Pittsburgh Steelers, Super Bowl XLIII Champions

[Matt Cashore/US Presswire]

Wow. The Steelers’ defense gave up 200 yards passing against an opponent just once coming into this game. If you had told me that Warner would gain almost double that plus three touchdowns, I would’ve told you that the Cardinals would win their first Super Bowl.

What a game! The Cardinals’ defense played hard and their offense came up with a smart game plan of short dumps and slants. They were patient and it paid off with Fitzgerald scoring up the middle for the go ahead lead toward the end of the game.

The only problem: there was still two and a half minutes left. In typical Steelers fashion, Big Ben, Santonio Holmes, and the Steelers’ offense took advantage of what little time they had and came up big with one of most memorable drives and catches to seal the victory.

It was a season of many ups and downs. The Steelers faced the toughest schedule in the league, had a patchwork offensive line, and suffered many key injuries early on. The only consistency came from their defense and Big Ben’s ability to bring the team back from behind in the clutch, which he had to do in a third of the games played this year. They got better and better towards the end and the adversity they faced all season long toughened them up for this amazing playoff run. Though the Steelers’ defense wasn’t its dominating self today, the unit played well enough (thanks to James Harrison’s remarkable end-zone interception and 100-yard return TD) and the offense came through once again.

Congratulations to the Cardinals on this improbable run and the Steelers for winning their league-best sixth Super Bowl.

[Al Bello/Getty Images]