The Pittsburgh Steelers came back with less than 2:00 minutes in the fourth quarter to beat the Arizona Cardinals by the score of 27-23 in Super Bowl XLIII. Ben Roethlisberger connected with Santonio Holmes, the Super Bowl MVP, on a 7 yard TD pass to secure the win. 

The Arizona Cardinals owned the fourth quarter, up until the 2:00 minute warning, taking the lead on a touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald with 2:47 seconds left to play to give the Cardinals a lead of 23-20.

The other big highlight for the Pittsburgh Steelers was a 100 yard interception return by linebacker James Harrison with 18 seconds left in the second quarter with the Arizona Cardinals on the Pittsburgh Steeler 2 yard line.  With no timeouts left, and the score Pittsburgh 10 and Arizona 7, the Cardinal quarterback, Kurt Warner, threw a pass across the middle.  But Harrison, seeing that Warner was going to pass, backed up and stepped in front of the Arizona Cardinal receiver.   That began a 100 yard romp to the End zone that ended the first half scoring with the Steelers ahead 17 to 7. It was the longest play in Superbowl history.

But again, the first 13 minutes of the fourth quarter belonged to the Arizona Cardinals.  QB Kurt Warner hooked up with Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald for a one yard TD pass with 7:41 left to play. The Steeler took the next kickoff and turned it right back to the Cardinals.  The Cardinals got the punt and started their drive on their own 25 yard line.  A critical 15 yard penalty by Pittsburgh Steeler defensive back Taylor cost the Steelers 15 yards but the Cardinals could not finish the drive and ended up punting the ball away.

On the punt, the Cardinals downed the ball on the Steelers 3 yard line.  After a holding penalty on the Steelers and a loss on the run, the Steelers were facing a third and 11 from the 1 yard line.  Then a holding penalty on the Steelers in the endzone resulted in a Safety to make the score 20-16.

Then after the punt back to Arizona, Kurt Warner hooked up with Larry Fitzgerald for a touchdown pass to give the Cardinals a 23-20 lead.

Then Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh offense drove down the field and scored on a 7 yard Touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes.
Scoring Recap
1st Quarter
FG Jeff Reed, 18 yd field goal , 09:50. Drive: 9 plays, 71 yards in 5:15  Pittsburgh 3, Arizona 0

2nd Quarter
TD Gary Russell, 1 yd run (Jeff Reed kick is good), 14:09. Drive: 11 plays, 69 yards in 7:12  Pittsburgh 10, Arizona 0
TD Ben Patrick, 1 yd pass from Kurt Warner (Neil Rackers kick is good), 08:43. Drive: 9 plays, 83 yards in 5:27 Pittsburgh 10, Arizona 7
TD James Harrison, 100 yd interception return (Jeff Reed kick is good), 00:18.  Pittsburgh 17, Arizona 7

3rd Quarter
FG Jeff Reed, 21 yd field goal , 02:16. Drive: 16 plays, 79 yards in 8:39 Pittsburgh 20, Arizona 7

4th Quarter
TD Larry Fitzgerald, 1 yd pass from Kurt Warner (Neil Rackers kick is good), 07:41. Drive: 8 plays, 87 yards in 3:57 Pittsburgh 20, Arizona 14
 S Penalty on J.Hartwig enforced in end zone for a Safety, 03:04. Pittsburgh 20, Arizona 16
TD Larry Fitzgerald, 64 yd pass from Kurt Warner (Neil Rackers kick is good), 02:47. Drive: 2 plays, 64 yards in 0:21 Pittsburgh 20, Arizona 23
TD Santonio Holmes, 6 yd pass from Ben Roethlisberger , 00:42. Drive: 8 plays, 78 yards in 2:02 Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23

What is the best Superbowl commercial starring a professional sports figure?  Back in 1979, Mean Joe Green of the Pittsburgh Steelers starred in a 30 second Cola-Cola commercial that is perhaps the best of them all. 

In this year’s Superbowl, another Pittsburgh Steeler will star in another Coca-Cola commercial.   A new version of “Mean Joe” will be seen in the third quarter of the Super Bowl. This time, another Pittsburgh Steeler, Troy Polamalu, the long-haired strong safety, stands in for Greene, limps into the tunnel to the Heinz Field locker room, and turns down a kid’s offer of a Coke Zero. Then the old premise turns to parody. Troy Polamalu,

The most celebrated ad with an N.F.L. player — and one of the most admired commercials ever made — was not funny at all. Instead, it was a 30-second stadium drama that occurred after a game when a kid offered a limping, grumpy Joe Greene, then one of the leading defensive tackles in the N.F.L., his Coca-Cola.

While often thought of as a Super Bowl commercial, it was first shown during the baseball playoffs in October 1979, ran through the N.F.L. season and was subsequently broadcast during Super Bowl XIV. The frenzy over Super Bowl commercials — and the notion that some people watched the game for the ads, many of which made their debut during the game — was still a few years in the future.

“We would never remake ‘Mean Joe,’ ” said Katie Bayne, the chief marketing officer for Coca-Cola North America. “There are similarities in the opening 12 seconds, but then it’s truly a Coke Zero commercial.”

In a video on Coke Zero’s Web site, Polamalu said: “He’s always Mean Joe Greene. Our acting skills will be up against each other.” In Greene’s video, also on the site, he said Polamalu faced more of an acting challenge.

“I was being mean, which wasn’t hard to do,” he said.

Many Americans watch the Superbowl not to see the game but to get a look at the over-the-top commercials.  The Superbowl will be viewed by millions of folks all over the world and this is where advertisers put their money where their mouths are.  A 30 second ad during the superbowl game is estimated to cost $3 million.  Let’s hope they play up to the hype.