The tough Pittsburgh Steeler defense that had been keeping the team in games all season thus far, finally collapsed last night, as the Steelers lost at home again to the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-24. Running Back Fred Taylor also had a "career" night, as he set personal highs, and records against Pittsburgh that had been standing for some time. With 234 yards rushing, Taylor ran for more yards than anyone had ever done before against a Pittsburgh defense, breaking the mark set by O.J. Simpson back in 1975, when the "Juice" had totaled 227 on the ground. This was Taylor's career high, and the best mark for the day in the NFL on Sunday. Joe Morris is the only other back to go over 200 yards against Pittsburgh, doing that back in 1985. Aside from the amount of yardage Taylor put into the books, he also scored four times, becoming the only player in history to score four touchdowns against Pittsburgh on their own field.

But despite the great game turned in by Taylor, it was turnovers and dropped passes, along with another game of poor Quarterback play that did the Steelers in. With three fumbles and one interception, the Steelers gave the Jaguars too many opportunities, and they capitalized on them every time. And the dropped passes? Yikes. The dropped passes. This has become a disease on this team, and it is killing us. In trying to come back from a 10-point deficit last night, Kordell Stewart threw a strike to Hines Ward, that Ward caught on his chest, but in falling down on his back, the force of the hitting the ground knocked the ball loose, and he certainly would have been able to get up and reach the end zone seeing that no Jaguar defenders were close to him. That kind of play is made by a <I>big-time</I> receiver, of which the Steelers obviously have none. In fact, what looked like a very deep receiving corps at the beginning of the season, now looks like such an inept crew, that they are making Kordell Stewart look worse than he is. And, speaking of Stewart, he may have done just enough last night to stay in the good graces of Bill Cowher. That is a shame my friends. Because, while having just a few big plays, most of them coming at the expense of his footwork, Stewart was once again inconsistent in his passing, and decision-making. Many times last night, when he decided to tuck and run, he as putting his head down and not looking where he was running to, often running directly into his offensive lineman. So, not only is his passing game now off, his running game is also heading south. Ironically, in 1999, it was the eleventh game of the season that Cowher decided to bench Stewart in favor of Mike Tomczak. Well, this was the 11th game, and I believe that time has come again to bench Stewart, only this time PERMANENTLY. If this happens, you know it will be Kent Graham, but my belief is that Tee Martin needs to get put into the fire to see what he has. And what better game to do it in, as the Steelers head to Cincinnati next Sunday to take on the Bengals.

Game Notes:

How about the sign in Three Rivers last night that read: "Refs 3, Pittsburgh 0. Get it Right." The sign also had apology in a circle crossed out.

Courtney Hawkins, in for the benched Plaxico Burress, drops two passes, the second one which was in his grasp, only to have been let go, bounding into
the arms of a Jaguar defender for an interception.

Up until Fred Taylor's first touchdown, the Steelers defense had not allowed
a touchdown following a turnover this season. That went down the drain last
night in a big way.

Where oh where did you go Brendan Stai? To Jacksonville of course! The Jags landed Leon Searcy several years back, and now Stai showed up last night on the line, and actually made several key and big blocks.

How bad is Kordell Stewart's game? It appears that he is not even reading defenses well anymore. One of the three fumbles by Pittsburgh last night, came when a Jaguar defender rushing in on Stewart and knocked the ball from his hands. In watching the replay, it was obvious that Stewart should have seen him coming. Stewart just doesn't have the vision that it takes to be an effective NFL Quarterback.

The Steelers did have one Jacksonville touchdown reversed when Keenan McCardell caught one in the end zone but never had possession. They lined up to kick the extra point, but just before doing so, Cowher decided to challenge. If the Jags had attempted the kick, there would have been no challenge.

Troy Edwards got demoted earlier this season, and has been on special teams. He got a chance to return a kick last night, and subsequently fumbled it away. That led to a Fred Taylor score.

More on Stewart. In NFL history, Quarterbacks who have attempted at least 1,000 passes, Kordell Stewart's 10.9 average yards per pass is the lowest in history. Does that get through to you now Cowher???

Even Bobby Shaw, impressive at times, made a great catch last night, only to fumble the ball away to Jacksonville. None of the receivers are getting it done for Pittsburgh.

When it looked like Kordell was bringing the team back from the 10 points down, the Steelers lined up for an easy field goal that would have made it a seven-point game. But, Kris Brown missed it, and the snapper was partly to blame, but on replay it looked like Kent Graham did not hold the ball in the right position.

The only other Running Back to score four times in Pittsburgh was Jim Brown
in 1965.

Incredibly, it was being said that Jacksonville is having this lousy year, but with the win, they improved to 4-7, while Pittsburgh is just one game ahead at 5-6. Playoff chances? How about four wins in the next five games to maybe have a shot. Doable? Doubtfully with games against teams like Washington, Oakland and the New York Giants.

Finally, more negative stuff.Since 1998, Pittsburgh's 3-16 record in the second half of the season, is the worst mark in the NFL for records of the last eight games of the season. Perhaps in the future we should play the second half of the season first, then the first half second!