BALTIMORE -- Ironic that, in a game which threatened to test the manhood and the maturity of Plaxico Burress, it was the Pittsburgh Steelers' second-year wide receiver who proved his mettle and the Baltimore Ravens' secondary that cracked under the pressure.

During the war of words that preceded the key AFC Central contest, loquacious Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe dismissively referred to Burress as "Plexiglass," in one of many verbal salvos lobbed by both teams from long distance.

But in establishing career highs with eight catches for 164 yards in a Steelers' 26-21 victory that secured the team's first divisional crown since 1997, Burress was more a pain than a pane. And by coming up big in several clutch situations, the 2000 first-round selection might finally have expunged the term 'bust' from his resume.

"They kept playing me man-to-man and, let's face it, I think I can beat that any time," Burress said. "This is by far my biggest game, because it helped us collect our first goal, but there is still a lot of football ahead of us. And I just want to keep making the kind of plays I did tonight."

Indeed, the lanky Burress beat the Baltimore secondary in every imaginable way, and he turned cornerback Chris McAlister into his personal whipping boy.

Of his eight catches, six were for either first downs or a touchdown, and four of his receptions were for 25 yards or more. He began the evening with a 14-yard grab on a third-and-seven snap and ended it with possibly the biggest play of the evening, a 38-yard catch on a third-and-seven that permitted the Steelers to extend a late-game drive that ended in fullback Dan Kreider's four-yard touchdown run that sealed the victory.

The big night moved Burress' totals for the season to 53 catches for 802 yards and three scores. With three games remaining, he has a chance for a 1,000-yard season, the kind of performance the Steelers' brass envisioned when it selected him with the eighth overall pick in the 2000 draft.

Burress, 24, suffered through a rookie season that included just 22 catches for 272 yards and no touchdowns. His rookie year ended prematurely because of a wrist injury that required surgery, and some skeptics doubted he would be able to even return in 2001, let alone play well. He has made impressive progress, however, and now provides the vastly improved Kordell Stewart a big target in the "red zone" and a guy capable of outmuscling most cornerbacks.

All week long, Ravens players espoused their respect for Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward, who entered the game with 75 catches. But defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis still chose to assign McAlister, his best cover corner, to Burress, so the Ravens must have respected him much more than they were willing to admit. By the time McAlister limped out of PSINet Stadium after the game, he had been exposed as a human torch.

	“	When it's one-on-one, he can go up and get the football. We want to throw the ball to him in those situations, and we've been telling Kordell that. He came up with a lot of big plays tonight. ”
		— Bill Cowher, Steelers head coach

"He abused the guy," said Steelers wide receiver Bobby Shaw of Burress' domination over the Baltimore cornerback. "Every time we needed a play, 'Plax' made it, didn't he?"

Well, not every time. Shaw caught a 90-yard touchdown pass on a "double post" route with the Steelers backed into the shadow of their end zone, facing third down and leading by just six points. In converting nine of 15 third-down plays, Stewart did a nice job of spreading the ball to all of his receivers. But more often than not, he looked for Burress at crunch time.

His catches converted a trio of third-down plays of seven yards or more. His 25-yard touchdown catch came on a first-and-25 play. He had a 17-yard catch on second-and-10 and a 27-yarder on a second-and-11.

"We talked about giving him a chance," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. "When it's one-on-one, he can go up and get the football. We want to throw the ball to him in those situations, and we've been telling Kordell that. He came up with a lot of big plays tonight."

Soundly panned last year, Burress has learned some tough lessons this season as well, with the league at one point investigating a November party in which he was the host. It was after the party that Browns defensive tackle Gerard Warren was arrested for having a concealed and loaded gun. The next week, Burress was criticized for a party attended by few of the Steelers' white players.

Asked about his roller coaster tenure to this point, Burress pointed to a tattoo on his back, one that reads: "Everything happens for a reason."

For whatever reasons, everything came together positively for Burress on Sunday night. So much so, in fact, that even a sharp-tongued Sharpe was big enough to give him his due.

"OK, so he's Plaxico now, not 'Plexiglass,' OK?" Sharpe said. "He's got his name. He earned it."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.