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Monday, December 17, 2001

BALTIMORE -- It was written in this space yesterday that Kordell Stewart was the Steelers' most valuable player.

That column didn't go far enough.

If this season plays out like the decisive victory last night against the Baltimore Ravens indicates, Stewart might well be the MVP of the National Football League.

In a game in which he simply had to be very good for the Steelers to win, Stewart was excellent. In the biggest game of the season, Stewart played the best game of his career.

He threw for 333 yards in the Steelers' 26-21 victory last night at PSINet Stadium.

Not only did he throw for two touchdowns while completing 20 of 31 passes, Stewart did what figured to be virtually impossible with Jerome Bettis out of the lineup. He kept the Steelers in the same ball-control offense that is so vital to their success.

Against what people were calling one of the best defenses in NFL history only a year ago, the Steelers possessed the ball for 41 minutes, 5 seconds, more than doubling the time the Ravens had the ball.

With games against Detroit, Cincinnati and Cleveland remaining, the Steelers are looking hard at a 14-2 record. If that happens, it will be hard to overlook Stewart in MVP voting.

"I can't say enough about Kordell," Coach Bill Cowher said. "He's a confident man right now and he's got some players making plays for him."

No question about that. Plaxico Burress caught eight passes for 164 yards and Bobby Shaw two for 100 yards. But a lot of that was Stewart making absolutely perfect throws.

"We don't have any problem in trusting what he can do," Shaw said. "He makes things happen and we make sure we do what we have to do to get open."

Stewart had a passer rating of 122.1 for the game. He did not throw an interception, another area in which he excels.

On top of all that, he ran 10 times for 55 yards.

The Steelers manhandled the Ravens for the first 50 minutes of the game. They led, 19-7, with about nine minutes remaining in the game.

They took the game to the Ravens right from the start.

On their first possession, Stewart directed a 14-play drive that culminated with a 22-yard field goal by Kris Brown. Stewart passed three times for 39 yards and ran twice for 12 yards. He continued to be the master of the third-down conversion, making good on a third-and-14 and a third-and-5.

The Steelers were successful on 60 percent of their third-down conversion attempts.

After Baltimore went ahead, 7-3, the Steelers came back for another field goal, which came at the end of a 55-yard drive. This time Stewart passed for 14 and 32 yards to Plaxico Burress. The throw down the middle to Burress was near-perfect, and typical of what Stewart would do the remainder of the game. On the Steelers next possession, they took the lead and again Stewart was excellent. They moved 62 yards with Stewart passing for gains of 17 and 25 to Burress, with the second being good for a touchdown.

The Steelers mounted a drive that lasted 11:15 to start the second half but got no points out of it when Brown missed a 32-yard field goal.

Stewart put his mark on the game midway through the fourth quarter with a 90-yard touchdown pass to Shaw. Throwing from his own goal line and under pressure, Stewart hit Shaw perfectly on the 38.

"Kordell put a perfect ball there," Shaw said. "All I had to was catch it and run."

When Baltimore scored to move within five points of the lead, Stewart directed another superb drive on which the big play was a 38-yard pass to Burress. Again, Stewart simply dropped the ball into the hands of Burress.

What set this game apart from some of the other strong games Stewart has played this season was not just his passing yardage, which was a career high. It was his mastery of the deep ball.

Since early in the season, Stewart has been excellent on intermediate routes. But he seldom has thrown deep and, when he did, it rarely was with success. But he displayed a near-perfect touch on the deep ball last night.

Most significantly, he did it without Bettis and playing against one of the best defenses in football.

When Cowher was asked if he had ever seen Stewart play better, he shook his head.

"His best is still ahead of him."

If that's the case, there might be an MVP award in his future.

Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com