when he was tackled by safeties Patrick Chung and James Sanders, and was knocked out of the rest of the game; the Patriots challenged the call, and the pass was ruled incomplete on review, ending the streak. On January 15, 2011, the Steelers played the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional playoffs. Ward finished the contest with 3 receptions for 25 yards and a touchdown, as the Steelers won 31–24. The next week in the AFC Championship, he had 2 catches for 14 yards as the Steelers beat the New York Jets 24–19 to advance to Super Bowl XLV. On February 6, 2011, Ward appeared in his third Super Bowl with the Steelers against the Green Bay Packers. In his first career Super Bowl loss, he caught 7 passes for 78 receiving yards and a touchdown. He finished the 2010 season with 59 receptions, 755 receiving yards, and 5 receiving touchdowns. He had not had a season below 60 catches since 2000. 2011 season Ward began the 2011 NFL season, making 5 receptions for 67 yards in the Steelers' season opener against the Ravens. On October 9, 2011, he had 7 catches for 54 receiving yards and 2 touchdown reception. In this game, he caught the last touchdown of his career on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger in the second quarter. On December 4, 2011, in a 35–7 home victory against the Cincinnati Bengals, Ward became the 19th player in NFL history to reach 12,000 receiving yards. On January 1, 2012, in a game against the Cleveland Browns, Ward caught his 1000th reception, becoming the eighth player in NFL history to do so. He also caught his last career reception during the game. He appeared in his last game with the Steelers on January 8, 2012, as the Steelers lost 23–29 to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Wildcard Game. He finished his last season with a total of 46 receptions, 381 receiving yards, and only 2 touchdowns in 15 games and 9 starts. On March 7, 2012, the Steelers announced their intention to cut and release Ward, which they did two days later. On March 20, 2012, Ward announced his retirement from professional football stating, "Without the support over the past 14 years this game wouldn't be the same to me. It wouldn't be as fun for me. You guys meant the world to me. The city and