DETROIT -- They've won Super Bowls in the past with their defense, their running game, their playmakers, their toughness and their skill.
Now the Pittsburgh Steelers can add being bold to their reasons for winning a ring.
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| Jeff Hartings congratulates Antwaan Randle El after his scoring strike. (Getty Images) |
On the game's biggest stage, with his team clinging to a 14-10 lead, Steelers coach Bill Cowher allowed offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt to make a call that few Steelers fans will ever forget.
It was risky, chancy and put the collective heads of the coaching staff right smack in the critics' guillotine.
The result was a great Super Bowl moment, one that provided the clinching points in the Steelers' 21-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.
Remember the play call: Fake Toss 39 pitch, X-receiver pass.
"It was the right time to call it," Whisenhunt said.
Super Bowl XL means this for the Steelers: Xtra Large cojones.
It was the right time for a magical moment, particularly for a franchise littered with them, a franchise now with five Super Bowl titles.
On the play, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took the snap and pitched to Willie Parker, who then handed off to receiver Antwaan Randle El. On the run, Randle El fired a perfect pass to a wide-open Hines Ward for a 43-yard touchdown pass with 9:04 left in the game.
"When they call it, I know I light up," Randle El said. "I try not to give it away."
Ward, who had five catches for 123 yards, would earn MVP honors in large part because of that play.
