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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Steelers cornerback Dewayne Washington stood up straight, looked his inquisitors straight in the eye and took the blame for one of the toughest losses in franchise history, 34-31, in overtime to the Tennessee Titans.

The Steelers' season ended Saturday night at The Coliseum, when Titans kicker Joe Nedney made the most of his two chances to kick the game-winning field goal. After missing a 31-yarder wide right on the fifth play of overtime, Nedney fell down when Washington ran into him. The 5-yard penalty for running into the kicker gave him another chance. This time, he didn't miss.

The field goal was set up when Washington whiffed while trying to tackle wide receiver Justin McCareins, and McCareins turned what should have been a 6-yard catch into a 31-yarder that carried all the way to the Steelers 38. Quarterback Steve McNair then hit McCareins for 22 more yards to set up the deciding play.

The loss fell squarely on Washington's shoulders, and he did not throw it off.

"It's hard for me right now not to feel the burden of losing the game," Washington said. "It's tough. Those kind of plays you have to make, simple catch, simple tackle. Those yards after catch hurt right there near the end. It's uncharacteristic, and it hurt the team."

Steelers coach Bill Cowher, who never has won a road playoff game in three tries, didn't blame referee Ron Blum's officiating crew for the defeat, but he was clearly displeased that an exciting, well-played game was decided by a penalty flag.

"For a game to be decided on that call is ludicrous," Cowher said. "I saw a kicker who had kicked the ball and taking a couple of steps and Dewayne sliding on the ground and fell into him."

Quarterback Tommy Maddox, who completed 21 of 41 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns, was equally upset. And not just because he never had the ball in his hands in overtime after the Titans won the toss.

"It's hard to believe that guys can play a game that hard and it comes down to an official's call," he said.

Washington admitted that he made contact with Nedney, but he didn't think it was enough for a penalty. In fact, he thought Nedney's acting was better than his kicking.

"Obviously, I think we made a little contact," Washington said. "But all the fake falling, the kickers are taught to do that. His foot was clearly down. I'm giving it all I got to try to go and block it. The referee made the call. So be it."

Steelers kicker Jeff Reed showed no sympathy for his fellow kicker.

"Maybe Dewayne laid a hand on him or something," he said. "It was maybe like a home-crowd type thing. He knew he missed and I think he was falling down because he was so upset."

The game was decided by a kicker, but it was much more than that. A crowd of 68,809 saw a back-and-forth, slugfest that the Steelers were trailing 14-0 before the end of the first quarter. McNair scored on an 8-yard run and running back Eddie George on a 1-yard burst. The first score was set up by Steelers Maddox's only interception of the game when wide receiver Plaxico Burress fell down on the first series.

"Everybody probably thought the gas was out of the tank," Maddox said, close to tears in his postgame news conference. "But everybody kept fighting, kept fighting and we got back in it."

The Steelers rallied to within, 14-13, at halftime on two Reed field goals and the first of two touchdown catches by Hines Ward. In the second half, they took two leads that the defense couldn't hold, 20-14, early in the third quarter and 31-28, on a 40-yard field goal by Reed with 8:30 to play in the fourth quarter.

But the Steelers never had the lead and the ball, and Nedney's 42-yard field goal with 5:40 left tied it at 31-31.

Again, the Steelers came back, and they seemed to be in control of the game after Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth body-slammed running back Amos Zereoue after a 5-yard loss. The 15-yard unnecessary-roughness penalty gave the Steelers a first down on the Tennessee 40, but the Steelers couldn't capitalize. Three successive incomplete passes, including one where rookie wide receiver Antwaan Randle El fell down, led to a punt.

Maddox said that pass could have been the game-winner, with the Titans blitzing and the secondary vulnerable.

"Antwaan gets his feet caught or he's probably going to score on the play," Maddox said. "The safety took a bad angle. We were kind of hoping they would come after us and they did."

Because of plays such as that, Ward refused to blame the officials.

"I can't really complain about officials making bad calls," he said. "It didn't even have to come down to that. We were out on the field and we just didn't capitalize on our opportunities to win the ball game."

The game came down to field goals, but it was really decided by McNair and tight end Frank Wycheck slicing up the Steelers' defense that played most of the game without inside linebacker Kendrell Bell.

Wycheck tied a career high with 10 catches and set a career high with 123 yards. He caught a 7-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter that was set up by his 39-yarder on third down.

With running back Eddie George out of the game after suffering a concussion in the third quarter, McNair completed 27 of 44 passes for 338 yards and two touchdowns.

The season ended much as it began, with the Steelers unable to stop the other team's passing game. The defense allowed 30 or more points eight times this season, a team record.

The Steelers almost matched the Titans point for point, but the Tennessee passing game was too much to overcome.

"It's unsuccessful," Maddox said when asked to describe the season. "The hard thing about this league is if you don't win the Super Bowl, you end your season like this and feeling this way.

"We know we were close. We know we had the guys who could compete and play the game with a passion that could lead us to the Super Bowl.

"It's frustrating. It's heartbreaking. This one will be hard to swallow."

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