Going the Distance in Super Bowl XLIII

I covered Troy Polamalu for almost 10 seasons and I never once saw him snap at a reporter. He was always polite even if he frequently did not have much more to say than “God willing” in response to any number of queries.

But when Polamalu felt like talking he could be pure gold. That turned out to be the case after an off-season practice in 2014 when I asked him about Harrison’s 100-yard interception return for a touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII.

Polamalu warmed up to the subject right away and he revealed how close that play came to not happening with the Arizona Cardinals at the Steelers’ 2-yard line right before halftime.

The Cardinals were poised to at least tie the score at 10 heading into intermission when the teams lined up with less than 20 seconds left in the second quarter. Polamalu anticipated from the formation that Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner would throw a slant pass to wide receiver Anquan Boldin.

The problem for Polamalu, who rarely hesitated to follow his instincts, is that he was on the other side of the field. As he pondered switching sides, Polamalu concluded that the initial hesitation had cost him too much time and he stayed put.

Good thing for the Steelers that he did.

Harrison feigned a blitz, took one step back and ran right in front of Boldin. Had Polamalu raced over and also tried to jump the route, the eight-time Pro Bowler told me, there is a good chance he would have run into Harrison. That would have given the Cardinals an easy touchdown or at worst an incomplete pass with two more cracks to score a touchdown—and you can’t like those odds with a quarterback who had completed 11 of 12 passes for five touchdowns inside opponents’ 20-yard line in the postseason prior to Harrison’s pick.

What Harrison did after the interception truly made the play a once-in-a-generation one. Harrison followed a convoy of blockers down the right side of the field, dodging Cardinals tacklers before collapsing in the opposite end zone while carrying two Arizona players.

The return looked a little disjointed at first, with cornerback Deshea Townsend all but trying to take the ball from Harrison. But the blocking that ensued after Harrison shooed Townsend away was anything but random.

LeBeau had instilled in his players the importance of turning defense into offense following a turnover. If defensive players didn’t find someone to block after a fumble recovery or interception, even in practice, LeBeau didn’t hesitate to “blast” them.

“We were all held accountable and when you go through film if you’re not doing your job you address the situation, so that’s what being put on blast is,” former Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel said. “It was something we worked on all the time.”

That work paid off on football’s biggest stage and Harrison’s interception return for a touchdown proved to be the difference in the Steelers’ 27–23 win over the Cardinals.

“Everyone wants to look Santonio’s catch as winning a Super Bowl but James’ play was a 14-point turnaround,” Polamalu told me in reference to Santonio Holmes’ toe-tapping touchdown catch at the end of the game. “It won us a Super Bowl. It’s the second-greatest play in Steelers history.”

And the greatest in Super Bowl history.