Nov 11, 2002 By Mike Ciarochi 8 min read

PITTSBURGH – “All those yards and we still came up short.” The NFL records it as a tie and Steelers coach Bill Cowher kept telling his players it was not a loss, but nobody could convince Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress.

He made the last heroic play to try to salvage a win from this come-from-ahead, 34-34, tie with Atlanta and he made several before it, but he just couldn’t come to grips with a tie.

“I play hard to win,” Burress said, “not to draw and not to lose.”

But that’s how it will go in the books, as the Steelers gave up a 34-17 lead in the final eight minutes of regulation and must settle for a tie.

“It’s the old expression, like kissing your sister,” quarterback Tommy Maddox said. “I’ve dealt with a lot of things in the NFL, but I’ve never dealt with this.”

Maddox had just set a Steelers record by throwing for 473 yards and tied another with four touchdown passes, but all he had to show for it was a tie. Burress, too, set a team record with 253 receiving yards, but he, too, didn’t know to handle it. Even Cowher was somewhat at a loss for words.

“I didn’t know what to tell them,” Cowher said. “We did not lose today. We squandered an opportunity to win, but when the standings come out tomorrow we’ll still have only three losses. It doesn’t feel as good as a win, but I guess it doesn’t feel as bad as a loss, either.

“I know that those guys played their hearts out for five quarters. It was a very well played game by two good football teams.”

The Steelers took advantage of a good punt return and a short field to get on the scoreboard first. Antwaan Randle El returned a punt 22 yards to the Atlanta 34-yard line and ran 10 yards with a direct snap on the next play. The drive stalled at Atlanta’s 16 and Todd Peterson kicked a 34-yard field goal to give Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead with nine seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Atlanta took the lead when quarterback Michael Vick uncorked a strike to Shawn Jefferson for a 43-yard touchdown 13:42 before halftime. Jefferson beat Chad Scott, who was called for pass interference on the play, yet couldn’t prevent the touchdown.

Pittsburgh went back on top when Maddox passed 33 yards to Burress in the end zone. The play capped an 8-play, 91-yard drive and gave the Steeles a 10-7 lead. Burress said he played the tip off the hands of Falcons cornerback Ray Buchanon.

“I gave him a little bump right before the ball got there,” Burress said. “That can throw you off more than you think, so I figured I’d bump him and play the tip. That’s a lot of thinking, isn’t it? Hard to believe I could do that, but I did.”

Hines Ward and Burress combined to get the Steelers in the end zone again on their next possession. Burress caught a 32-yard pass from Maddox and thought he was touched down by a Falcons’ defender. He was not and the officials ruled that he gave himself up on the play. Ward then ran 29 yards on a reverse to the Falcons 5-yard line and caught a 5-yard TD pass two play later to make it 17-7 with 7:15 remaining in the first half.

Atlanta got back in the game quickly in the third quarter when Warrick Dunn ran 59 yards for a touchdown on a third-and-1 play. He broke at least four tackles on the play, which closed the gap to 17-14. The drive covered 80 yards on five plays.

The Steelers came right back when Maddox hit Burress on a 62-yard pass play that capped a 4-play, 74-yard drive. Peterson, who missed a 40-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half, had his extra point attempt blocked to leave Pittsburgh’s lead at nine, 23-14.

Burress’s 62-yard scoring play was the longest of his career. His previous best was a 43-yard catch at home against Tennessee Oct. 29, 2001.

Meanwhile on defense, Joey Porter was causing problems for Vick the whole game. The first time he hit Vick, Porter caused a fumble. Porter ended up with eight tackles,a sack, two passes defensed and his forced and recovered fumble. Like his teammates, he couldn’t enjoy any of it.

“It doesn’t matter how long we’re out there,” Porter said. “If the offense gives us 34 points and if we think we’re a good defense, we should win the game. Today, we played good in spurts, but that wasn’t good enough.”

Vick battled back to get Jay Feely in range for a 36-yard field goal. The drive went 38 yards in 12 plays. Along the way, Vick overcame two intentional grounding penalties by converting a third-and-22 and a third-and-23. Feely’s kick brought Atlanta within a touchdown of the lead, 23-17, with 6:07 left in the third quarter.

But Maddox matched Pittsburgh right back down the field. He capped a 7-play, 77-yard drive with an 18-yard TD pass to tight end Jerame Tuman and passed to Hines Ward for a two-point conversion to extend the Steelers lead to 31-17 with 2:25 remaining in the third quarter.

The Steelers scored again when Peterson converted a 34-yard field goal to cap an 8-play, 21-yard drive. it made the score 34-17 with 12:34 remaining.

Bob Christian capped a 5-play, 37-yard drive for Atlanta with a 1-yard TD run with 7:44 remaining to close the gap to 34-24. Atlanta got the ball when Randle El fumbled a punt return. Cowher challenged the call, but once he saw the replay on the scoreboard, he knew it wouldn’t be overturned.

“I listened to Antwaan,” Cowher said. “He said he was down. I should have known better. That play was big. We had a 17-point lead and they were punting to us in the fourth quarter. so, instead of sealing the win, we fumble the punt and they score. All of a sudden, it’s a game again.”

Feely got Atlanta to within a touchdown, 34-27, with 2:26 remaining by kicking a 40-yard field goal. The kick completed a 10-play, 43-yard drive that took 2:44 to complete. It included a successful conversion of a third-and-24 play.

The Falcons tied the score, 34-34, with 42 seconds remaining when Vick ran 11 yards for a touchdown. The play capped a 6-play, 50-yard drive in 1:13.

From there, Maddox passed to Burress for 4 yards and ran for 7 and a first down, but only 18 seconds remained in regulation. Maddox passed incomplete to Terance Mathis, taking the clock to 12 seconds, and to Ward for 21 yards to the Falcons’ 37-yard line, but regulation expired before Pittsburgh could kill the clock.

The Steelers won the coin toss and drove to Atlanta’s 30-yard line, but Peterson’s 48-yard field goal attempt was blocked by wide receiver Brian Finneran and Atlanta took over at their own 47-yard line.

“I thought I kicked it pretty good, but their guy made a good play on it,” Peterson said.

Asked about the seemingly poor field conditions, Peterson kept repeating the same phrase, perhaps trying to convince himself that it was true. “I love to be at home. I love kicking at home. This is our home field and that’s always an advantage.”

Vick threw incomplete and was sacked by Deshea Townsend for a 14-yard loss before he threw incomplete on third down to give Pittsburgh another chance.

Amos Zereoue ran for 18 yards on two carries to put him over 100 yards for the game, but was stopped for no gain, bringing up a second-and-10. maddox passed deep to Burress, who drew an illegal contact penalty for a first down.

On third-and-6, Maddox passed to Burress for 24 yards and a first down. The play put Burress over 200 yards receiving for the game. Zereoue broke free for a run to the Falcons’ 7-yard line, but Mark Bruener was called for holding, moving the ball back to the 33-yard line. An incompletion to Ward brought up third-and-13. and Maddox passed incomplete to Burress and Josh Miller punted out of bounds at the 12-yard line, giving Atlanta possession with 4:42 remaining in overtime.

Maddox’s second mistake of the game – an interception to Atlanta’s Kevin Mathis (he also fumbled a snap earlier in the game) – gave the Falcons life at Pittsburgh’s 44-yard line. Vick passed to Quentin McCord for six yards, then ran for one to the 37, bringing up fourth-and-3.

The Falcons let the clock run down fro 48 to eight seconds, while the Steelers failed to call timeout, despite having two left.

“I thought about it,” Cowher said about calling a timeout with more time left. “But I didn’t want them to think about going for it. I thought about it when there was time, but the way that kid (Vick) was running, I just didn’t know.”

Feely’s 56-yard field goal attempt was blocked by James Farrior, giving the Steelers one play from their own 49-yard line with one second remaining.

Maddox heaved one to to Burress at the goal line. He caught the ball, but came down short of the goal line.

“I went up and got the ball, but (Atlanta cornerback Ray) Buchanon was on the goal line and he wasn’t letting anything past him,” Burress said. “All those yards, but we still came up short.”