Fresh off a scintillating performance in which he rallied the Pittsburgh Steelers to an overtime victory over the Browns last Sunday, quarterback Tommy Maddox will be the team's starter this week at New Orleans, ESPN.com has learned.

League sources, and those close to Maddox, said the veteran was apprised by coach Bill Cowher on Tuesday night he would replace Kordell Stewart in the lineup. Stewart, who has thrown 15 interceptions in the last seven games, was also summoned to Cowher's office on the team's day off and told of the decision to go with Maddox against the Saints.

"I just feel it's the right thing to do at this time, and now let's move on,'' Cowher said.

This will mark Maddox's first NFL start since his 1992 rookie season with the Denver Broncos.

The Pittsburgh running game has stalled in its first three outings, and there is a feeling the Steelers may have to throw more to get untracked offensively. Working exclusively from a "spread" formation against Cleveland last week, Maddox completed 11 of 13 passes for 122 yards.

Cowher's surprising decision, announced Wednesday at a team meeting, sends 2001 team MVP Kordell Stewart to the bench for the third time in four seasons. It also signals that Cowher is running out of patience with an underachieving team that was favored to win the AFC title but is only 1-2.

"He came up in his little crystal ball that he wanted to start Tommy,'' said Stewart, clearly upset by the decision. "It's not the end of the world for me, and I'm going to have an opportunity to start again. I just don't know when.''

Maddox didn't get a long-term commitment from Cowher, and he wasn't expecting one.

"At quarterback, you've got to go out and play and put your team in a position to win,'' Maddox said. "If you don't, there's going to be somebody else that's going to get a shot.''

Stewart could tell him that.

"This is three times,'' he said. "At some point it gets old, but I'm not going on a spiel about how I feel or what I think. ... After you've gotten accomplished what you've gotten accomplished, you kind of wish you would keep playing and the confidence of everybody around you was still as strong but, right now, it's not about how I think or how I feel.

"It's his (Cowher's) team, and he's got to make the move he thinks is in the best interest of his team -- and he's got to live with it.''

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.