Seattle, looking nothing like a team that rampaged through its conference, damaged itself all day. It had four penalties for 40 yards in the opening half, one that nullified a touchdown pass.

The second half wasn’t much better, and Ike Taylor’s 24-yard return with Hasselbeck’s poor throw gave Pittsburgh the one last opportunity it needed.

“This is a tough pill to swallow,” Holmgren said, “but we accomplished a lot this year. While you don’t have a great feeling after a game like this, I want them to remember this feeling, so they can build on it.”

The 23-year-old Roethlisberger achieved it more with his legs than his arm. He dived into the end zone from the 1 late in the first half, barely reaching the goal line — if at all — according to a replay, and converted enough second-half first downs to wind down the clock.

Usually, that is Bettis’ job. But this Sunday, he was just along for his final ride.

What a journey it has been.

The Steelers were 7-5, then won their final four regular-season games to secure the AFC’s last playoff spot. They went to Cincinnati and won a wild-card game. They won at Indianapolis, which had the league’s best record. And then they handed Denver its first home loss in the AFC championship game.

And now they have their “One for the Thumb” — the first four came in their Steel Curtain days, won by the likes of Mean Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris.

Early on, the noise seemed to unnerve the Steelers, who had two motion penalties on their first offensive series. Of course, none of their active players Sunday ever played in a Super Bowl.

Seattle forced another three-and-out on Pittsburgh’s next possession, keeping Bettis on the sideline, then took the lead.

Josh Brown made a 47-yard field goal with 22 seconds left in the first quarter after the Seahawks lost a touchdown on Darrell Jackson’s pass interference in the end zone. Jackson still had 50 yards on five receptions in the quarter.

Bettis made his Super Bowl debut 2:47 into the second quarter with the Pittsburgh offense in dire need of a boost. The Steelers got it, but from an 8-yard completion to Randle El for their initial first down — 19 minutes into the game.

Ward followed with an 18-yard run on an end-around, but Roethlisberger’s ill-advised lob on the next play was picked off by safety Michael Boulware at the Seattle 25.

With Seattle’s other safety, Marquand Manuel, sidelined in the second quarter with a right ankle injury, Roethlisberger began finding open receivers. Ward gained 12 yards, Cedrick Wilson got 20 and, moments after Ward dropped a pass in the corner of the end zone, he outwrestled Boulware for a 37-yard completion.

The Bus couldn’t roll in on two tries, then the 6-foot-5 Roethlisberger dived left and barely squeezed the ball over the goal line. A replay review upheld the touchdown with 1:55 remaining in the half.

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Perhaps unnerved themselves by the ruling, the Seahawks squandered much of that time before Brown missed a 54-yard field goal wide right. Holmgren argued as he walked off the field that the ball never crossed the goal line, but referee Bill Leavy told him it did.

Seattle also could bemoan a holding call on Peter Warrick’s 32-yard punt return to open the second quarter, and a goal-line completion to Jackson on which he barely was out of bounds.

It didn’t get a lot better in the second half for Seattle, and Holmgren failed to become the first coach to win Super Bowls with two franchises. In 1997, his Green Bay Packers beat New England.

But his Seahawks didn’t give themselves much of a chance. By the end, the crowd was singing “Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go.”

Who knows, maybe Jagger was singing along.