Super Bowl 43 by the Numbers

0 - number of sacks by Antonio Smith, the same Antonio Smith who told ESPN he couldn’t stop thinking about the first sack he was going to get in the Super Bowl. He looked forward to that more than winning the Super Bowl, apparently. Sweet.

2 - total points the Cards netted on their fourth quarter safety. Also the number of one-hitters inhaled by Santonio Holmes immediately after Larry Fitzgerald raced for a touchdown. Holmes revealed in post-game celebrations that he was confident the Steelers defense would get the Steelers offense the ball back after Fitzgerald scored. Really Santonio?

3 - postseason losses for Kurt Warner. After a magical ride through this postseason, Warner is 8-3 in 11 playoff games, with 26 touchdowns, 13 picks and the second highest passer rating of all time behind Bart Starr. Three also represents the number of Super Bowls Warner has played in, with all three representing the highest passing totals in Super Bowl history. 414 yards (SB 34), 377 yards (SB 43), 365 yards (SB 36).

5 - liters of saliva on Arizona’s locker room floor traced back to Ken Whisenhunt’s mouth. Whisenhunt revealed he took notes all those years in Pittsburgh while working under Bill Cowher, so he gave a morning speech and pregame speech comprised of said notes.

6 - number of people crammed behind the NBC desk for postgame coverage. One of the six was Matt Millen, who looked silly with Tony Dungy and Mike Holmgren sitting next to him. He would have looked silly next to Scooby Doo and Corky Thatcher for that matter.

7 - middle fingers from Paul Tagliabue to the Hall of Fame, which failed to reel him in for the third straight year. That must be a downer to build a professional football organization into a global phenomenon and then get snubbed by a pack of smelly, overweight sports writers. Why seven middle fingers, you ask? Because it’s better than six. And one.

8 - postseason wins for Ben Roethlisberger. In 10 postseason games he’s thrown 15 touchdowns, tossed 12 picks, ran for two scores but most importantly…has two Super Bowl championships.

10 - seconds of porn shown to Comcast subscribers in Arizona during last night’s Super Bowl. Seriously.

13 - minutes of Phil Collins is all it takes to become a champion. Mike Tomlin knows this and that’s why he had his team listen to Phil Collins Saturday night to relax and reach a “meditative” state. Tomlin got the idea from fellow champion and mental visualizer, the Ultimate Warrior.

16 - total points scored in the final 184 seconds.

18 - penalties called for a combined 162 yards. The officiating was a little too overzealous, and certainly appeared to favor the NFL darlings, the Steelers. Seahawks fans know a thing or two about this. One could also argue that a two week break allows for sloppy play, which I have no problem with because I prefer piling on the two week gap that kills any and all momentum leading up to the game—even if it has nothing to do with sloppy play.

24 - seconds of male-on-male tongue touching between Hines Ward and Mike Tomlin

43 - the number of Super Bowls in NFL history. You probably didn’t know that because X, L, I, I, and I are actually letters here in America.

64 - yards for Larry Fitzgerald’s fourth quarter touchdown. As soon as it happened, the fan in me was taken back to Super Bowl XXXIV when Warner found Isaac Bruce for a 73 yard score to take the lead. Fun times.

86 - drinks consumed by Broadway Joe at the Steelers' championship party.

100 - yards on James Harrison’s interception return for a touchdown. Also the copout number to end lists that operate by the numbers. It’s kind of like those Letterman top 10 lists in that the last item should be the funniest, but it’s usually the worst.