Tag: Super Bowl XL

The injustice of Super Bowl XL has not been forgotten among Seahawks fans

As the Seahawks are set to host the Steelers tomorrow, the pain still lingers for many 12s.

February 5, 2006. A date that will live in Seattle sports infamy until the end of time. The Seattle Seahawks lost Super Bowl XL to the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-10 at Ford Field in Detroit. To this day (until the Lions host a wild-card game this January), it is the only playoff game played at that venue.

Seattle’s hopes of their first Super Bowl win were dashed as the Steelers partied with their fifth Lombardi Trophy. Losing the Super Bowl is never fun under any circumstance. But this felt different. This wasn’t just the feeling of loss, but something stronger. More painful.

Robbery.

This was the prevailing emotion for 12s everywhere. The Seahawks weren’t just fighting the Steelers, they were apparently going against an officiating crew who gave every close call to Pittsburgh. In addition to the pain of knowing a long-awaited championship would once again elude the Seattle faithful, feelings of injustice also permeated the Emerald City.

If you ask older Seahawks fans, such as my father, they will tell you of two weeks of media coverage dedicated to beloved Steelers running back Jerome “The Bus” Bettis. Was this his swan song? Did the league want him to go out on top? Obviously, impossible to ever say. But questions began to spread among the 12s.

I could go into excruciating detail of every botched call the Seahawks were on the losing end of, but this video from NFL Network’s Top 10 show sums it up nicely. In the episode ranking the most controversial calls in the history of the league, the entirety of Super Bowl XL is given a spot. Says a lot if you ask me.

Fast forward to Sunday, December 31, 2023. The Seahawks will host the Steelers in their first visit to Lumen Field since the 2015 season. No one taking the field or standing on the sideline for either team was in Detroit on Feb. 5, 2006. But that won’t matter. To the 12s, the pain of a stolen Super Bowl still lingers.

Seattle vs. Pittsburgh is not a typical rivalry. These teams rarely play each other under the current scheduling format. But the 12s have not forgotten. And I’d be willing to bet the crowd will let themselves be felt once more. The Pacific Northwest has a long memory.

In the words of Mike Holmgren himself, coach of the 2005 Seahawks, during his induction to the Ring of Honor ceremony two seasons ago:

“You can be very proud of that Super Bowl (XLVIII) flag in this stadium. But I want to emphasize and I want to repeat something I said a long time ago: There should be two.” 

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On this day in Steelers history: Pittsburgh snags ‘one for the thumb’

On this day in Steelers history, 15 years ago, Pittsburgh won its fifth Lombardi Trophy.

The road to the 2005 Super Bowl was a long and uncommon one. The Pittsburgh Steelers snapped a three-game losing streak to win the final four of the regular season and made the playoffs on a blessing and a prayer.

At 11-5 and second in the AFC North, the Steelers were the final seed and had to do the unthinkable — win three playoff games away from the confines of Heinz Field to reach the pinnacle of all sports.

First up, the Cincinnati Bengals. Ben Roethlisberger rallied the Steelers back from a 10-point deficit to eliminate the Cardiac Cats in the wild-card round, 31-17.

The next week, in the divisional round, Roethlisberger made a tremendous shoestring tackle to save Colts cornerback Nick Harper from taking Jerome Bettis’ goal line fumble all the way. The Steelers pulled off a three-point win to continue to Denver. They held the Broncos to two touchdowns and a field goal and earned a trip to Super Bowl 40 in Detroit against the Seattle Seahawks.

Something like a fairytale

Pittsburgh had won eight consecutive matchups, including the postseason, after a 7-5 record at Week 13. As the sixth seed, the Steelers became the first team in league history to defeat the top three seeds on the road to reach the Super Bowl.

Steelers fans are renowned for being one of the best traveled in the NFL, but nothing could get as close to a home game as Detroit. Any Seahawks fans at Ford Field washed away as a sea of Terrible Towels took over Motown for the showdown.

It started as a low-scoring affair. By the end of the first half, Pittsburgh had scored on a (controversial) one-yard diving touchdown by Roethlisberger. The touchdown, set up by running back Jerome Bettis, made it 7-3 at the midway point.

On the Steelers opening drive to start the second half, future Hall of Fame guard Alan Faneca threw a key block on linebacker LeRoy Hill. That block shot “Fast” Willie Parker out of the cannon for a 75-yard touchdown, the longest run in Super Bowl history.

Big Ben was intercepted on the Steelers following drive. A pass intended for Cedrick Wilson was picked off by Seahawks cornerback Kelly Herndon, who returned it 76 yards. The play set up a touchdown to bring the Hawks within four, 14-10.

With under 11 minutes left, Pittsburgh paid Seattle back with an interception of their own — by Ike Taylor on a critical 3rd-and-18. The Steelers wasted no time taking advantage of the Hasselbeck hiccup. Off a gadget play, Hines Ward tossed a perfectly-thrown 43-yard touchdown to Antwan Randle El. It would come to be the game-sealing touchdown for a final score of 21-10.

The touchdown also sealed something else — MVP honors for Ward thanks to his five-reception, 123-yard day.

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Ford Field would be the last stop for “The Bus,” who closed out the playoffs with just 180 yards on 56 attempts. Bettis was a goal line machine with nine touchdowns on the season, but Cowher saw that The Bus got minimal wear on his tires. He ran for 368 yards on 110 carries, a career low. He announced his retirement during the presentation of the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Though Cowher didn’t officially resign from football until the following January, Super Bowl 40 was also his last game.

The entire season was something like a fairytale as so many things needed to fall into place for the Steelers to win one for Cowher, Bettis… and the thumb.

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Antonio Brown vs. Hines Ward: Who’s the all-time best Steelers receiver?

With former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown teasing retirement, Steelers Wire takes a look at his stats versus those of Hines Ward.

A hot topic of debate since Antonio Brown “retired” for the umpteenth time on Monday has been whether he’s a better receiver than Hines Ward.

A strong argument can be made for both sides. Ward currently stands as the franchise’s best receiver stats-wise (easy considering he played for five seasons longer than Brown did). However, as you’ll see below, Brown did more in a shorter period of time than Ward.

This breakdown could get much deeper into the analytics and style of play, but we’ll just keep it simple.

Hines Ward

Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Ward had a wildly successful career in Pittsburgh, complete with 12,083 yards on 1,000 receptions and 85 touchdowns. He was selected to four consecutive Pro Bowls (2001-2004) and had 29 100+ yard games in his 14-year career.

Hines hit a handful of top 10 markers throughout his 14-year career: Receptions (four seasons), yards (three seasons), yards per game (two seasons), touchdowns (three seasons).

Astonishingly enough, Ward’s career highs in targets (160), receptions (112) receiving yards (1329) and touchdowns (12) didn’t come when Ben Roethlisberger was at the helm. His best season was in 2002 with Tommy Maddox and Kordell Stewart at quarterback.

Most of Ward’s career was spent in a run-first offense, and overall the Steelers pass-to-run ratio was 6,762 to 6,990 in those 14 seasons.

Hines helped the Steelers to two Super Bowl wins in three appearances and was named MVP of Super Bowl 40.

Antonio Brown

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Statistically-speaking, Brown will never be the Steelers leading receiver. It’s just not possible. With that being said, there’s no disputing that AB was a beast when he was in Pittsburgh. Thankfully, he was traded before he got a chance to even sniff the franchise receptions record held by Ward and fell short by 876 yards.

A seven-time Pro Bowler (2011; 2013-2018), Brown left the Steelers as one of the best in the NFL. In nine seasons, he racked up 837 receptions for 11,207 yards and 74 touchdowns.

Brown’s career-high in receiving yards came in 2014 with 1,698. He amassed 100+ yards per game an astounding 42 times as a Steeler.

In 2015, Brown closed in on 200 yards three times and surpassed that mark with 284 yards versus the Oakland Raiders. He also posted a 213-yard game versus the Baltimore Ravens in 2017.

Side-by-side

(AP Photo/Don Wright)

I think it’s fair to pit Ward against Brown in a nine-year comparison. From 1998 to 2006, Ward was targeted 1,026 times to Brown’s 1,275. Ward brought down 648 receptions for 8,005 yards to Brown’s 837 receptions for 11,207. Brown also leads in the touchdown category 74 to 58 and yards per game at 86 to 57. Ironically, the two averaged 13 yards per catch.

Brown was at an advantage as there were 110 more pass attempts in his nine seasons versus Ward’s. Of course, it doesn’t entirely explain Brown’s dominance in the realm of stats. But with the increased attempts, AB had more balls thrown his way, thus more opportunities for receptions, yards, touchdowns and yards per game.

Who’s the better receiver really does come down to a matter of opinion. If you look at the nine-year comparison, Brown wins out. If you look at the overall career, Ward is ahead by a landslide (and rings).

There’s no debate that Brown was something special. It’s just a shame he couldn’t keep his head on straight and retire a Steeler after 14 seasons like Ward did. Brown’s demise in the league wasn’t forced by injury or the perfect end of a double-digit tenured career. He ruined his career all by himself circa immature and selfish acts.

If AB truly does retire — and that’s a BIG if — I’d be bummed. Not because I like him but because I really was looking forward to seeing if he could even come close to what he did when he had Ben Roethlisberger throwing him the rock. Something tells me Brown wouldn’t, but now we may never know.

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WATCH: Steelers-Seahawks Super Bowl 40 in its entirety

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be presenting Super Bowl XL on Facebook and YouTube channels on Sunday.

For the first time, the younger generation of Steelers fans got to witness one of their team’s Super Bowls in 2006. Great plays from the Steelers-Seahawks matchup are forever engrained in our minds: Running back Willie Parker’s record-breaking 75-yard touchdown run, the first rushing TD by a Steelers quarterback in the post-season, or wide receiver Antwann Randel-El throwing a 43-yard bomb to WR Hines Ward for what would be the game-winning score.

Fans can watch the Steelers thrilling victory over the Seahawks from start to finish on their desktop or mobile device on Sunday, June 7. The game will kick off at 6:27 p.m. on the Steelers Facebook page and YouTube channel.

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