Kordell Stewart for MVP of the NFL?
Pittsburgh's quarterback has been building a case all season and Sunday night he went over the top in Baltimore. Stewart, with Jerome Bettis sidelined for the second straight game with an injury, was nearly perfect throwing and running the Steelers to a 26-21 victory. It clinched the AFC Central Division title for Pittsburgh, which has the AFC's best record at 11-2.
Stewart completed 20 of 31 passes for a career-high 333 yards with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 122.1. His 90-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Shaw tied for the longest in franchise history.
Wide receiver Plaxico Burress also continued his improvement. Put down as "Plexi-glass" by the Ravens all week, Burress caught a career-high 164 yards on eight passes that included a 25-yard touchdown. His 38-yarder on third down with 5 1/2 minutes left virtually sealed the victory for Pittsburgh.
The Steelers have three games remaining against teams with losing records at home to Detroit Sunday, at Cincinnati and at home with Cleveland . They would have to lose at least two of those not to get a first-round playoff bye.
"We've achieved our first goal of winning the division," coach Bill Cowher said. "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."
Amos Zereoue replaced Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, who replaced the injured Bettis as the starter. Zereoue led the Steelers with 73 yards rushing on 16 carries after Fuamatu-Ma'afala was ineffective.
The only lingering problem for Pittsburgh came from their kicker, Kris Brown. He missed another field goal, this from 32 yards, and has now missed 12 this season. His four misses against Baltimore Nov. 4 cost the Steelers a victory and he missed two against the Jets Dec. 9. He did make two field goals against Baltimore from 22 and 33 yards.
The Steelers' offense kept the ball for 41 minutes and five seconds, and their defense was on the field for just 18:55.
Coach Bill Cowher grew weary of hearing Baltimore coach Brian Billick constantly remind everyone that he has never lost in Pittsburgh. Cowher, after running his record to 4-0 in Baltimore's PSINet Stadium, said: "Their coach talks about how he likes to come to Pittsburgh, but I don't want to make a statement about it."
Kordell Stewart: "Considering all the things that have taken place and what this game meant, it's one of the best games of my career."
Plaxico Burress: "They were doing a lot of talking all week, calling me 'Plexi-glass.' They know my name now."
Stewart's 90-yard TD pass to Bobby Shaw tied one thrown by Terry Bradshaw to Mark Malone in 1981 for the longest in team history. Bubby Brister also threw a 90-yarder to Dwight Stone in 1990 but Stone did not score.
: A-plus QB Kordell Stewart has never been better. He completed 20 of 31 passes for two TDs, including a franchise-tying 90-yarder to Bobby Shaw. He had a passer rating of 122.1. WR Plaxico Burress caught eight of those passes for 164 yards and a 25-yard TD. Stewart did not throw an interception.
: B-plus Against one of the better rush defenses in the league, the Steelers managed 158 yards and a 4.1-yard average without RB Jerome Bettis. Amos Zereoue replaced an ineffective Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala and ran 73 yards, with a 4.6 average per carry. Stewart added 55 yards on 10 carries.
: C-plus Some sloppy play in the fourth quarter turned what had been a good performance into a close game. Elvis Grbac completed 20 of 38 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns, both in the final 6 1/2 minutes of the game. Chad Scott had the only interception, his career-high fifth. Grbac was sacked just twice.
: B-plus The Ravens did not try much. They ran only 13 times and gained only 58 yards as the Steelers' offense kept the ball away from them and limited their chances to run. Nearly all of their yards were produced on three carries of 17, 16 and 12. Grbac ran for his first touchdown of the season, from two yards.
: D This looms as an Achilles heel for the Steelers in the playoffs. Kris Brown missed a 32-yard field goal and the Ravens had too many long returns. Jermaine Lewis returned a punt 62 yards and Baltimore often had great field position after kickoffs. The Steelers also had to call time out before one field-goal try when they had only 10 men on the field.
: B Bill Cowher keeps making a case for Coach of the Year. Their offensive game plan was nearly perfect despite not having Jerome Bettis. They put things in the hands of Kordell Stewart as their confidence grows stronger in their quarterback. There were some lapses on defense in the fourth quarter, and while that was not a coaching problem there were some inexcusable problems on special teams that were.
Jerome Bettis, after sitting out two games with a groin/hip injury, will be almost 100 percent according to Cowher for next week's game against Detroit. Bettis could have played against the Ravens.
Amos Zereoue re-injured his shoulder late in the game against Baltimore. He separated it at the end of October and takes a painkilling shot before each game. His status for next Sunday is unknown.
Earl Holmes continues to start and play on running downs but a knee injury caused the Steelers to remove him on passing downs again. Veteran Mike Jones played the MLB in their dime defense.