Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2005 season. The Steelers defeated the Seahawks by the score of 21–10. The game was played on February 5, 2006, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. It is the most recent Super Bowl to broadcast on ABC, who lost the rights to broadcast them in the next NFL television contract (though under the latest contract, the network is set to broadcast Super Bowl LXI alongside ESPN), and the first where all aspects of the game itself were aired in HD. This was the last of 10 straight Super Bowls to feature a team seeking its first win in the game.
With the win, the Steelers tied the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys with the then-record five Super Bowl victories (a record the Steelers themselves would break three years later). The Steelers' victory was their first Super Bowl victory since Super Bowl XIV. The Steelers, who finished the regular season with an 11–5 record, also became the fourth wild card team, the third in nine years, and the first ever number 6 seed in the NFL playoffs, to win a Super Bowl. The Seahawks, on the other hand, in their 30th season, were making their first ever Super Bowl appearance after posting an NFC-best 13–3 regular season record.
The Steelers capitalized on two big plays that were converted into touchdowns. The Steelers jumped to a 14–3 lead early in the third quarter with running back Willie Parker's Super Bowl record 75-yard touchdown run. Kelly Herndon's then-Super Bowl record 76-yard interception return set up a Seattle touchdown to cut the lead 14–10. The Steelers then responded with Antwaan Randle El's 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward, the first time a wide receiver threw a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl, to clinch the game in the fourth quarter. Ward, who caught 5 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 18 yards, was named Super Bowl MVP.
The officiating in Super Bowl XL was met with criticism from members of the media soon after the game, leading NFL Films to rank it as one of the top ten controversial calls of all time.
Background Host selection process
NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl XL to Detroit during their November 1, 2000, meeting held in Atlanta. It marked the second Super Bowl held in the Detroit area, the first was XVI played at the Pontiac Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac. Three Super Bowls host sites were selected during the meeting, XXXVIII, XXXIX, and XL. However, XXXIX was the only one of the three that involved a competitive voting process. The vote for XL was mostly a formality, as Detroit had been tentatively preselected for the game, as a reward for constructing a new stadium. The host duties, however, were contingent on satisfying a series of basic requirements. No other cities were considered for XL.
On August 20, 1996, the Lions announced their intentions to build a new stadium in downtown Detroit. NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue helped lobby support for the project, announcing that the city of Detroit was positioned to host a Super Bowl if the stadium plans were to go forward. Despite some early mixed polls, on November 5, 1996, voters approved a tax referendum to fund the stadium construction in a landslide. Groundbreaking occurred three years later on November 16, 1999. With stadium construction underway, the NFL reaffirmed their commitment to awarding the facility a Super Bowl. By that time, host cities had been awarded, or tentatively assigned, through XXXVIII. With stiff competition from Miami, Jacksonville, and possibly Atlanta for XXXIX, Detroit set their sights on XL (February 2006). That more than satisfied the NFL's rule that required new stadiums to wait until at least their second year of operation before hosting a Super Bowl, in order to iron out any logistical issues or construction delays.
The Detroit host committee made their initial presentation on March 29, 2000, at the NFL owners meeting in Palm Beach. No other cities submitted bids for XL. The presentation was met with positive reviews. However, they had yet to secure the required number of hotel rooms, had not yet booked the venues needed for various ancillary events, and would need to install temporary seating at still-under construction Ford Field in order to meet minimum capacity. In addition, the Detroit area's previous Super Bowl (XVI), while praised for its hospitality, suffered from extreme frigid temperatures and traffic jams. Complicating the situation was the possibility of needing to utilize three casino hotels in order to achieve the required number of hotel rooms. At the time, the NFL strongly avoided any associations with gambling, however, Paul Tagliabue seemed willing to overlook that concern. The city was also saddled with a longstanding reputation of decline, urban decay, and crime – an image the city was eagerly trying to shed.
Auto racing legend and business magnate Roger Penske was hired to serve as chairman of the host committee, and he made an aggressive push over the summer of 2000 to firm up Detroit's bid. With doubts still hovering over Detroit's chances, Penske, mayor Dennis Archer, and other key members of the committee held a private meeting with the NFL owners advisory committee on September 27 to make a follow up pitch. The league set a deadline of October 11 for the final bid package submittal, or they were likely to reopen the bidding. A last minute push resolved all of the remaining hurdles. On November 1, the host committee made their final presentation at the owners' meeting Atlanta, and Detroit was overwhelmingly approved as the host for Super Bowl XL. Jerry Jones called it "outstanding...one of the best presentations that I've ever seen." Wayne Huizenga characterized it as a "slam dunk", and Bud Adams said Detroit "deserves a Super Bowl." Houston was awarded XXXVIII, and Jacksonville won the vote for XXXIX.
This would be the first Super Bowl played on the newer FieldTurf surface; each of the previous Super Bowls had been played either on natural grass or on the first-generation AstroTurf.
Teams Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks entered Super Bowl XL after finishing the regular season with an NFC-best 13–3 record. After a rocky 2–2 start, they won 11 consecutive games before losing to the Green Bay Packers to finish the season. The 13–3 record and 11-game winning streak set new team records.
This was the Seahawks' first Super Bowl appearance in the team's 30-year history. The Seahawks had been mediocre for much of the 1990s, recording eight consecutive non-winning seasons from 1991 through 1998. The team hit a low point in 1996, when then-owner Ken Behring announced his intention to move the team to the Los Angeles area. The team's fortunes began to turn in 1997, when Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen bought the team and brokered a deal to build a new football stadium, Qwest Field (now Lumen Field), to replace the aging Kingdome. Mike Holmgren, who had led the Green Bay Packers to Super Bowls XXXI and XXXII, became head coach in 1999. He became the fifth coach to take two franchises to the Super Bowl.Don Shula (Baltimore Colts/Miami Dolphins), Bill Parcells (New York Giants/New England Patriots), Dan Reeves (Denver Broncos/Atlanta Falcons) & Dick Vermeil (Philadelphia Eagles/St. Louis Rams) Joe Jurevicius became the sixth player to play in a Super Bowl with three teams, having previously played in Super Bowl XXXV with the Giants and in Super Bowl XXXVII with the Buccaneers.
Behind running back Shaun Alexander, the Seahawks finished the 2005 season as the league's top offense, scoring 452 points. Meanwhile, Matt Hasselbeck completed 65.5 percent of his passes for 3,455 yards 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and added 124 yards and one touchdown on the ground. Alexander, who had scored at least 16 touchdowns in each of the previous four seasons, had the best campaign of his career, leading the league with 1,880 rushing yards and scoring an NFL record 28 touchdowns, for which he was rewarded with the NFL Most Valuable Player Award. Although the Seahawks suffered injuries to starting wide receivers Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram throughout the season, the passing game proved potent, as Engram managed for 778 receiving yards. Joe Jurevicius, a backup when the season began, started eleven games and had for 694 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns; tight end Jerramy Stevens also emerged as a Hasselbeck target with 554 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Hasselbeck was protected and Alexander was given time to run by a stout offensive line, led by Pro Bowl offensive tackle Walter Jones, guard Steve Hutchinson, and center Robbie Tobeck, and by Pro Bowl fullback Mack Strong.
Though rookie middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu was the Seahawks' only defensive Pro Bowl selection, the Seahawks' defense recorded 50 quarterback sacks, leading the NFL in that category; defensive end Bryce Fisher led the Seahawks with 9 sacks, while defensive tackle Rocky Bernard added 8.5 and veteran defensive end Grant Wistrom recorded 4. Despite starting two rookies at linebacker for most of the year, the Seahawks' linebacking corps played well, led by Tatupu, who topped the team with 104 tackles and added 4 sacks, three interceptions, and one fumble recovery. From his strong safety position, Michael Boulware led the team with four interceptions and also tallied 2 sacks and one fumble recovery. The Seahawks secondary suffered injuries throughout the year, notably to free safety Ken Hamlin; second-year cornerback Jordan Babineaux played well as he appeared in all 16 games for the Seahawks, intercepting three passes and making 61 tackles. For the year, the defense surrendered just 271 points, 181 fewer than the Seahawks offense scored.
Pittsburgh Steelers
After a 7–5 start, the Steelers won their final four games to qualify for the playoffs with an 11–5 record. They also became the first team ever to defeat the top three seeded teams on the road in the playoffs (#3 Cincinnati Bengals, #1 Indianapolis Colts and #2 Denver Broncos). In addition, the team became the first sixth-seeded team to reach both a conference championship game and the Super Bowl since the NFL expanded to a 12-team playoff format in 1990.
Under Bill Cowher's reign as head coach since 1992, the Steelers had been one of the top teams in the NFL, making the playoffs in 10 out of his 14 seasons, advancing to the AFC Championship Game six times, and making an appearance in Super Bowl XXX, losing to the Dallas Cowboys 27–17. After having finished the 2003 season with a 6–10 record and after splitting its first two games to open 2004, the Steelers lost starting quarterback Tommy Maddox to injury. Maddox was replaced by rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was drafted with the 11th pick in the 2004 NFL draft but was not expected to play during his rookie season. Nevertheless, Roethlisberger led the Steelers to victory in all of the team's 14 remaining regular season games, giving the Steelers a 15–1 record and making the Steelers the first AFC team ever to win 15 games. However, the Steelers lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
The Steelers began the 2005 season by winning seven of its first nine games, but suffered a major setback when both Roethlisberger and his backup, Charlie Batch, went down with injuries. With Maddox back as the starter, the team was defeated by the Baltimore Ravens and dropped two more games after Roethlisberger's return, falling to the then-undefeated Indianapolis Colts, and the division rival Cincinnati Bengals. The postseason hopes of the Steelers were in peril, but the team recovered to win its final four regular season games and to claim the 6th seed in the AFC playoffs.