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Steelers crush Titans
Brown celebrates
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review
TD time for Kordell
AP Photo
Plax shines bright
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review
The Bus scores
AP Photo
Plax steals one
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review
Jerry DiPaola is the Tribune-Review high school sports editor. He can be reached via e-mail.
With - of all people - maligned wide receiver Plaxico Burress leading the way, the Steelers rolled to their fifth consecutive victory, 34-7, against the Tennessee Titans before a crowd of 63,763. It was the Steelers' most dominating victory since a 43-0 shutout of the Cleveland Browns in the 1999 opener.
The Steelers (5-1), who had lost seven games in a row to the Titans, extended their lead in the AFC Central to one game over the Browns (4-2) and 1½ games over the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals (both 4-3). Meanwhile, the Steelers, who play the Ravens on Sunday at Heinz Field, drove the defending division champion Titans (2-4) into last place with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Running back Jerome Bettis tallied two touchdowns on runs of 1 and 7 yards, and quarterback Kordell Stewart threw for one touchdown and ran for another (2 yards around right end), but Burress set them up with his biggest day in two seasons as a pro.
Burress, the Steelers' first-round draft choice a year ago, caught six passes for 151 yards, recording the first 100-yard game for a Steelers receiver in nearly two years. He had a 33-yard reception in the first half that didn't lead to a score, but his 43- and 28-yard catches set up two second-half touchdowns. Plus, he was a pain in the neck to Titans Pro Bowl cornerback Samari Rolle, who came into the game with a real pain in his neck. In the third quarter, Rolle attempted to swat away a long pass down the right sideline, but Burress stayed with it, deflected it to himself and pulled in the football for a 43-yard gain. Bettis scored on the next play. Bettis' 28-yarder on the next series also victimized Rolle and set up Stewart's touchdown run.
The Steelers scored on six of their first eight possessions, thanks in large part to Stewart, who threw for more than 200 yards for the first time this season and the first time in a Steelers victory since 1998. He completed 13 of 22 passes for 232 yards. The victory was so thorough that coach Bill Cowher pulled Stewart with nine minutes left in the game in favor of Tommy Maddox.
Bettis, who had four consecutive 100-yard games, was little more than a goal-line afterthought, gaining 62 yards on 19 carries.
The Steelers opened up a 7-0 lead on the first drive of the game when Stewart led a 10-play, 78-yard sequence that consumed 6:23. Bettis scored on a 1-yard run, but the highlight was the Steelers earning first downs on four consecutive plays. Titans defensive end Jevon Kearse was offsides on a third-and-2, tight end Mark Bruener caught a 21-yard pass from Stewart, Bettis ran 11 yards and Burress had an 11-yard reception.
The Steelers missed an opportunity to immediately increase the lead after running back Eddie George lost a fumble on the Titans' first possession. The fumble was forced and recovered by outside linebacker Jason Gildon and the Steelers had a first down at the Tennessee 35-yard line. But they failed to record a first down, with Stewart missing Troy Edwards on a long third-down pass near the goal line and Kris Brown misfiring on a 48-yard field goal attempt.
The Titans made the Steelers pay by tying the score at 7-7 on the first play of the second quarter. Tight end Frank Wycheck caught a 4-yard scoring pass from Steve McNair. The Steelers failed to cut the drive short when undrafted rookie wide receiver Drew Bennett caught a 21-yard pass on third-and-5 from the Tennessee 43.
The tie didn't last long, thanks to a silly unnecessary roughness penalty against Titans free safety Perry Phenix, who clubbed Hines Ward in the back of the head after an unsuccessful third-down play. Instead of punting, the Steelers took the 15-yard gift to the Tennessee 20.
Four plays later, including a 19-yard reception by wide receiver Bobby Shaw, the Steelers were in the end zone. While running toward the sideline, with linebacker Randall Godfrey pulling him to the ground, Stewart threw a 3-yard scoring pass to Ward with 5:56 left in the first half.
Cowher got in the act on the Steelers' final scoring drive of the first half, calling for non-quarterbacks to play the role normally held by Stewart.
First, with 53 seconds left before halftime and the Steelers on the Tennessee 29, Cowher called a fake field goal attempt with holder Josh Miller flipping to Brown, a former high school quarterback who has been timed in 4.3 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Brown barely gained 6 yards on fourth-and-5, even though it appeared he stepped out of bounds short of the marker. Referee Terry McAulay reviewed the play, but saw no conclusive evidence to overturn it.
Then, Cowher called for Stewart to hand off to Ward, a former college quarterback, who was supposed to throw back to Stewart. But the Titans sensed the charade and covered Stewart, and Ward threw incomplete over Burress' head in the end zone. Eventually, the Steelers settled for a 42-yard field goal by Brown with 23 seconds left and a 17-7 halftime lead.
