NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Troy Edwards wants everyone to understand something. Just because he threw a thundering block that sprung Hines Ward for a touchdown last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, just because he produced one of the many big plays in the Steelers' 34-24 victory against the Tennessee Titans, doesn't mean he is beginning to accept his role on the team.
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Troy Edwards gains 81 yards on a kickoff return before being pushed out of bounds by the Titans' Michael Booker. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) |
Edwards, the 13th overall player taken in the 1999 draft, doesn't want to be viewed merely as a player who makes a contribution in ways other than the purpose for which he was drafted. He does not want to be the fourth wide receiver on a team or a spare wheel in the Steelers' offense.
That does not mean he didn't enjoy the play he made yesterday in a game that revealed the resolve, the character, that Bill Cowher had been monitoring through the Steelers' climb to the top of the AFC Central. Or, that for the second week in a row, he had a hand in what turned out to be the biggest play of the game.
"I had an all-right game last week, so my biggest thing was to try to be consistent so I can keep Coach Cowher off my back from yelling at me and try to get on his good side," Edwards said.
Edwards did that in the third quarter against the Titans, right after Tennessee, which had squandered a 14-3 halftime lead, tied the score, 17-17, on Joe Nedney's 49-yard field goal.
And he did it with something that has been missing from the Steelers' arsenal -- an 81-yard kickoff return, the longest of the season, that immediately gave them possession at the Titans' 17.
Three plays later, on third-and-18 from the Titans 25, Kordell Stewart dumped a screen pass that Amos Zereoue turned into a 25-yard touchdown for a 24-17 lead.
After that, the Steelers never relinquished the lead, never lost their grip on their division lead, never faltered from the perch of sharing the AFC's best record with the Oakland Raiders.
"We definitely needed a big play to give us a real chance," said Hank Poteat, the other kick returner with Edwards. "We were talking at halftime how we need a big play and he really helped us with that."
It was not the only big kick return by Edwards.
He had a 41-yard return after the Titans' first touchdown that gave the Steelers possession at their 43.
Edwards caught only one pass against the Titans, just one week after he had a season-high three catches for 35 yards against the Jaguars. And he didn't throw any blocks similar to the crushing one he put on Jaguars safety Marlon McCree last week on Ward's 28-yard touchdown.
Nonetheless, he produced maybe the biggest play of all, and right when the Titans were trying to regain some lost momentum. That it came on a kickoff return was an added bonus for the Steelers, who have not been very proficient returning kicks.
That's why their average starting field position (23.6) is the worst in the National Football League.
"A guy like Troy, maybe it's taken him awhile to accept his role," Cowher said. "But, he's not only accepting it, he's starting to excel at it."
Edwards, though, was quick to disagree with his coach.
"I still haven't accepted it," he said. "When you accept it, that means you have to be second or third best. I accept it to the extent that we're trying to go to a certain place and that's win the Super Bowl.
"But I'm not going to accept it and say I'm proud to be the third or fourth receiver during the game. Right now, I'm really accepting the sacrifice it takes to be a winner.
"The first six or seven games of the season, I was all mad on the sidelines. Now I'm just doing what everybody else is doing. Everybody's sacrificing right now."
Edwards, though, put all that aside in the third quarter when he took a kickoff at the 2 and started up the left side of the field, just the way the play was designed.
The Steelers had called for a misdirection return, meaning Edwards and the return team were to give the appearance of running up the left side, only to turn it quickly to the right. And that's what Edwards did, veering sharply toward the center of the field and then cutting up through a seam in the Titans' coverage unit.
"I didn't do too much," Edwards said. "I pretty much had a big hole."
Nobody touched Edwards as he veered toward the right sideline. He managed to brush off kicker Joe Nedney, then tried to beat Titans cornerback Michael Booker down the sideline. Edwards, though, had bruised his quadriceps muscle earlier in the game, and that, he said, might have deprived him of a chance to score a touchdown.
"I'm not making any excuses, though," Edwards said. "Booker can run."
It didn't matter. Zereoue saw to that when he turned a dump screen into a 25-yard touchdown three plays later. But it was Edwards was provided the heroics.
"That turned the game around," Poteat said.
Edwards was glad to play the role, even if he doesn't always accept it.
Play of the Game: Edwards' 81-yard kickoff return 
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