CLEVELAND -- There is one good thing to say about the inexcusable finish to the game yesterday.
At least it wasn't Kordell Stewart who made one of the dumbest plays in NFL history.
Pittsburgh still might be burning.
All along, we have known the Steelers don't have a quarterback to make them a winning team. But in a 23-20 loss to the Cleveland Browns that surely will doom them to a 5-11 season -- or worse -- we learned something much more devastating.
The position is jinxed.
It doesn't matter who lines up. Now, it's Kent Graham. It doesn't matter how well he plays. Yesterday, Graham made mostly good decisions, threw the ball well and made the Steelers' passing game a threat for the first time, in what, three years?
In the end, the quarterback will do something to lose the game.
That's my definition of jinxed.
Call it the curse of Terry Bradshaw.
Speaking of Bradshaw, he was on Fox after Graham took the sack that didn't just cost the Steelers a chance to go into overtime, but cost them a win in regulation.
"Somebody's head has to be served up on a platter after that play," Bradshaw said, leaving no doubt he was talking about the biggest head of all, Bill Cowher.
"With 14 seconds left and no timeouts, you kick the field goal and take your chances in overtime," Bradshaw said.
It might have made for good television, but Bradshaw is the idiot, not Cowher. Don't blame this loss on Cowher. There's nothing wrong with taking a shot in the end zone on third-and-goal from the 6 with 14 seconds left. You want to win right there. Who, really, wants to have it come down to overtime?
Don't think of having Kevin Gilbride's head for lunch, either. In hindsight, after seeing how the Browns covered that final play, he would have called a quick fade pass to the corner of the end zone to Plaxico Burress, who was lined up wide to the left. Burress was covered by Lewis Sanders, who's almost half of a foot shorter. Burress would have scored the winning touchdown or the pass would have been incomplete and the Steelers would have kicked the tying field goal.
But there was nothing wrong with the play Gilbride called. It would have worked if Graham -- a nine-year veteran -- had read the coverage quickly, if he hadn't been fixated on Bobby Shaw, if -- most of all -- he hadn't held on to the ball.
"That play has a lot of options in it," Cowher said. "One wasn't to keep the ball in his hands."
Gilbride and Graham anticipated the Browns double-covering Burress, who ran a 5-yard in pattern. In that case, Graham was to look for Shaw, who was lined up in the slot to the left. Shaw's assignment was to read his single coverage and run a hook pattern or come across the middle.
But the Browns crossed up the Steelers. They double-covered Shaw, not Burress. Shaw had burned them earlier in the drive for a 29-yard catch on a fourth-and-6 play. Graham has to see that immediately and go right to Burress.
"Plax was wide open," Gilbride said.
Graham admitted he looked first to Shaw even after seeing the double coverage. He didn't come out and say Shaw is his favorite receiver. But he didn't leave much doubt about it, either.
"Bobby has great instincts. I've come to depend on him."
Someone should tell Graham he had better start falling in love with Burress. He's the No. 1 draft choice. He's the guy with the $6.4 million signing bonus. He's the receiver who's supposed to be the next Herman Moore or Randy Moss.
"All I can do is try to make plays when the opportunities are given to me," Burress said, seemingly disgusted that he had only one catch for 10 yards.
Even Bradshaw could figure out the one thing Graham can't do on that final play is take the sack.
"I was trying to give the receivers another chance by scrambling," Graham said. "But I got caught. The blame's got to rest on my shoulders."
Isn't it always that way with the Steelers quarterback?
All that was left after this unthinkable finish was a surreal scene in the Steelers' locker room. As Graham headed for the team bus, he was consoled by Stewart. They shook hands. Stewart probably told him, "Hang in there. There will be better days." Or something like that.
Stewart is far too classy to tell Graham what he must have been thinking.
Better you than me.
Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.
Cook: Quarterback job cursed for Steelers 
