All-time favorite Steeler Offense/Defense

I truly believe that if Kordell had devoted himself to WR, we'd be talking about him in glowing terms as one of the team's all-time greats.

 

Perhaps, yeah. But I doubt we'd have even sniffed the playoffs in '97 or '01, with Jim Miller or Mike Tomczak or whoever at the helm and Tom Donahoe drafting.

Oy, I really didn't want to get into this, but who am I kidding...

I could debate all day, but before we write off his QB career as a failure, remember that in 2001 when we lost to the Pats in the AFCCG, our offense scored more than theirs. We lost by 7 in a game in which our special teams cost us 17 points. (Plus Spygate, too.)

Kordell's detractors put that loss on Kordell because he failed to comeback from behind, throwing 2 INTs late in the 4th, forcing balls when things were desperate. I freely admit he did not complete the comeback from the 21-3 deficit, instead only bringing us to within 4, and ultimately losing by 7. But if we hadn't allowed a PR TD as well as a blocked FG return TD, Kordell and the Steelers could have won the game in regular, ordinary fashion, and they'd be in the Super Bowl against the Rams. We can only guess how that might have gone, but we're basically talking about a 50% chance he wins us a Super Bowl.

And how easy is it to lead a team from behind in the 4th quarter? Comebacks of that size are difficult for a reason, and the unbelievable glory for those that do it is there for a reason. Dear Tom Tom himself couldn't get it done last week. (I see little difference between going 4 and out and throwing an INT, except in stats.) Failing in that situation doesn't make you horrible, it makes you like most QBs on most days.