Incomplete Game: Miscues cost Hawks Super Bowl

DETROIT - It will go down as the greatest season ever for the Seahawks.

And the one in which they came up just one win short of the NFL championship.

On the grandest of stages in the nation's biggest single-day sporting event, the Seahawks were their own worst enemies in a game they controlled, at least for a half.

Mistakes ruined what could have been a super day in Super Bowl XL as the Seahawks fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-10.

The Super Bowl hasn't been kind to first-time teams, as the Seahawks discovered Sunday. In 40 years, 26 teams have played in the Super Bowl for the first time, and only eight have been winners. And in four of those games, both teams were first-timers, so someone had to win.

For the Steelers, it was their fifth Super Bowl victory.

The Steelers each received $73,000 for winning the Super Bowl; the Seahawks' shares were $38,000 per player.

Seahawks mistakes were the difference.

A pass interference call against wide receiver Darrell Jackson that wiped out what would have been a touchdown catch by Jackson. Holding calls on good punt returns by Peter Warrick against Etric Pruitt and Kevin Bentley. A dropped pass on third-and-2 by tight end Jerramy Stevens that would have been a drive-sustaining first down. A slip and slight stumble in coverage by safety Michael Boulware that allowed the Steelers to complete a 37-yard touchdown pass that set up a touchdown. Questionable clock management at the end of the first half that led to a long field goal attempt that kicker Josh Brown missed.

And that was only the first half.

In the second half, a holding call ruined what could have been a go-ahead touchdown by the Seahawks.

But the Steelers made their own good breaks in the second half, too. Running back Willie Parker broke free for a 75-yard run only two plays into the third quarter, running out of Boulware's grasp and down the right side for the longest run in Super Bowl history and a touchdown.

Trailing 14-3, the Seahawks came back with a good drive, but Stevens juggled and dropped another pass and Brown pulled a 51-yard field goal try wide left.

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The Steelers charged back down the field and were on the doorstep of perhaps the game-clinching touchdown. But cornerback Kelly Herndon came up with a big play the Seahawks needed.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger looked for wide receiver Cedrick Wilson on third-and-goal from the 7. Herndon stepped in front of Wilson and intercepted the pass, running 76 yards with the return before being stopped.

It was the longest interception return in Super Bowl history, but it couldn't completely change the game in the Seahawks' favor.

Matt Hasselbeck hit Stevens, who was too wide open to drop this ball, though he had three drops in the game, for a 16-yard touchdown strike. That cut the Steelers' lead to 14-10 with 6:45 left in the third quarter.

The Seahawks held the Steelers without a first down over Pittsburgh's next two possessions, and drove to the Pittsburgh 18-yard line before another mistake cost them dearly.

Right tackle Sean Locklear was whistled for holding on a completion to Stevens to the 1-yard line, and the Seahawks were pushed back. Hasselbeck was sacked and threw an interception to end the drive.

The Steelers took the ball and used trickery to seal victory. In a play similar to the one that worked for them earlier in the postseason, Parker took a pitch and handed it off to Antwaan Randle El coming the other direction. Randle El spotted Ward and lofted a perfect pass to him.

Ward caught it and ran into the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown play. That signaled the end of the Seahawks' championship dreams.

The Seahawks scored first, their offense clearly superior in the first quarter, even though they came up empty with their first two possessions of the game. Hasselbeck's 19-yard slant pass to Darrell Jackson and 11-yard pass to Joe Jurevicius got the Seahawks deep into Steelers' territory, but Jackson's touchdown reception was wiped out because Jackson pushed off against Steelers safety Chris Hope.

Jackson did tie a record for most catches in the first quarter of a Super Bowl with five.

Brown came on to make a 47-yard field goal to give the Seahawks a 3-0 lead.

The Steelers were held without a first down until an 8-yard reception by Randle El with 10:45 left in the second quarter. But a 37-yard pass from Roethlisberger to Ward, made possible when Boulware stumbled, set up the Steelers at the Seahawks' 3-yard line.

Roethlisbegrer ran in for a 1-yard touchdown with 1:55 left in the first half, though the play was challenged by the Seahawks when it didn't appear that Roethlisberger put the ball over the plane of the goal line. The touchdown call stood. The Steelers led 7-3 at halftime.