A look back at the Arizona Cardinals and Super Bowl 43
By Scott Allen
It has now been 10 years since the Arizona Cardinals played the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl 43 in Tampa, Florida
As much as we hate to revisit the ending of Super Bowl 43, we do. Some receiver named Santonio Holmes for the Pittsburgh Steelers caught (or maybe didn’t catch) that end zone pass to give them a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Can you believe it has now been 10 years since that magical playoff run the Cardinals had? Kurt Warner was still quarterback for the Cardinals. Ben Roethlisberger was and still is the Steelers quarterback.
It was a playoff run for the ages. The Cardinals were coming off a 9-7 regular season that was good enough to win the NFC West. This year it would have been just good enough for a wild card sixth-seed in the NFC.
They got the chance to host the Wild Card game against the Atlanta Falcons by virtue of their division title and the fourth seed. They won 30-24.
That took them on the road for a division playoff against the Carolina Panthers. There, they shocked everyone by not just winning but whipping the Panthers in their house 33-13.
That left the NFC Championship. As the fourth seed chances were slim the Cardinals would be able to host the game. However as it turns out, the sixth seed Philadelphia Eagles defeated the number one seed New York Giants, bringing the game to Glendale.
The Cardinals beat the Eagles in a thriller 32-25 to head to their first Super Bowl. They would face the Steelers in Super Bowl 43.
It was a game that looked to be very competitive early on. The Cardinals had the chance to go into the halftime locker room with the lead but the Steelers James Harrison stepped in front of a pass in the end zone and ran the length of the field for a score.
The Steelers eventually would be up 20-7 at the end of the third quarter. Things did not look good for Birdgang.
The Cardinals however rattled off 16 unanswered points to take a 23-20 lead after a 64-yard touchdown reception to Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald had himself quite a postseason that year. Now he is returning for his 16th season in 2019.
The Cardinals have had a lot of ups and downs since that day. They’ve been to the playoffs three times since that loss in 2009, 2014, and 2015 seasons.
Next. What the return of Fitz means to the Cardinals. dark
They’ve not been back to the Super Bowl, coming up just short in the 2015 playoffs in January 2016. Now the Cardinals seem very far away from getting back but a new coaching staff and the potential of quarterback Josh Rosen seem like someday soon, the possibility of a Super Bowl will return to the Valley of the Sun.