Steelers Close Curtain on Arizona's Dream

In the Super Bowl XLIII, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 on game-winning drive engineered by Ben Roethlisberger. But before we get to that, here's a look at key events that took place:

Coin Flip: Arizona won, but for the first time in Super Bowl history, deferred to Pittsburgh. The Steelers elected to receive.

1st Quarter: Ben Roethlisberger finishes the opening drive with a rushing touchdown, but an Arizona challenge over-rules the score, and forces the Steelers to take a field goal for a 3-0 lead.

2nd Quarter: The Cardinals tried to power their way back into the game after a Gary Russell TD run put the Steelers up 10-0. Kurt Warner threw to Ben Patrick for a touchdown, after Patrick never had a touchdown all season. As the Cards looked poised to tie or take the lead with 18 seconds left on the 1 yard line, a Warner pass to Anquan Boldin was intercepted by James Harrison, who returned the pick for 100 yards and a TD, putting Pittsburgh up 17-7 at halftime.

3rd Quarter: The Steelers held down Arizona, forcing 3 penalties that cost the Cards 35 yards. Pittsburgh scored on a field goal to pull ahead 20-7.

4th Quarter: The comeback was on as Kurt Warner threw to Larry Fitzgerald to make it a one possession game with a 20-14 score. After getting into Steeler territory, the Cards were forced to punt, and pinned Pittsburgh down inside the 1-yard line. On 3rd and 10, Roethlisberger appeared to throw for what could have been a 1st down. However, one of his lineman was called for holding, resulting in an automatic safety for Arizona. With the extra 2 points and possession of the ball, Arizona completed an incredible drive with a 64 yard pass from Warner to Fitzgerald to take a 23-20 lead with 2:37 left. However, the Steelers came back, and Roethlisberger completed a shoe-string catch to Santonio Holmes for a game-winning touchdown with just 35 seconds left. Arizona had one last chance to try to win the game, but Warner fumbled as he tried to throw a Hail-Mary, ending the game.

Roethlisberger threw for 256 yards and 1 TD, while Warner had 377 yards and 3 touchdowns. Both QB's threw a pick, but Warner's was clearly more devastating. Holmes was the Super Bowl MVP with 9 receptions and 131 yards with the game-winning catch. Fitzgerald finished with 127 yards and 2 touchdowns. Next week the football season concludes with the Pro Bowl in Hawaii.