BALTIMORE -- The Steelers clinched their 15th AFC Central Division crown by not only beating Baltimore at its own game, but adding a little game of their own.
 |
 |
|
Kordell Stewart completes a third-down pass before the Ravens Peter Boulware can run him down. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) |
Kordell Stewart and Plaxico Burress played the game of their professional lives as the Steelers beat the defending Super Bowl champions, 26-21.
Stewart, playing like a league MVP, threw for a career-high 333 yards and two touchdowns, one of 90 yards to Bobby Shaw to tie a club record. Burress -- derisively called "Plexiglas" days ago by Baltimore tight end Shannon Sharpe -- had a career-high 164 yards receiving on eight catches, including a juggling, Lynn Swann-like grab for a 25-yard touchdown in the first half.
"OK," Sharpe said, "he's Plaxico now. He can have his name back. He earned it."
Said Stewart, who ran for another 55 yards, "Considering all the things that have taken place and what this game meant, it's one of the best games of my career so far."
The Steelers, continuing a week-long experience, swapped trash-talk with the Ravens while playing keep-away at the same time. They churned out long drives and gave Baltimore fewer opportunities to cash in on offense as they repaid the Ravens for a 13-10 Nov. 4 loss. As they did in that game in Heinz Field, the Steelers dominated the Ravens, outgaining them 476 yards to 207. Only this time, they won.
The Steelers' sixth victory in a row ran their record to 11-2, best in the AFC as they strive to earn the conference's No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the playoffs. It knocked the defending Super Bowl champs to 8-5 and scrambling for a wild-card playoff berth.
"We did a lot of talking and we didn't back it up," Sharpe said. "They did a lot of talking and they did back it up."
Even Coach Bill Cowher got into the trash-talk mood after the game. His team ran its record to 4-0 in PSINet Stadium and Cowher made reference to Brian Billick's oft-repeated reminder that he has never lost in Pittsburgh as a coach.
"Their coach talks about how he likes to come to Pittsburgh," Cowher said, "but I don't want to make a statement about it."
Asked if the Super Bowl now went through Pittsburgh, Cowher answered, "I just know that we're one step closer. We've achieved our first goal of winning the division. We still have three games left and we want to win them all. We'd like to get that bye week. We'd like to have that home-field advantage in Pittsburgh."
Cowher said that Jerome Bettis, who missed his second consecutive game, should be ready to play against Detroit next Sunday. Amos Zereoue replaced starter Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala at tailback and gained 73 yards on 16 carries as the Steelers rapped out 158 rushing yards against Baltimore's tough defense.
The Steelers scored only two Kris Brown field goals in the first 28 minutes, then turned into the St. Louis Rams. Stewart found Burress for a juggling, 25-yard touchdown pass late in the first half, then hit Shaw down the middle for a 90-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter that put the Steelers up by 12 with 8:53 left after they missed the two-point try.
"Rod [Woodson] bit up, and it left the middle for me to run the post," Shaw said. "Kordell threw a perfect ball."
After the Ravens closed to five points, Stewart and Burress struck again. On third down, Stewart hit Burress with a 38-yard pass to Baltimore's 31 with 5:22 left that virtually put the game out of reach. Fullback Dan Kreider ended that drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 3:05 left.
"They were doing a lot of talking all week, calling me 'Plexi-glas,"' Burress said. "They know my name now."
Brandon Stokley caught a 5-yard TD pass from Elvis Grbac with 1:14 left, but the Steelers recovered Baltimore's onside kickoff and ran out the clock.
Shaw's long touchdown on a ball he caught at the 38 tied the record for the longest touchdown pass in Steelers history, which went from Terry Bradshaw to Mark Malone in 1981. Shaw and Burress gave the Steelers two 100-yard receivers for the the first time since 1998.
"I guess there was no better time to do it than tonight," said Shaw.
Brown, who missed four of five field-goal tries in the previous loss to Baltimore, missed a 32-yarder last night, but he kicked field goals of 22 and 33 yards.
Grbac ran two yards for a Baltimore touchdown in the first half, then threw a 14-yard scoring pass to Qadry Ismail with 6:36 left in the game.
Stewart had a phenomenal passer rating of 122.1 by completing 20 of 31 passes for 333 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Steelers, last in the NFL at scoring touchdowns once they reach an opponent's 20, put it in low gear again on their first drive. They made it all the way to a first down at the Ravens' eight, but a sack by Ray Lewis, an incomplete pass and a pass to the four brought Brown out to kick his first field goal.
Grbac rolled into the end zone around the right side for his first touchdown of the season to give Baltimore a 7-3 lead in the second quarter.
Stewart and Burress hooked up for their first big reception when the quarterback dropped a ball perfectly into the outstretched hands of his receiver, who caught it for a 30-yard gain to the 19. That led to another Brown field goal, this one from 33 yards.
Late in the first half, Burress and Stewart went to work again. Burress caught a 17-yard pass to get the drive going, and the 6-51/2 wide receiver ended it with his spectacular catch in the end zone.
Cornerback Chris McAlister had him covered in the right corner of the end zone, but Burress took the ball away from the 6-1 Raven, tipped it into the air and caught it for a 25-yard touchdown and a 13-7 Steelers halftime lead.
Brown clanked a 32-yard attempt off the right upright that left the Steelers holding onto a six-point lead.
Matt Stover also missed a field-goal attempt for Baltimore, from 47 yards in the first half.
Hines Ward committed a costly penalty early in the fourth quarter that cost the Steelers another chance at a score. He caught his first pass of the game with 12 minutes left in the game that apparently gave his team a first down in Baltimore territory and converted a third-and-4.
As he got up, however, he jawed with Woodson. The officials tossed a flag on him, much to the displeasure of Ward and Coach Bill Cowher. It moved the ball back to the Steelers' 43, where a third-down pass fell incomplete.
Jermaine Lewis then put Baltimore in position to score by returning Miller's punt 62 yards to the Steelers' 26.
That's when a hot-headed Grbac got the Ravens in trouble. He was sacked for a five-yard loss by safety Brent Alexander, and the quarterback inexplicably was penalized for taunting on the play. The 15-yard penalty pushed the Ravens out of scoring range, and, after Grbac's third-down pass fell incomplete, they had to punt from their 41.
Two plays later, Stewart dropped back from his 10 and threw over the middle to Shaw, who streaked behind the Ravens' secondary. He caught the pass in stride at the Baltimore 38 and put himself and Stewart into the record books. Bubby Brister and Dwight Stone also hooked up on a 90-yard pass in 1990 in Denver, but it did not go for a touchdown.
