Super Bowl XL

Super Bowl XL

Seattle Seahawks (1) (NFC) (13–3) Pittsburgh Steelers (6) (AFC) (11–5) 10 21 Head coach: Mike Holmgren Head coach: Bill Cowher
1 2 3 4 Total SEA 3 0 7 0 10 PIT 0 7 7 7 21
Date	February 5, 2006 (2006-02-05)
Stadium	Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
MVP	Hines Ward, wide receiver
Favorite	Steelers by 4[1][2]
Referee	Bill Leavy
Attendance	68,206[3]
Ceremonies
National anthem	Aaron Neville, Aretha Franklin and Dr. John, ASL performed by Angela LaGuardia
Coin toss	Tom Brady, representing previous Super Bowl MVPs
Halftime show	The Rolling Stones
TV in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Al Michaels, John Madden, Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber
Nielsen ratings	41.6 (national) 55 (Seattle) 57.1 (Pittsburgh) U.S. viewership: 90.7 million est. avg., 141.4 million est. total[4]
Market share	62 (national)
Cost of 30-second commercial	$2.5 million
Radio in the United States
Network	Westwood One
Announcers	Marv Albert, Boomer Esiason, John Dockery and Bonnie Bernstein
← XXXIX Super Bowl XLI →

Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2005 season. The Steelers defeated the Seahawks by the score of 21–10. The game was played on February 5, 2006, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. It is the most recent Super Bowl broadcast on ABC who lost the rights to broadcast Super Bowl games in the next NFL television contract (though under a new contract the network is scheduled to broadcast Super Bowl LXI) and the first where all aspects of the game itself were aired in HD.^[5] This was the last of 10 straight Super Bowls to feature a team seeking its first win.

With the win, the Steelers tied the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys with the then-record five Super Bowl victories (a record the Steelers themselves would break three years later). The Steelers' victory was their first Super Bowl victory since Super Bowl XIV. Pittsburgh, who finished the regular season with an 11–5 record, also became the fourth wild card team, the third in nine years, and the first ever number 6 seed in the NFL playoffs, to win a Super Bowl. The Seahawks, on the other hand, in their 30th season, were making their first ever Super Bowl appearance after posting an NFC-best 13–3 regular season record.

Pittsburgh capitalized on two big plays that were converted into touchdowns. The Steelers jumped to a 14–3 lead early in the third quarter with running back Willie Parker's Super Bowl record 75-yard touchdown run. Seahawks defensive back Kelly Herndon's then-Super Bowl record 76-yard interception return set up a Seattle touchdown to cut the lead 14–10. But Pittsburgh responded with Antwaan Randle El's 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward, the first time a wide receiver threw a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl, to clinch the game in the fourth quarter. Ward, who caught 5 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 18 yards, was named Super Bowl MVP.

The officiating in Super Bowl XL was met with criticism from members of the media soon after the game, leading NFL Films to rank it as one of the top ten controversial calls of all time.^[6]