NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans had their way with the best defense in the NFL. They took on the second-best back in the league and nearly choked the life out of him.
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Kordell Stewart runs 48 yards for a touchdown yesterday in the third quarter. He also passed for 254 yards and two touchdowns. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) |
The Titans yesterday snatched away everything the Steelers do best, and it still wasn't enough.
Quarterback Kordell Stewart, continuing a trend that began two days before Halloween, cranked up the Steelers' passing game when they needed it most and helped deliver a comeback, 34-24 victory at Tennessee.
It was the Steelers' first victory in this state, raised their record to 8-2 and dropped the defending AFC division champion Titans perilously close to out of it at 4-6.
"I like this team," Coach Bill Cowher declared. "I can't really put into words how big this win was. ... To get down the way they got down and to respond the way they responded I think will build some fiber and help us later down the stretch."
The Steelers, playing without three of their starters on the offensive line, overcame a 14-3 deficit, a running game in which Jerome Bettis managed just 73 yards and their defense allowing 405 yards. But that defense also produced two interceptions, one of them a 45-yard touchdown return by cornerback Chad Scott that put the Titans away with 3:23 left.
It was a good way to end it because Kevin Dyson beat Scott on Tennessee's first offensive play for a 68-yard touchdown pass from Steve McNair, one of two from McNair in the second quarter that put his team on top, 14-3. Frank Wycheck caught the other from 4 yards away.
"To be down 14-3," Cowher said, "I'm not so sure some of the teams we've had in the past would have responded the way we responded."
The game featured last year's No. 1 defense, Tennessee, against this year's No. 1 defense, the Steelers, but it was McNair and Stewart, two quarterbacks who have poor reputations as passers, putting on a display of marksmanship.
McNair completed 23 of 37 passes for 334 yards, two touchdowns and he ran for another. Stewart, however, did not throw an interception, and he outran McNair. Stewart completed 19 of 31 passes for 254 yards, two touchdowns and ran for another score of 48 yards on a broken pass play.
It was his fourth 200-yard passing game in his past five in a stretch of games against Central Division foes. The Steelers went 4-1.
"Kordell is having a great year right now," safety Lee Flowers said. "He's playing with so much confidence. For whatever reason [teams are saying,] 'We're going to make Kordell beat us.' OK, well, Kordell beat you all today."
Stewart threw a 4-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to Plaxico Burress, who had his second big game of the season against Tennessee with eight receptions for 114 yards. Stewart put the Steelers ahead early in the third quarter with his 48-yard run and threw a screen pass that Amos Zereoue weaved into a tackle-breaking, 25-yard touchdown that put them ahead for good, 24-17.
Kris Brown added field goals of 39 and 37 yards. Joe Nedney kicked a 49-yarder for Tennessee.
The Steelers began taking control just before halftime after Wycheck's touchdown put the Titans ahead 14-3.
On first down after the kickoff, Stewart lofted one deep down the left sideline. Burress, doing what he was drafted to do, took the ball away from two defensive backs for a 35-yard gain. Two plays later, Hines Ward, who had 99 yards on seven catches, hauled in a 20-yarder. Ward then made a diving catch for a 10-yard gain to the 3.
"All it is is pitch and catch," Stewart said.
On third down from the 4, cornerback Samari Rolle played Burress on the outside, expecting a fade pattern. Burress ran a quick slant inside, Stewart hit him perfectly, and the Steelers went to the locker room trailing, 14-10.
"I said at halftime, 'We just got their best shot and right now we're only down by four,' " Cowher said. "We were more confident as the game stayed close that we would find a way to win. That's just how the season's unfolding."
Two things occurred quickly in the third quarter. Jerome Bettis fumbled on a first-down handoff from Hines Ward after a 17-yard pickup. Bettis, who hasn't lost a fumble in two seasons, won a scrap to recover the ball. On the next play, Stewart dropped back to pass, ran left and danced into the end zone for a 17-14 lead.
"I had a little pressure on the right," said Stewart, who looked to his left and saw Bettis covered. "All of a sudden, I saw myself and [safety Perry Phenix] and I just let the Slash come out of me. It was a designed pass, I just stepped up in the pocket and lost a couple of guys."
Stewart has gained a lot of trust on his own team, something that began building when they went 7-4 with him as their starter in 2000.
Nedney's 49-yard field goal tied the score 17-17, and then another newfound Steelers weapon stepped up. Troy Edwards, the forgotten receiver, returned the kickoff 81 yards to the Titans' 17. It was one of two big kickoff returns for Edwards.
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Amos Zereoue scores on a 25-yard pass play yesterday in the third quarter to give the Steelers the lead for good. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) |
Four plays later, after the Bus went 3 yards in reverse and a penalty, Zereoue, on third-and-18, took a screen pass from Stewart on the left side. He ran left, weaved back up the middle, broke several tackles and bounced into the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown and a 24-17 lead.
Two weeks ago at Cleveland, Zereoue tripped over his own feet at the 2 on a 62-yard screen pass.
"I saw the end zone and picked up speed at the 5," Zereoue said. "After I got the screen, I basically was just running. I wasn't looking for anybody blocking, I was just trying to run as fast as I could and get as close to end zone as I could."
Brown's second field goal gave the Steelers a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter. But a defense that had been allowing a league-low 228 yards a game, could not stop Tennessee on its next drive.
The Titans moved 82 yards in 6 1/2 minutes, and McNair burrowed into the center of the line from a yard out to put the Titans back in the game with 8:23 left, trailing by three.
When they moved on their next series to their 46 with 3 1/2 minutes to go, Tennessee looked like a team that might pull this one out.
But McNair inexplicably threw to his right on second down on a play that was designed to go left. Wycheck never looked back. Scott broke on the ball, caught it and also never looked back as he raced to the end zone.
"Chad had one of those roller-coaster days," Cowher said. "He's up, down, up, down. But he made the big play at the end, and that's the mind-set a corner had to have."
It's one the entire team has developed, as the Steelers raised their record on the road to 5-1.
"I just can't say enough about this team," Cowher said. "It's really resilient, and it's gaining confidence every week."
Confidence and victories. It's a tough combination, and the combinations are proliferating.
Confident Stewart continues to sparkle as Steelers complete midseason run through AFC Central with 4-1 record 
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