Santonio Holmes

Santonio Holmes looked like a dancer in a ballet, a tightrope walker in a circus, a gymnast on a balance beam He was cornered. He caught a pass from Ben Roethlisberger on the back side of the end zone, with three Arizona Cardinals bearing down on him while he balanced on the tips of his toes.

Holmes was voted the game’s most valuable player. He caught nine passes for 131 yards. He had four catches for 73 yards on the winning drive, after the Cardinals had gone ahead with quarterback Kurt Warner and receiver Larry Fitzgerald leading the way. If Arizona had won, either could have won what Holmes did.

The Cardinals’ offense may have gotten hot late in the game, but many of the key plays Sunday night were made by the Steelers’ defense, as was the case in the 1970s, when the Steel Curtain began an era of titles. A defensive player, linebacker James Harrison, scored on a 100-yard interception runback at the end of the first half.