The Bungals and Steelers play at Three Rivers for the very last time on Sunday. This should be a route with no uncertainty whatsoever. This is worrisome. Will the Steelers go in the Tank after two impressive wins on the Road and will the offensive line give Graham the kind of support it lent to Kordell? Who knows, but this is where it all gets very interesting.
Kordell Stewart is not scheduled to play QB on Sunday - what will he be doing is anyone's guess.
What should he be doing? Well, that is the most interesting and disheartening part of the game on Sunday.
Kordell should be playing!
I look around the league these days and I see QBs like Jeff Garcia, Brian Greise, Daunte Cullpepper and Kurt Warner and so forth - and I see that they really have no more talent than Kordell. So what will Kordell be doing on the bench Sunday besides wearing his hat backwards and chewing the fat with some of the other bench-warmers.
Nothing - when he should be playing!
This is not Kordell's fault.
I have been screaming about a QB coach ever since Chan went to Dallas and left poor Kordell to fend for himself. He has never been the same. It is obvious to me and I'm sure many others that, even though Kordell played a very good game against the Jets, that he has not been developed into an NFL quarterback. A man that consistently takes 12 step drops, is too timid to play fake and cannot look off a defender is suffering from a simple lack of coaching.
Daunte Cullpepper does not have this problem though it is still to early to tell. Greise and Garcia may fall into this same category. However, these basic quarterbacking skills are taught to young QBs when they enter the league.
Kordell should be playing!
He is not. Greise, on the otherhand, is not very athletic, does not scramble overly well and has questionably arm strength - is playing this weekend. Why?
Development.
Kordell has never benefited from this process of mentoring and meticulous scrutiny for a number reasons - some may be attributed to his inability to endure criticism, but most of it is due to Cowher's insistence NOT to have a QB coach.
So if Kordell does not play this Sunday - he is not playing being developed as an NFL QB. Even worse, his skills will most likely deteriorate from lack of use and in the absence of development from a coach or mentor.
So he should be playing! And learning! And Developing!
Not to worry - the Steelers will win this game and move to .500 for the first time in about a year I think. But while your watching the Steelers pound the hapless bunguls - ask yourself - what is Kordell doing? What should he have been doing the past four years?
Indeed, why isn't Kordell playing the part of a quality NFL QB about to lead the Steelers to an easy victory and a 5-1 record to start the season?
He should be.
Steel Tank