Super Bowl 43 saw the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals to capture their sixth championship. It didn’t come easy, though. The Cardinals had several opportunities to win that game. However, the Steelers made some big plays to seal their victory. Santonio Holmes’ touchdown catch gets a lot of recognition, but James Harrison’s pick-six near the end of the first half was also incredible. Former Steelers edge rusher LaMarr Woodley recently shared his perspective on that play.
“I look and I see James [Harrison] has the ball,” Woodley said on the Off the Edge with Cam Jordan podcast. “When I turn and run to block somebody, I looked at Kurt Warner, but I was like, ‘He doesn’t got a shot of tackling James Harrison. Let me turn and find somebody else.’ So, when I turned and looked for somebody else, I seen the running back, I think his name was [Tim] Hightower.
“I gave him a little push, and I look back, he is still running. I got one more push. That’s all I got. I got one more push in the tank, and I run, and I just leaned and pushed him out the way. James jumped over me. When you look back at that play, you’ll see me laying on the ground looking like, ‘Go James, go.'”
While Harrison made that play, it was a team effort to get him to the opposite end zone. He would’ve never made it if not for his teammates making blocks all the way down the field. That includes Woodley, who put in work to keep Hightower away from Harrison.
Defensive players blocking on turnovers was a point of emphasis by Mike Tomlin, which helped Woodley know what to do in that situation. He was only in his second season, but 2008 was a breakout year for him. That included his six sacks in the postseason. However, his blocking on Harrison’s interception should receive just as much praise.
That was a tough task, but Woodley gave it his all, even giving it a second effort to take the running back out. It was all worth it, too. That play was bigger than just putting another touchdown on the board for the Steelers.
On that play, the Cardinals had the ball right outside of the Steelers’ endzone. They had a prime opportunity to take the lead going into halftime. The Cardinals also got the ball to start the second half, so that could’ve been a huge swing for them. They probably hoped that, at the very worst, they’d be able to go into halftime with the score tied.
The Cardinals eventually went on to take the lead anyway, but Holmes and Ben Roethlisberger managed to score the game-winning touchdown. They wouldn’t have been in that position without Harrison, though. He took a gamble dropping into coverage on that play, but it paid off. Woodley and Steelers fans got to cheer Harrison on as he made one of the biggest plays ever.
