TAMPA, Fla. – This time around the script went just as Big Ben planned.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger spent much of the week leading up to the Super Bowl talking about his struggles the last time he was in the big game. Those are now just a memory.
The Steelers stud played was nearly flawless and led his team on a last-second, game-winning drive in Super Bowl XLIII tonight.
In the end, Roethlisberger completed 21-of-30 passes for 256 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but numbers don’t tell the story. The 26-year-old was cool under pressure and captured the second Super Bowl title of his young career.
“I felt a lot better,” Roethlisberger said. “I didn’t have the jitters. I actually didn’t feel really nervous, but then the planes flew over, that’s when I was the most nervous. I’m just excited for everybody that we got this win.”
He made like his draft classmate Eli Manning did last year, and put his name alongside Manning, Brady and Montana when it comes to Super Bowl final-minute heroics.
The Steelers got the ball with 2:37 left on the clock after Larry Fitzgerald’s 64-yard touchdown gave the Cardinals a 23-20 lead. Pittsburgh took the ball over at their own 22, but quickly moved back to the 12 on a holding call.
Roethlisberger then began connecting with his new favorite target, Santonio Holmes, on pass after pass. He hit Holmes with a 15-yard pass to start, then faced third-and-5 after an incompletion.
The 6-foo-5, 241-pound quarterback showed how well he can move, continually avoiding the Cardinals’ pass rush and keeping plays alive. He hit Holmes for 12 yards on to convert the first down. Then found Nate Washington to move the ball to the 50 while the clock ticked below two minutes.
Roethlisberger then scrambled for three yards before Pittsburgh took its second timeout with 1:02 showing on the clock. That’s when he struck with the big play, hitting Holmes on the sideline and letting him run 40 yards down to the Arizona 7-yard line. After an incompletion, Roethlisberger bought some time and pointed Holmes toward the back corner of the end zone, where he put the perfect pass that only Holmes could grab while three Cardinals defenders watched helplessly. Holmes got his toes in for the winning score and Roethlisberger’s legend grew in Western Pennsylvania.
“I was going to throw the ball in the flat,” Roethlisberger said. “They covered it up so I went to Hines (Ward). He was covered, getting held. But all of the sudden, I saw (Holmes) go to the corner. I threw it and thought it was going to be picked. He made a heck of a catch.”
Roethlisberger showed he wasn’t feeling the nerves like he did in Super Bowl XL three years ago right away. That night he went 9-of-21 for 123 yards and 2 interceptions against the Seahawks.
This time, though, he completed seven of his first eight passes and moved the Steelers down the field with ease. His one interception came on a tipped pass.