Super Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League champion for the 2008 season. The Steelers defeated the Cardinals by the score of 27–23. The game was played on February 1, 2009, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
With this victory, the Steelers became the first team to win six Super Bowl championships. The win was also the Steelers' second Super Bowl victory in four years, after winning Super Bowl XL at the end of the 2005 season. The Cardinals entered the game seeking their first NFL title since 1947, the longest championship drought in the league. The club became an unexpected winner during the regular season, compiling a 9–7 record, and earning a spot in the playoffs with the aid of head coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers' offensive coordinator in Super Bowl XL, and the re-emergence of quarterback Kurt Warner, who was the Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl XXXIV with his former team, the St. Louis Rams.
The Steelers jumped to a 17–7 halftime lead, aided by linebacker James Harrison's Super Bowl–record 100-yard interception return for a touchdown. Trailing 20–7 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Cardinals scored 16 consecutive points, including a safety that led to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald's 64-yard touchdown reception, to take their first lead of the game with 2:37 remaining. But the Steelers marched 78 yards to score on wide receiver Santonio Holmes's 6-yard game-winning touchdown catch with 35 seconds left. Holmes, who caught nine passes for 131 yards and a touchdown, including four receptions for 73 yards on that final game-winning drive, was named Super Bowl MVP. He became the sixth wide receiver to win the award, half of whom at the time were Steelers players.
The NBC television network broadcast attracted an average U.S. audience of 98.7 million viewers, making it the most watched Super Bowl in history at that time and the most watched Super Bowl of the 2000s. Many media outlets consider this one of the best Super Bowls from the 2000s, as well as one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time, due to the performance of both teams as well as its thrilling finale. This game was ranked No. 4 on NFL Top 10 on NFL Network for Top 10 Greatest Games of All Time and ranked No. 1 for Top 10 Super Bowls., this is the Steelers' most recent Super Bowl championship, and the last title by a Pennsylvania-based NFL team until their cross-state rival Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LII in 2018 and again in 2025 in Super Bowl LIX. It was also the last time a Phoenix-based team reached the championship round of the four major North American sports leagues until the Phoenix Suns made the NBA Finals in 2021.
This was the last game to feature famed commentator John Madden, who retired two months after the game.
Background
Host selection process
Tampa was selected for the game site on May 25, 2005, beating out three other finalists: Atlanta, Houston, and Miami. Super Bowl XLIII was the second Super Bowl at this venue and the fourth overall in that city.In February 2008, the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee unveiled the Super Bowl XLIII logo, featuring an abstract representation of a football stadium, with blue and green colors representing the regional waterways and landscapes of Tampa Bay. Eight yards of playing field are shown, alluding to the game's status as the championship of the 2008 NFL season. In a tradition starting with the Super Bowl XL logo, two stars—one red, representing the AFC, and one blue, representing the NFC—are flanked on either side of the Super Bowl XLIII logo. The tagline for Super Bowl XLIII as well as the 2008 NFL season is "Believe In Now".
Teams
The seeds of Super Bowl XLIII can be traced back to the end of the 2006 season. After winning Super Bowl XL in 2005, the Pittsburgh Steelers fell to an 8–8 record the following year. At the end of 2006, Bill Cowher ended his 15-year tenure as their head coach, leaving with a 149–90–1 regular season record and a 12–9 record in the playoffs. Offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and assistant head coach Russ Grimm were considered most likely to succeed Cowher in Pittsburgh.Without waiting to see if he would be hired by the Steelers, Whisenhunt accepted the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals, a team that at the time held the second-longest championship drought in U.S. sports and had never advanced to the Super Bowl in their franchise history. In the 60 years since their last national championship, the team had won just one playoff game. The Steelers then passed over Grimm and instead hired Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin. Once Tomlin was hired by the Steelers, Grimm joined Whisenhunt with the Cardinals in the same position as assistant head coach as he had with the Steelers, and the two of them began to remodel the perennial losing club into a winner like the Steelers.
Of historical note the game matched up two franchises previously merged into a single team, "Card-Pitt", for the 1944 season in response to the depleted rosters during World War II. The Steelers were going for their sixth Super Bowl win, which would place it in sole possession of the record for most Super Bowl wins, while the Cardinals were seeking their first league title since 1947 and only the second undisputed league championship in their history.. It was the third Super Bowl in history to feature two pre-expansion-era teams, joining Super Bowl XIV and Super Bowl XLI. This game also featured the oldest franchise in the NFC playing the oldest franchise in the AFC. The Cardinals were founded in 1898 as an independent amateur team in Chicago. The Steelers, founded in 1933 as the Pittsburgh Pirates, are one of only three AFC teams that pre-date the 1960 NFL season. The Cardinals and Steelers played each other twice per season from 1950 through 1969, first in the American Conference, then in the Eastern Conference, and finally in the Century Division of the Eastern Conference. Both clubs have been owned by the same family since, with Charles Bidwill buying the Cardinals and Art Rooney, Sr. becoming the first owner of the Steelers; as of, the clubs are owned by descendants Michael Bidwill and Art Rooney II.
It also was the first time that two quarterbacks who previously started for a Super Bowl winning team opposed one another since Jim Plunkett's Los Angeles Raiders defeated Joe Theismann's Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII. Warner started for the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV and Super Bowl XXXVI, winning the first and losing the second one, while Roethlisberger was the winning quarterback in Super Bowl XL.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Under Tomlin's first season as head coach, the Steelers improved to a 10–6 record in 2007. The Steelers finished the 2008 season with the second best record in the AFC at 12–4, making the playoffs for the sixth time in the last eight seasons, and went on to earn their seventh Super Bowl trip in franchise history, breaking a three-way tie with the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos for second most Super Bowl appearances and most Super Bowl appearances by an AFC team.The Steelers excelled on defense and led the NFL in fewest points and yards allowed per game, while also ranking second in sacks with 51. Up front, their line was anchored by defensive end Aaron Smith, who recorded 60 tackles and six sacks. Behind him two of the Steelers starting linebackers ranked among the top-ten sack leaders in the NFL, LaMarr Woodley and Pro Bowler/NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison. Pro Bowl linebacker James Farrior was also a big contributor, recording 3.5 sacks and leading the team with 133 tackles. The Steelers secondary was led by Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu, who ranked second in the NFL with a career-high seven interceptions.
For the fifth year in a row the Steelers offense was led by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who finished the season with 3,301 passing yards and 17 touchdowns, with 15 interceptions. His top target was the Steelers' all-time receiving leader Hines Ward, who recorded his fifth 1,000-yard season with 81 receptions for 1,043 yards and seven touchdowns. Other reliable receiving options included Santonio Holmes, Nate Washington, and tight end Heath Miller. The Steelers' ground game was led by two-time Pro Bowl running back Willie Parker, who had rushed for over 1,200 yards in each of his previous three seasons. Injuries in 2008 limited him to 791 yards in 11 games, but running back Mewelde Moore proved to be a solid replacement, rushing for 588 yards and catching 40 passes for 320 yards.
For their efforts, Tomlin won the 2008 Motorola Coach of the Year Award and Harrison was named the 2008 GMC Sierra Defensive Player of the Year. The Steelers rolled into the post-season as the AFC's second seed, behind only the Tennessee Titans, who would finish 13–3 but lose in their divisional playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Arizona Cardinals
It had been a long journey for the Cardinals to get to their first Super Bowl appearance. After winning the NFL championship in 1947, it would take the team half a century before they won another postseason game in the 1998 season. And up to this point, they had not returned to the playoffs since then.Under Whisenhunt's first season as head coach, the Cardinals finished with an 8–8 record in 2007. The Cardinals then started out the 2008 season strong, winning 7 of their first 10 games. But then things fell apart as the team lost 4 of their last 6, hitting a low point with a brutal 47–7 loss to the New England Patriots in week 16. The Cardinals' 34–21 win over the Seattle Seahawks in the following week was just enough for them to finish with a 9–7 record and earn the #4 seed in the playoffs, where they went on to earn their first trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history, becoming only the second NFL team to do so with nine wins up to that point.
One reason for the Cardinals' success was the re-emergence of 37-year-old quarterback Kurt Warner. After going undrafted and spending a few years in the Arena Football League, Warner became the St. Louis Rams starting quarterback in 1999 due to a pre-season injury of starter Trent Green. He went on to lead the Rams to two Super Bowls and one Super Bowl win, while also winning two NFL MVP Awards. But in 2002, Warner's production was drastically reduced by injuries and he soon lost his starting job to Marc Bulger. He eventually left the team to join the New York Giants, but once again he lost his starting job and signed on with the Cardinals in 2005. For the third time, Warner lost his starting job due to mediocre performances and injuries. After the season, the Cardinals selected Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Matt Leinart with their first round draft pick. This, combined with another mediocre performance in the 2006 season, appeared to severely limit Warner's chances of ever being a permanent starter on the team. However, early in the 2007 season, Warner was thrust into the starting lineup to replace an injured Leinart, and by the end of the team's season, he had re-emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the league, throwing 27 touchdown passes with a passer rating of 89.8.
With his starting job on the team more secure, Warner posted one of his best seasons in 2008, throwing for 4,583 yards and 30 touchdowns, with only 14 interceptions, giving him an NFC-best 96.9 rating. His top targets were receivers Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston, who made the Cardinals the fifth team ever to feature three players with over 1,000 receiving yards. The Cardinals ground game was led by veteran running back Edgerrin James and rookie Tim Hightower. James led the team with 514 yards, while Hightower rushed for 399 and scored 10 touchdowns. He was also a reliable target out of the backfield, catching 34 passes for another 237 yards. Overall, Arizona's offense ranked fourth in yards per game and third in scoring in 2008.
The Cardinals' defense, however, had played inconsistently during the regular season, ranking just 28th in points allowed. Up front their line was anchored by defensive lineman Bertrand Berry, who recorded five sacks and forced two fumbles, along with tackle Darnell Dockett, known for his ability to blow up running plays. Linebacker Karlos Dansby was also a solid contributor, recording four sacks, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles, while also leading the team with 119 tackles. The Cardinals' secondary was led by rookie cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Pro Bowl safety Adrian Wilson.