Stewart Half as Good as He Needs to Be

In the first half, after his third interception, Kordell Stewart stood on the field with his hands on his hips. Then his shoulders sagged as he let out a huge sigh.

In the second half, after his second touchdown pass, Stewart hopped like a kid and skipped off the field. He had rallied the Pittsburgh Steelers from a 21-0 deficit to a 28-24 lead.

Stewart was inept in the first half and infallible in the second as the Steelers tied a team record for biggest comeback victory Sunday, 42-34 over the Baltimore Ravens.

“It’s about trust, man,” said Stewart. “You throw three interceptions, guys can go in the tank. It’s not over until there’s three zeros left in the fourth quarter. Anything’s possible when you believe.”

After setting up three Baltimore touchdowns with interceptions before halftime, Stewart threw three touchdowns passes after the break and appropriately capped the day with a 74-yard scoring run after the Ravens had pulled within 35-32.

“He came of age and surpassed it,” Pittsburgh Coach Bill Cowher said.

Jerome Bettis rushed for 137 yards, Yancey Thigpen had 162 yards receiving and Will Blackwell returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown for Pittsburgh (3-2). The Ravens (3-3) blew a second-half lead for the 11th time since they moved to Baltimore last year.

At one point, Stewart was three for eight passing with three interceptions, all glaring mistakes by the versatile player in his first year as a full-time starter.

But in the second half, Stewart was 11 of 14 for 181 yards, with touchdown passes of eight and 17 yards to Charles Johnson and four yards to Mark Bruener. It was after Bruener’s touchdown that Stewart was hopping and skipping in celebration.