Stewart filled in admirably, but time for Maddox to return
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Kordell Stewart, Tommy Maddox and Bill Cowher did their best trying not to say anything after Pittsburgh’s 25-23 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday. Stewart had just filled in admirably for Maddox for the second week in a row and the questions were bound to pop up in the post-game locker room.
Who is going to start at quarterback next week, when the expansion Houston Texans come to Heinz Field?
Cowher begged off, wanting to enjoy this victory a little bit before getting involved with such a touchy situation again. It was a totally understandable approach from the coach.
And neither of the quarterbacks wanted to say anything that could have been misread or even a little bit misleading. They were wise to keep tight grips on their lips. Besides, nobody knows for sure whether Maddox or Stewart knows what Cowher has in store for either one of them.
But Stewart made a statement that speaks volumes about the situation facing the Steelers and their quarterbacks. He didn’t realize he was capsulizing the entire situation, let alone how succinctly he was doing so, but he did it nonetheless.
“Tommy is the starter of this football team,” Stewart said. “He left because of an injury.”
There you have it, sports fans. Proof positive from the backup quarterback that the job should be Maddox’s as soon as he is able to return. Maddox received a clean bill of health a week ago and could have played Sunday against Jacksonville, but Cowher opted to give him another week to rest up from his ordeal in Nashville, Tenn., a few weeks earlier.
Probably a good move, but now is the time to return Maddox to the starting job he took from Stewart earlier in the season. Stewart, of course, played very well last week against Cincinnati and he played perhaps better Sunday against the Jaguars.
But that is what he was supposed to do. By his own reasoning, he is the backup quarterback and the backup quarterback plays when the starting quarterback is unable.
Stewart’s work is done now. Maddox is ready to return and should be Pittburgh’s starting quarterback Sunday against Houston.
Not because the Texans are an expansion team and not because Stewart has or hasn’t played well the last few games.
Maddox should start because that is his job. He is the starting quarterback and, by sheer definition of the term, he should start and play the whole game.
Maddox got his feet wet this week, returning to his job as holder for Jeff Reed’s placements. And he got plenty of time doing that, as Reed hit all six of his field goals and his only extra point.
Maddox seemed genuinely grateful for any chance he got to get on the field and appeared rather indifferent about returning to his No. 1 job.
“That’s out of my control,” he said. “I am going to go to work like I always do and prepare as hard as I can,” Maddox said. “Bill and I talked. We had a good talk and we’ll go from there. Just like always, he told me to be ready. Kordell played today and he played great.”
“That’s my job, what I did today,” Stewart said. “The rest is up to coach Cowher and whatever decision he makes, I will remain a team player all the way through.”
The decision is up to Cowher, but it should be an easy one. He knows what Stewart can do, both as a starter and as a backup. He has a good feel for what Maddox can do as a starter and he should get Maddox back in the saddle as soon as possible.
If the Steelers have hopes of going very far into the playoffs this season, which they do, they will need Maddox at quarterback before it is all said and done. They need him back sooner as opposed to later.
The sooner he gets a few more games under his belt, the better the Steelers offense will be. And they don’t really have much time to experiment. The playoffs start in a month.
“The bell has been rung,” Cowher said. “This is the last lap. We control our destiny and there are not a lot of teams who can say that right now.”
Cowher can make the right next move early this week by letting Maddox resume doing the job he won earlier in the season.
Mike Ciarochi may be reached at begin mciarochi@heraldstandard.com mciarochi@heraldstandard.com end
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