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The Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl 43, beating Arizona 27-23 for their sixth Super Bowl victory. Cardinal QB Kurt Warner almost pulled off a big comeback with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to Larry Fitzgerald but couldn't offset James Harrison's record 100-yard interception return. Ben Roethlisberger's TD pass to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds left put the Steelers up for good after they had briefly lost the lead late in the game.
Warner generally outperformed Roethlisberger, who won his second Super Bowl while performing questionably, though he finished 21-of-30 for 256 yards and a touchdown. Warner was 31 of 43 for 377 yards and three touchdowns but the interception by Harrison to end the first half was pivotal. Holmes and Fitzgerald were offensive stars for their teams, each with well over 100 receiving yards.
1st quarter
Pittsburgh went up 3-0 lead on an 18-yard Jeff Reed field goal. Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger set up the score with completions of 38 yards to Hines Ward and 21 yards to Heath Miller. On first and goal from the one, Gary Russell lost four yards. Two plays later Roethlisberger appeared to score on 3rd-and-goal from the 1, but the touchdown was called back.
Arizona's first possession was less successful; they gained few yards and only one first down on a toss by Kurt Warner, as a subsequent penalty and fumble forced a punt.
Roethlisberger immediately had the Steelers driving into Cardinal territory again with a 25 yard completion to Holmes. Another set of completions to Holmes and Miller put the Steelers in the red zone for the second time at the 7-yard line. Facing another 3rd and goal from the 1, this time Russell took it in for the touchdown and a 10-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter.
2nd quarter
Warner fared much better on the Cardinals' next attempt. Speeding up the play calling, he connected with Steve Breaston again for a first down, then pierced Steeler territory for the first time with a completion to Edgerrin James. A few plays later a 45-yarder to Anquan Bolden put the Cards on Pittsburgh's 1-yard line, then Ben Patrick leapt high in the end zone to grab Warner's pass and made it 10-7. Warner was 7-for-8 on the drive.
The Cardinal defense showed some life after that, and along with Pittsburgh's own mistakes, including two penalties, dug a big hole for the Steelers on 4th down.
Steve Breaston returned Mitch Berger's punt 34 yards to begin their drive in Steeler territory, and momentum seemed to have changed. But a 15-yard penalty and a LaMarr Woodley sack of Kurt Warner pushed Arizona back onto their side of the field and forced a punt.
It appeared that Pittsburgh would have the last possession of the half, as they had dominated time of possession thus far. But Arizona got another momentum changing play from Karlos Dansby, who intercepted Roethlisberger on Pittsburgh's 34 yard line at the 2:00 warning.
Warner hit a couple of clutch passes, the latter to Fitzgerald for his first catch of the day, to put the Cardinals in the red zone with less than a minute to go. The Cardinals had 1st and goal from the 1-yard line when James Harrison made one of the biggest plays in Super Bowl history, intercepting Warner and taking it back 100 yards for a Steelers score, rolling into the end zone along with two Cardinals including Fitzgerald, who may have kept Harrison's knee from touching before he tumbled into the end zone with no time remaining.
Harrison's return shattered the record for the longest interception return in a Super Bowl; the previous record was a 75-yard TD return by Willie Brown of the Oakland Raiders against Minnesota in Super Bowl XI.
Halftime score: Pittsburgh 17, Arizona 7
3rd quarter
The Cardinals attempted to recover from the jolt in the 2nd half. The offense, with James running well, pushed into Steeler territory once again before stalling.
Pittsburgh took over and an Arizona face masking penalty helped put them at midfield, and a roughing the passer call moved them to the Cardinal 35. Willie Parker had his best run of the game, a 15-yarder that put the Steelers on the 5 yard line, first and goal to go, but he was stuffed for a 4-yard loss on the next play. Roethlisberger failed on two passing attempts but a questionable roughing call—Arizona's 8th penalty of the day—kept the Steeler drive alive. Still, Pittsburgh had to settle for another short field goal as the Cardinal defense made more tough stops near the goal line.
The drive took over eight minutes off the clock, however, leaving the Cards just over 15 minutes for their comeback attempt. The third quarter ended with the Steelers up 20-7.
4th quarter
Arizona's offense stalled again—hurt by yet another penalty, for holding—and Ben Graham's punt was short and Arizona was called for another penalty, giving Pittsburgh solid field position. But the Cardinal defense stepped up with two tackles-for-loss and the Steelers punted the ball back without running much time off the clock.
With time getting scarce, Warner put together an impressive hurry-up drive. After reaching mid-field with three completions, he hit J.J. Arrington for a 22-yard strike to Pittsburgh's 28, then hit Fitzgerald to put them on the ten. Fitzgerald nabbed another pass that moved them to the four yard line, and two plays later he leapt for Warner's second 1-yard TD toss of the day, closing the gap to 20-14 with 7 1/2 minutes to go.
On the following series Darnell Dockett's second sack of the day was huge for the Cardinals, forcing another Pittsburgh three-and-out; again the Steelers took just two minutes off the clock. Once again, from their own 25 Arizona wasted little time in reaching midfield, and Warner's 23-yard strike to Breaston put them near the red zone. But another penalty (#11) backed them up 10 yards, and Warner suffered three rare incompletions and the Cardinals had to punt, pinning the Steelers on their 1-yard line.
Pittsburgh's increasingly ineffective offense couldn't dig out of the hole; the Steelers stalled for no gain twice before suffering a safety on a holding penalty, and Arizona got the ball back again, down just 20-16.
Arizona took over on their 36 and needed just two plays—the latter a 64 yard pass to Fitzgerald out in front of three Steeler defenders—to take the lead 23-20.
Roethlisberger's last chance to redeem himself—and make up for his poor performance in the Steelers' last Super Bowl—started slow, but he managed to get the Steelers to midfield with a minute to go, converting a 3rd-and-six. A 40-yard completion to Santonio Holmes later and they were at the six yard line; Roethlisberger connected with Holmes again for the go-ahead TD with 35 seconds remaining.
Warner immediately went to Fitzgerald for 20 yards to near mid-field, 22 seconds to go. Another 13 yards to Arrington put them in Steeler territory. But on the next play Warner was sacked by Woodley—his second of the day—and fumbled the ball, and Pittsburgh's Brett Keisel recovered for the Steelers. It might have been ruled a forward pass, but wasn't, and ended the Cardinals' hopes.
Final Score: Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23