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Monday, September 27, 1999
Kordell Stewart was so bad against the Seattle Seahawks yesterday that he didn't cry when Bill Cowher benched him at halftime. He was so bad that Cowher, long his chief defender and guardian angel, fairly blistered him with criticism after the Steelers' 29-10 loss. He was so bad that neither he nor Cowher could keep track of his interceptions.
"There were so many of them," Stewart said, sadly.
That's bad.
The Steelers are in trouble.
It's a cold, hard fact of life in the NFL that teams can't win without a quarterback. Ask the Denver Broncos. Virtually the same team that won the past two Super Bowls is 0-3 without John Elway. Ask Super Bowl finalist Atlanta. It's 0-3 with hobbling Chris Chandler. Ask the New York Jets. They're 0-3 without Vinny Testaverde.
The Steelers are 2-1 -- thank you, Cleveland and Baltimore -- but they have no chance of being anything more than mediocre unless Stewart plays better. Correct that. They have no chance unless he plays a zillion times better than he did yesterday. It doesn't take a genius to see that. What's harder to determine is if Stewart is up to the challenge. Based on his struggles last year and yesterday, not to mention the fact he's been pulled for ineffectiveness in three of his past six starts, you have to think he's not the Steelers' long-term answer.
Last season, everyone in the organization backed Stewart to all critics. The lousy offense wasn't all his fault. It was the loss of home run hitter Yancey Thigpen, the rebuilt offensive line without John Jackson, the injuries to Jerome Bettis. Most of all, it was Ray Sherman, who must have smiled through his pain in Minnesota last night when he heard of the Steelers' struggles in general and Stewart's in particular.
Yesterday, Cowher didn't even try to defend Stewart. "I thought our quarterback's performance was very poor."
On the game's third play, Stewart threw behind Will Blackwell. Merton Hanks made the interception and returned it for a touchdown. It's bad enough when a quarterback doesn't help his team. It's much worse when he actually hurts it.
Later, Stewart underthrew Troy Edwards and the ball was intercepted by Shawn Springs. On the next series, a pass slipped out of his hands and went to Seattle's Jay Bellamy, who was the only player within 10 yards of it.
But it wasn't the interceptions that most pained Cowher.
"I told him to move around a little. He doesn't have to be planted in the pocket. He's got to be able to improvise. I was disappointed he didn't respond that way."
Stewart, who wasn't quick to take blame last season and even had an ugly sideline confrontation with Cowher in Tampa that left him in tears, said he understood this benching. He acknowledged he was "disappointed in myself" and that, yeah, when he looks at the tape, he'll probably say, "Man, if I had scrambled there, I could have made something happen."
But it takes more than that to play quarterback. If it required only athletic ability, Carl Lewis would be the greatest who ever lived.
A quarterback has to read defenses correctly. Stewart hasn't proved he can do that consistently. He might never be able to do it. And don't blame his problems on Kevin Gilbride's new offense, either. Cowher wouldn't have yanked him if he thought Stewart still was struggling with the intricacies. He knew Mike Tomczak wasn't going to dig the Steelers out of a 26-0 hole. He also knows he has no other option at quarterback beyond Stewart. That's why he immediately and correctly named Stewart as his starter against Jacksonville Sunday.
A quarterback also has to be able to make accurate throws. Do you really think Stewart will start putting the ball on his receivers' numbers anytime soon? In his past 20 games, going back to his three-interception day against Denver in the AFC championship game in January, 1998, he has thrown 13 touchdown passes and 24 interceptions. His three interceptions yesterday were beyond ugly. They were enough to make you long for Neil O'Donnell.
"No way is Kordell Stewart's confidence shattered -- not even a little bit," Stewart said. "I know things will happen around here."
Saying it is nice. Doing it on the field is better.
Stewart doesn't appear capable.
Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.
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