The perfect ending
February 2
Beaver County Times columnist John Mehno
"Today is the very best kind of Ground Hog Day.
It's that one where the Steelers win the Super Bowl.
Again.
The towel-waving Steelers Nation will never tire of that rerun.
The craziest thing about the Steelers beating the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 and winning their record-setting sixth Super Bowl trophy is that they even made it to the big game in Tampa.
Think about it. What topics burned the phone lines for talk show conversation before training camp started, then continued throughout the season?
It seemed like there were always significant obstacles to keep the glass half full:
* They had the NFL's toughest schedule.
* The offensive line was leaky.
* They had done such a poor job of managing the offensive line situation that the team's highest-paid player, tackle Max Starks, was cast as a backup before injuries forced him into starting duty.
* No. 1 draft pick Rashard Mendenhall didn't make it out of the season's first month because of a broken shoulder.
* With Mendenhall out, the Steelers got virtually no help from the 2008 draft.
* Willie Parker was sidelined with injuries, and the running game was reduced to situational back Mewelde Moore for several weeks.
* Ben Roethlisberger had more dents than a '77 Chevy from all the bumps he took while running for his life.
* And, oh yeah, Big Ben holds the ball too long.
* They weren't efficient in short-yardage situations.
* They went through three punters after starter Daniel Sepulveda was knocked out for the season in training camp.
* There was no quality depth at receiver. Nate Washington upgraded from awful to average, but Limas Sweed was a lost cause in his rookie season.
Who could have guessed a season this imperfect would wind up with a championship?
And yet, at about 10:20 on Sunday night, there was Dan Rooney again holding the Lombardi Trophy and, as always, showing all the emotion of a man waiting for a bus."
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