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Stillers-Jaguars Postgame Analysis and Grades

December 02, 2002 by Still Mill

Stillers 28, Jags 7 ���

Stillers 25, Jags 23���.Dec 1st, 2002 ����Game #12

Stillers-Jaguars Postgame Analysis and Grades

Facing the lowly 5-6 Jags, the Stillers -- presumably angry about last week's slopfest -- figured to take out their frustrations and have their way with the Jagoffs.Instead, they squandered one golden opportunity after another, allowing the Jags to hang in the game.Sure enough, the Stillers gave up some huge 4Q plays, and put everyone into nail-biting mode late in the game.Only a 50-yard FG by Reed and a busted-up 2-point try by DeWayne allowed the Stillers to escape Jagville with a thin, flimsy 25-23 win.

Grades:

QB: Stewart started in place of Maddox and had a fairly solid all-around afternoon.He completed 16 of 26 for a modest 202 yards.With his feet, he was the Stew of old, bedeviling the Jaguars throughout the game, especially on the sterling 28-yard TD run.A couple good pass plays stand out: the early 54-yard lob bomb to Plex, and the 27-yarder to Tuman that was perfectly thrown.�� The downside is that, aside from his own TD jaunt, Stew failed to get the ball into the EZ, which forced the 6 FG tries.Partly from coaching conservatism and partly from what appears to be Stew's hesitancy to take the stab in the EZ, the Stillers mostly settled for overly conservative dinks in the ketchup zone.Stew threw one INT, which was partially caused by the ball being a smidgen behind Plex.Had the Stillers found the EZ a couple more times, this grade would have been higher.B.

RB:Bettis had a solid game against the softee Jax front 7.He carried 20 times for 86 yards.He showed good 2nd effort and, had he not lost PT to stop a bloody nose caused by a broken nose, he would have easily topped 100 yards.Amoz played a little bit and, unlike last week, was allowed to carry the football a few times, due to the Bettis injury.A-.

FB: Kreider was awfully tough, acting like a bull in the china shop.If Fat John Madden fawned all over this guy the way he did with the likes of Moose Johnson, Kreider would get a free trip to Hawaii.�� A.

WR:Ward led the way with 8 grabs, although most were shorty stuff that amounted to a puny 6.4 yard/catch.Plex hauled in the early bomb and had a few other grabs.The INT was partially Plex's fault, as he allowed the ball to carom off his skillets and pop into the air for the easy INT. A trend -- perhaps attributable to Stewart -- that bothers me is that the Stillers got absolutely nothing from their #3 and #4 WRs.It's almost unfathomable that a team can get to the big show in this day in age with production from only 2 WRs.B.

TE:Bruener once again showed his enormous waste of salary, with another goose egg in the passing game.He blocked ok, and then hurt his knee.Jerame Tuman, who usually isn't worth a tinker's damn, caught the perfectly thrown Stewart pass down the seam for 27 yards.�� B.

OL: The O-line opened up a good bit of running room for The Bus.There were a few leaks in protection, but overall they gave the QB time, although this was a shabby front 7 they faced in terms of pass-rushing ability.Vincent faired well against some good DT competition.Okobi is doing ok but is making me eager for the return of Jeff Hartings.B+.

DL:The d-line played a solid game.Hampton was very, very active throughout the game.The one thing I like about Casey is that he's not content to merely squat down and �clog� like Fat Joel Steed; rather, when he sees a play going wide, he pursues it with a vengeance.Despite the ridiculous horsebleep from some folks that "Aaron Smith is having a down season", Smitter once again had a strong game.No, he didn't have any sacks, but the most overrated stat in the NFL doesn't tell the story of what this guy is doing.Kimo and Bailey chipped in adequately.B+.

LB:A so-so overall game from this crew.Bell still looks a bit "off", due to perhaps a combination of bulking up; his ankle still bothering him a bit; scraping off the rust; and/or still trying to grasp and get used to his reduced role.To his credit, Bell did knock the tar out of Brunell on one sack, showing us the "Bell of old".Farrior had an above average game, although he played the Taylor TD run poorly.Porter spent a good bit of time in coverage.Jason GilDong, the $23M Fraud, stood around and got bullied the entire game.He helped stuff a screen pass but otherwise did nothing the entire afternoon.Luckily for the Stillers, the Jaguars didn't start to really exploit GilDong in the running game until the 4th quarter, when Brady and company had their way with the Gilded Dong.The Big 3: B.GilDong:F.

DB:The secondary played 3 decent quarters of football, and then laid an egg in the most critical period, the fourth.Scott had a strong game, but then received a beating in the 4Q on the TD, and also committed a critical ticky tack illegal contact penalty in the 4Q.Flowers supported the run and had some good QB pressure, but got totally fooled on the long Brady TD.DeWayne, along with Chad, had a strong game, punctuated by the busted-up 2-pointer that could have tied the game.Chris Dope was given the most work he's had all year and had his best game of the season, leading the team with 6 solos.Overall, this wasn't a mega-dangerous passing attack, but the DBs had a sound, strong game.A.

Spec teams:Cowher might claim the KO coverage is fine, but it stunk some more, allowing good starting position for Jax.Elvis Joseph almost busted one KO return for six.Josh punted just once, so that spared the coverage teams from further embarrassment.The ST star continues to be Jeff Reed, who was unbelievably clutch in going 6 for 6 on FGs, including boots of 46 and 50.Reed may have gotten away with a "scuff" on the 46, but crushed the 50 yarder with a few to spare.He also saved a TD by making a tackle on a KO return.Verron Haynes had a big 16-yard gain out of a 4th down punt formation, on a run led, unbelievably, by Hank Poteat.KO Coverage: C-.Jeff Reed: A+.

OC:Mularkey had an easy time -- at least between the 20�s -- against a cap & injury riddled Jax defense.The TOP dominance of 38:41 to 21:19 was impressive.On the other hand, scoring just 1 TD -- on a fortuitous bit of improvised athleticism by Stewart -- and settling for 6 FGs is thoroughly abysmal.The continually conservative, predictable shovels, draws, and rinky dink crap on 3rd down is enough to make any serious fan want to gack.B-.

DC:Tiny Tim faced an average offense and was given most of the day off, due to the enormous TOP advantage.Nonetheless, giving up big plays and TDs in the 4Q remains Lewis' trademark.B-.

HC:This was the kind of game that Billy Cowher absolutely loved.His favorite QB of all time runs for a TD.His team dominates TOP and settles for Cowher's favorite scoring play, the field goal.Confusion and softness allows two 4Q TDs by the opposition.Question to ponder: if Jax converts the 2-pointer (thus tying the game) and the Stillers start after the ensuing KO at around their 25 yard line, does Cowshit take a knee and head to OT, or does he try to embark on a winning FG drive with about 1:06 remaining?My bet is that Cowher turtles and heads to OT.This refusal to get six points and stomp the hell out of a downed opponent is precisely the kind of Cowshit football that leads to playoff losses like the one to San Diego in Jan. '95.With Reed emerging as a clutch FG kicker, Cowher might very well be content to keep Stewart as the starter and settle for 7 or 8 FGs per game.And, lest I forget, the ST coverage still blows chow.C-.

Synopsis: We'll gladly take the win, which, coupled with Cleve's loss to Carolina, gives the Stillers a comfortable division lead with only 4 games remaining.Still, like last week's win, this win doesn't inspire me to visions of grandeur.Instead of making progress and working out the kinks for a playoff run, this team seems content to slop around and keep an inferior opponent in the game.Next up is the expansion Texans, who should be easy fodder for a playoff hopeful that is playing at home, but nothing can be taken for granted when it comes to Team Turtle.

 

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