Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Super Bowl Memory - The Chief finally wins


The Steelers first Super Bowl appearance came in Super Bowl IX at a windy and wet Tulane Stadium in New Orleans against the Minnesota Vikings....

And on this day, the Steel Curtain was tightly closed.....the Pittsburgh defense held the Vikings to 17 yards rushing on 21 attempts for a feeble 0.8 yard average....Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton didn’t fare much better through the air as he passed for 102 yards....

On offense, the Steelers attack was simple – run, run, run.....they ran the ball 57 times for 249 yards.....Super Bowl MVP Franco Harris contributed to that total by rushing 34 times for a then Super Bowl record 158 yards.....Terry Bradshaw only had to complete nine passes for 96 yards with one of those passes going for a touchdown....

Despite the Steelers dominance, Minnesota was only down 9-6 with 10 minutes left in the game.....but the only score the Vikings could muster came on special teams when Terry Brown blocked a Bobby Walden punt.....

Throughout the game, whenever the Vikings were in scoring position, they would turn the ball over which would snuff out any momentum....there was no way Minnesota could beat this Steelers defense by committing five turnovers.....

Right before half, Minnesota penetrated to the Steeler 25-yard line only to have a deflected pass get intercepted by Mel Blount....the Vikings collapsed again at the very start of the half when they fumbled the second half kick-off....four plays later Harris scored for the Steelers.....

The best part of the game took place in the locker room when commissioner Pete Rozelle presented The Chief, Art Rooney, Sr., with the Vince Lombardi Trophy....after owning the Steelers for almost 45 years, Rooney was finally a champion.....

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