That one was exquisite. This one might have been even better.

“We’re going down in history with one of the greatest games ever played in the Super Bowl,” Holmes crowed.

The Super Bowl used to be a Super Bore, producing rout after rout and doing little to justify all the pregame hype. But that has certainly changed in the new millennium, with one brilliant game after another making this must-see TV for even the most casual sports fan.

We should have known what was in store at that first title game of the 2000s. It ended with Tennessee’s Kevin Dyson stretching for the goal line on the final play, coming up 1 yard short of a tying touchdown and the first overtime game in Super Bowl history.

Since then, New England claimed two of its titles on last-second field goals by Adam Vinatieri. A year ago, the Patriots were heavily favored to finish off the greatest season in NFL history, only to be derailed by David Tyree’s acrobatic catch with the ball pinned against his helmet, followed by Eli Manning’s winning TD pass to Burress.

Pittsburgh vs. Arizona was as thrilling as any of those, even though it had all the makings of a major mismatch.

The Steelers have been one of the greatest franchises of the Super Bowl era, coming into Sunday’s game tied with Dallas and San Francisco for the most titles. The Cardinals are a vagabond organization that once played on the south side of Chicago, wandered down to St. Louis for a few decades, then wound up in the Arizona desert — first in the eastern suburbs of Phoenix, now on the west side of the sprawling city.

Pittsburgh was going for its second Super Bowl crown in four years and sixth overall. The Cardinals had not played for a title of any kind since 1948 — nearly two decades before the start of the Super Bowl era.

Well, the Steelers got one for the (other) thumb. But Arizona was a loser worth admiring, showing just how far it has come since those not-so-long-ago days as a penny-pinching, laughingstock of a franchise.

“You are 2 minutes away from being world champions,” said Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner. “Either way, I am proud of this football team. I am so proud to be a part of this football team. I think that is one of the reasons why it doesn’t hurt as bad as it could.”

Warner, who knows a thing or two about defying the odds, brought the Cardinals back after Pittsburgh went to the final quarter leading 20-7.

At that point, it looked as though Steelers linebacker James Harrison, the NFL’s defensive player of the year, was a shoo-in to add another award to his trophy case. He pulled off the longest play in Super Bowl history at the end of the first half, intercepting a pass by Warner at the goal line, then bobbing and weaving down the sideline for a 100-yard touchdown return.

“Those last couple of yards were probably tougher than anything I’ve done in my life, but probably more gratifying than anything I’ve done in football,” Harrison said.

The Cardinals had first down at the 1 when Warner let go of the ill-fated pass, which turned what could have been a 14-10 lead for Arizona into a 17-7 edge for the Steelers going into the halftime break.

While Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band rocked the crowd at halftime, Arizona plotted a comeback. It took a while to get going, as Jeff Reed’s second chip-shot field goal for the Steelers provided the only scoring of the third period.