Tue, Feb 07, 2006 page20

• Steelers get `one for thumb'

  NFL CHAMPIONS Pittsburgh's first four Super Bowl rings came in their Steel Curtain days, won by the likes of Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris. Their fifth gives the franchise a ring for the collective thumb

  • AP
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  The Pittsburgh Steelers finally gave coach Bill Cowher some Super Bowl satisfaction.

  Moments after the Rolling Stones rocked a Ford Field filled with Terrible Towels, Willie Parker broke a record 75-yard touchdown run, sparking Pittsburgh's 21-10 victory Sunday over the Seattle Seahawks.

  Not only did the Steelers earn that elusive fifth championship ring and their first since 1980, but they completed a magic Bus ride that made Jerome Bettis' homecoming -- and farewell -- a success.

  

  teelers wide receiver Hines Ward, right, catches a 43-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Antwaan Randle El in front of Marcus Trufant of the Seahawks during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XL in Detroit, Michigan, on Sunday.

  PHOTO: AP

  "I'm a champion. I think the Bus' last stop is here in Detroit," Bettis said. "It's official, like the referee whistle."

  On this night, satisfaction was more than Mick Jagger's signature song that closed the halftime show.

  It was sweet validation for Cowher with a title in his 14th season as their coach, the longest tenure in the NFL. The tough guy, who lost his only previous Super Bowl 10 years ago, teared up as he walked to midfield to embrace Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren.

  

  PHOTO: AP

  "It's surreal," Cowher said. "I'm going to tell you, this is a special group of coaches, a special group of players. I was one small part of this."

  Pittsburgh tied San Francisco and Dallas with its five Super Bowl titles.

  And the Steelers certainly got plenty of help from the Seahawks, too. Seattle was plagued by penalties, drops, poor clock management and a critical fourth-quarter interception of Matt Hasselbeck just when the NFC champions seemed ready to take the lead.

  Instead, Pittsburgh (15-5) got the clinching score with the kind of trickery that has carried it through an eight-game winning streak.

  Versatile wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, a quarterback in college, took a handoff from Parker, sprinted right and threw perfectly to Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward for a 43-yard TD with 9:04 remaining.

  Bettis' role was minimal in what might be the final game for the NFL's No. 5 career rusher.

  So was quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's impact -- the most noteworthy play for the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl was a horrid pass that Kelly Herndon of the Seahawks (15-4) returned a record 76 yards.

  That set up the Seahawks' only touchdown, a 16-yard pass to Jerramy Stevens -- Joey Porter, his verbal sparring partner all week, was nowhere in sight. Neither was All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu.

  But with Parker's burst and Seattle's self-destructive tendencies, the Steelers completed their postseason march through the NFL's top four teams: Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Denver and Seattle, with all the wins coming away from Heinz Field.

  Ward had five receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown.

  Seattle, looking nothing like a team that rampaged through its conference, damaged itself all day. It had four penalties for 40 yards in the opening half, one that nullified a touchdown pass.

  The second half wasn't much better, and Ike Taylor's 24-yard return with Hasselbeck's poor throw gave Pittsburgh the one last opportunity it needed.

  "This is a tough pill to swallow," Holmgren said, "but we accomplished a lot this year. While you don't have a great feeling after a game like this, I want them to remember this feeling, so they can build on it."

  The 23-year-old Roethlisberger achieved it more with his legs than his arm. He dived into the end zone from the 1 late in the first half -- the TD was upheld on replay -- and converted enough second-half first downs to wind down the clock.

  Usually, that is Bettis' job. But this Sunday, he was just along for his final ride.

  What a journey it has been.

  The Steelers were 7-5, then won their final four regular-season games to secure the AFC's last playoff spot. They went to Cincinnati and won a wild-card game. They won at Indianapolis, which had the league's best record. And then they handed Denver its first home loss in the AFC championship game.

  And now they -- and 73-year-old owner Dan Rooney -- have their "one for the thumb" -- the first four came in their Steel Curtain days, won by the likes of Mean Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris.

  "I've been waiting a long time to do this," Cowher said to Rooney before handing him the Vince Lombardi Trophy. "This is yours, man."

  Cowher had the Steelers in the Super Bowl in 1996 but they lost to Dallas.

  Early on, the noise seemed to unnerve the Steelers, who had two motion penalties on their first offensive series. Of course, none of their active players Sunday ever played in a Super Bowl.

  Seattle forced another three-and-out on Pittsburgh's next possession, keeping Bettis on the sideline, then took the lead.

  Josh Brown made a 47-yard field goal with 22 seconds left in the first quarter after the Seahawks lost a touchdown on Darrell Jackson's pass interference in the end zone. Jackson still had 50 yards on five receptions in the quarter.

  Bettis made his Super Bowl debut 2:47 into the second quarter with the Pittsburgh offense in dire need of a boost. The Steelers got it, but from an 8-yard completion to Randle El for their initial first down -- 19 minutes into the game.

  Ward followed with an 18-yard run on an end-around, but Roethlisberger's ill-advised lob on the next play was picked off by safety Michael Boulware at the Seattle 25.

  With Seattle's other safety, Marquand Manuel, sidelined in the second quarter with a right ankle injury, Roethlisberger began finding open receivers. Ward gained 12 yards, Cedrick Wilson got 20 and, moments after Ward dropped a pass in the corner of the end zone, he outwrestled Boulware for a 37-yard completion.

  The Bus couldn't roll in on two tries, then the 6-foot-5 Roethlisberger dived left and barely squeezed the ball over the goal line. A replay review upheld the touchdown with 1:55 remaining in the half.

  Perhaps unnerved themselves by the ruling, the Seahawks squandered much of that time before Brown missed a 54-yard field goal wide right. Holmgren argued as he walked off the field that the ball never crossed the goal line, but referee Bill Leavy told him it did.

  Seattle also could bemoan a holding call on Peter Warrick's 32-yard punt return to open the second quarter, and a goal-line completion to Jackson on which he barely was out of bounds.

  It didn't get a lot better in the second half for Seattle, and Holmgren failed to become the first coach to win Super Bowls with two franchises. In 1997, his Green Bay Packers beat Denver.

  But his Seahawks didn't give themselves much of a chance. By the end, the crowd was singing "Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go."

  Who knows, maybe Jagger was singing along.

  MVP

  Ben Roethlisberger's pass floated right toward his hands. Hines Ward made sure he got both feet down in the end zone, then started closing his fingers around the ball.

  Remarkably, he dropped it.

  No excuses. The Pittsburgh Steelers' top receiver flat-out dropped it.

  "The great ones don't miss balls in the Super Bowl," Ward said. "And I want to be considered one of the great ones."

  Before this Super Bowl ended, Ward would get more chances to prove he deserves to be counted among the greats. And, he wouldn't bumble those chances away.

  Ward completed an MVP performance Sunday by catching a 43-yard touchdown pass from receiver Antwaan Randle El, a trick play that became the decisive play in the Steelers' 21-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

  Pittsburgh's Lynn Swann won the Super Bowl MVP in 1976 for making one big catch after another against Dallas, including a diving grab of a tipped ball that makes all of the Super Bowl highlight reels.

  Ward's game wasn't nearly as memorable -- that end zone drop was just his most glaring mistake -- but it was good enough to win the MVP award in a ragged game that came down to two big plays.

  "To be named MVP is a great honor, but I still left some plays out on the field," Ward said. "I could have had an even better day."

  Same for Roethlisberger, who at age 23 became the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl even though he finished with the worst passer rating by any winning quarterback -- 22.6. Play after play, he played down to his age.

  The entire Pittsburgh offense had little to crow about, other than two plays that were enough to bring coach Bill Cowher his first championship.

  The first was some old-fashioned rust-belt offense: Hand the ball off and clear a path. Pulling left guard Alan Faneca opened a huge hole for Willie Parker on the second play of the second half, setting up a 75-yard touchdown run that was the longest in Super Bowl history.
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