Winning drive was nothing new for Big Ben

Monday, February 02, 2009
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/


Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger


TAMPA, Fla. -- It was what he had done all season, so it was no surprise when he did it again, right when it mattered most.

The 98-yard drive in Baltimore to clinch the division title?

That no longer ranks as the most impressive or most meaningful drive of the season, though that drive, like the one last night at Raymond James Stadium, ended the same way -- with an amazing touchdown catch by Santonio Holmes that had to be reviewed by replay because it defied the eye's belief.

"That was a heck of a drive," Ben Roethlisberger said when it was all over.

Maybe it's fitting that when Roethlisberger rallied the Steelers in the final 2:30 to pull out a stunning 27-23 victory against the Arizona Cardinals, it marked the sixth time this season he had staged a comeback in the fourth quarter or overtime.

Fitting because it delivered Super Bowl trophy No. 6.

"I played a little better than I did last time so it feels a lot better," Roethlisberger said, referring to Super Bowl XL, a game in which Roethlisberger posted the lowest passer rating (22.6) for a winning quarterback in Super Bowl history. "To be able to come back on that last drive, a drive that will be remembered for a long time ... it feels really good, really special."

Indeed, Roethlisberger finished with 21 completions in 30 attempts for 256 yards -- more than double his total from Super Bowl XL (123) and a 93.2 passer rating. But it also included one very big touchdown pass -- a 6-yarder to Holmes with 35 seconds remaining that made Roethlisberger only the 10th quarterback in history to win two Super Bowls.

"He just said, 'Let's go down there and do it,' " said Hines Ward, who had two catches for 43 yards. "I tried to tell him that we only needed three points. He made a play and we got near the 50, so I was just saying, let's try to get 20 or 30 yards and kick a field goal for sure."

Roethlisberger and Holmes went one better.

Roethlisberger is now 8-2 in his playoff career, and only New England's Tom Brady has won more playoff games (nine) in the first five years of their career.

"Ben's been a good player ever since I've been around him," said Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt, who has seen this before. Whisenhunt spent three seasons as the Steelers' offensive coordinator, and what he saw in the final minutes against his new team did not surprise him. "He's a dangerous player who does a good job of managing the game."

Roethlisberger did more than manage the game against the Cardinals.

He started fast, staking the Steelers to a 10-0 lead by completing nine of his first 10 passes for 128 yards. And, after some shaky moments in the third quarter, he delivered when he absolutely had to, just as he did against the Ravens in Baltimore, just as he did against the San Diego Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys.

On the winning drive, which covered 78 yards in eight plays, Roethlisberger completed 5 of 7 passes for 84 yards, including a big conversion of 13 yards to Holmes on third-and-6 from his 26.

"The first read was the running back in the flat, but he wasn't open; then I was going to try to bang into Hines real quick," Roethlisberger said. "But someone was closing in on it and I was a little nervous about it. It wouldn't have been a touchdown. I looked back, scrambled right a bit and saw [Holmes] in the corner. I tried to throw it high so he was going to catch it or no one was. Luckily, he made a heck of a play.

"He made a heck of a throw," Cardinals defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast said of Roethlisberger.

Gerry Dulac can be reached at gdulac@post-gazette.com.
First published on February 2, 2009 at 1:25 am