward, Willie Parker, Mike Tomlin, and all the others, they don’t need to say anything because when you’re the champions of your sport, you’ve done all the talking.
