It would be simplistic, but not entirely inaccurate, to say Jason Gildon cost the Steelers a victory.
Not because he got caught up and failed to cover tight end Erron Kinney on the winning 18-yard pass in the 23-20 loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Because he's the culprit who knocked Neil O'Donnell out of the game and forced the Titans to use Steve McNair.
All McNair did was come off the bench with 2 minutes, 35 seconds remaining, complete all three passes he attempted, and bring the Titans back from what looked to be certain defeat.
"We should have won that game," defensive end Kevin Henry said.
But the Steelers didn't, and McNair was the reason.
Blame Gildon, too.
If he doesn't sack O'Donnell on second down at the Titans' 36 and force him out of the game with a sprained neck and a cut lip, McNair finishes the game where he began it -- sitting on the bench, not wanting to risk re-injury to a bruised sternum he sustained two weeks ago against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Instead, facing third-and-11, the Titans really had no other choice than to play McNair. He took four quick warm-up passes on the sideline, came into the game and promptly delivered the play that proved to be the decisive moment of yet another Steelers defeat that came down to the final minute.
"That was huge," Henry said. "He probably won the game for them. He took advantage of an opportunity. That's what it's all about."
The play in reference was McNair's 22-yard pass over the middle to wide receiver Chris Sanders, who made an outstanding leaping catch to give the Titans a first down at the Steelers' 42.
If he doesn't make that play, the Steelers likely earn their first victory against Tennessee since 1997.
But McNair did, then followed that with three more sterling plays that ended with his 18-yard touchdown pass to Kinney with 1:25 remaining
"We're just trying to play coverage there," defensive coordinator Tim Lewis said. "We didn't blitz him. He just stepped up and got the ball to the guy."
Until then, it looked as though the Steelers might pull out a comeback victory against the defending AFC champion, a team that came up less than 3 feet from winning the Super Bowl. They had rallied from a 13-6 deficit in the second half to take a 20-16 lead on Jerome Bettis' 5-yard touchdown run.
That score, though, was set up when cornerback Dewayne Washington atoned for being beaten on a 67-yard pass play by Carl Pickens in the first quarter with an interception against Pickens on almost the same route with 9:25 remaining. Washington's interception gave the Steelers possession at their 47.
"I thought he would run a curl and he ran a dig on that play," Washington said of the first-quarter pass that set up Eddie George's 20-yard run and gave the Titans a 7-0 lead. On the interception, though, Washington said, "I was playing it true. I thought it would be a dig route because he ran that earlier and I was able to get a good angle and get the ball."
That was the last time the Steelers were able to get the ball.
Go ahead. Blame Gildon.
Gildon, the Steelers' left outside linebacker, sacked O'Donnell for a 5-yard loss on second-and-6 at the Titans' 41. When he hit his former teammate, O'Donnell injured his neck and cut his lip. The Titans were reeling at that point. O'Donnell had already thrown three interceptions and Tennessee had squandered its seven-point lead.
Enter McNair. On his very first play, he lined two wide receivers -- Sanders and Derrick Mason -- to the right and bunched them tight to Kinney, who was lined up as the H-Back. Sanders went down the middle of the field, ran a curl and plucked a hard McNair pass out of the air for a 22-yard gain.
"He had that look in his eye," Titans Coach Jeff Fisher said. "Once he found his helmet, he got in there and made some plays."
"He's a remarkable player," linebacker Levon Kirkland said of McNair. "But we got to close out games. That's our problem now -- we got to learn to close out games."
McNair needed only three more plays to finish off the Steelers, send them stumbling to their 18th loss in the past 24 games. On first down, he scrambled 9 yards to the Steelers, then hit Mason with a 15-yard pass to the Steelers 18 on second down.
Then came the closure. The Steelers were in their dime defense and tried a zone blitz by sending Kirkland, safety Lee Flowers and cornerback Jason Simmons at McNair. But Kinney slipped out behind Gildon, who was supposed to cover the tight end, and was wide open for an 18-yard touchdown. McNair said he took advantage of the play because he liked the matchup he got -- tight end vs. linebacker.
"I don't know how [Kinney] got on top of Jason, but we'll see," Lewis said. "He either stumbled or tripped."
A cold cameo leads to burning results 
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