Detroit – Given the fresh perspective of Super Bowl XL, perhaps Broncos fans will admit they were a tad harsh on Jake Plummer.
Then again, perhaps not.
As often as not, the Super Bowl tries to teach the world that nothing about football is more overrated than the performance of the quarterback. Some lessons, however, are tougher to grasp than others.
How many more Super Bowls need to be won with an average performance by a quarterback before people realize championships are more often won on the defensive side of the ball?
With the exception of one improvisational play previously reserved for backyards, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger performed dreadfully Sunday in the NFL’s 40th Super Bowl.
To put his performance in perspective, a quarterback who begins with five consecutive incompletions gets a 39.6 passer rating. Roethlisberger’s rating for the game was 22.6. His two interceptions were more costly than the two Plummer threw two weeks earlier in the AFC championship game.
Yet, because the Steelers beat a Seattle Seahawks team that was even more mistake-prone, Roethlisberger made his mark in heroic history by becoming the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl.
“I’ll take Ben anytime,” Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward said. “He’s solidified himself as one of the best in the game. The stats don’t matter – he’s a winner. That’s all the Super Bowl is all about, all this game is all about, wins and losses.”
All is forgiven in victory. There is no mercy in defeat.
Elway can relate
Going back to that AFC title game played two weeks ago at Invesco Field at Mile High, there’s no question Plummer did not play well. But his worst mistake, an interception late in the first half, occurred when the Broncos already were down 17-3.
In the Super Bowl, the Steelers were down only 3-0 late in the first half. That meant as badly as Roethlisberger was playing, he was only one good play from putting his team in front.
“Our defense played awesome in the first half and gave us a chance, no doubt,” Steelers center Jeff Hartings said.
The Broncos’ defense never gave Plummer a chance to play ahead in the AFC title game. The difference between needing two touchdowns to tie and one touchdown to go ahead is the difference from boiling and freezing.
“Jake had a great year leading this team,” Broncos center Tom Nalen said. “He made what, two mistakes? There’s not another guy in here who didn’t make at least two mistakes in that game.”
Plummer’s mistakes were glaring in defeat. Roethlisberger’s blunders were overcome in victory. Ward was named the Super Bowl MVP in part because his quarterback was unworthy of such an honor. Roethlisberger played poorly and won, just as John Elway did while helping the Broncos stun the Green Bay Packers 31-24 in Super Bowl XXXII.
The Broncos scored big even though Elway passed for only 123 yards, with an interception and no touchdowns. His 51.9 passer rating that day had been the worst among Super Bowl winners until Big Ben dropped the standard way down low.
Compare Elway’s first Super Bowl triumph to his first Super Bowl appearance. In Super Bowl XXI, Elway completed 22-of-37 passes for 304 yards and a touchdown against the New York Giants. Yet the Broncos lost 39-20.
The difference? Primarily, it was defense.
Championship play
While the spotlight forever shines on the quarterback, there is plenty of evidence the game is won elsewhere. Yes, quarterbacks have turned in sensational Super Bowl performances, most notably Joe Montana and Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers, the Giants’ Phil Simms and the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady.
Then there is the list of undistinguished quarterbacks who came up big in Super Bowls – Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, Mark Rypien and Doug Williams. Roethlisberger falls into a unusual category – very good quarterback who didn’t have it in the Super Bowl, but never- theless won.
“When you think about the Super Bowl, you imagine yourself coming out and playing your best football,” Roethlisberger said. “And it wasn’t that way.”
Then again, Roethlisberger did make one championship play that will go down in Super Bowl lore. On third-and-28 and out of field-goal range late in the first half, Roethlisberger avoided pressure by scrambling left. Free as he approached the line of scrimmage, he could have picked up at least 10 yards had he decided to keep running.
The Seahawks’ secondary apparently thought he was going to run. Instead, he stopped as he approached the line and looked up the field. He spotted Ward running from left to right, and even though coaches are forever warning quarterbacks on the dangers of throwing across the field, Roethlisberger couldn’t resist. Ward made a catch at the 3.
From third-and-28 to first- and-goal. A championship play.
Stats or no stats, that play, as much as any other, was the reason the Steelers are Super Bowl champs after beating Seattle 21-10. Just like Elway and his helicopter run in Super Bowl XXXII.
In his three previous Super Bowl years, Elway knew one play wasn’t enough.
One of the most common questions in Denver is: Can the Broncos win the Super Bowl with Jake Plummer at quarterback? Super Bowl XL submitted this possible answer: With the Steelers’ defense, they might.
Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-820-5440 or mklis@denverpost.com.
