No happy ending for Cinderella Cards

TAMPA - Fairy tales don’t always have happy endings. The Cardinals’ longshot try to squeeze into a tiny group of monumental upset stories – along with the Amazin’ Mets, Broadway Joe, The Miracle on Ice and Buster Douglas – fell short hereSunday in Super Bowl XLIII.

Cards fans see team come so close

Bordow: Another title slips through our hands

No dream finish for Warner

SLIDESHOW: Local fans

SLIDESHOW: Super Bowl pregame

The Pittsburgh Steelers, down 23-20 with 2:37 remaining, drove 78 yards to win the first Super Bowl the Cardinals have ever played in, 27-23.

The game, with twists and turns and the longest touchdown in Super Bowl history, will be remembered as one of the great football games ever.

“But it wasn’t the best one ever for me; I can tell you that much,” a dejected Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said.

The Cardinals came within less than 3 minutes of taking the congratulatory call from President Barack Obama and a chance to visit the White House to meet America’s first black president.

Which would have been the more amazing part of the story?

Now, nobody will get to debate the question.

The Cardinals’ last title was in 1947; only the Cubs’ century-old streak without a title is longer.

“I just feel empty right now, to be honest,” said Larry Fitzgerald, who had 115 receiving yards in the final quarter to nearly rally the Cardinals to a historic win.

“Kind of like all for nothing. … It was like getting a chair pulled out from under you.

“We got to try to pick up the pieces and come back stronger next season. ... We just fell a little short of our goal.”

The Cardinals may have lost the biggest game the franchise has ever played, but they won over Arizona’s — maybe America’s — sport fans with their dramatic postseason run.

“The things I’m most proud of is how we were able to come together at the end of the year and play like a good team,” Whisenhunt said. “Right now it’s very difficult emotionally to feel anything other than the fact we lost the biggest game of the year — a game where we did a lot of good things.

“We proved what we’re all about.”

After the Cardinals overcame a 20-7 deficit after three quarters and took a 23-20 lead on a 64-yard touchdown pass to Fitzgerald with 2:37 remaining, the defense had a chance to seal the game.

But Ben Roethlisberger’s ability to escape trouble killed them.

The Steelers quarterback made two huge plays.

The first was a 40-yard pass to Santonio Holmes on a play where Cardinals safety Aaron Francisco fell down.

Then on second-and-goal at the 6-yard line, Roethlisberger found Holmes — the game’s MVP — open in the back right corner of the end zone.

Holmes leaped, caught the pass and did a toe dance to stay inbounds with 35 seconds left.

The Cardinals’ last-ditch drive fell short.

The Steelers knocked the ball loose from Kurt Warner as he was trying to pass from near midfield with 5 seconds left.

Warner’s arm appeared to be going forward, but the call was a fumble.

Mysteriously, no replay — which is nearly automatic in such situations — was ordered by officials.

The Cardinals, though, would have had only one more play left.

They finished their dramatic season at 12-8.

The Steelers won their sixth Super Bowl, most in history.

The Cardinals were also killed by the longest play — and one of the greatest — in Super Bowl history.

With the Steelers leading 10-7 in the final seconds of the first half, linebacker James Harrison stepped in front of Anquan Boldin and intercepted a Warner pass at the Steelers’ goal line. He somehow ran through the entire Cardinals’ offense — now playing the unfamiliar role of defense — for a 100-yard touchdown.

So instead of the Cardinals leading or being tied at halftime, the Steelers had a 17-7 lead.

They were down by a near-fatal 20-7 margin entering the final quarter.

That’s when the Cardinals’ vaunted passing game took off.

Warner (31 of 43 for 377 yards and three touchdowns in the game) hit all eight of his passes in an 87-yard drive that cut the lead to 20-14.

The Cards’ next drive stalled near midfield, but they downed a Ben Graham punt at the 1-yard line, then got a safety when Steelers center Justin Hartwig was called for holding in the end zone, making it 20-16.

The Cardinals got the ball back on the safety kick, and one play later, Warner spotted Fitzgerald open over the middle.

Fitzgerald turned it upfield and raced 64 yards for a score that quieted the Steelers’ fans — who may have made up 90 percent of the crowd — but brought Cardinals’ fans to a frenzied pitch.

The Cardinals were suddenly up, 23-20.

“I was looking to get inside (cornerback) Ike (Taylor),” Fitzgerald said.

“Kurt threw a really good ball in front of me, one I could run under. Ike dove at my legs. I was able to break free. I was trying to run as fast as I possibly could.

“I knew if I was able to get inside and break a tackle, I would probably be able to split the safeties. That’s what happened.”

But with 2:37 left, the Steelers had time for one final game-winning drive, cutting the hearts out of the Cardinals and the entire Valley of the Sun.

“We just didn’t get it done,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s as simple as that. A loss is a loss no matter how close it is.”

Super Bowl glance
Key play: Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hit Santonio Holmes in the back corner of the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown with 35 seconds left to give Pittsburgh its sixth Super Bowl victory.

Key stat: The Cardinals had 11 penalties for 106 yards, many of them coming in crucial situations.

MVP: Santonio Holmes was named MVP for catching a game-high nine passes for 131 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

Did you see that? About 15 minutes after the game ended, two Cardinal fans sat in their seats, motionless, watching the Steelers and their fans celebrate on the field. It was unbearable to watch, but they took it all in.