As a veteran kicker, Joe Nedney had been in this situation many times before, but never quite like this. As night fell on The Coliseum in Nashville, the 30-year-old kicker lined up for a chance to win an AFC Divisional Playoff Game for his Tennessee Titans against long-time rival Pittsburgh. What made this situation different from all the others was that Nedney was about to attempt his game-winning field goal for the third time.

On his first kick (a 31-yard attempt), Nedney had calmly drilled the ball right down the middle. Fireworks erupted and the crowd of 70,000 went beserk. However, the play didn't count. Right before the snap, the Steelers called a timeout. Referee Ron Blum blew his whistle but Nedney didn't hear it and kicked the ball anyway. He would have to do it a second time with even more pressure on him than before.

The second kick sailed wide right. Amazingly, the Steelers were going to get another shot at keeping their wild season alive. But just as The Nation was celebrating, Blum again put a stop to the festivities. This time it was a flag. Beleaguered CB Dewayne Washington, who had been burnt for a long pass which gave Tennessee the opportunity to attempt the field goal in the first place, was called for running into the kicker. It was a five yard infraction, but more significantly, it gave Nedney a chance to attempt the kick one more time.

The kicker looked down at the ground and prepared to try the kick yet again. The Nation held their collective breath, not knowing what to expect. Was there another miracle left in this, the most bizzarre season in team history? Would there be a fourth kick? How could they call a penalty in that situation? The prevailing thought, however, was an unmistakably familiar one: what the @#*%$ just happened?!?

*************************

January 27, 2002 was supposed to be a glorious day for the city of Pittsburgh. Their beloved football team had just completed an astounding regular season and had knocked their biggest rivals out of the playoffs one week earlier. They were heavy favorites to beat the upstart New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game and advance to their sixth Super Bowl. However, it all fell apart that day. The Steelers special teams choked early and the rest of the team followed suit.

After the standard few months of mourning, the team and its followers began looking ahead to the 2002 season as one of promise. After all, the Steelers seemingly were only getting better. After two disastrous years to close out the 1990's, the Steelers had improved to 9-7 in 2000 and 13-3 in 2001. Surely they would be hungry to avenge their loss in the conference title game as well.

They had talent. RB Jerome Bettis revived his career with a 1000 yard season. WR Hines Ward had established himself as a true star, as had G Alan Faneca (they each made their first trip to Hawaii following the 2001 season). LB Kendrell Bell had earned defensive rookie of the year honors from the NFL. SS Lee Flowers and LB Joey Porter had established themselves as leaders of the defense. QB Kordell Stewart shocked the world with his performance in 2001, making the Pro Bowl and competing for the league's MVP award. Not too long before that, Stewart had been crying on the bench and enduring sexual preference rumors. Kordell's career seemed to be back on the fast track.

The offseason that year was very productive. The special teams had been cleaned up. Kicker Kris Brown and special teams coach Jay Hayes were sent packing, replaced by Todd Peterson and Kevin Spencer respectively. Troy Edwards, whose punt return blunder had cost the Steelers dearly against New England, was also not welcomed back. April's draft provided the team with two players - G Kendall Simmons and WR Antwaan Randel El - who would make an immediate impact in 2002.

The Steelers also made every effort to keep intact the unit which had ranked #1 in total defense in 2001. They made Jason Gildon the highest paid linebacker in the NFL. They re-signed CB Deshea Townsend to provide depth in the secondary. They awarded contract extensions to DE Kimo Von Oelhoffen and LB Joey Porter. They lost LB Earl Holmes but replaced him with James Farrior, who ended up being a better player. If there were going to be any problems with the 2002 squad, the defense surely would be immune.

As the regular season drew near, the Steelers knew what they were capable of doing. They were a Super Bowl contender, and they wanted nothing more than to avenge the disappointment of the previous season's title game loss. Expectations were high and the setting was right - the 2002 Steelers were going to finally win the "one for the thumb". Or so everyone thought.

*************************

The Allstate Insurance Agency outside of Dallas, TX was a typical insurance agency. They provided customers with the standard auto and home policies. It opened in the late 1990's and quickly became a successful business. The man who ran the agency was a former football player named Tommy Maddox.

Maddox used his XFL success to get back into the NFL.

Maddox was a star quarterback at UCLA in 1991. He became the first and only player in Pac-10 history to throw for more than 5,000 yards by the end of his sophomore year. He left for the riches of the NFL and struck gold. The Denver Broncos, seeking a successor to aging legend John Elway, made Maddox the 25th overall pick of the 1992 draft. They also gave him a multimillion-dollar contract.

Life was good for the 21-year old Maddox - until he had to play in a live NFL game, that is. When Elway went down with an injury during Maddox's rookie season, he was pressed into action and he failed miserably. The Broncos lost all four games which Maddox started, and he threw nine interceptions. After another season in Denver, the Broncos gave up on Tommy. He bounced around to several different teams but never caught on anywhere, and by 1997 he decided that he would rather sell insurance than try to resurrect his once proud career.

While the insurance business was good to Maddox, he never felt fulfilled. In 2000, he signed on with an Arena Football team and played well. In the winter of 2001, he became the sole MVP of the ill-fated XFL. That spring the Steelers decided to give him one more shot at the NFL. Once again, he played well and earned the second-string job over veteran Kent Grahm.

Maddox was happy to be back in the game, but even he did not expect to play much in 2002. After all, Kordell Stewart was coming off of an all-pro season and was firmly entrenched as the starting QB. Stewart almost never suffered injuries either, which was remarkable considering how much he scrambled. Tommy's role would be to provide veteran leadership while dutifully holding the clipboard on the sidelines.

*************************

The Steelers were scheduled to open the 2002 campaign with a bang. Their first game was not only a rematch with the Patriots, it was also going to be played at New England's new stadium on national television via Monday Night Football. Was there a better way to start the new season?

The game quickly turned sour however. Stewart threw two interceptions on his first three passes and the offense struggled to move the ball against the New England defense. That wasn't a huge surprise. The Nation was accustomed to seeing the offense go thru dry spells during Bill Cowher's tenure as head coach, especially on opening day. What they weren't accustomed to seeing was pitiful defense. Patriots QB Tom Brady put on a clinic. When the second half began, New England employed a spread offense which manhandled the Steelers defense. Brady threw three long touchdown passes and the Pats cruised to a 30-14 win.

In week 2, the Steelers opened their home schedule with a game against the Oakland Raiders, who had obviously been watching Monday Night Football the previous week. They came out with the same spread offense that the Patriots had used and once again, the Steelers were totally unprepared. Raiders QB Rich Gannon threw for over 400 yards and came within two passes of setting the NFL record for completions in a single game! When it was all over, the Raiders blew the Steelers away by the score of 30-14.

The season which had been so full of promise now seemed to be collapsing before the Steelers could even catch their breath. They were 0-2 and to make matters worse, they were entering a bye week. They had two whole weeks to ponder what went wrong. The offense was uncharacteristically leading the league in turnovers. The special teams was still a joke despite all the changes (that was made evident in the Raiders game when they allowed Terry Kirby's corpse to return a kickoff for a touchdown). Worst of all, the defense had managed to give up 30 points in each of their first two games. By comparison, the 2001 squad never gave up more than 26 points all year. All of a sudden, every team knew the that the Pittsburgh's kryptonite was defending the pass. It really started the previous season in a late-season game at Cincinnati, where Bengals QB Jon Kitna threw for 411 yards in an overtime win. It seemed like a fluke at the time, but it quickly became reality that the secondary was truly awful.

Gannon had a career game against the defense in week 2.

The third game of the season turned into a must-win. The Cleveland Browns came to Heinz Field hoping to decimate the season of their biggest rivals. Fortunately, Cleveland did not have a quarterback like Brady or Gannon. The Browns only managed to get in the endzone once, but the Steelers offense fared no better. Cleveland led 13-6 as the final minutes ticked away. Stewart had a chance to tie the game, but he threw into double-coverage in the endzone and the Browns took the ball away. Of all the stupid plays he made during his time as Steelers QB, that pass was probably the worst. The crowd booed him off the field and out of a job. Cowher made the decision to go with Maddox on the team's next possession while Kordell was relegated to the bench, not just for the remainder of the game, but for the remainder of the season. The man who was heralded as one of the top players in the league just nine months earlier would soon find his career in shambles yet again.

Maddox did not dissapoint. It only took him seven plays to produce the game-tying touchdown drive, and in overtime, he drove the offense down inside the 10 yard line. Cowher decided to attempt a field goal on 2nd and goal, just in case something went awry. It proved to be a smart move. Peterson's kick was blocked, but because the Steelers pounced on the ball and because it never crossed the line of scrimmage, they maintained possession. It was a bizzarre moment that would forever be known as "The Mulligan Kick". The Steelers got the do-over, and on the second try, Peterson nailed it.

The win was significant because had the Steelers dropped to 0-3, their season almost certainly would have been finished. It was also a turning point for the offense. Sometime in between Denver, the insurance company, and Pittsburgh, Maddox had transformed into a flamethrower. He would soon start lighting up the team record books with impressive displays of passing. However, the defense was still flawed. The Steelers dropped to 1-3 with a loss in New Orleans the following week. Once again, the defense gave up 30 points. This time it was Saints RB Deuce McAllister who did the heavy damage. Maddox was able to throw for three touchdowns and put up 29 points, but it wasn't enough. It soon became clear that the 2002 Steelers were going to have to win shootouts, and that was definitely not the Pittsburgh way.

*************************

Very few sports stars have taken more care with their public image than Jerome Bettis. During his 13 seasons in the NFL, the Bus always went to great lengths to portray himself as the likeable athelete who kept a clean profile. Bettis knew what he was doing too, because it netted him multiple endorsement deals as well as a lucrative spot on NBC's Football Night in America. That is why is was so shocking when claims of sexual assault were made against Bettis in the summer of 2002.

Bettis was hanging out at Bobby Dale's, a bar in Greensburg which was located near the team's training camp. Later that night, he has what he said was consensual sex with a 22-year-old woman in his car outside. It was definitely not the smartest or most moral move on Jerome's part, but it was not criminal.

The woman, who already had a prior police record, told a different story. She claimed that she walked up to Bettis and asked for his autograph. She said that Bettis asked her to go out to his car to "talk", and she agreed because "he seemed like a very nice guy". That's when Bettis allegedly forced her to do things, supposedly warning her not to fight it.

The woman's story seemed suspect from the start, but it became even more transparent when the woman's uncle, a state university professor named Charles Walters (Penn State sucks), had apparently openly boasted to his students about coming up with a scheme to extort money from Bettis! One of the early schemes involved Walters picking a fight with Bettis at Bobby Dale's in hopes of filing a lucrative lawsuit. That failed when Bettis didn't feel like fighting the guy. So then Walters, who just happened to be at the bar that night, used his niece to bait Bettis then try to extort money from him via a settlement.

The real shame of the incident is how it made real rape victims less credible in the eyes of the public. Like other high-profile false accusations in subsequent years (Kobe Bryant, the Duke lacrosse team, etc), it created a "boy who cried wolf" scenario. It's hard enough for a woman to admit being raped. It's even harder when people think that there is a chance she made it up.

As for the woman and her uncle, they never got their big settlement. The woman did issue this damning statement though: "I used to watch the Steelers all the time, although I won't now."

*************************

When Cleveland and Houston were awarded expansion teams in the late 1990's, the NFL decided it was time to re-align the divisions, and 2002 would be the first season for that re-alignment. Rather than playing in the six-team AFC Central, the Steelers were slated in a four-team AFC North along with Cleveland, Baltimore, and Cincinnati. It proved to be their saving grace. Cleveland had started off the season slowly. Cincinnati was awful as usual. Baltimore, the team which battled Pittsburgh so fiercely in 2001, collapsed under the heavy weight of The Genius' huge ego. After a week 6 win over the Bengals, the Steelers were shocked to find themselves in a first-place tie with the Ravens despite the fact that both clubs were only 2-3.

The weakness of the AFC North gave the Steelers the motivation they needed to get their act together. They posted wins over Indianapolis, Baltimore, and Cleveland (again). The defense was still rocky and Bettis was hurt, but Maddox was throwing all over the field, much to the delight of receivers Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress. By week 10, they had run their record to 5-3 and had taken control of the division.

The Atlanta Falcons, who were also 5-3, traveled to Heinz Field that week for what would become a wild affair. The game featured one big play after another. Maddox and Burress hooked up on touchdown passes of 33, 32, and 62 yards. When it was all said and done, Maddox would break Bobby Lane's 44 year-old team record for passing yards in a game with 473, while Burress set the team receiving mark with 253 yards. But even with those big numbers, the Steelers defense could not hold. They allowed multiple big plays by the Falcons, including a 59 yard Warrick Dunn touchdown run. They gave up first downs on two different 3rd and 23 plays - on the same drive! Worst of all, they blew a 17-point lead in the final ten minutes of regulation, as The Dog Fighter rallied Atlanta to force overtime.

Burress came up just inches short in overtime.

After each team had put up amazing offensive numbers in regulation, no one could score in overtime. Each club had a field goal get blocked, and on the final play of the game, Maddox found Burress on a hail mary pass, but Plex got tackled at the one yard line. The game ended in a tie, which confused a number of people. After all, ties are extremely rare in the NFL (this was the only one this decade). Some of the Steelers players admitted that they started preparing for the second OT period. Some of the fans at Heinz Field remained in their seats. But soon everyone realized that 34-34 was indeed the final score. The tie was indicative of the way the season had gone to that point. It was an up-and-down game and in the end, all anyone could say was "WTF?"

The Steelers were now 5-3-1 and were riding on the arm of Maddox. The next game would be at Tennessee. The Titans owned the Steelers, beating them seven consecutive times between 1997-00. Pittsburgh was relieved to see Tennessee move on to the AFC South in 2002, but the two clubs were still on each other's schedule that season anyway.

The game was a complete disaster. The defense once again laid an egg, allowing the Titans to convert 12 of 19 3rd down attempts. Steve McNair dominated as usual, building up a secure 28-7 lead by the 3rd quarter. To make matters worse, Maddox couldn't get the offense moving, almost as if he were still tired out from the five full quarters of football he had played the previous week. He tried to make plays anyway, and that's when he almost lost everything.

On the final play of the 3rd quarter, Maddox scrambled and was hit by LB Keith Bulluck. The play looked like any other tackle, except that Maddox wasn't moving. The trainers tried to stabilize his neck as an ambulance drove out onto the field. The initial diagnosis was temporary paralysis, but later that night he began to get feeling back in his arms and legs. It was unclear when or if Tommy Maddox would ever play again. All of a sudden the season was once again up in flames.

*************************

It is often said that kicking in the NFL is nothing more than a mind game. After all, kicking the ball in practice is really no different than kicking the ball during a game. It's just snap, set, and kick. It's like teeing off on the golf course, but as anyone who plays golf knows, sometimes you catch a beautiful drive and other times you shank it off to the side. Is kicking the same thing every time with different results based on pressure, concentration, etc?

That was the question which was posed after Heinz Field opened. In the stadium's first season, Steelers kicker Kris Brown, who had been reliable during his previous two seasons in Three Rivers Stadium, began missing everything. After a game against Baltimore in which Brown missed four field goals, people began to question what was wrong. Was the open end of the stadium causing wind problems? Was the turf, which for some unknown reason appeared to be composed of sand and mud, causing issues with the footing? Or had Brown just been psyched out?

The Steelers didn't get a chance to find out. They let the Texans sign Brown to an offer sheet after the season ended and picked up veteran Todd Peterson to be their guy for 2002. However, Peterson proved to be just as awful. He not only missed many of his attempts, but he also became possibly the first Steelers kicker ever to have multiple overtime field goals get blocked. By the time November hit, Cowher started going for it on 4th downs in situations where a field goal attempt would have been the obvious choice. He had zero faith in his kicker.

Once again, Heinz Field was to blame. It was a house of horrors for all kickers. But was that true? The Atlanta game was played on November 10. Peterson missed two field goals and a PAT. One day earlier, a kid from Temple named Cap Poklemba successfully converted five field goals in a game against Pitt. Same weekend, same weather, same field. Peterson was a nine-year NFL veteran. Poklemba was a college student playing for a horrible football program. Why didn't Poklemba succumb to the elements?

Peterson broke a rib in the Tennessee game (or at least that is what the Steelers reported - it was kind of an odd coincidence seeing as how he missed two more field goals in that game), so the team needed a new kicker. They picked up a rookie from UNC named Jeff Reed. "Skippy" had not been drafted and had been waived by New Orleans over the summer. But if Cap Poklemba could mater Heinz Field, maybe Jeff Reed could as well.

Reed would ultimately cement himself as the man for the job. He kicked well in pressure situations and developed into a successful player. Most significantly, Reed's arrival in Pittsburgh put an end to all of the Heinz Field kicking talk. He single-handedly debunked the myths.

*************************

With Maddox out, the Steelers needed to circle the wagons. Fortunately their week 12 opponent was the 1-9 Cincinnati Bengals. Bettis was back in the lineup as was Stewart, who was once again the starting quarterback by default. The offense didn't seem to miss a beat with Kordell at the helm, but the defense was as thin as ever. The Steelers escaped with a win only because T.J. Houshmandzadeh fumbled a late 4th quarter punt (the Bengals were in the lead at the time and only needed to kill the clock).

The Steelers found another uncoventional way to win the following week in Jacksonville, as new kicker Reed set a team record by converting six field goals. The Steelers were plodding along and only needed a few more victories to secure the first ever AFC North title. They also got great news when they learned that Maddox would actually be able to return to action for the week 14 home game against the expansion Houston Texans. All seemed to be going well again, but the roller coaster that was 2002 hit another hill.

In the Houston game, the defense finally stepped up. Granted, the first-year Texans may have had the worst offensive line in the history of pro football, but the Steelers still did an amazing job in holding them to just 47 yards of total offense. Typically that would be enough to easily win a football game, or at the very least make it competitive. Instead the Texans BLEW OUT the Steelers by the score of 24-6! Maddox turned the ball over three times, and each time a Houston defender returned it for a touchdown. The receivers dropped passes. Players fumbled. The Steelers actually would have been better off taking a knee on their first three downs and simply punting the ball away. It was an absolutely surreal outcome.

The Steelers didn't let it phase them too much though. They easily defeated Carolina, and then they clinched the division with a dominant win over the eventual Super Bowl champions in Tampa Bay. They finished the regular season with a win over Baltimore, but only because Ravens QB Jeff Blake inexplicably threw into double-coverage at the end of regulation when Baltimore could have easily sent the game into overtime with a chip-shot field goal. Regardless, the Steelers were 10-5-1, which was good enough for the #3 seed in the AFC playoffs. Their first-round playoff opponent would be a familiar team.

*************************

Stewart's career in Pittsburgh came to an end in 2002.

"Involving great excitement, confusion, and emotional agitation" - that is the definition of the word "tumultuous" according to the Encarta Dictionary. A similar definition would be "the career of Kordell Stewart". The journey began when the Steelers made him their second round pick out of Colorado, where he had achieved fame by throwing the famous hail mary pass against Michigan. That first season was a glorious time for Stewart. He essentially created a new position called "slash", which saw him catch passes, throw passes, run the ball, and even punt. He became an integral part of Pittsburgh's Super Bowl run.

Two season later Stewart became the starting quarterback amid much fanfare. He appeared on David Letterman, made the cover of Sports Illustrated, and starred in various national TV ads. He took the Steelers all the way to the AFC Championship Game, but then he watched as everything collapsed. The next two seasons brought nothing but misery. His poor play not only caused him to be benched, it also shut him out of the team quarterback meetings. His actions (most notably the infamous sideline crying incident in Tampa) caused an uproar amongst The Nation. Fans dumped beer on him and floated rumors about his sexual preferences.

Then just as quickly as Stewart's career had hit rock bottom, it rose up again. The 2001 season revived his career. He made the Pro Bowl and was considered a leading candidate for league MVP. He made it back onto the cover of Sports Illustrated and back to the AFC title game. He had reclaimed his throne…. and just like that, he was banished from the kingdom again.

The 2002 season marked the end of the Kordell Era in Pittsburgh. The Steelers released him after the season ended. There has never been a Pittsburgh athelete who has simultaneously excited, angered, and bewildered fans more than Stewart. When it all came to an end, everyone was just ready to move on. Unfortunately, Stewart never again captured his old magic. He bounced around to several other teams before finally leaving the game following the 2005 campaign.

*************************

No professional sports franchise has had to endure agony quite like the Cleveland Browns. When the 2002 season began, things just seemed to be getting worse. On opening day in Kansas City, the Browns thought that they had sacked Chiefs QB Trent Green to end the game. Cleveland LB Dewayne Rudd took off his helmet to celebrate, but what he did not realize was that a Kansas City lineman had picked up the ball and was chugging down the field. The Browns tacked him, but since taking a helmet off on the field of play is a 15-yard penalty, and since a game cannot end on a defensive penalty, the Chiefs got one more play. They used it to kick a game-winning field goal.

Cleveland had every excuse to give up on the 2002 season, especially after the aforementioned Mulligan Game three weeks later. Yet they kept on playing, and eventually they became the Cinderella story of the season. With a final record of 9-7, the Browns earned the final spot in the AFC. It was their first playoff appearance in eight years, and best of all, they would get to go down the turnpike to Pittsburgh for the Wild Card Playoffs.

Cleveland's quarterback at this point in the season was Kelly Holcomb, a career backup who had thrown all of two touchdown passes in his career before that season. However, the Steelers defense was worn down from the season-long beating they had been taking, and they were in no mood to stop Holcomb in the playoff game. That became especially clear when Holcomb hit WR Kevin Johnson on an 83 yard pass just two plays into the game. It was the perfect scenario for Cleveland - take the crowd out of the game early, build up a big lead, and then sit on it. Unfortunately for the Browns, they were only able to do two of those three things.

Maddox led the Steelers to an improbable comeback against Cleveland.

After Holcomb's passing sprung the Browns to a 17-point lead in the 3rd quarter, Maddox had no choice but to answer with his own barrage of offense. The game turned into a massive shootout, with the Steelers inching their way back into the game with a "two steps forward, one step backwards" approach. The offense started scoring points but the defense still couldn't stop Holcomb, who had suddenly morphed into Dan Marino. Finally the defense caught a break when Browns WR Dennis Northcutt dropped a pass late in the game that would have given Cleveland a first down. The defense was so awful that Cleveland coach Butch Davis decided to keep passing even with the lead. His strategy worked well there, but his decision to let up on defense enraged his defensive coordinator Foge Fazio so much that he quit.

Given one last chance to make a comeback, Maddox delivered. He drove the Steelers down the field in the game's final minute, and RB Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala ran into the endzone to give the Steelers their first lead of the game. It would be a devastating loss for the Browns and a glorious win for the Steelers. Owner Dan Rooney ranked it behind only "The Immaculate Reception" in terms of shocking comebacks. The excitement of one of the most memorable games in Steelers history still could not hide the fact that the Steelers did not have a defense. Their next playoff game would be at Tennessee against a quarterback who owned them even when their defense was good. In order to make the Super Bowl, the Steelers were going to have to continue to score at least 30 points per game. How long could they really keep that up?

*************************

In Pittsburgh, there are two types of Steelers fans. There is one group of fans who would give their right arm for tickets to a big game. They perform ridiculous radio stunts like dunking themselves in Heinz ketchup. They pay obscene prices for tickets in the upper balcony. They eagerly put themselves on the season ticket waiting list, knowing that their journey involves waiting for years only to get rewarded with a big fat PSL charge at the end. These are the real Steelers faithful. Sure, they may get drunk at the game, shout out ridiculous things like, "Why wouldn't you blitz all 11 guys!", or otherwise act like a moron. But they are happy to be a part of the Steelers Maniac's Haven.

The other group of fans are the ones who leave before the outcome is decided. This fan apparently comes to a game with no real vested interest. Perhaps they get free tickets thru their company or perhaps they come to be seen. Maybe they come with a vested interest but get bored. Whatever their purpose is for being there, this much is clear: staying until the winner is known has no relevance to them.

Granted, some fans tend to straddle the line between these two groups. Many fans play the high-risk game of "beating the traffic" vs. "making sure the Steelers hang on for the win". It's always a tough call. If the Steelers are up by more than one score with five minutes left, is it safe to go home? Every fan must deal with these issues, but when it comes to a playoff game, there should be no such debate. When the season is on the line, there is absolutely no excuse for leaving the game until the outcome is 100% certain.

That is why it was so absurd when thousands of fans began streaming out of Heinz Field during the 3rd quarter of the Steelers-Browns playoff game. The Browns held a hefty lead, but the contest was far from over as the Steelers would later prove. When the comeback began to mount, some of those fans tried to regain entry and were denied (deservedly so). Those who left missed Pittsburgh history, just like the fans who had left the Steelers-Raiders Immaculate Reception game a generation before. It was a sad display of fan support from a town normally crazy about it.

*************************

The NFL screwed over the Steelers by scheduling their second round playoff game on a Saturday. The Cleveland game was played on a Sunday, so Pittsburgh would only get six days to prepare for a Titans team who had been resting for two weeks. Tennessee would have been the heavy favorite regardless due to their recent domination over the Steelers, including the week 11 blowout that season. About the only thing the Steelers had on their side was history, as they were 3-0 lifetime against the Oilers in the post-season.

The game would turn into a microcosm of the season. The Steelers immediately dug themselves into a 14-0 hole and couldn't do anything right. At that point, no one panicked. How could there be panic after all that had happened that season? Nothing was ever over and everyone knew that. Maddox rode in on his white horse in another attempt to save the day, cutting the deficit to 14-13 at halftime. And then the craziness began as it typically did in all of Pittsbugh's games that year. Titans RB Eddie Goerge uncharacteristically fumbled multiple times, including one instance in which he ran into his own blocker. Amos Zeroue turned in perhaps the only good performance of his career, running for a 31 yard touchdown to give the Steelers the lead. The defense continued to collapse, allowing McNair to throw for more touchdowns, but Maddox led his team back each time. With the game deadlocked at 31, the Steelers had 1st and 10 on the Titans 40 yard line with just two minutes remaining in the game, but they couldn't move past that point and had to punt. Fittingly, the game went into overtime, and even more fittingly, it came down to the series of three field goal attempts for Joe Nedney. When his third kick went thru the uprights, it marked the end of the road for the Steelers.

Washington always had a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Losing the game in the manner which they did was a tough pill to swallow for the Steelers and their fans. Many people felt that referee Blum hosed Pittsburgh with the roughing the kicker call. Nedney himself admitted that he should have "won the Oscar" for falling down after Washington had barely touched him. It should have been ignored. Ticky-tack judgement calls are not meant for overtime of the NFL playoffs. "For a game to be decided on that call is ludicrous," said Cowher afterwards. "Fine me if you want. That's the truth."

While it was true that the season ended on a bad call, deep down the Steelers had to know that they were fortunate to make it as far as they did. The entire season had been on life support since the opening kickoff in Foxboro. It was a patchwork effort with the coaches and players making up things as they went. No team can give up 30+ points every week and expect to make it to the Super Bowl. The defense collapsed, the all-pro quarterback flamed out for good, the kicker needed to be replace in mid-season, the star player was accused of rape, the starting quarterback was nearly paralyzed, games were won, lost, and tied on completely inconceivable plays - and even after all of that, the Steelers were one score away from returning to the AFC Championship Game.

It was a truly strange yet remarkable run for the Steelers. They were unable to continue their good fortune into the next season, and soon the key components on the 2002 squad would give way to a new batch of players. That new batch would ultimately bring Pittsburgh the glory it had missed since the 1970's, but no team - no season - may ever be as crazy and unpredictable as 2002. WTF indeed.