4. Super Bowl XLIII – Steelers 27-23 Cardinals
If you read my recent article outlining the most iconic plays in Super Bowl history, most of the games that we talk about on this list will be familiar to you, but none more so than SB XLIII.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals met in a game of football that wasn’t just intense, and exciting, it was host to two of the most memorable moments in the NFL to date.
The Steelers had the lead at 10-0 when Kurt Warner provided the first of many explosive plays in the game when he found Anquan Boldin crossing toward the sideline for a 45-yard reception down to the Steelers one-yard line. A touchdown pass to TE Ben Patrick made the game 10-7. A couple of drives later, Ben Roethlisberger was intercepted and with just 2:46 left before halftime, the Cards offense returned to the field with the intent of either going in with a tied game or the lead. They drove all the way to the goal-line, and then came the first of our unforgettable plays.
On the final play of the first half, Warner tried to fire a quick slant into Boldin for a touchdown, but defensive end James Harrison had snuck off his usual rushing duties and into a short hook zone, and he intercepted the throw.
Super Bowl XLIII's first three scoring plays are the most bizarre first three scoring plays in Super Bowl history.
(1) 18-yard field goal
(2) Gary Russell (*98* career rushing yards) one-yard touchdown run
(3) Ben Patrick (*45* career receptions) one-yard touchdown reception
— Walker Carey (@walkerRcarey) February 5, 2021
He then proceeded to run the entire length of the field and score a miraculous and unbelievable 100-yard pick-six. A 14-point swing on the play, making it 17-7, and one of the most iconic Super Bowl plays ever.
The third quarter was fairly quiet and ended with a scoreline of 20-7, but Arizona weren’t done yet. In the final period, Warner heated up, and after transitioning to no-huddle, he orchestrated his best drive of the game.
An 87-yard scoring drive over eight plays which concluded with Larry Fitzgerald making a beautiful contested catch on a jump ball to make it 20-14. Shortly after, as the time was ticking, the Cardinals pinned Pittsburgh back on their one-yard line and it resulted in a safety; now 20-16.
On the drive immediately following the free-kick, it took just two plays for Warner to hit Fitzgerald once again for a huge 64-yard touchdown as he tore the defense in half after the catch on a slant. The Cardinals finally took the lead, for the first time, with 2:37 left to go in the fourth – 23-20. Big Ben and the Steelers offense had to go 78 yards and they had just over two and a half minutes to get it done. That is when Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes earned his trophy.
Holmes hauled in both the first and second receptions of the drive for a combined 27-yards, with some phenomenal work from Roethlisberger keeping them alive.
After a couple of plays in no-huddle and 14 more yards, the Steelers called a timeout and had 1:02 left in the game on the Arizona 46-yard line. Out of the timeout, Big Ben hit Holmes in some space on a sit route, and he turned up the sideline for a huge gain after the catch and took them into the redzone with the 40-yard completion. Just two plays later, Roethlisberger dropped back to pass and saw that his two first reads were covered.
That’s when he saw Santonio Holmes breaking on his corner route toward the back corner of the endzone.
He was surrounded by three different red jerseys, but that didn’t matter. Roethlisberger delivered a perfect pass, high over the defenders, and the SB MVP went up on his tiptoes and made one of the best catches ever to win the game. The game ended 27-23 and in a game with hugely exciting moments, the Steelers came out on top – not just with the championship, but with two of the most memorable plays ever, in one of the best Super Bowls of all-time.
