Behind the Steel Curtain
The Steelers won their sixth Super Bowl in 2008 as one of the best teams in franchise history and the best since the 1970s.
It’s the time of year when lists run rampant and we look back on some of the best of yesteryear in pro football.
It’s also a monumental summer recapping quarter-century teams and the best of the best since 2000.
Yahoo Sports senior NFL writer Frank Schwab ranked the top 25 NFL teams since 2000. Only one Steelers team made the list.
Schwab ranked the 2008 Steelers as the 17th best team of the quarter century.
In his second season, Mike Tomlin’s Steelers finished 12-4, earned the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, beat the rival Baltimore Ravens at Heinz Field in the AFC Championship Game, and won Super Bowl XLIII against the Arizona Cardinals.
“It’s possible the 2004 team that went 15-1 or the 2010 team that came up short against the Packers in the Super Bowl were actually Pittsburgh’s best teams of this era,” Schwab said. “But this team, with a great playmaking defense, came back to knock off the Cardinals in a thrilling Super Bowl. So it makes the list.”
The 2008 Steelers won the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl, setting a new NFL record. Pittsburgh defeated Arizona 27-23 in an all-time classic that saw two of the best plays in Super Bowl history.
At the end of the first half and the Cardinals driving, James Harrison picked off Kurt Warner and returned it 100 yards for the longest interception return in Super Bowl history. The Steelers took a 17-7 lead into the locker room.
The Cardinals stormed back. The Steelers took a 20-7 lead to the fourth quarter before Larry Fitzgerald stole the show. Fitzgerald scored two touchdowns, including a 64-yard touchdown with 2:37 remaining to give Arizona a 23-20 lead. The Steelers were left stunned.
It looked as if their fate was sealed until Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes put together the drive of their lives.
Holmes caught four passes for 73 yards on the final drive. Roethlisberger found Holmes in the back right corner of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown as Holmes toe-tapped his feet in bounds for one of the greatest receptions in NFL history.
The 2005 Steelers, winners of Super Bowl XL under Bill Cowher and with a young Roethlisberger and retiring Jerome Bettis, did not crack Schwab’s list.
Schwab mentioned the 2004 Steelers that lost to New England in the AFC Championship Game and the 2010 team that lost to now quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay as other candidates.
Four Patriots teams made the list, highlighted by the 2007 team that fell one game short of a perfect season before losing to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.
Baltimore one-upped the Steelers and had two teams on the list. The 2000 Ravens checked in at No. 11, but the 2019 Ravens that finished 14-2 and lost in the divisional round ranked higher.
The 2019...
