PITTSBURGH – The last thing Kordell Stewart wanted to talk about was 1997.

That had been the last time he had suffered a meltdown in the AFC Championship.

He didn’t seem to want to talk about the 2001 AFC Championship game either.

Meltdown II.

Stewart threw three interceptions, two in the final three minutes, and he’ll be watching the Patriots, 24-17 winners, duel the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.

Bill Belichick dared Stewart to beat him and Stewart could not.

“1997 was 1997 and I don’t want to talk about 1997,” Stewart said. “This year we had a great year all the way across the board. I’m not comparing anything, any size, shape or form about anything negative.

“To sit here and point fingers or talk about things in the past does nothing but diminish what we accomplished. We came up short and the only thing we can do is be proud of ourselves. We got this far but at the same time we should remember how it feels for when we have that opportunity again.”

Stewart was asked what the Patriots did to frustrate him in the first half. “They did some things up front where they kind of confused us a bit,” he said.

He wanted badly to play in a Super Bowl in his hometown of New Orleans. “They just outplayed us period; not just me but the entire offense,” Stewart said. “It just didn’t seem like we were the same offense today.”

Jerome Bettis was 9-for-8 rushing. “When you can’t run the football. You become a one-dimensional team and then they can key on the pass,” Bettis said.

And the New England corners blanketed Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress for the most part. “They were trying to make Kordell read the coverage a little bit,” Ward said. “The corner played me to the outside. He played me to the inside. They rolled their coverage up a little bit. We really didn’t get into a consistent flow on offense.”

Stewart (24-42, 255 yards) could not play catch-up. “I think that hurt us in the long run,” Stewart said.

Bill Cowher was asked to evaluate Stewart’s performance. “I think the day is going to be evaluated by wins and losses,” Cowher said. “That’s been our stamp from Day One and [Stewart] feels the disappointment like everybody else.”