TAMPA, Fla. — The winning play of the Super Bowl was right out of a schoolyard.

Scamble right, scramble left, find someone open.

The perfect unscripted ending to a game of improbable swings.

Their Steel Curtain shredded, Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes improvised the 6-yard touchdown with 35 seconds left that gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a record-setting sixth Super Bowl victory, 27-23 over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night.

"Great players step up in big-time games to make plays," said Holmes, the game's MVP. He said he told Roethlisberger that he "wanted to be the guy to make the plays for this team."

And he was.

This thriller certainly matched last year's upset of the New England Patriots by the New York Giants that ended with Plaxico Burress' TD catch — with 35 seconds left, too.

But this one was even wilder. With the last tension-packed seconds ticking away, a kneeling Roethlisberger held coach Mike Tomlin's hand as Kurt Warner led one last, but futile, drive.

"These guys just don't blink," Tomlin said. "They deliver. It's never going to be pretty or perfect, if you will, but they have a great deal of resolve."

The Steelers (15-4), winning their second Super Bowl in four seasons, led 20-7 in the fourth quarter, only to see Warner and the Cardinals stage a remarkable rally to go in front 23-20 with 2:37 remaining.

But Fitzgerald could only watch from the sideline as Roethlisberger responded by engineering a 78-yard drive to win it in what resembled Heinz Field South. With waves of twirling Terrible Towels turning Raymond James Stadium into a black-and-gold tableau — Steelers fans supporting their beloved team — Pittsburgh's offense rescued the title.

"I knew it was a touchdown 100 percent," Holmes said, even though it had to withstand a video review.

The stunning swings overshadowed
Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison's record 100-yard interception return for a touchdown to end the first half. That looked like the signature play until the final quarter, when both teams shook off apparent knockout punches to throw haymakers of their own.

Big Ben and Holmes struck the last blow, and when Warner fumbled in the final seconds, the Cardinals' dream of winning their first NFL crown since 1947 were gone.

"I said it's now or never, I told the guys all the film study you put in doesn't matter unless you do it now," Roethlisberger said. "I'm really proud of the way they responded."

The Cardinals (12-8), playing in their first Super Bowl and first championship game of any kind since 1948, lost their composure after Harrison's heroics. They had three penalties to keep Pittsburgh's 79-yard drive going, a 16-play march that ended with Jeff Reed's 21-yard field goal for a 20-7 lead.

Pittsburgh looked like the offensive juggernaut to open the game, smoothly driving 71 yards in eight plays. But the 72nd yard that would have given the Steelers a touchdown never came.

It looked like it had when Roethlisberger's short run was ruled a TD. Whisenhunt challenged, and the score was overturned, and Jeff Reed then hit an 18-yard field goal.

After forcing a punt, the Steelers kept the ball the remainder of the first quarter — 11:28 in all, outgaining Arizona 140-13, getting seven first downs to one for the Cardinals. As Warner and the usually potent Cardinals' offense watched from the sideline, Pittsburgh plowed it in on Gary Russell's 1-yard run to make it 10-0.

When Arizona finally got the ball back, it knocked the Steelers off balance with short passes — and one huge play.

Warner, handed the NFL Man of the Year trophy just before kickoff, then hit Anquan Boldin streaking from left to right. He was upended at the Pittsburgh 1, and Warner's lob to Ben Patrick got Arizona on the board.

Arizona's defense then emulated the Steel Curtain with a big play. Bryan Robinson tipped Roethlisberger's pass high into the air and Karlos Dansby corralled it at the Pittsburgh 34. The Cardinals got to the 1, then the Steelers' defense asserted itself.

Harrison, the defensive player of the year, stepped in front of Boldin at the goal line, picked off Warner's throw and began a journey down the right sideline that ended as the longest play in Super Bowl history.

"Those last couple of yards were probably tougher than anything I've done in my life, but probably more gratifying than anything I've done in football," Harrison said.




© Copyright Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.