The 55th installment of the Super Bowl is now in the books, with more than a dozen having come in the ‘Pro Football Focus era’, beginning in 2006. There weren’t perhaps any truly standout, remarkable individual performances from this game, but there certainly have been in the past, and according to the outlet, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been a part of a few of them—on the positive side, and the negative.
A couple of days back, they published an article highlighting 10 of the most notable performances in the Super Bowl since 2006. Three of them involved the Steelers, but two were about their defense struggling. Two came from the same game, though of course they’ve only played in two during the Pro Football Focus era.
The 2008 Super Bowl, which they won, was highlighted by two standout performances by wide receivers, either of whom could have been the story had one or two plays gone differently. In the end, it was Santonio Holmes from the Steelers winning out, including the game-winning touchdown, one of the great all-time plays. James Fragoza writes:
Holmes torched the Cardinals’ defense in what would be his final game in the black and gold, reeling in nine catches for 131 yards, one touchdown and five first downs. His work in the Steelers’ passing game was good for a 91.7 PFF grade, and he generated an impressive 103.1 passer rating when targeted.
The Steelers wideout made defenders look as if they had their feet in quicksand, as he ran past them for 94 yards after the catch — still the most ever in a Super Bowl. Holmes secured his place in football history with an awe-inspiring touchdown grab in the back of the end zone, keeping his toes inbounds to effectively seal the fate of both parties.
Larry Fitzgerald’s fantastic play for the Cardinals in that same game also made the list, and he could have had the game-winning score had that final ‘Holmes’ drive not happened. He caught two scores and Kurt Warner had a perfect passer rating when targeting him.
The other Steelers moment to make the list was Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers picking them apart in the loss in Super Bowl XLV in 2010. He threw for more than 300 yards in that game, despite being the victim of six drops.
Will the Steeler have another shot at producing some notable performance in championship games in the near future? If you ask Steelers fans, the answer is a resounding no, but they do love to be cynical, don’t they?
