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To see Tommy Maddox motionless on the turf at The Coliseum on Sunday, chilled Stewart.

"When a life is on the line like that, to a point where it's taking him to open his eyes to see that he's OK, and he's laying on his face and can't move, that's serious," Stewart said.

It was very serious. Maddox had scrambled from the pocket, lunged forward as he was shoe-string tackled by blitzing Tennessee defensive back Lance Schulters, and gotten off a pass to Antwaan Randle El for a short gain. As Maddox continued to the turf, Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck finished the tackle.

It did not seem like a particularly hard hit. But Maddox did not move afterward and the stadium was still during the 15 minutes or so it took for Maddox to be stabilized and taken from the field in an ambulance.

Later, the word would be encouraging. Maddox had feeling and movement in his extremities. Hopefully, this will be just a scary punctuation in his Cinderella season.

But the games go on, as did this one. Maddox was hurt on the final play of the third quarter. The Steelers were behind by three touchdowns at the time and would narrow it to a 31-23 losing final.

Stewart dissected Tennessee's prevent defense in the fourth quarter, completing 13 of 17 passes for 124 yards, two touchdowns and an unworldly 135.4 quarterback rating for his day's work.

Someone wanted to know how Stewart could step in under such an emotional circumstance and play with precision. Did he never consider the threat of a Maddox-like injury?

If players allowed themselves such contemplation, Stewart said, "We wouldn't play. We wouldn't want to play. But, because for the most part, athletes are daredevils, they're competitors, you want to go out and play.

"And that's the nature of the beast; of the game. Things like that happen. The next guy just has to be prepared. It sounds cold, but that's the business."

Steelers business likely has Stewart as the starting quarterback Sunday against Cincinnati. It's hard to imagine rushing Maddox back into the lineup, as favorable as the preliminary indications are.

If Stewart gets the start Sunday, it will be his first since Sept. 29, when he was yanked in the fourth quarter of an eventual 16-13 overtime win over the Cleveland Browns. Maddox started the next seven games, and the Steelers passing offense has been productive in record-setting fashion.

Kordell will be assuming the hot seat behind center at a time when the Steelers are 5-4-1 and listing after blowing a 17-point lead and settling for a tie against the Atlanta Falcons, and now losing to Tennessee.

"Hopefully, Kordell is going to step up now," strong safety Lee Flowers said. "If we lose Tommy, then Kordell's been here before."

Kordell was a Pro Bowl quarterback last season, when he completed 60 percent of his passes in 2001 and threw for 3,109 yards. He was the starter for a team that finished the regular season 13-3.

It's not unreasonable to expect him to be productive in a primary role once again. His play yesterday was a start.

"Kordell came in and did a great job of managing the football game in that (two-minute) type of situation," running back Jerome Bettis said. "Getting (us) down the field and we were able to put some points on the board."

Stewart walked an emotional tightrope after the game. His concern for Maddox, a player he considers a friend, was palpable. Still, there was the very real chance that he will be playing the next game, the deposed starter once again No. 1 for a time.

"So far as trying to be the guy back on top of the mountain and the king and the crown on the head, I ain't about all that stuff," Stewart said. "It's about being ready when the opportunity comes."

This opportunity comes at a troubled time for the Steelers.

"The situation we're in is not an easy situation to be sitting here digesting right now," Stewart said. "We've had high expectations coming into this season, and to be sitting here 5-4-1 is hard. But we still have an opportunity. I think we're still ahead in our division, and with that being said, we just have to look forward. We can't look back."

Except to say a prayer for Maddox, left behind in Baptist Hospital.

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