Monday, September 29, 2003

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

For a full quarter, Steve McNair could only fidget. His Tennessee Titans were unable to slow a steady Steelers attack, and the offense he runs was on the field for all of three plays.

"Mostly, I just sat down that whole time," McNair said. "Then, when I felt a little tight, I had to get up and throw the football a little. It was frustrating."

By the time McNair's offense had a chance to begin establishing itself, it was early in the second quarter, and the scenario could not have seemed more intimidating. The Titans had allowed the first 10 points, had been dominated in every facet, had seen three of their own carted or carried off the field with injuries and were in hostile territory against a confident opponent.

	MCNAIR VS. STEELERS How Steve McNair has fared against Steelers since entering NFL in 1995: Category ---- No. Games ---- 13 Record ---- 10-3 Attempts ---- 345 Completions ---- 207 Yards passing ---- 2,572 Percentage ---- 60.0 Touchdowns ---- 16 Interceptions ---- 14 Was sacked ---- 11

McNair had a message for his teammates.

"We needed to be patient, to not force anything," he said. "It was very difficult being on the sideline and watching, watching, watching. That's why I wanted us to go out there and not make any mistakes."

No mistakes?

That is an unrealistic goal for almost all professional athletes, but apparently not for the quarterback many believe is the NFL's finest.

McNair completed 15 of 16 passes for 161 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions to engineer a 30-13 victory for his team yesterday at Heinz Field. His passer rating of 148.2 was barely below the maximum of 158.3, and he achieved it in style: His touchdowns came on an over-the-shoulder catch by wide receiver Drew Bennett from 10 yards, a play-action to tight end Erron Kinney from 1 yard and an elegant strike to wide receiver Justin McCareins in full stride from 29 yards.

To boot, McNair was one dubious officiating call shy of a perfect day.

His lone incompletion came on the Titans' second series, early in the second quarter, when he threw 15 yards to the right side for wide receiver Derrick Mason. The throw was on the mark, but Steelers cornerback Chad Scott struck Mason below the ball arrived, and he did so with such force that he caused Mason's head to twist. No flag was thrown.

"That was the only one," Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher said of McNair's flaws on the day. "And that one should have been interference."

Fisher has had McNair as his quarterback for the better part of a decade, but he still finds a way to offer praise in distinctive ways, as he did yesterday after McNair improved his career record against the Steelers to 10-3.

"Typical Steve," Fisher said. "He didn't have 400 or 500 passing yards, but he quietly found a way to win the game. That's how he plays. If you look at all the big plays in this game, and there was a safety, a blocked field goal, a couple of big interceptions ... but you look at the end and see that Steve was 15 of 16."

Perhaps the greatest indicator of the respect McNair earns from his teammates is that many expressed surprise after the game when told how close he came to perfection.

"Really?" Mason said. "I guess that's just what you come to expect from him."

They also have come to expect an intolerance for excuses. McNair has been slowed by a sore left knee which had him limping through the Titans' previous game and limited him to 5 yards rushing yesterday. He also was without a favorite target in tight end Frank Wycheck and essentially had another taken away because of the Steelers' double coverage of Mason. He even was lacking the Titans' familiar running game, as Eddie George continued his sluggish start by gaining just 21 yards on 11 carries. Still, he found a way to improve the defending AFC playoff finalists' record to 3-1 and ignite anew the confidence to reach such heights again this season.

"We wanted to make a statement," McNair said. "We lost on the road at Indianapolis, and we wanted to get that first road win."

But what impresses McNair's teammates most is his ability to maintain an even keel, a few going so far as to credit him with their identity as a group.

"Everybody here is like that, and it starts with Steve," George said. "He was telling everybody to be poised, be patient. And, once we finally got the ball, he led us. He told us to be calm, be patient. It can be very difficult to do that, but he told us there was no need to panic."

"I think our whole team has an ability to stay cool," offensive tackle Fred Miller said. "And Steve is every bit of that."

McNair wanted no part of any discussion of his statistics -- "I don't pay any attention to that" -- and he deflected most of the credit for the victory to the defense and his offensive line. But he did acknowledge that his plan to keep his thinking simple once he finally got onto the field played a role.

"I just wanted to try to complete balls, just go from first down to first down," he said. "It was a tough start, but we responded well. We wanted to get into a rhythm to get back into it, and I think we did. We all did a great job of bouncing back."

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