The J-TAC

Issue date: 2/5/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Seth Griffin The Steelers broke the tie for most Super Bowl wins between the Cowboys, 49ers and Steelers.

On Sunday, Feb. 1, the Pittsburgh Steelers became the first team in NFL history to win six Super Bowls. Prior to the victory the Steelers were in a three way tie between the Steelers, San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys for the most championships won. The 27-23 victory against the underdog Arizona Cardinals was no simple task. With the win, Mike Tomlin also became the youngest head coach in any Super Bowl and youngest to ever win the Super Bowl.

The Cardinals struggled for the first three quarters of the game scoring only seven points in 52 minutes. At half time, the Cardinals trailed 17-7 following an interception by Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who returned it for 100 yards and a touchdown as the clock expired. The interception was the longest play in NFL Super Bowl history. Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner threw the interception while trying to score right before half-time making it a 14-point swing, causing the Cardinals to go into half time behind.

Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner was only the second quarterback in NFL history to lead two different teams to a Super Bowl. He finished the game with 31 completions for 377 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He now holds the top three Super Bowl passing performances in Super Bowl history.

Opposing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was in his second Super Bowl in five seasons after winning Super Bowl XL with the Steelers. He finished with 21 completions for 256 yards one touchdown and one interception. In his last Super Bowl, Roethlisberger had a 22.6 quarterback rating for the game but his latest victory came behind a 93.2 rating with his only passing touchdown being made with 35 seconds left to make the score to 27-23.

Both teams didn't have much success running the ball and seldom tried. Cardinals had 33 yards rushing on 12 carries as a team and the Steelers reaching 58 yards rushing 26 carries, running back Gary Russell scoring one rushing touchdown.

Aside from the quarterbacks, the true stars of the game was Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes, who had 131 yards receiving on nine catches, including the game winning touchdown. Four of his catches, 73 of his yards and his touchdown all came in the team's final drive for the lead. Cardinal's receiver, Larry Fitzgerald had 127 yards on seven catches with two touchdowns, the second of which gave the Cardinals a three point lead with just over two minutes left in the game.

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