Super Bowl XLIII Revisited: Larry Fitzgerald’s Almost-Immortal Run and the Catch That Stole It
- Football Nation
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 11 hours ago
For two minutes and 37 seconds, Larry Fitzgerald owned the ending to Super Bowl XLIII. His 64-yard touchdown had split Pittsburgh’s defense, put Arizona ahead 23–20 and moved the Cardinals within one stop of the first Super Bowl title in franchise history.
Then Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes took the ending back. Their six-yard touchdown with 35 seconds remaining gave the Steelers a 27–23 victory on February 1, 2009, and turned one of the greatest postseason performances by a receiver into the setup for one of the greatest catches in NFL history.
The game is surging back into the conversation during Fitzgerald’s 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame week. Arizona recently resurfaced his go-ahead touchdown on X, and the Cardinals open the preseason in Canton as Fitzgerald prepares for enshrinement.
Football Nation’s Panthers–Cardinals Hall of Fame Game guide covers the current event. This is the game that explains why Fitzgerald arrived there as more than a statistics case.
Super Bowl XLIII score and defining numbers
Final score: Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23.
Santonio Holmes: nine catches, 131 yards, one touchdown and Super Bowl MVP.
Larry Fitzgerald: seven catches, 127 yards and two touchdowns.
Kurt Warner: 31 completions on 43 attempts, 377 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
The box score shows an elite passing game. It does not fully show the violence of the momentum swings. Arizona entered as a 9–7 underdog and spent much of the night chasing Pittsburgh’s defense. By the middle of the fourth quarter, the Cardinals were still down 20–7. They then scored 16 consecutive points and had the Steelers one drive from defeat.
James Harrison changed the entire first half
Arizona was at Pittsburgh’s 1-yard line with 18 seconds left in the second quarter, positioned to take the lead. The Steelers showed pressure. Harrison abandoned the rush, dropped into coverage and intercepted Warner at the goal line.
What followed became a Super Bowl record: a 100-yard return down the sideline, sustained by a convoy of blocks and finished as Harrison collapsed across the goal line. Instead of Arizona taking a 14–10 lead into halftime, Pittsburgh led 17–7. The single snap created a 14-point swing in a game decided by four.
It was not merely an athletic play. Harrison diagnosed the route and changed his assignment on the fly. That gamble is why the return still belongs in any serious argument about the most consequential defensive play in Super Bowl history.
Larry Fitzgerald nearly wrote the perfect ending
Arizona’s comeback began with Fitzgerald beating the Steelers near the goal line for a one-yard touchdown. A safety cut the margin again. Then, with 2:47 remaining, Warner found Fitzgerald on a post route. Fitzgerald caught the ball in stride, split the secondary and ran 64 yards for the lead.
That touchdown was Fitzgerald’s seventh of the 2008 postseason. He had already produced one of the most dominant playoff runs by any receiver, totaling 546 yards over four games. Had Arizona held the lead, his sprint through the middle of the field would likely be replayed as the final image of the franchise’s first Super Bowl championship.
Instead, it became one of football’s great almost-moments—a spectacular play whose legacy is tied to what happened immediately after it.
Roethlisberger and Holmes answered in 2:02
Pittsburgh took possession at its own 22. A holding penalty immediately pushed the Steelers back to the 12. The drive could have died there. Roethlisberger kept finding Holmes, including a 40-yard completion that moved Pittsburgh to the Arizona 6.
On the decisive snap, Holmes broke toward the back-right corner of the end zone. Roethlisberger placed the ball above three Cardinals defenders. Holmes extended, secured it and dragged both feet inside the boundary. Replay confirmed the touchdown.
Holmes did more than make one catch. He accounted for 73 receiving yards on the final drive and repeatedly turned a desperate possession into manageable field position. The toe-tap finished the comeback, but the entire series earned the MVP award.
Why Super Bowl XLIII still matters
The game has three endings worthy of a championship montage: Harrison’s 100-yard interception return, Fitzgerald’s 64-yard sprint and Holmes’ toe-tap. Most Super Bowls are remembered for one defining image. This one produced three.
It also changed how the main figures are remembered. Pittsburgh became the first franchise to win six Super Bowls. Mike Tomlin won a championship in his second season as head coach. Holmes became permanently identified with one catch. Fitzgerald proved that a receiver on a 9–7 team could take over an entire postseason.
Fitzgerald’s Hall of Fame election gives the game a new lens. The Cardinals lost, but his performance was not a consolation prize. It was the peak of a playoff run that helped define a 17-season career spent entirely in Arizona.
For another championship breakdown, Football Nation’s Super Bowl LX recap shows a very different kind of title game—one controlled by defense rather than a final two-minute exchange.
Football Nation takeaway
Super Bowl XLIII survives because every answer created a larger question. Could Harrison reach the goal line? Could Fitzgerald complete the comeback? Could Pittsburgh respond with 2:37 left? Could Holmes stay in bounds?
The answer was yes every time—until Arizona’s last possession ended with a fumble. Fitzgerald came within one defensive stop of football immortality. Holmes and Roethlisberger stole the ending, Harrison supplied the swing, and the result remains one of the NFL’s most replayable championship games.
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