On a chalkboard in Ben Roethlisberger’s home hangs a hand-drawn diagram of the most iconic play in Pittsburgh Steelers history: Gun dock left FS short 62 scat flash Z level. To the untrained eye, it looks like alphabet soup. To Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes, it remains the exact design that secured Super Bowl XLIII.
The two recently caught up on Roethlisberger's podcast, "Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger," following the Steelers' win over the Atlanta Falcons. Holmes joined Roethlisberger in his basement studio and broke down the famous play.
Despite the verbose play call, the outcome hinged on raw instinct over rigid scripting. Designed as a five-progression read, starting with short motion to Hines Ward or a flat route to Mewelde Moore,
the play quickly devolved into organized chaos. Before the snap, Holmes recognized linebackers shifting into his path.
"Danby, their linebacker, as Hines comes down in motion, he's walking out and all I could think about is if he gets his hands on me, he going to f*** this play up quick time," Holmes recalled.
Expecting a hard jam, Holmes attempted a swim move into open air when the defender hesitated. "I stumble a little bit like I almost put my hand on the ground. I was 100% ready for that."
Recovering his footing, Holmes relied on a fundamental rule drilled into him by offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.
"BA always told me say if you're going to run a corner route you got to get two yards in the end zone before you break," Holmes explained.
As Holmes pushed deep into the back right corner of the end zone, Roethlisberger bought time and lofted a high-risk pass into triple coverage.
"I let it go and I'm like this is so dumb it's intercepted, this is so stupid," Roethlisberger admitted.
Instead, Holmes elevated along the sideline, bringing down the pass with his fingertips.
"Which is why I was literally on ballerina tiptoes to catch that pass," Holmes said, securing both feet before crashing to the turf to immortalize the play forever.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: 'This is so dumb': Roethlisberger thought SBXLIII pass was intercepted
