Super Bowl Xl
The Pittsburgh Steelers gained their sixth opportunity since 1967 to play in the world championship games at Super Bowl XL. This would also give the Steelers a chance to tie the world record with the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco forty-niners, by winning a 5th super bowl.
The regular season for the Steelers did not go so well as they had an 11-5 record, they were the #6 seed in the playoffs and went on to win the conference and eventually Super Bowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks (13-3 season). The final score of 21-10 gave Pittsburgh the ‘one for the thumb’ they had waited nearly 25 years for. This also would be the first super bowl win for Bill Cowher since taking over as head coach for the Steelers in 1992, although he did take Pittsburgh to 10 playoffs in his 14 year career.
The NFL logo was “The Road to Forty” as this was the 40th annual super bowl. Super Bowl XL was held at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The three year old stadium was chosen in 2001, making Detroit a two time host of the Super Bowl (the other one was Super Bowl XVI).
The first quarter proved to be a struggle as Pittsburgh was unable gain a lot of ground. With less than five minutes in the 2nd quarter, and the score at 3-0, Pittsburgh needed 28 yards for a first down turnover. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw to Hines Ward, receiver, gaining 37 yards. On the next two plays, Jerome Bettis carried the ball to within 1 yard of the goal line. When the two minute warning came on the Steelers third down, Ben Roethlisberger made a fake handoff play and dove into the end zone, bringing the score to 7-3 Steelers .
Willie Parker was determined to seal the Steelers Super Bowl XL victory with an NFL record 75 yard touchdown run, making the score 14-3 in the third quarter. Seattle would catch up with a 16-yard pass from Matt Hasselbeck to Jerramy Stevens, closing in on the Steelers at 14-10. However, the fourth quarter would prove difficult for the Seahawks as Randle El passed a 43 yard touchdown to Ward, and Reed making the field goal would widen the score to 21-10. Seattle drove for 48 yards however was unable to make it deep enough. When Pittsburgh gained possession, they held it for almost 5 minutes, making it difficult for Seattle to score ion the last 2 minutes of the game.
The Seahawks gained 48 yards in 2 receptions then made a few pass attempts resulting in incompletions. Only 11 seconds remained in the game and Seattle’s 4th down incomplete pass gave Pittsburgh possession. Only three seconds remained in the game, when Roethlisberger’s kneel-down ended Super Bowl XL.
