TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Having watched his Pittsburgh
Steelers squander a huge fourth-quarter lead, Ben Roethlisberger
stood in the huddle in the final minutes and gave the offense a
simple message: "It's now or never."

Roethlisberger and the Steelers then delivered.

Roethlisberger's 6-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with
35 seconds remaining rallied Pittsburgh to a 27-23 victory over
the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday night.

Holmes barely managed to drag both feet down before going out of
bounds as the Steelers pulled out the wild victory that featured
23 fourth-quarter points and two lead changes in the final 2:37.

The victory gave the Steelers an NFL-record sixth Super Bowl
title.

The Cardinals, making their first Super Bowl appearance,
overcame a 20-7 lead in the final eight minutes with 16
consecutive points. However, Roethlisberger drove the Steelers
78 yards in eight plays for the dramatic victory.

"Before that drive, I told him, 'Ben, I want the ball in my
hands no matter what ... no matter where it is,'" said Holmes,
named the game's Most Valuable Player. "I wanted to be the one
to make the play and I did it for our team."

On the decisive drive, Holmes had four catches for 73 yards,
including a 13-yard reception on 3rd-and-6 and a 40-yard
reception to Arizona's 6. He scored two plays later.

Holmes, who grew up in Belle Glade, Florida, and admitted this
week he sold drugs as a youth, finished with 131 yards on nine
receptions.

"I knew my toes were on the ground the whole time," Holmes said.
"Once I extended my arms and my body, everything just flowed
right together. I never left the ground."

Roethlisberger was 21-of-30 for 256 yards for one touchdown and
an interception in joining New England's Tom Brady as the only
quarterback to win two Super Bowls by the age of 26.

"I was going to throw the ball in the flat," said Roethlisberger
of the game-winning TD. "They covered it up, so I went to Hines
(Ward). He was covered, getting held. But all of a sudden, I saw
(Holmes) go to the corner.

"I threw it and thought it was going to be picked. He made a
heck of a catch."

The victory also made 36-year-old Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin
the youngest in NFL history to win an NFL title.

Played on a brisk, beautiful night in Raymond James Stadium, the
Steelers seemed in complete control until the Cardinals'
comeback in the fourth quarter.

A seven-point underdog, the Cardinals overcame a 20-7 deficit
with 16 points in the final eight minutes. Larry Fitzgerald's
64-yard touchdown pass from Kurt Warner gave the Cardinals their
first lead of the night, 23-20, with 2:37 remaining.

"You can't explain it," Steelers safety Troy Polamalu said. "You
are seconds away from crying in the locker room, and them being
out there. That's how amazing this game is."

However, the Cardinals' defense couldn't stop the Steelers one
final time.

Fitzgerald, who was held to only one catch in the first half,
finished with seven receptions for 127 yards and two touchdowns.

Warner, who was honored as the 2008 Walter Payton NFL Man of the
Year minutes before kickoff, finished 31-of-43 for 377 yards,
two touchdown and one interception.

He became the first quarterback in Super Bowl history with three
300-yard passing games.

But it wasn't enough to compensate for a non-existent running
game that had only 33 yards rushing - 40 yards below their NFL
worst 73.6-yard average.

With Arizona trailing, 20-7, in the fourth quarter, Warner drove
the Cardinals 87 yards on eight plays, capped by a 1-yard
touchdown pass to Fitzgerald, making it 20-14 with 7:41
remaining.

Arizona reached Pittsburgh territory on its next possession but
couldn't capitalize and punted with 3:26 remaining. It was
downed at the 1-yard line.

On third down, the Cardinals were awarded a safety when Steelers
center Justin Hartwig was penalized for holding in the end zone,
making it 20-16.

After another Pittsburgh punt, Fitzgerald's touchdown appeared
to put the Cardinals in control. But Roethlisberger and Holmes
rallied the Steelers in the final minutes to avoid squandering a
13-point lead in the fourth quarter.

"That was a shot in the heart," Polamalu said of Fitzgerald's
64-yard touchdown catch from Warner.

Tomlin said he was glad that the Cardinals scored so quickly.

"If they score, that's how you want them to score," Tomlin said.
"You don't want them to milk the clock."

Arizona reached midfield in the final seconds, but Warner was
sacked by linebacker LaMarr Woodley, forcing a fumble that was
recovered by Brett Keisel to secure the victory.

"I'm disappointed for our team," Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt
said. "This is a group of men that I'm really proud of. They
played very hard in circumstances where nobody believed in them,
but themselves.

"I think it's a great message that if you believe together as a
group, you can accomplish things and be successful. We learned a
lot about our team and it's unfortunate that it had to come out
this way."

The Cardinals averaged 32 points in their final four games, but
were ineffective until the game's final eight minutes.

The turning point of the first half came on the final play of
the second quarter.

With 18 seconds remaining, Arizona had 1st-and-goal at the 2,
but Warner's pass intended for Anquan Boldin was intercepted at
the goal line by James Harrison, who rumbled 100 yards for the
touchdown.

"We had them matched up and it was kind of like, give it time,
and I slid over to the right and (Warner) threw it right to my
hands and I took off," Harrison said. "I was just trying to get
to the other side and score seven. That's all.

"It was very tiring, but it was all worth it. I was just
thinking that I had to do whatever I could to get to the other
end zone and get seven. I just wanted to help my team win, that
was it. That was all I was thinking about."

Instead of possibly trailing 14-10 at the half, the Steelers
held a 17-7 advantage.

"It is tough when you are in a game like this," Warner said.
"You have the lead later, but you know everything rides on the
balance of this game. Your emotions are so high with two minutes
left in the game when you have the lead.

"You know that you are two minutes away from being World
Champions. On the flip side, they come down and make a big play
to win the game and the emotions flip.

"Either way, I'm proud of this team. I think that is one of the
reasons why it doesn't hurt as bad as it could. These guys have
exceeded expectations. We gave ourselves a chance to win a world
championship, but that other team went out and won it."

In the first quarter, the Steelers dominated the Cardinals,
outgaining Arizona 140-13, but Pittsburgh only had a 3-0 lead.

On the game's opening drive, Pittsburgh marched 61 yards to the
1. On 3rd-and-goal, Roethlisberger appeared to bull over for a
touchdown. However, Roethlisberger's TD was reversed after a
challenge by Whisenhunt and Pittsburgh settled for an 18-yard
field goal by Jeff Reed.

On its next possession, Pittsburgh increased its lead to 10-0 on
Gary Russell's 1-yard touchdown run, capping a 70-yard drive.

However, the Cardinals answered with a nine-play, 83-yard
touchdown drive. Warner hit tight end Ben Patrick for a 1-yard
touchdown with 8:34 remaining in the second quarter. On the
drive, Warner was 7-for-8 for 92 yards, completing his final
seven passes, including a 45-yarder to Boldin.

In Roethlisberger's first Super Bowl against Seattle, he was
only 9-for-21 for 123 yards and two interceptions. He nearly
exceeded that in the first quarter against the Cardinals,
completing 7-for-8 for 118 yards.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell summed up the feelings of the
70,774 fans before presenting the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the
Steelers.

"Some said we couldn't top last year's Super Bowl," he said.
"But we did that tonight."