Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
What is the greatest Super Bowl win in Steelers history?
There are few franchises with the Super Bowl resume of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team has made it to eight Super Bowls, second-best in NFL history and won six of them. This is tied for the most by any NFL team. With the Super Bowl being played this weekend we decided to re-visit those six wins and rank them.
Super Bowl XLIII was the greatest Super Bowl of all time.
Of the 57 Super Bowls throughout history, so many have been classics. But for us, one stands about the rest. Fifteen years ago today, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals played in Super Bowl XLIII.
After the Steelers jumped out to a 20-3 lead through three quarters, the Cardinals stormed back in the second half and nearly completed one of the most epic comebacks in NFL history before falling 27-23.
This game was highlighted by perhaps the two greatest plays in Super Bowl history. First was the 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison near the end of the first half that killed the Cardinals’ momentum on a drive that would have surely resulted in a touchdown.
15 years ago. Best Super Bowl of all time? pic.twitter.com/ij84Uks6h0
— NFL (@NFL) February 1, 2024
Then, late in the fourth quarter, when the Steelers needed a touchdown, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger delivered. He threw an absolute strike to wide receiver Santonio Holmes in the corner of the end zone to secure the win.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
The duo has caught some eyes through four games.
The Miami Dolphins offense has looked strong so start the 2022 NFL season, and that’s not really a surprise with the weapons that Tua Tagovailoa has around him.
With Mike Gesicki, Chase Edmonds and Raheem Mostert Miami would be a decent unit, but the duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle have taken it to the next level. The pair, affectionately nicknamed the “The Blur Brothers,” have put the league on notice, combining for 52 receptions, 858 yards and five touchdowns.
Hill is on pace to break both franchise and NFL records in 2022.
Waddle and Hill have even started catching the eyes of some great former players, including Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes, who believes they’ll have to help each other out at some point.
“It all boils down to how well Hill and Waddle play together,” Holmes said, speaking to Betway Insider. “There’s going to come moments where one has to work for the other throughout the season, and being able to determine who gets double teamed and who gets singled is going to play a big factor.
“I like their chances of putting up big numbers this year. Tua loves to throw the football and to know that he got speed and time, I think that equals great chemistry.”
Through four games, it looks like they’ve figured out how to use each other’s skill sets to their advantage. If they can stay healthy, they can certainly help Miami get over the hump and break into the postseason and, perhaps, even win once they get there.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbwhebtqp7ahdjt player_id=none image=https://dolphinswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[vertical-gallery id=453489]
The New York Jets traded for Super Bowl MVP QB Joe Flacco. How many other Big Game MVPs have been traded in NFL history?
The New York Jets are looking for help at quarterback, which means they did what any NFL team would do and trade for Joe Flacco.
Even if Flacco finished the year with the Philadelphia Eagles, he already had the distinction of being the fifth Super Bowl MVP that was traded. Here is a look at the others.
Honorable mention — Joe Namath was inevitably going to revitalize his career in Southern California. However, the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Jets couldn’t agree on an appropriate trade package. The Jets waived Namath, and he signed with Los Angeles in 1977. If not for that, Namath would have been the first Super Bowl MVP to be traded.
Wilson was the dime linebacker on the fateful Santonio Holmes play, He wanted to play safety in nickel in that situation.
Arizona Cardinals fans sadly remember the end of Super Bowl XLIII, when Santonio Holmes made an amazing catch in the corner of the end zone to give the Pittsburgh Steelers the championship after it appeared that the Cardinals would win it. However, Cardinals fans might not be familiar with this story about that deciding play.
Former Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson, who is now a scout in the organization, recalled what went down and something he wanted in that situation.
In an interview on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM last week, he said when the Steelers got the ball back after Larry Fitzgerald scored the touchdown to give the Cardinals the lead, the defense was focusing on giving them different looks with personnel groupings.
“Going down into the red zone area, I can remember us being in nickel,” he recalled.
The pass was incomplete, leading to a time out.
“That play, I remember going to the sideline during timeout and I remember Clancy (defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast) asking us, ‘do you want to go dime’ and everybody on the sideline said yes,” he said. “I was looking at Clancy saying no I don’t want to go dime because I wanted to be back in the back playing safety. So we ended up switching personnel and playing dime. I ended up being the dime backer and the rest is history.”
Instead of Wilson playing on the back end for the game-winning play to Holmes, it was Aaron Francisco. Maybe it doesn’t change anything, but that is enough information to make a Cardinals fan wonder.
Wilson isn’t upset and doesn’t think about it. He said he doesn’t blame his coach or teammates. He was outvoted on the sideline and linebacker Karlos Dansby, whose instincts Wilson praised, was one who thought they should switch to dime.
Maybe with Wilson in the end zone in coverage, he would have kept Holmes from getting both feet down. Perhaps it would not have mattered.
But it does add a little extra wonder for fans in one of the franchise’s greatest “what ifs” in history.
[vertical-gallery id=437235]
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
Ep. 266
[protected-iframe id=”bcb747d5fc8df3747b9f1187680b5056-112738498-106269283″ info=”https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/26365268/download.mp3″ ]
Ep.265
[protected-iframe id=”57edcd330524442e03e03f0332fc6342-112738498-106269283″ info=”https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/25900350/download.mp3″ ]
New Jets wide receiver Denzel Mims has a chip on his shoulder after his draft stock fell to No. 59.
New Jets wide receiver Denzel Mims has a little extra motivation after falling to the 59th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Baylor prospect expected to be a high second-round pick, but instead fell toward the back end of the second round. Mims admitted that he was a “little surprised” and “got upset” that his draft stock fell before adding how excited he was to play for the Jets.
“There’s always been a chip on my shoulder,” he said afterward. “I’ve been underrated my whole life.”
Mims is not the type of player who gets nervous in the big moments. Actually, he’s quite the opposite. Mims wants to be the guy catching game-winning touchdowns with the clock ticking down, so it’s clear he doesn’t lack any confidence in his abilities.
“When it comes down to crunch time, when it comes down to the end of the game, I want the spotlight,” he said. “I mean, I want to be the one to help the team get the victory and I want everything on me, on my shoulders.”
That’s exactly what the Jets are looking for in their new playmaker. New York hasn’t had a clutch wide receiver in a while, so that type of mindset will be welcomed in New York.
With Mims’ 6-foot-3, 207-pound frame, he can be a needed red zone target for Sam Darnold. At Baylor, Mims had 28 total touchdowns while also recording 2,925 receiving yards.
More than likely, Mims will line up on the other side of Breshad Perriman on the outside with Jamsion Crowder in the slot. That’s a lot of speed in the wide receiver room for Gang Green, which should bode well for Adam Gase’s up-tempo offense.
And when the Jets need to put points on the board, the coach won’t have to worry about his rookie’s confidence.
In a rare move, the Pittsburgh Steelers traded up to select linebacker Devin Bush in the 2019 NFL Draft.
A week from today, the Pittsburgh Steelers will finally be on the clock in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Who will they take? Nobody knows for certain, even general manager Kevin Colbert.
Two things Colbert knew for certain in the 2019 draft was that he wanted linebacker Devin Bush and he wouldn’t fall to No. 20.
In a bold trade-up move, Colbert made it so. Terms of the transaction were steep, however.
The move to select Bush at No. 10 is the reason why Pittsburgh doesn’t have a third-round pick this year. The Steelers, who held the No. 20 pick, swapped first-round slots with the Denver Broncos and gave up their second-round pick.
The Steelers desperately needed a versatile, instinctive, hard-hitting LB to fill the shoes of Ryan Shazier and despite the extreme investment, it needed to be done.
The Steelers usually play the draft more conservatively — only twice had they traded up in the first round. They last did so in 2006 with wide receiver Santonio Holmes at No. 25 and in 2003 with safety Troy Polamalu at No. 16.
It had been 19 years since the Steelers drafted a player that high. In 2000, the Steelers selected wide receiver Plaxico Burress at No. 8 overall.
Colbert felt confident relinquishing the Steelers’ second-round pick because they had a high third-round pick (No. 66), which they acquired in the trade of wide receiver Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders.
During Bush’s three-year career at Michigan, he recorded 172 tackles (18.5 for loss), 10 sacks, 11 passes defended, and one interception. He was named the 2018 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
As a rookie, Bush compiled 109 tackles (nine for loss), one sack, one forced fumble and four fumble recoveries (one for a TD). He also had two INTs and four passes defended.
[vertical-gallery id=462092]
[lawrence-related id=462310]
The Pittsburgh Steelers traded up in 2006 to select WR Santonio Holmes, but they were a phone call away from drafting Chad Jackson.
Chad Jackson.
Remember him?
I don’t either.
But the Steelers had Jackson, a wide receiver, on their draft board in 2006. Until they didn’t.
In an interview with the Boston Globe, Jackson’s former agent, David Canter, said Jackson answered his phone in a meeting with Steelers head coach Bill Cowher. That ended that. Cowher took him off the Steelers draft board.
I’d be scared to death to answer my phone in a meeting with Cowher. His chin must’ve really been quivering after that.
“Chad Jackson answered his phone in a meeting with Bill Cowher, and Cowher took him off the #Steelers’ draft board,” Canter said. “They traded up and drafted Santonio Holmes [25th].”https://t.co/2AaYekii8a
— David Todd (@DavidMTodd) April 11, 2020
Coming off their 2005 Super Bowl Victory, the Steelers held the last pick in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. That is likely where Jackson once was on the Steelers board.
But the Steelers didn’t like No. 32, so they made a trade with the New York Giants to move up to No. 25. And with that pick, the Steelers selected Ohio State WR Santonio Holmes.
Just imagine for a minute how the history of the Steelers could’ve been re-written without Holmes. No spectacular toe-tap Super Bowl touchdown, no 2008 Super Bowl win, no One for the Thumb.
Had Jackson not answered his phone, the Steelers may have drafted him. Instead, he went to the New England Patriots at No. 36 where he proceeded to play on special teams. Jackson’s injury-riddled career lasted three seasons and 18 games.
[vertical-gallery id=461808]
[lawrence-related id=461512]
See what the City of Tampa’s Twitter account had to say about Super Bowl LV coming to the city next year.
Super Bowl LIV in Miami offered all the action and drama you could want in a championship game, as the Kansas City Chiefs downed the San Francisco 49ers to win their first Super Bowl in 50 years.
Next season, the big game stays in Florida but moves up to Tampa Bay, where the game will be played at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay has hosted the Super Bowl twice before. The first Super Bowl played there was Super Bowl XXXV, which saw the Baltimore Ravens dismantle the New York Giants, 34-7. Super Bowl XLIII between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals, was one of the most memorable (and underrated) games ever. It had a 100-yard interceptions return, a 64-yard touchdown by Cards receiver Larry Fitzgerald, and a tiptoe catch by Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes, which won the game for Pittsburgh.
Now, we are one year out from the big game at RJ Stadium, and the city of Tampa is ready.
TAMPA: We're exactly ONE YEAR away from hosting @SuperBowl LV right here in our city! 🏈 We can't wait to welcome countless fans, witness an epic game, and get to show off Tampa on the world stage. Who's ready? 😎🙌 pic.twitter.com/WFXYaY06iq
— City of Tampa (@CityofTampa) February 7, 2020
That logo is fantastic by the way.
[lawrence-related id=27993,27987,27980,27971]
With Super Bowl LV coming to Tampa next year, take a look back now at the last Super Bowl played there between the Steelers and Cardinals.
Super Bowl LIV in Miami is over and the Kansas City Chiefs reign supreme as the new kings of the NFL.
The game was filled with all the drama and storylines you could’ve asked for. Chiefs coach Andy Reid finally got the monkey off his back and won a Super Bowl title, while quarterback Patrick Mahomes continued his meteoric rise with a legendary come-from-behind win that ended with him being named Super Bowl MVP.
Next year, the Super Bowl will remain in the Sunshine State but move less than 300 miles north to Tampa, where the game will be played at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This will be the third time RJ Stadium hosts the big game. The first Super Bowl played there was Super Bowl XXXV, which saw the Baltimore Ravens dismantle the New York Giants, 34-7.
As boring as that game was to watch, the next Super Bowl played there, Super Bowl XLIII between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals, was one of the most memorable (and underrated) games ever. It had a 100-yard interceptions return, a 64-yard touchdown by Cards receiver Larry Fitzgerald, and a tiptoe catch by Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes, which won the game for Pittsburgh.
Take a look back now at the highlights from that exciting game. Here’s hoping Super Bowl LV will be just as thrilling.
[lawrence-related id=27871,27858,27856,27850]
