Alternate Super Bowl XLIII: Pittsburgh Steelers vs Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers vs Philadelphia Eagles

Hello everyone and welcome to Super Bowl XLIII at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL.  For the rest of America its just another Super Bowl, but for the state of Pennsylvania its a dream come true.  Despite both teams playing in a number of conference championships over the past 15 years neither has met in the Super Bowl until today.  Its been a rocky road for the Eagles. The season appeared to be spiraling out of control after a 36-7 loss at Baltimore, but since then the Eagles have caught fire winning 7 of their last 8 on their way to their 3rd Super Bowl appearance.  The Steelers are making their 7th Super Bowl appearance and are looking to do something that no other NFL franchise has ever done... win 6 Lombardi Trophies. 

Steelers key to victory - Protect Ben.  When these two played each other in Week 3, Ben was sacked eight times in a 15-6 loss.  They need to do what they did against Baltimore in the AFC championship and that's throw short passes, stick with the running game, keep the defense guessing.  Don't become one dimensional and let the Eagles defense tee off on your quarterback.

Eagles key to victory - Get the receivers involved.  Whenever anyone plays the Eagles, their opponents focus heavily on Brian Westbrook.  The Steelers will be no different.  McNabb needs to get the ball in the hands of his other receivers like Brent Celek and DeSean Jackson to get some of that focus off Westbrook and help him become a factor again.

Weather:  67 degrees, 5 mph wind

1st Half: 

The Steelers have won the toss and elect to receive.  Moore returns the kickoff to his own 11.  The Eagles crowd the line of scrimmage and stuff Moore on first down.  The Steelers attempt a screen to counter the blitz on second down, but its broken up.  On 3rd down, the Eagles bring on the full blitz.  Roethlisberger side steps a man and scrambles out of the pocket he pump fakes, motions to a receiver downfield and throws a pass downfield to Santonio Holmes.  With most Eagle defenders chasing Ben, Holmes sprints down the field and picks up 54 yards before getting knocked out of bounds by Brian Dawkins at the PHI 33.  The Steeler Nation is on their feet waving the Terrible Towels.  On the next play, Roethlisberger fires a pass to Nate Washington for 6 yards.  With the Eagles backing off the line now, they get to work on the ground.  Parker fires off the right side for 14 yards to the PHI 13.  A couple plays later Pittsburgh is flagged for a false start.  On 3rd and 10 from the PHI 13, Roethlisberger throws a slant to Holmes is wrapped up at the 1, but his arms reach over the goal line for the Steelers touchdown!  8 plays, 94 yards, 4:26 drive

Steelers 7 - Eagles 0

Looking to respond, the Eagles start out on their own 15.  The drive starts out slow as the Steelers pounce on Brian Westbrook.  On 3rd down though, McNabb hooks up with DeSean Jackson for a 12 yard gain and a first down.  The Eagles are on their way.  They run a draw play to Westbrook who picks his way through the middle for 11 yards and another first down.  McNabb throws a couple short passes to setup a 3rd and 3.  McNabb lines up in the shotgun and the Steelers show blitz.  McNabb fakes a long pass then shovels it to Westbrook but its a little too high, it bounces off Westbrook's hands and is intercepted by Troy Polamalu at the PIT 46.

Despite getting a big break, they are not able to capitalize and go three and out and the Eagles get the ball back at their own 19. 

Still keying on Westbrook he gets stuffed on two running plays and LJ Smith drops a pass on third down forcing them to punt.

The Steelers take over on their own 41 and they get to work on the ground.  Parker picks up 15 off the left side on a sweep.   Two plays later, Parker runs off the left side and again and speeds down the sidelines and dives into the end zone for the Steelers touchdown!  5 plays, 54 yards, 2:48 drive

Steelers 14 - Eagles 0

The Eagles take over on their own 23.  They need to get something or this could turn into a super blowout.  Buckhalter is in the game as trainers look at Westbrook.  He's not able to do any better and the Eagles do another three and out as the Steelers top ranked defense continues its domination.

Starting on their own 38, the Steelers continue with the ground assault.  On 2nd down, Parker bursts up the middle for 21 yards into Eagles territory.  They run a couple plays with Gary Russell for a first down, but after a holding call, the drive stalls and the Steelers are forced to punt.

The Eagles continue to have problems running with either Buckhalter or Westbrook.  On 3rd down, McNabb drops back to pass, but he's sacked by James Harrison for an 8 yard loss.  Once again, the Eagles are forced to punt.

The Steelers start their next possession on their own 43, but are unable to do anything with the good field position and punt back to the Eagles, but pinning them down at their own 12.

The Eagles continue to struggle on offense.  Westbrook loses a yard, then McNabb is sacked by Aaron Smith for a 7 yard loss.  Finally on 3rd and 18, McNabb airs it out deep and connects with DeSean Jackson for a big 47 yard gain to the PIT 49.  The spark in the offense is quickly extinguished as Westbrook gets hit behind the line by Harrison and fumbles the ball.  Everyone piles on top of it, but James Farrior comes away with the football.

The Steelers try to run, but Moore is stopped for a 4 yard loss.  On the next play, Roethlisberger tries for Hines Ward, but Lito Shepard jumps the route and picks it off.  Shepard is sprints down the field before getting tackled at the PIT 29 with 2:06 left in the half. 

After a couple short passes to the sidelines, McNabb hooks up with DeSean Jackson at the corner of the end zone for the Eagles touchdown!  3 plays, 24 yards, 0:30 drive

Steelers 14 - Eagles 7

The Eagles finally get on the board, but have left a lot of time on the clock (1:21).    The Steelers run a couple draw plays, then pick up a first down on an 8 yard completion to Heath Miller.  On the next set of downs, Roethlisberger completes a pass to Ward near the sidelines, who drags his feet to stay in bounds and picks up 15 yards to the PHI 36.  The Steelers don't drive much further and with 3 seconds left, send out Jeff Reed for the 50 yard attempt.  Reed's kick is up, its hooking right and it just slips inside the goalposts!  9 plays, 34 yards, 1:18 drive

Steelers 17 - Eagles 7

2nd Half: 

The Eagles get the ball first in the second half and they need to make something happen.  However, when it starts off, it looks just like the first half as McNabb is sacked by LaMarr Woodley for a 9 yard loss.  The Eagles appear to be headed for another three and out, but on 3rd and 18, McNabb completes a pass to Jason Avant for a 26 yard gain and a first down.  The Eagles are not able to gain another yard after that and punt.

Starting at their own 17, the Steelers hand off to Parker and he sweeps to the left side, but looses the football and its recovered by Stewart Bradley at the PIT 19.  The Eagles are in business.

The Eagles run a draw to Westbrook and he goes up the middle, breaks a tackle and is into the end zone for the touchdown!  Once again, the Eagles capitalize on the Steelers turnovers.  1 play, 19 yards, 0:07 drive

Steelers 17 - Eagles 14

The momentum is with the Eagles now.  The Steelers try to re-establish the run, but go three and out and punt back to the Eagles. 

Starting on their own 32, the Eagles are looking to take their first lead of the game.  They hand off to Lorenzo Booker for 4 yards.  They try to get tricky with screen to Jackson, but he's stuffed for nothing.  On 3rd down, they pitch it to Westbrook and he picks up 3 yards, before its slapped loose by Polamalu and recovered by Larry Foote at the PHI 38.

The Steelers are in business now.  On 3rd down, Roethlisberger goes down field and finds Washington for a 31 yard gain to the PHI 4.  After failing to run the ball in, Roethlisberger throws for the corner of the end zone to Holmes and its caught for the touchdown!  Andy Reid throws the challenge flag, contesting that he didn't get both feet in bounds.  After further review, the play stands and the Steelers increase their lead to 10.  6 plays, 38 yards, 2:48 drive

Steelers 24 - Eagles 14

With time running out in the third quarter, the Eagles offense needed to get back into the game, but the Steelers defense was in top form.  The Eagles get little yardage and go three and out again.

With the ball on the PIT 28, the Steelers are looking for one more big score, before trying to run out the clock.  Roethlisberger fires for Miller and picks up 11.  Two plays later Ben rifles one to Hines Ward for an 8 yard gain and another to Ward for 10 yards.  Ben is really locked onto his receivers for this drive.  The Eagles blitz is being nullified by these short slants.  Roethlisberger finds Miller again for another 11 yards.  On the next play he goes for it all with Holmes, but its broken up in the end zone by Samuel.  Two plays later, Roethlisberger looks to the end zone again and its caught by Nate Washington for the Steelers touchdown!  9 plays, 77 yards, 5:07 drive

Steelers 31 - Eagles 14

With 12:25 left in the game and down by 17, the Eagles don't get away from their gameplan and run the ball on first and second down for a modest 6 yards.  On 3rd down, McNabb's pass is batted down by Timmons.  McNabb shows some frustration and walks off the field as the Eagles will punt once more.

The Steelers appear to be content to just run the ball and eat up as much clock as possible on the first two plays, but on 3rd and 8, Roethlisberger fakes to Parker and goes deep to Holmes and its caught for a 35 yard gain to the PHI 40.  The Steelers drive to the Eagles 28, but go backwards with a false start and then a sack that puts them out of field goal range.  The Steelers are content to just pin the Eagles deep into their own end.

Starting out on their own 19 with 5:04 left and the Steelers in their prevent defense, McNabb comes out firing.  A 13 yard pass to Kevin Curtis.  Another 13 yarder to Jackson.  The drive begins to stall as McNabb has trouble finding his targets and is under extreme pressure on each play.   On 4th and 13, McNabb connects with Hank Baskett but he's quickly tackled after an 8 yard gain and the Eagles turn the ball over on downs at the 50.

Once again, the Steelers appear to be just trying to run the clock down, but on 3rd down, Roethlisberger runs another play action and goes deep for Holmes in the end zone... TOUCHDOWN!  But there's a flag on the play... Stapleton is flagged for holding and the play is coming back.  The Steelers run it down to the 2 minute warning before punting back to Philadelphia.

On the Eagles next possession, they're playing for just pride at this point, but the drive is blown up after an Aaron Smith sack.  On 4th and 10, McNabb goes deep for Jackson, but its picked off by Ryan Clark. 

Roethlisberger takes a couple kneel downs and the Steelers are the Super Bowl XLIII champions!

Final:  Steelers 31 - Eagles 14

The Steelers defense was just too much for the Eagles today.  They punted 6 times and turned the ball over 4 times.  If it wasn't for the Steelers mistakes, this probably would have been a shutout.  Despite sacking Ben eight times back in Week 3, they only came away with one today.  This Steelers offense was really clicking and had an answer for every Eagles blitz.  Ward made some nice grabs, but he didn't look 100%.  However, it didn't really matter as Santonio Holmes had a monster game with 5 catches for 106 yards and 2 TDs and he is the MVP for tonight.  Congratulations to the Super Bowl XLIII champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers!

So for those of you that wondered what would have happened had the Eagles been able to hold on against the Cardinals, wonder no more. The Pennsylvania Super Bowl would have been won by... who else... the Pittsburgh Steelers!  But we don't need a computer simulation to tell us that, we already knew.