The Arizona Cardinals were never known for their winning ways since their arrival in the Valley in 1988. In fact, they had only been to the playoffs once in their first 20 years calling the Grand Canyon state home. That all changed in 2008. 

Despite being called one of the worst playoff teams in the history of the league by NFL analyst Cris Collinsworth, the 9-7 Cardinals, led by Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald, had a magical run. They got their first ever home playoff win against the Atlanta Falcons in round one. They shocked the No. 2 seed Carolina Panthers on the road in round two and won a nail biter at State Farm Stadium in the NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles. 

The so-called ‘worst playoff team ever’ found themselves in the Super Bowl in a David vs. Goliath matchup with the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers. The black and yellow were the exact opposite franchise to the red birds. They were perennial playoff contenders. They had to been to Super Bowls in multiple decades and were one of the most respected teams in the game. 

Like had been the case for most of the playoffs, no one gave them a chance. Then the game started.

After a rough first three quarters, the Cardinals found themselves down 20-7 and then they scored 16 unanswered points to roar back and take the lead on a 64-yard strike from Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald to put Arizona up 23-20 with 2:37 to go. 

Then, things took a turn for the worse. 

Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers struck. They marched 72-yards down the field to the Cardinals six yard line with just 35 seconds left. 

But what if the next play didn’t happen? What if Santonio Holmes’ second foot was ruled to never have come down in bounds (which it didn’t)? Would the Cardinals defense have held the Steelers on second and third down? What if the Steelers tied the game with a field goal and it went to overtime? 

The mind races thinking about the possibilities. 

That’s why we asked Johnny Venerable and Bo Brack of PHNX Cardinals to share the positive and negative of what could happen. 

Johnny’s pessimist’s view: The Cardinals were already dead

The Arizona Cardinals didn’t lose the 2009 Super Bowl on the Santonio Holmes toe-tap.

They were already dead.

Most people tend to forget that Holmes’s game-winning touchdown came on second down from the Arizona Cardinals six-yard-line.

SECOND. DOWN.

FROM. THE. SIX.

It’s not as if Ben Roethlisberger and company completed a Kyler Murray-esque hail marry to steal away yet another Lombardi trophy. Instead, Pittsburgh’s offense simply marched down the field in just over two minutes to find the end zone. After an opening drive holding penalty backed the Steelers up to 1st and 20, Roethlisberger would knife through the Arizona defense to the tune of 88 yards with just two incompletions.

The Steelers only faced a single third-down the entire drive, and it conveniently came following the aforementioned holding penalty. The better argument could be made that this was when the Cardinals actually blew the game. Pittsburgh had spotted Clancy Pendergast’s defense an extra ten yards of cushion a drive removed from Darnell Dockett’s forced safety. Arizona’s defense was cooking, having not allowed an offensive touchdown since early in the second quarter.

Yet there’s a good chance that following said safety, with just under three minutes left in the game, many Cardinal defenders assumed their job was done… at least for the time being. Larry Fitzgerald, of course, had other plans. The greatest postseason wide receiver in NFL history would cap off his miraculous run just two plays into the next drive.

64 yards to the house.

Suddenly the Arizona defense would be asked to return to the field yet again, having already logged over 30 minutes in the contest. The result of course being eight nauseating plays in which Big Ben targeted his top wide receiver five times.

First, it was Holmes cooking then rookie cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie for 14 yards.

Next, it was Holmes isolated on linebacker Karlos Dansby to pick up another 13 yards and a first down.

Holmes’s next completion would come as the Steelers had already moved past midfield, as the 2006 first-rounder would absolutely torch third-string safety Aaron Francisco for a brutal 40-yard catch and run.

This would become a theme.

Following an incompletion a play prior (to Holmes), the Steelers would seal the deal with Roethlisberger yet again abusing the likes of Francisco in coverage. While Roethilisberger’s escapability was a consistent theme leading into the game, this is when the Cardinals really felt it. Unlike previous playoff matchups against the largely immobile Matt Ryan, Jake Delhomme and an aging Donovan McNabb, Arizona had no answer for containing Big Ben with the game on the line.

By the time the Steelers decided to turn it on offensively behind their future Hall of Fame quarterback, the Cardinals had no shot. Pittsburgh would have scored eventually and we all know it. So save me the toe-drag drama of whether or not he was “in” (he was), and instead consider where the game was truly lost.

Two minutes earlier on first down to start the drive.

Two quarters earlier to end the first half (barf).

Twenty-two months earlier when the Cardinals drafted Levi Brown over eventual Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson.

Seventy months earlier when the Cardinals ignored the pleas from eventual Hall of Famer Terrell Suggs to play for his local team.

Until the Arizona Cardinals are able to make the big game once again, the 2009 Super Bowl will always be the ultimate “what if” for Valley fans. Arizona was playing with house money and were given little chance to pull the upset by national pundits.

Yet they were the first team to net over 300 yards of total offense (Warner did it by himself, lol) on what many believed to be the best Steelers defense of the century. The hall of fame combination of Kurt Warner-Larry Fitzgerald-Anquan Boldin is likely among the greatest passing game trios in Super Bowl history (not to mention Edgerrin James). The defense was litered with all-time great Cardinals like Dansby, Dockett, Calais Campbell and Adrian Wilson.

The Holmes touchdown tends to overshadow just how talented those 2008 Arizona Cardinals were. And that’s a shame, especially considering some of the football this town has been subjected to in the years since.

So the next time the 2009 Super Bowl comes on NFL Network replay, try your best to ignore the pain points and instead enjoy sixty minutes of what should be considered a celebration of Cardinal football relevancy.

Bo’s optimistic view: The call that changed the franchise

In a much more fun alternate timeline, the officials overturn the catch in the back of the end zone with just 35 seconds remaining. The Pittsburgh Steelers, facing fourth down, are unable to convert, turning the ball over on downs. The Arizona Cardinals, led by a red-hot Kurt Warner, kneel out the clock and shock the world by winning their first Super Bowl in franchise history, 23-20. The play that was nearly immortalized instead becomes a footnote in NFL history, while Larry Fitzgerald’s 64-yard go-ahead touchdown minutes earlier becomes the stuff of legends the defining moment of a Super Bowl classic.

The impact on the Cardinals’ legacy would be seismic. Warner’s Hall of Fame résumé becomes bulletproof, as he secures a second Lombardi Trophy with a different team. Fitzgerald, already respected, cements himself as one of the greatest postseason performers of all time, his performance in the 2008 playoffs remembered alongside the titans of the game. The narrative around the Cardinals shifts from lovable underdogs to champions.

As for the victory parade, downtown Phoenix becomes the site of the Darnell Dockett show. Following a three-sack performance, “Nine-Oh” puts on an even bigger show that goes down with Tom Brady, Gronk and Jason Kelce in Super Bowl celebration lore.

In the years that follow, the win reshapes the trajectory of the franchise. Free agents view Arizona as a destination. The “what if” label that haunted the franchise for decades is erased. Instead of the Cardinals returning to the depths of obscurity post-2008, the team builds off its title run, remaining a force in the NFC West. Instead of a toe-tap tragedy, Fitz is Super Bowl MVP and national icon. And Santonio Holmes? Instead of being remembered for one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history, he’s left wondering how close he came to pulling off the play that wasn’t.