SUPER BOWL XL GAME SUMMARY

The offense came to life in the second half and the defense tightened the reigns, as the organization won its fifth Super Bowl.

 

Behind the strong performance of MVP Hines Ward, along with Willie Parker's breakaway speed, the offense sparked the team to a 21-10 victory to win Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit.

 

The Seahawks won the coin toss and got the ball to start things off. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck came out throwing, completing his first pass of the game to Josh Scobey for seven yards. Hasselbeck then went to Darrell Jackson for seven yards. Shaun Alexander's first carry of the day went for eight yards around right end and then Hasselbeck connected with Jackson again for eight yards and a first down. The defense tightened it up then, with Alexander gaining just one yard and then Hasselbeck threw incomplete to Jackson. On third-and-nine Clark Haggans sacked Hasselbeck for a four-yard loss, forcing the Seahawks to punt.

 

The Steelers offense got off to a slow start. Tight end Heath Miller was called for a false start to begin the game, and then Willie Parker was stopped for no gain. Roethlisberger completed a one-yard pass to Parker, before having to run it himself for 10 yards. He came up short of the first down, though, forcing the Steelers to punt.

 

After both teams exchanged possessions, the Seahawks offense got clicking. Hasselbeck completed passes to Jackson for 20 yards, then to Joe Jurevicius for 11 yards. Hasselbeck then found Jackson in the end zone, but they touchdown was nullified for offensive pass interference. The Seahawks went to the ground, but Alexander was stopped for a gain of one and then a loss of four yards. Hasselbeck's pass to D.J. Hackett was incomplete in the corner of the end zone. Josh Brown came on for a 47-yard field goal to give the Seahawks a 3-0 lead.

 

The Steelers went three-and-out on their next possession and the Seahawks offense having to punt.

 

The Steelers offense finally showed some life when they got the ball back, but not enough. Jerome Bettis had a two-yard run on second-and-10 and then Roethlisberger completed an eight-yard pass to Antwaan Randle El for their first first-down of the game. Hines Ward then took it around left end for 18 yards to the Steelers 48-yard line. The offense would stall, though, as Michael Boulware intercepted Roethlisberger's pass to Randle El at the Seahawks 17-yard line.

The defense would step up to the challenge. Hasselbeck had a three-yard completion to Bobby Engram and then Alexander had a four-yard run.  On third-and-three Deshea Townsend came up with a big play when he stopped Mack Strong just short of a first down.

 

The Steelers got the ball back with just over eight minutes and finally got things going. Parker had short gains of one and three yards, and then Roethlisberger hit Ward for 12 yards on a shovel pass. Roethlisberger came back with a 20-yard completion to Cedrick Wilson to the Seahawks 22-yard yards line. Roethlisberger threw incomplete to Ward, then Jerome Bettis had a five-yard carry. Miller was called for offensive pass interference, giving the Steelers second-and-20. Grant Winstrom then sacked Roethlisberger for an eight-yard loss, putting the Steelers in a hole with third-and-28 from the Seahawks 40-yard line. Roethlisberger then went deep to Ward and found him for a 37-yard strike at the Seattle three-yard line. Bettis carried the ball for two yards, and then was stopped for no gain. While almost everyone thought it would go right back to Bettis, it was Roethlisberger who took it on the quarterback sneak for a one-yard touchdown, giving the Steelers a 7-3 lead and becoming the only Steelers quarterback to score on a rushing touchdown in the Super Bowl.

 

The Seahawks got the ball with back with 1:46 remaining in the half and had a chance to put points on the board, but Brown's 54-yard field goal was wide right.

 

The Steelers got the ball to start the half and wasted no time in lighting up the scoreboard. On the second play from scrimmage Parker went off an amazing block by Alan Faneca and turned on the burners, taking it 75 yards for a touchdown, giving the Steelers a 14-3 lead. It was the longest touchdown run in Super Bowl history.

 

It looked like the Seahawks might have a spark of their own as they moved the ball efficiently. Hasselbeck completed a six-yard pass to Maurice Morris for six yards, and Strong went around left end for seven yards. Alexander broke around left end for a 21-yard gain to the Steelers 37-yard line. Alexander managed to get five more yards, but the Seahawks were forced to attempt a field goal, and Brown's 50-yard attempt went wide left.

 

The Steelers took over at their own 40-yard line and Roethlisberger hit Ward for a 15-yard gain, then Bettis went off left tackle for six yards. Roethlisberger connected with Ward again for 16 yards. Bettis took it off left end for 12 yards to the Seahawks 11-yard line, and added a four-yard run to the seven. But on third down, Kelly Herndon stepped in front of Roethlisberger's pass and intercepted it, returning it 76 yards to the Steelers 20-yard line.

 

It didn't take long for the Seahawks to cash in on the mistake. Hasselbeck hit Jeramy Stevens for a 16-yard touchdown to close the gap to 14-10.

 

The Steelers came up empty on their next two drives, while the Seahawks got the momentum going in their favor. Hasselbeck mixed it up, completing passes to Ryan Hannam, Engram and Jurevicius. He hit Stevens for 18 yards to the one-yard line, put a holding call negated the completion and the tide started to turn for the defense. Casey Hampton sacked Hasselbeck for a five yard loss. Two plays later Ike Taylor intercepted Hasselbeck and returned it to 24 yards to the Steelers 29-yard line. A low block by Hasselbeck on the play drew a 15-yard penalty, giving the Steelers the ball at their own 44-yard line.

 

It was then time to go into the bag of tricks for the Steelers. On first-anad-10 from the Seattle 43-yard line Randle El took it on the reverse and then fired it down field to Ward for a 43-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 21-10.

 

The defense stepped up big just like the offense. The swarmed the Seahawks, with Deshea Townsend sacking Hasselbeck for a five-yard loss to force a punt and give the Steelers the ball back with 6:15 to play.

 HOW THEY SCORED

FOURTH QUARTER

Steelers 21, Seahawks 10
Play: Ward 43-yard pass from Randle El

THIRD QUARTER

Steelers 14, Seahawks 10
Play: Stevens 16-yard pass from Hasselbeck

Steelers 14, Seahawks 3
Play: Parker 75-yard touchdown run


SECOND QUARTER

Steelers 7, Seahawks 0
Play: Roethlisberger one-yard touchdown run

FIRST QUARTER

Steelers 0, Seahawks 3
Play: Josh Brown 47-yard field goal.

 

GAME DAY PHOTOS