Holmes picks up right where he left off

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September 12, 2009

BY JIM WEXELL The Tribune-Democrat Sat Sep 12, 2009, 12:58 AM EDT

PITTSBURGH — Last week, a few days before the opener, offensive coordinator Bruce Arians publicly pondered Santonio Holmes’s sore back and wondered whether it would lead to “a slow September” for last year’s Super Bowl MVP.

Holmes laughed late Thursday night after the Steelers had beaten the Tennessee Titans, 13-10. He knew that missing a couple of preseason games wouldn’t slow down the momentum his career had picked up last postseason.

“Preseason is for the birds,” Holmes said. “I honestly thought to myself I was ready to play ball. I was here an hour and a half earlier than normal, got ready, got my body right, and I was ready to go.”

And he picked up right where he left off. Exactly.

In the opener against the Titans, Holmes caught nine passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.

In the Super Bowl against the Cardinals, Holmes caught nine passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.

Exactly.

“Really?” asked a wide-eyed Holmes. “Wow. That’s sweet.”

Yes, it was another MVP performance. Holmes led a wild passing game that counted two 100-yard receivers, eight catches from the tight end, a big catch by a rookie that set up the winning score, and of course a quarterback who – ho hum – recorded the 18th come-from-behind (fourth quarter or overtime) victory of his still young career.

But the Steelers only scored one touchdown. It came from Holmes.

“It was a beautifully designed play,” Holmes said of his 34-yard catch between two Tennessee safeties late in the first half. “I had a smile on my face when the ball was let out of his hand because I saw how wide open I was. I was excited to get behind those guys.

“I put a good move on them, pumped them, got them going to the outside, and when I saw (Chris Hope) jump the (Hines Ward) in route, I knew I was going over the top of those guys.”

The touchdown gave the Steelers a 7-0 lead, but the Titans tied the score 34 seconds later.

The Titans then took a 10-7 lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Steeler roared back to tie on their next drive, thanks to a 15-yard catch by Holmes on 3rd-and-12. It moved the ball to the Tennessee 18 and set up Jeff Reed’s 32-yard field goal.

“That play kind of broke down,” Holmes said. “They dropped back in coverage to cover all the zones and I just kept working. I slid in the one hole, the defender saw it, and I slid right behind him and I was able to catch the big play in the middle.”

The Steelers appeared destined to win the game on their next possession, but Ward, who finished with 103 receiving yards, fumbled near the goal line at the end of a 30-yard play.

It sent the game into overtime, and sent Holmes over to console the man who’d done the same for him so many times in the past.

“I told him, ‘You always tell me to keep my head up. Plays like that happen. Go out and make up for it in overtime.’ I gave him the same advice he always gives me,” Holmes said.

“He shook his head and said, ‘All right.’ And that was that.”

But it was Holmes who came within inches of breaking the game open with a big play in overtime.

Ben Roethlisberger hit him on a slant route for 11 yards before he was tripped up. Mike Wallace then caught a 22-yard pass to set up Reed’s game-winning kick.

“I said it’s time to be great,” Holmes said in repeating his famed Super Bowl line.

But he did more than repeat the words. He repeated the performance.

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