Close game at the beginning
Seattle came out at the beginning of the game with a couple long drives including a field goal by Josh Brown and a bunch of catches early by Darrell Jackson. Matt Hasselback seemed to be throwing the ball well and the Seahawks were moving the ball. Seattle potentially scored a touchdown in the first quarter but Jackson was flagged for offensive interference. Even though I thought both players were touching each other, he did push off last to find space for the catch.

Pittsburgh was unable to produce anything and tied a record held by two other teams by not gaining a First Down at all in the first quarter. Eventually they were able to get a first down when Antawn Randel-El held on to a bobbled ball. Ben Roethlisberger was beginning to get a drive going but eventually threw in an interception.

Seattle didn’t score again in the first half and Pittsburgh was able to score within the two minute warning before halftime by a left side quarterback sneak by Roethlisberger. He went up in the air and came down but didn’t exactly appear to cross the goal line. The ref ran on to the field with one arm up and a few seconds later put the other arm up to signal a touchdown. The play was reviewed and the ref didn’t change the ruling on the field due to lacking irrefutable evidence to overturn the call.

At halftime, I considered the game dominated by the Seahawks even though they were losing 7-3 on what a considered sorta a bullshit touchdown at the time. (later in time, I have accepted this touchdown)

Pittsburgh came running out of the gates in the second half. Willie Parker had the longest touchdown run in Super History as he scored on a 75 yard counter to the right. The score was then 14-3.

Pittsburgh drove again and threatened to score another touchdown when Seattle’s backup Kelly Herndon made an interception and returned the ball 70+ yards for another Super Bowl long.

Seattle eventually scored a touchdown to make the game 14-10 and threatened on another drive to score again. Pittsburgh was able to make a critical interception on Hasselback and that’s when the biggest play of the game occured… Fake-39 Toss X-Reverse Pass

The Gadget Play was Awesome
Pittsburgh ran these plays all season. I saw many of them. The two they ran in this game both worked. On the first one, Hines Ward scampered left to the outside for a first down on 15 yard run. That worked. On the second one, Roethlisberger pitched to to Parker who handed off to Randel-El (a college quarterback at Indiana U) then threw the prettiest pass of the night to Hines Ward. By far, this was The play of the Night!

Pittsburgh won 21-10. Jerome Bettis retired a champion in his hometown. Troy Polamalu was everywhere and anywhere on defense and I love that he lines up for the victory formation all season. Joey Porter backed up his words with his tough hard play on Jerramy Stevens. Roethlisberger had a crappy game but was able to become the youngest quarterback ever to win the Super Bowl at 23 yrs, 11 months. Seattle had the crappiest ever end of half time-management ever. Other than that, the game was so-so. Would have liked more touchdowns, or obviously seeing the Falcons in the game.