Super Bowl XLIII Results
Steelers take sixth Super Bowl title
First they tried to give it away. Then they took it back. They put the "steal" in Steelers.
Super Bowl XLIII, like the one that preceded it, came down to the final minute and to a winning touchdown pass. Ben Roethlisberger delivered it, Santonio Holmes caught it from 6 yards out while keeping both feet inside the white lines, and the Steelers, with a 27-23 victory against the Arizona Cardinals, won a record sixth Super Bowl.
Holmes' reception, with 35 seconds remaining, saved the Steelers from the ignominy of allowing the biggest comeback in this game's history. They led 20-7 before their vaunted defense, ranked No. 1 in the NFL, began to wilt in the face of a no-huddle assault by Kurt Warner, the 37-year-old reclamation project who had willed the Cardinals to their first NFL title game since 1948.
The Steelers won it with grit and they won it by coming back and they overcame a safety and the shredding of that proud defense by Warner for 377 yards. But they won it.
Arizona Cardinals Stadium - Super Bowl XLII Results
New York Giants vs. New England Patriots
Giants couldn't be stopped
Super Bowl XLII, Sunday Feb 3rd 2008. Glendale Arizona
New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14
The underdog New York Giants stunned the unbeaten New England Patriots, 17-14, winning Super Bowl XLII before 71,101 fans at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, authoring one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history.
It was exactly what the league needed in the wake of more Patriots controversy.
"We shocked the world," Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce said. "But not ourselves."
While the Patriots arrived as 12-point favorites, the Giants proved that defense wins championships. They smothered New England's record-setting offense. They harassed quarterback Tom Brady, who lost his first Super Bowl in four attempts. In the end, they handed the decorated Patriots a dose of their own big-game medicine, producing a championship-winning drive in the waning moments of a pressure-packed contest.
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Super Bowl XLI results
Feb. 4 -- Super Bowl XLI
Colts 29, Bears 17
A wet and wild night of Super Bowl firsts brought Dungy, Manning and the Indianapolis Colts to the top of the NFL with a 29-17 victory against the Chicago Bears.
A team built for indoors found its footing on a rain-soaked track. The Colts were far less sloppy, particularly their star quarterback, who proved he can indeed win the big game -- the biggest game.
It rained from start to finish; there was even Purple Rain during halftime when Prince sang some of his signature songs. And though Vinatieri twice was a victim of the slop, he kicked three field goals.
Leading 16-14 at halftime, the Colts spent half the third quarter with a march to Vinatieri's 24-yard field goal. Twice on the drive, Manning fell to the ground while throwing. But he completed them.
Jones finished with 112 yards rushing.
A fourth giveaway in the opening quarter, by Benson on his first carry before injuring his knee, didn't damage Chicago.
Vinatieri, who made two Super Bowl-winning kicks for New England, nailed a 29-yard field goal early in the second period, but was wide left from 32 yards at the end of the half.
Vinatieri still set a record with 49 postseason points.
"Peyton is a tremendous player, a great leader," Dungy said. "He prepares, he works, does everything you can do to win games and lead your team. If people think he needed to win a Super Bowl, that is just wrong. This guy is a Hall of Fame player and one of the greatest ever to play."
And now he is a champion. So is his coach.
The Colts reached the pinnacle by winning four postseason games with a defense that made a complete turnaround in the playoffs.
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