WaPo/Michael Wilbon: "On the Big Stage, This One Is Nothing to Sing About"

[Penndems]

By Michael Wilbon

Monday, February 6, 2006; Page E01

DETROIT

It wasn't a classic, not to anybody other than the Pittsburgh Steelers. There were too many mistakes that offset the number of big plays, even record plays. And the poor zebras, who have struggled through the entire postseason, tried their best to ruin the whole day. But style points are for the Olympics, not the Super Bowl. And once we get past Monday morning, history will know only that the Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL.

What was a largely unsatisfying evening when it comes to athletic theater will be remembered as the fifth Super Bowl victory for one of the NFL's great franchises, the Steelers. The record won't show that the first half of play looked more preseason than super, only that Ben Roethlisberger made some critical runs, Antwaan Randle El threw a beautiful option pass for a touchdown and the Seahawks played too much like simpletons, particularly over the final few minutes, to be champions.

The Steelers, after winning 21-10, now have one for the thumb and Coach Bill Cowher has, simply enough, one. It was a happily-ever-after victory for Cowher, for what appeared to be the 60,000 or so Steelers fans who commandeered tickets from every available source, for Jerome Bettis and his homecoming, and for the host city of Detroit, whose peeps embraced their blue-collared brethren from Pittsburgh and seemed wholly satisfied with victory over the polite foreigners visiting from the Pacific Northwest.

It was probably a fitting victory for an NFL season that was mostly unspectacular, though there is still nothing but praise for the Steelers, who fought back from a difficult midseason to not only reach the playoffs but win three straight games on the road before arriving in Detroit for what amounted to a coronation.

Link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/05/AR2006020501241.html
********************************************************************
BTW, Mike Wilbon hosts "The Chat House" every Monday at 1:15 p.m. ET on washingtonpost.com, if anybody wants to sound off about the game. :)