By Brandon Keys
Staff Writer
After seeing last year’s remarkable turn of events shock the football world, I was ready for anything dur¬ing this Super Bowl. Maybe another thrilling comeback from an NFC underdog could happen, or even the expected dominance of one AFC powerhouse. To my surprise, neither of these took place.
Instead an aging sure-fire Hall of Famer went toe to toe with the leagues’ best defense and came up short. Arizona Cardinals’ quarterback, Kurt Warner, fought valiantly right up to the last play to continue his team’s success in the play¬offs. The Steelers’ defense proved too much though, stripping Warner of the football on the final play. This one play was surprising given Warner’s success dur¬ing the game. He was 31 of 43 for 377 yards and three touchdowns, two of which fell into the hands of Ultra-Pro Larry Fitzgerald. He had a productive playoff game, finishing with seven catch¬es for 127 yards. Though, when it came to clutch offensive plays, Pittsburgh answered the call.
Driving from their own ten yard line because of a penalty, Ben Rothlisberger and Santonio Holmes led the Black and Gold down the field for what would prove to be the Cardinals’ undoing. Arizona’s defense had been suspect all year, and it showed in the end. It’s too cliché to say De¬fense wins championships but here you can say De¬fense lost it for Arizona. Rothlisberger hit Holmes in the back corner for the game winning score with 35 seconds to go. The final score for Super Bowl 43 was 27-23.
