By Dave Goldberg
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. ó The Super Bowl was super once again.
Pittsburgh’s 27-23 win over Arizona was another classic ó “a game for the ages,” commissioner Roger Goodell called it.
With a few of exceptions (notably Ravens 34, Giants 7 in 2001), fans have been treated to a decade’s worth of rousing NFL championships. Consider that the typical Super Bowl score from 1980-99 was 35-17.
Six of the last 10 Super Bowls have been decided by a touchdown or less.
The winning touchdown Sunday came on a pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds left, the same amount of time remaining a year ago when the New York Giants scored to beat New England 17-14. The Steelers’ game-winning drive started from their own 22 with 2:42 left in the game; the Giants’ drive began from their 17 with 2:39 remaining.
Holmes, who had nine catches for 131 yards, redeemed himself in two ways.
The play before his TD catch was made on tiptoes, Holmes had missed a throw on the opposite side of the end zone. In midseason, he was suspended one game by coach Mike Tomlin after being found with marijuana after a traffic stop by Pittsburgh police.
“I learned a lot from that,” Holmes said. “I’ve grown a lot.”
Goodell added: “Santonio grabbed me as we were coming off the podium and said, ‘Thank you for believing in me.’ ”
Holmes’ acrobatics made a winner of the 36-year-old Tomlin in only his second season as Pittsburgh’s coach.
Tomlin guided the team to an unprecedented sixth title. He told reporters Monday that he’s appreciating the Steelers and their fans more all the time.
“It’s generational,” he said. “It’s passed down from father to son. The more I’m in the organization, the more I understand it. It’s part of the fabric of peoples’ lives.”
Tomlin, first hired by Tony Dungy in Tampa Bay, followed Dungy as the second black coach to win the title game.
“Guys like Coach Dungy have paved that road, and I’ve just got to walk down it,” Tomlin said. “It makes it all sweeter that I consider him a personal friend of mine.”