2008 Woodie Awards
Steelers Steal Superbowl XL vs. Seahawks 21-10
Zach K. Lewis
Issue date: 2/6/06 Section: News
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One night. One Game. This is the super bowl: Super Bowl XL (40), Pittsburgh Steelers versus Seattle Seahawks, the most watched sporting event in America. The night started with a tribute to the Most Valuable Players from early Super Bowls. Among them were Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, and Tom Brady, who also assisted with the coin toss. There was also a very heart felt tribute to the people of the recent disasters during the National Anthem.
Both teams came in wanting to win. If you come to the Super Bowl, you have gotten there by wanting to win the most. Seattle was counting on their offence, with record breaking Shaun Alexander and calm and cool Hasselbeck. Pittsburgh was looking to bring truth to the quote: "defenses win games." Polamalu, Pittsburgh's safety, could be a strong influence in the game doing what he does best: being all over the field. It was Pittsburgh's defense versus Seattle's offense, though we can not leave out Ben Roethlisberger's talent which has led the Steelers this far.
The game started with a coin toss victory by the Seahawks. Their first drive looked promising with a first down pass completion. This foreshadowed how the Seahawks would succeed in the first half. Darrell Jackson, wide receiver, grabbed a total of five catches in the first quarter for over forty yards. The running game was not going anywhere. Shaun Alexander was being fully suppressed, although the awesome opening half passing game was starting to give him some breathing room. Some first half upsets were an offensive pass interference penalty that robbed Jackson of a well thrown touchdown and passes that ended just out of bounds. For the first half, all the Seahawks could muster was a field goal. The Steelers did not look as good with their first three drives being three and outs. The Seattle defense was stopping anything that came across the line of scrimmage on the ground and to add to that, Roethlisberger could not connect. It took until the beginning of the second half for the Steelers to be able to grab their first first down. Near the end of the second half, Roethlisberger was able connect to the two yard line. Then, a quarterback draw put the ball in the end zone. The play was reviewed and the calling on the field stood that it was actually a touchdown. The first half ended on a bad note for Seattle with a missed field goal.
Both teams came in wanting to win. If you come to the Super Bowl, you have gotten there by wanting to win the most. Seattle was counting on their offence, with record breaking Shaun Alexander and calm and cool Hasselbeck. Pittsburgh was looking to bring truth to the quote: "defenses win games." Polamalu, Pittsburgh's safety, could be a strong influence in the game doing what he does best: being all over the field. It was Pittsburgh's defense versus Seattle's offense, though we can not leave out Ben Roethlisberger's talent which has led the Steelers this far.
The game started with a coin toss victory by the Seahawks. Their first drive looked promising with a first down pass completion. This foreshadowed how the Seahawks would succeed in the first half. Darrell Jackson, wide receiver, grabbed a total of five catches in the first quarter for over forty yards. The running game was not going anywhere. Shaun Alexander was being fully suppressed, although the awesome opening half passing game was starting to give him some breathing room. Some first half upsets were an offensive pass interference penalty that robbed Jackson of a well thrown touchdown and passes that ended just out of bounds. For the first half, all the Seahawks could muster was a field goal. The Steelers did not look as good with their first three drives being three and outs. The Seattle defense was stopping anything that came across the line of scrimmage on the ground and to add to that, Roethlisberger could not connect. It took until the beginning of the second half for the Steelers to be able to grab their first first down. Near the end of the second half, Roethlisberger was able connect to the two yard line. Then, a quarterback draw put the ball in the end zone. The play was reviewed and the calling on the field stood that it was actually a touchdown. The first half ended on a bad note for Seattle with a missed field goal.