For Dick LeBeau, like it always was, his game plan to beat the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII was simple. Play within yourself, don’t change too much, don’t get beat deep, and trust your stars. Speaking with Coach LeBeau on Tuesday’s episode of the Terrible Podcast, promoting his new book “Legendary” on sale now, we asked him about the team’s approach facing the Cardinals. A team that boasted top talent in QB Kurt Warner, WR Larry Fitzgerald, and the third-ranked offense.
“The simple truth is anytime you get very far into the playoffs at all, you’re gonna run into outstanding quarterbacks,” he told Dave Bryan and myself. “And in Warner, he was a Super Bowl champion and was very effective at moving [the] football his whole career. We knew what we were going to be facing.”
The Cardinals were a pass-heavy unit and a great one at that. In the regular season, a 37-year-old Warner threw for over 4,500 yards and 30 touchdowns. Fitzgerald was his favorite target, catching nearly 100 passes for 1,431 yards and 12 touchdowns. Anquan Boldin positioned right behind him with 11 scores while the Cardinals ended the year with three 1,000-yard receivers — Steve Breaston the other — the last and one of only five teams in history to achieve that feat. In their three NFC playoff games, the Cardinals scored at least 30 points.
With the ability to score at will, Dick LeBeau knew Pittsburgh had to limit explosive plays.
“By that time, was very confident in our ability to play opposing offenses and keep the game very much in touch,” he said. “The biggest strength that we had game in and game out for the whole year was no big plays. And we limited the offense’s capability of picking up big yardage in any one play. And they had to go the hard way, inch by inch, if you will. And in most cases, we’d get ’em stopped before they get down there.”
For most of the Super Bowl, that plan worked. But Arizona struck gold late in the fourth quarter, Warner hitting Fitzgerald past CB Ike Taylor for a 64-yard score. It gave the Cardinals a 23-20 lead with under three minutes to go.
LeBeau credited Ben Roethlisberger for leading the comeback, capped by his iconic touchdown to Santonio Holmes.
“[As]was the case with Ben most of the time, the more you needed something from him, he was going to give it to you. And I had a lot of confidence that he would move that team down there,” LeBeau said. “And he did.”
While Pittsburgh’s defense allowed a critical play late, it kept the Cardinals’ offense in check as well as nearly any team that year. Through three quarters, Arizona scored just seven points. The Cardinals ran for just 33 yards all game, though they weren’t a good rushing team in the regular season, while the Steelers’ defense forced two turnovers and two sacks. The final of each was the capper, LaMarr Woodley strip-sacking Warner to finish his historic playoff run. With that, the Steelers were champs again.
Check out the whole interview with Dick LeBeau in Tuesday’s show here. The interview begins around the 38:00 mark. And pick up a copy of LeBeau’s new book Legendary. It’s on sale now and you can use our code “Steel30” to receive 30 percent off.
