American Football: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger admitted he thought he had thrown Super Bowl XLIII away before Santonio Holmes' athletic catch saw them defeat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 in Tampa.
Trailing by three points with 35 seconds remaining, Roethlisberger threw a six-yard pass towards Holmes in the corner of the end zone.
With Cardinals defenders in close attendance, the wide receiver managed to stretch to haul in the ball and get both feet down on the ground before falling out of bounds for the game-winning score.
“I threw it and thought it was going to be picked. He (Holmes) made a heck of a catch,” Roethlisberger said. “I was going to throw the ball in the flat. They covered it up, so I went to Hines (Ward). He was covered, getting held, but all of a sudden, I saw Holmes go to the corner.”
Until Holmes's late intervention, the Cardinals had outscored the Steelers 16-0 in the final quarter to forge a 23-20 lead and looked poised to complete the greatest comeback in the 43-year history of the Super Bowl.
However, Roethlisberger refused to concede defeat and took a fraction more than two minutes to drive the Steelers down the field for the game-winning touchdown.
The acrobatic Holmes barely stayed in bounds in the far corner of the end zone, making his ninth catch of the game from Roethlisberger his most important one.
Holmes had four catches during the winning drive alone and was named the game's most valuable player.
Pittsburgh had dominated most of the game and took a 20-7 lead into the final quarter, looking poised to deliver a knockout blow to the Cardinals and ruin their first Super Bowl appearance.
But Arizona were in no mood to surrender under the guidance of 37-year-old quarterback Kurt Warner, a gritty former Super Bowl-winning MVP with the St Louis Rams almost a decade ago.
Warner hauled the Cardinals back into the contest when he found Larry Fitzgerald with a one-yard touchdown pass midway through the final period to trim the lead to 20-14.
A safety with just under three minutes left cut the Steelers' lead to four points as the Cardinals seized the momentum.
Warner made the most of the opportunity, finding Fitzgerald on a quick post that the speedster turned into a 64-yard touchdown to give Arizona a 23-20 lead with just 2:37 remaining.
Roethlisberger, however, then worked the clock beautifully on the game-winning drive.
"It was now or never," Roethlisberger said he told his team mates.
Roethlisberger completed 21-of-30 passes for 256 yards and a touchdown, making up for a poor performance in Pittsburgh's 21-10 Super Bowl triumph three years ago over Seattle.
The late drama came in stark contrast to Pittsburgh's early dominance that culminated in a stunning play at the end of the first half when linebacker James Harrison returned an interception a Super Bowl record 100 yards for a 17-7 lead.
With Arizona on the Steelers' one-yard line and looking to take a lead into the locker room, Harrison stepped in front of Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin and intercepted Warner's pass on the goal line.
The NFL's Defensive Player of the Year rumbled down the sideline, breaking several tackles along the way, and stumbled into the end zone as time expired to close the opening half.
The Cardinals challenged the play, arguing that Harrison was tackled inches short of the goal line but NFL replay officials reviewed the tape and refused to overturn the touchdown.
Instead of taking the lead at halftime, or at least kicking a game-tying field goal, the Cardinals found themselves 10 points down.
Pittsburgh's triumph, before 72,000 fans on a clear but cool night at Raymond James Stadium, gave the Steelers one more Super Bowl victory than the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys.