The Steeler Report
By Harvey Aronson
http://www.geocities.com/steelerhotline/

Kordell's the Man
Dateline: 10/22/00

Quarterback controversy? I don't think so. Kordell Stewart came in as relief
to a struggling Kent Graham on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns and
despite not throwing for any touchdowns, he did have the offense moving on a consistent basis, and led the Steelers to a 22-0 victory, their fourth
straight. Stewart was much sharper than Graham and in my opinion has won the starting job outright based on his performance in his last three outings. As for Sunday's game, the Steelers knocked out their second consecutive Ohio opponent, having disposed of the Bengals last week and now Cleveland today. Two consecutive shutouts, and this defense looks as good as it has in several seasons. Jason Gildon continued his Pro Bowl caliber type of play, Kimo von Oehlfen also continued to play well in the middle.

Kent Graham looked awful from the start, overthrowing his receivers, and
throwing badly tossed balls. When Kordell Stewart relieved him, the receivers
just seem to click with him in there, and seemed to be much more comfortable. It was a rather quiet crowd in the final meeting in Three Rivers Stadium between these two teams, but they came to life when Stewart came in, and when it became apparent that Pittsburgh was simply dominating this game. In fact, in the third quarter, chants of "Cleveland sucks" could easily be heard.

The game plan for the day was simple. Run Jerome Bettis, and mix it up with
an occasional pass. Several surprises were the playing time that Courtney Hawkins received as well as Richard Huntley. But, with Chris Fuamatu-Ma'Afala getting the start in place of the injured Jon Witman, Huntley was getting more playing time, especially after FU went out with an injury in the second half. Rookie Dan Kreider came in as relief for FU at Fullback, and did a decent job considering he has never started an NFL game. There was nothing special about today's game, just effective play calling, execution, few mistakes, and plenty of GREAT defense on Pittsburgh's part. The team seems to be on the right track, and for any experts, media sorts, or anyone who thinks because Pittsburgh's aerial attack may not be that impressive, my comment to that is, does it really matter if we are winning games? Who needs 400+ yards passing by Stewart or Graham if they are winning games on the feet of Jerome Bettis  and the maneuverability of Kordell Stewart? "If it ain't broken, don't fix it."