The catch made by Santonio Holmes to win Super Bowl XLIII for the Pittsburgh Steelers remains one of the most amazing catches and plays in NFL history. 

Santonio Holmes might not have always been the main guy in the National Football League team, and for the most part during his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers, wasn’t even the main guy within his own team, but for one moment back in 2009 he was the biggest name in the footballing world.

Holmes was very much the second-fiddle when it came to the Pittsburgh Steelers and their offense, with a lot of the ball going to Hines Ward, which meant that during his time in Pittsburgh, he only managed to have one 1,000+ receiving season, that coming the season after his catch in the Super Bowl.

But clearly quarterback Ben Roethlisberger still had plenty of faith in him, because he called on him when he was most certainly needed the most. 

The buildup to the play

Having built up a very commanding lead in the game, including a 100-yard interception touchdown from James Harrison on the stroke of halftime that looked as if it had killed off all of the Arizona Cardinals’ momentum, the Steelers had a 20-7 lead heading into the 4th quarter, only for the Cardinals to come roaring back and take a 23-20 lead with 2:37 left to go in the game.

So the Steelers were in need of something big with the time they had left and the scores the way they were. They got off to a terrible start when a penalty brought them back 10 yards, but the Steelers marched down the field off the back of some big plays by Holmes himself, including a 40-yard catch that took the ball down to the Cardinals’ 6-yard line.

Little did they know that an even bigger moment from Holmes was on the way. 

Holmes goes down in history

Words can’t really describe how perfect the play is pretty much from start to finish, Roethlisberger having to escape from the Cardinals' pass rushers, to the throw over the defenders to make sure they couldn’t get it, Holmes having to make the catch through traffic and then keeping both feet inbounds, it’s something that you really do have to see to believe:

The play would give him the honours of Super Bowl MVP and the Steelers their 6th Super Bowl victory in franchise history, but more than that it cemented Holmes’ spot in NFL folklore from now until the sun goes out.