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Monday, December 17, 2001

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

BALTIMORE -- In the verbal sniping that led up to this AFC Central showdown, Baltimore Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe took a derisive slap at Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress, calling him "Plexiglas."

	Plaxico Burress reaches for his touchdown. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette)

But, if Sharpe's intention was to infer that Burress is a fragile receiver, he picked the wrong word.

Plexiglas does not break.

Burress incited several of the Ravens, including Sharpe and middle linebacker Ray Lewis, last week when he talked about how the Steelers physically pushed the defending Super Bowl champions around in their first meeting Nov. 4 at Heinz Field, never mind the Steelers lost the game, 13-10.

Last night, when it came time to face the Ravens' wrath, Burress was like glass, all right.

Smooth as glass.

"They called him Plexiglas and said he wasn't physical," said linebacker Joey Porter. "He looked physical to me. He was playing with those guys out there like little children."

With the Ravens determined to take away Hines Ward, it was Burress who came up with one of his best games of the season.

What's more, in front of a national television audience that saw him do much the same thing the previous time the Steelers played in prime time, Burress also made one of his best catches.

It came near the end of the second quarter and provided the impetus for the Steelers' 26-21 victory that clinched their first AFC Central title since 1997 and extended their American Football Conference-best winning streak to six games.

Burress caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Kordell Stewart on a play in which he outleaped Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister in the end zone and managed to pull in the deflected ball with one hand.

"When they were saying all that stuff, it just showed me they weren't focused on the game," Burress said. "We didn't fault any one person on their team or attack anyone directly. But when a guy challenges you, you show up for the challenge."

The touchdown was important for two reasons:

It gave the Steelers a 13-7 lead with 1:52 remaining in the first half.

It gave the Steelers a touchdown at a time when most of their scoring is being done by kicker Kris Brown, despite all his recent deficiencies.

"I don't think anybody expects our passing game to do well because Jerome wasn't playing," Burress said. "Their secondary thought they could contain us. I take that personally."

The play was somewhat similar to the highlight reel catch Burress made against the Tennessee Titans in a Monday night game in October. In that instance, Burress had a 43-yard reception from Stewart in which he reached back to strip the ball away from Pro Bowl cornerback Samari Rolle, then made a one-handed catch when the ball popped in the air.

Then, again, maybe it's Baltimore. Burress did much the same thing in the first meeting, catching four passes, including the Steelers' only touchdown -- a leaping 21-yarder over McAlister in the corner of the end zone. It was Burress' first National Football League touchdown.

Last night, Burress finished with eight catches for 164 yards -- both career highs -- and his third 100-yard receiving game of the season came in particularly handy for the Steelers. Their leading receiver, Ward, who was fourth in the AFC with 79 catches, caught only one pass for 7 yards.

"When you run the ball as well as we ran it, you can create some one-on-one matchups," Coach Bill Cowher. "They put their best corner on him. Plex came up with some big wins in one-on-one."

"Plex is really maturing," said wide receiver Bobby Shaw, who sealed the victory with a 90-yard touchdown pass from Stewart. "He's showing it every game. You can tell by the chemistry Kordell has and the confidence he has to put the ball up."

Playing without Bettis and needing big plays in the passing game to beat the Ravens, the Steelers got the one big play they needed from Burress. And it came one series after Brown hit a 33-yard field goal, his second of the game, to cut the Ravens' lead to 7-6.

The Steelers then embarked on an eight-play, 62-yard drive that began when Matt Stover, who had kicked a field goal in an NFL-record 38 consecutive games, was left with a 48-yard attempt.

Stewart quickly moved the ball into Ravens territory when he hit Burress for a 17-yard completion on second down to the Baltimore 45. Amos Zereoue carried three times for 20 yards and Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala made a nice 5-yard run on third-and-4 to give the Steelers a first down at the Ravens' 20. After a false-start penalty against fullback Dan Kreider, Burress and Stewart connected for the play that allowed the Steelers to win in Baltimore for the fifth year in a row.

Give Stewart credit. He was about to absorb a hit from safety Rod Woodson, a former Steeler, when he lofted the ball to the 6-foot-5 1/2 Burress. McAlister, who is 6-1, leaped with Burress and was able to deflect the ball with his left hand. But, as the ball was coming down, Burress reached out with his left hand and pulled it in for the touchdown.

"I shouldn't have missed it the first time," Burress said. "I was always taught to stay with the ball until it's in your hands."

How significant was the play?

Burress got up and threw the ball into the second level of seats at PSINet Stadium.

Not hard enough to break Plexiglas. But emphatic enough.