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Stillers are the real titans

October 30, 2001 by In the Trenches

Stillers are the real titans

After whipping the slack-ass Titans 34-7, the Stillers showed Tennessee who the real AFC Central titans are. Cowher's impressive Monday Night Football record continued to improve with the help of Stewart, Burress, the offensive line and the entire defensive unit.

After receiving the opening kickoff, Pittsburgh marched down and scored with relative ease. Three plays of 10+ yards showed a glimpse of what was to come throughout the night.

After trading possessions, Tennessee scored to even the game at 7 apiece after McNair found Wycheck open in the back of the endzone. This lead to an uneasy "here we go" feeling which was exacerbated only moments later.

After quickly moving into FG range after Kordell hit Plex on a big 33 yard gain, Stewart was sacked for -9 and run OOB for -4, the Stillers had to punt. After cursing for 5 minutes then punting my coffee table and nearly breaking a toe, Alexander came up with a spectacular one-hand interception. Whew! This play was the first of two plays that helped swing the momentum permanently in Pittsburgh's favor. The second part, a moronic unnecessary roughness against the Bitans on 3rd and 9, came just 3 plays after Alexander's pick. Rather than three and out, this kept the drive alive. Stewart made the Bitans pay with a beautiful pass to Hines in the endzone. While rolling to his right and in the grasp of Randall Godfrey, Kordell hit Ward right in the numbers � superb! This put Pittsburgh was up for good at 14-7.

The final back breaker came just moments later when Tennessee attempted a 48 yard FG that was blocked nicely by the right upright. Showing signs that they wanted to bury a team for the first time in recent memory, the Stillers actually marched down and put up 3 more points before the half's end. During this drive, Brown was responsible for more than the 42 yard FG, he also helped keep the drive alive and showed his 4.5-40 speed to boot. On 4th and 5 from the 29, rather than booting the FG, Miller tossed the ball to Brown who raced to his left and to the sticks. Although a TD didn't result, precious clock was killed and Brown shortened his FG attempt by 5 yards.

First half result: Pittsburgh 17, Tennessee 7

The Stillers stuck it to the Titans to start the second half. After the D held Tennessee, Poteat then had a huge punt return from the 17 to the 48. Not to be out done by Poteat, Stewart and Plex hooked up on a big 43 yard pass just 2 plays later � on the play, Rolle should actually have intercepted the pass but Plex came back and won the battle for the ball. Bettis then scored from 7 yards out while Bruener, Tuman, Faneca and Gandy blocked like men possessed, hitting everything in sight. Stillers up 24-7.

At this point, Tennessee�s battle was basically over. Until there final offensive series, they did little to move the ball as the Pittsburgh defense took over. While the defense was dominating, the offense continued to roll with a 27 yard FG near the end of the third quarter. This was quickly followed by a Derrick Mason fumble on the ensuing kickoff after Mike Logan punched the ball out at the Titan 29 yard line. After a 27 yard connect to Burress to the two yard line, Stewart ran the ball himself for the final score of the game, sealing the Tennessee coffin at 34-7!

There were plenty of things to cheer about in this game including Kordell�s prime time game, Burress coming up big, the defense again shining and Pittsburgh being 5-1 and STILL atop the AFC Central. Tennessee�s 7-game win streak over Pittsburgh is over and the offense showed that it can pass if and when it must do so. Most importantly, this win all but buries the Titans who were coming into the game with a two straight wins and give Pittsburgh a little breathing room entering the Baltimore game.

I don�t know about you, my fellow Stillers fans, but this game has me fired up!! Bring on the Ravens!

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