Steelers defeat Cardinals in Super battle of thrill rides
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Pittsburgh Steelers changed coaches last season, but not expectations.
Aided by two of the best plays in Super Bow'l history, the Steelers (15-4) won their second championship in four seasons and their first under Mike Tomlin, beating the upstart Arizona Cardinals 27-23 Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
NFL defensive player of the year James Harrison intercepted a Kurt Warner pass and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown just before halftime, a momentum swing that gave the Steelers a 17-7 lead.
After a furious comeback by the Cardinals to go up 23-20, Santonio Holmes' spectacular catch along the edge of the end zone in triple coverage became the game winner with 35 seconds to play.
"Steeler football is 60 minutes," Tomlin said. "It's never going to be pretty. Throw style points out the window, but these guys will fight to the end."
"This is for Pittsburgh, baby," Holmes shouted afterward to the tens of thousands of towel-waving fans among the 70,774 who attended, most of them clad in black in gold.
Team president Dan Rooney and his son, Art II, proved correct in their gamble two years ago to hire Tomlin over former assistants Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm, who stood across the field Sunday after leading the Cardinals on an improbable postseason run.
Tomlin, who has won division titles in each of his first two seasons and last week earned the fan vote as NFL coach of the year, became the youngest Super Bowl-winning coach at age 36 after reaching the championship game more quickly than Cowher or Hall of Famer Chuck Noll.
The Steelers snapped a tie with San Francisco and Dallas to become the first team to win six Super Bowls. They are 6-1 all-time, losing only Super Bowl XXX after the 1995 season.
"It was wonderful," Dan Rooney said of his team's record-setting championship, adding, "They're all special."
The Cardinals (12-8) were routed by at least three touchdowns in three of their final five regular season games and entered the playoffs as champions of the weak NFC West, where no team won more than nine regular-season games.
But they found their stride in the postseason, knocking off the Atlanta Falcons in the wild card round before beating two teams with veteran postseason quarterbacks -- Carolina and Philadelphia.
And they pushed the Steelers to the limit, nearly making Warner the first starting quarterback to win Super Bowls with two different teams. He led the St. Louis Rams past the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV.
"We made it to a place that no one thought we would be," Warner said. "Obviously you want to win, but we took the best in the league down to the wire."
Whisenhunt and Grimm came up just short in their attempt to upstage their former employers, who shocked even some Steelers fans by hiring Tomlin over Cowher's two popular assistants.
"We hung together as a group, I'm proud of the way they played," said Whisenhunt, the offensive coordinator in the Steelers' Super Bowl XL win, who needed only two seasons to turn around what had been one of the league's most dysfunctional franchises.
Sunday's game was expected to come down to the matchup between a Steelers defense that ranked No. 1 in yardage and points during the regular season and Arizona's high-flying offense led by Warner and acrobatic receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
And it did, until the Steelers were forced to go to Roethlisberger and Holmes to win it because the defense sprung leaks down the stretch.
Toughened by the NFL's most difficult regular season schedule, the Steelers largely shut down Fitzgerald in the first half and capitalized on mistakes and missed tackles by the Cardinals to take what appeared to be a commanding 20-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
Harrison made the biggest play of the first half. With Arizona down 10-7 and on the verge of scoring, Harrison dropped back into coverage on a play that called for him to blitz.
He baited Warner into trying to thread a pass to Anquan Boldin, intercepting it and returning it 100 yards for a 17-7 lead that swung the momentum back to the Steelers.
Harrison tumbled into the end zone, landing awkwardly after being hit by Fitzgerald. He stayed on the ground during a booth review, finally getting up and walking off the field on his own power after his score was upheld.
"I tweaked my neck and it was burning," Harrison said. "And I was tired as hell."
But Warner, a former Super Bowl MVP, brought the Cardinals back with a pair of touchdown drives sandwiched around a safety when Justin Hartwig was flagged for holding in the end zone.
The Steelers got the ball back trailing by three with 2 minutes, 37 seconds to play, and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, awful in the Super Bowl XL win over Seattle three years ago, made big play after big play.
Roethlisberger's 13-yard pass to Holmes on third-and-6 from the Pittsburgh 26 might have been the most important play, but it wasn't the most spectacular.
That came after the Steelers reached the Arizona 6 with less than a minute left.
After trying to hit Holmes in the left side of the end zone on first down, Roethlisberger called 62 Scat Flasher, a play designed to have Holmes peel back across the coverage.
Roethlisberger floated a pass over three Cardinals defenders to the corner, and Holmes made a remarkable catch, managing to touch both toes inbounds while leaning for the catch, his arms outstretched.
The score came with 35 seconds left, capping what Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians called "the most fulfilling drive I've ever been associated with in coaching."
In the huddle before the touchdown, Roethlisberger had told his teammates, "It's now or never, guys. You'll be remembered forever if you do this."
Arizona crossed midfield in a last-ditch drive, but LaMarr Woodley sacked Warner on a first-down play from the Steelers' 44, forcing a fumble that Brett Keisel recovered with five seconds remaining to seal it.
It was the second straight dramatic Super Bowl finish after the New York Giants rallied past unbeaten New England in the final minute of Super Bowl XLII.
Warner became the first quarterback to pass for 300 yards in three Super Bowls, and Fitzgerald, after a slow start, was his spectacular, record-breaking self.
Fitzgerald caught two touchdown passes, both of them on outstanding plays, and set an NFL mark with seven postseason touchdowns.
His 1-yard catch over Ike Taylor capped an 87-yard drive that sparked the Cardinals' comeback from a 13-point deficit.
With Arizona down six, he hauled in a short pass from Warner over the middle and blew past the Steelers' secondary for a 64-yard score that gave the Cardinals the lead.
But it went for naught, as Holmes emerged on the final drive to make the big catches. He finished with nine receptions for 131 yards and was named MVP.
"It was crazy," Harrison said of the game's many momentum swings. "One minute you were on Cloud Nine, and the next minute you felt like garbage."
Copyright (c) 2009 CyberInk LP and Erie Times-News
Cardinals Prove They are no Fluke
But Ken Whisenhunt did believe there was talent on the roster, enough that winning didn't seem improbable.
"I'm naive enough to think we could have a chance in the first year," he said. "That's the way you have to approach it. I don't think that you put a time frame on it."
Whisenhunt appears to be the least surprised person in the country that the Cardinals are in their first Super Bowl. "That's the idea, isn't it?" he joked last week.
The Cardinals have reached this point by playing their best football of the season. They've won four straight, the first time they've done that in the same season since 1999. They've upset favored teams in each of the three rounds of the playoffs.
This isn't a fluke. Their offense is difficult to stop because it has as many threats as any other team in the league. Quarterback Kurt Warner has been efficient. Receiver Larry Fitzgerald has 419 receiving yards in the playoffs, a post-season record. Running back Edgerrin James looks fresh and quick. And backups Tim Hightower and J.J. Arrington are dangerous role players.
The defense isn't big or filled with stars, but it's fast and it's playing together.
The Cardinals have an advantage in the Super Bowl, too, because of the coaching staff's ties to the Steelers. Whisenhunt coached there six years and went against coordinator Dick LeBeau's defenses daily. Three other members of his staff worked in Pittsburgh, too.
The Cardinals need the extra week to heal, but they won't need it to game plan.
Whisenhunt admitted after the NFC title victory over the Eagles that he was rooting for the Steelers, but not because of any competitive advantage. He has a fondness for the city, the franchise and the Rooney family.
"I mean I'm glad we're playing in it," he said, "but the reason I'm here is because of my time with Pittsburgh and I am very grateful for that."
The Cardinals, meanwhile, will try to stay grounded, despite the excitement of the community around them. Their success in the playoffs can be attributed to their underdog status, which will continue, and their ability to stay focused on the task at hand.
But, it's hard to ignore that they are in unchartered waters.
"It really set it when I saw the confetti," defensive end Bertrand Berry said of winning the NFC title. "I always dreamed of being in confetti."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I think it says, 'Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl.'" -- Quarterback Kurt Warner, on the meaning of the Chinese symbols on the shirt he wore after winning the NFC title.
LINEUP WATCH: The Cardinals are doing a nice job of incorporating all of their offensive threats into the game plan. Fitzgerald is benefiting from the improvement of the play-action game. That has come about because James is finding room to run. He's getting that because of the improved play of the offensive line. And they are benefiting from coordinator Todd Haley's commitment to calling the run. Last week, Haley used a personnel group that included Arrington and Hightower in the same backfield, and he did a nice job of mixing in the screen game.
PLAYER/PERSONNEL NOTES
--OLB/DE Travis LaBoy suffered a left biceps injury against the Eagles and his status for the Super Bowl is in question.
--WR Anquan Boldin still isn't 100 percent recovered from a hamstring strain, and he's not a happy player. He exchanged some heated words with offensive coordinator Todd Haley when Haley took him out at a critical point late in the game.
--WR Larry Fitzgerald has 419 yards receiving in three postseason games, an NFL record. Fitzgerald has had at least 100 yards receiving in five consecutive games.
--DE Antonio Smith suffered a knee injury against the Eagles but returned to action. He will be evaluated in the coming days.
--SS Adrian Wilson had two sacks against the Eagles, causing a fumble with one of them.
Copyright (c) 2009 RoarReport.com and Scout.com.
UC Football Has Strong Ties To NFL Conference Championships
CINCINNATI -- Five former University of Cincinnati football players and seven former assistant coaches will battle for a berth in Super Bowl XLIII as the NFL enters its conference championship weekend.
The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers will face off in a game that features head coaches who were both UC assistants. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was a UC assistant from 1989-96 and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was on the UC staff from 1999-2000.
Both coaches have multiple assistants on their staff with UC ties. On the Raven's side, assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Rex Ryan (1996-97), special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg (1992-95), and offensive assistant Craig Ver Steeg (1990-93) all served with Harbaugh at Cincinnati.
On Tomlin's staff, assistant special teams coach Amos Jones (1999-2002) and offensive line coach Larry Zierlein (1997-2000) coached for the Bearcats. Former longtime Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson is also on the Steelers' staff.
Former standout safety Haruki Nakamura is wrapping up his first professional season with the Ravens. He has played in 14 games, mostly on special teams, tallying 12 tackles.
Linebacker Andre Frazier played in 10 games this season for Pittsburgh, recording 10 tackles and a sack.
On the NFC side, the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles will meet with three former UC players among the participants.
Cardinals linebackers coach Bill Davis was a four-year letterwinner for UC at quarterback and running back from 1985-88 who is in his 17th season as an NFL assistant.
Philadelphia features former student-athletes Brent Celek and Trent Cole.
Celek, in his second season as a pro, has 30 catches for 330 yards and two touchdowns. In the Eagles' 23-11 win over the Giants Sunday, he caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Donovan McNabb in the fourth quarter.
Cole, who has emerged as one of the top young defenders in the league, leads all NFL players with 20 tackles in two playoff games. For the season, he has 102 tackles and eight sacks.
Copyright 2009 The E.W. Scripps Co
Case of the yips for Peterson?
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) -- What was once viewed as an aberration has morphed into quite possibly the Minnesota Vikings' greatest concern as they chase a playoff bid: Star running back Adrian Peterson can't seem to hold on to the ball.
The NFL's leading rusher and Minnesota's MVP candidate has fumbled the ball five times in the last three weeks, including twice in a loss to Atlanta on Sunday when a victory would have sealed the NFC North title for the Vikings (9-6).
"You have to take care of the football," Vikings coach Brad Childress said Monday, one day after his team lost four of its seven fumbles in the 24-17 defeat. "I understand where there's a violent explosive hit, where somebody puts their hat right on the football. Those things are hard to contend with.
"But some of them - and I'm not going to use the word careless, because I don't believe it's careless - but you do have to be mindful of that at the end of the run, as you're finishing the run."
Part of what makes Peterson so brilliant as a runner - his refusal to give up on a play until all avenues for advancement have been explored - has been the biggest contributor to his recent troubles.
"The type of running back I am, I find myself out there fighting for yards and fighting for yards and I kind of put myself in a vulnerable position when I'm scratching and fighting for yards," Peterson said after the game on Sunday. "You've got 11 guys coming in trying to knock that ball out. You've really got to be conscious of that and of holding the ball tight."
That's what happened on his first fumble on Sunday. Peterson burst off left tackle and rumbled inside the Atlanta 20-yard line, where he was met by a host of tacklers. Rather than fall to the turf and live to fight another down, Peterson kept those powerful legs churning as he was stood up by three defenders.
Safety Lawyer Milloy came in late and popped the ball loose, leading to a field goal on the other end that gave the Falcons a 17-7 lead just before halftime.
"I was going down, keeping my feet moving and trying to get every inch I could and the guy came in and made a great play," Peterson said.
Peterson put the ball on the turf three times in Detroit three weeks ago, though the hapless Lions weren't able to recover any of them. He easily could have been charged with a third fumble on Sunday on a botched handoff with Tarvaris Jackson, and the case of the yips couldn't be coming at a worse time for Minnesota.
Childress said the Vikings will devote even more time in practice this week to getting a grip on that slippery pigskin. He mentioned former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber had similar troubles until coach Tom Coughlin and the rest of the staff made it a point of emphasis.
"From then on there was only one way he carried it and that was high and tight," Childress said. "Always. Whether he was in open field or running between the tackles."
It wasn't just Peterson who had trouble in that department against Atlanta. Bernard Berrian fumbled a punt and Jackson was charged with two fumbles to spoil an otherwise impressive performance in his second straight start at quarterback.
Yet Peterson's issues are clearly the most troubling for an offense that depends so heavily on his production. He leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage and is accounting for 36 percent of the Vikings' offense this year.
And each time that ball pops out of his rippling arms, Peterson knows opposing defenders' eyes light up even more.
"When you look at the position we're in, it's getting close to the playoffs so guys are going to do whatever they can do to get that ball out," he said. "I've got to give them credit. They did a good job of knocking the ball out and that's really all I have to say."
Copyright (c) 2008 The Associated Press
