Stillers 20, Tampa 3 ���. Dec.3, 2006 ����Game #12��
Stillers-Bucs Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers bounced back from last week's beat-down by grinding out a rather
bland, methodical, boring win over the lowly Bucs.� The Stillers took a 10-0 lead into the halftime locker room and
then scored another TD in the 4Q.�
Overall, this undoubtedly was one of the blandest, most boring Stiller
game I can recall in the past decade.�
Only some strong European coffee kept me awake during this snoozer of a
ballgame.�
Grades:
QB:�
Ben started out slow and rocky.� On
the 1st series, he telegraphed, and then threw an INT on a pass to Nate that
Brooks read and picked.� Barber had a
fairly easy INT in the 2Q, but simply dropped it.� The play that really enraged me was the PAP boot on 2d & 7
late in the 1Q.� This played ended up
netting 18 yards on an improvised scramble and pass to Holmes, but it should
have been a longer reception or even a TD.�
The play was designed to hit Heath Miller on a flag, but Roth
inexplicably hesitated despite Miller being quite open.� It's precisely this kind of hesitation by
BenRoth that has led to INTs, busted-up passes, and sacks.�� Fortunately, Ben was much more decisive as
the game wore on, including a nice lob to Nate off a flush for 36 yards at the
end of the 3Q and a laser-like TD pass to Miller in the 4Q.� He was scattershot with many a pass, but we
also need to factor in that missing Ward for the entire game and Wilson for
most of it didn't help the passing game.��
B-
RB:�
Parker was held in check for 3 quarters, but came alive in the 4Q with
some strong runs.� He also snagged a
dumpoff and raced for a 25-yard gain.� I
felt Parker misread the blocking in his 2nd & goal run on a counter in the
1Q.� Parker got impatient and cut it up,
when the blocking of Faneca and Kreider was up the LT hole.� Daven got some carries in garbage time.� �Staley again did not dress.�
B-
FB: Kreider had some good blocks,
particularly on the 14-yard Parker gain in the 4Q.� He carried on a quick-hitting plunge for 5 yards.� Of course, he won't carry the ball again for
another 3 weeks.� B.�
WR:�
With Hines out due to his knee injury, Nate Wash led the way with 3
grabs for 78 yards.� And it wasn't an
easy 3 grabs.� He snared a seamer for 24
yards in the 2Q before taking a hard hit.�
He caught a deep ball along the sideline, amidst decent coverage, for 36
yards at the end of the 3Q.� He made a
fine catch on another deep sideline pass from the Steeler 1-yard line in the
3Q, but was ruled OOB.� Since the DB
made significant contact, I thought this could have been ruled a catch
in-bounds.�
���������� Wilson two 13-yard passes, including a nice pluck on a 3d & 7 slant in the 1Q.� He hurt his ankle on this play and did not return.�
���������� Holmes had 1 grab for 18 yards.� Morey was pressed into service as a WR and
did nothing.� �Reid did not dress. ����B+
TE:�
Tuman caught an easy 2-yard TD pass.�
Miller had 2 grabs, including a good TD catch on a blistering pass from
Benji.� The blocking was merely
okay.�� B
OL: A marked improvement from last
week's grab-assed stand-around.� Simmons
had a dumb-assed false start on 4th & inches, but overall the mental boners
were kept to a minimum.�� �The run blocking still leaves a lot to be
desired, though.��� B-
DL:�
Another marked improvement.� The
line didn't get shoved around like it did last week.� Keisel had an active game.�
Cadillac and Smalstott never got the running game going for Tampa.� �B+
LB:�
The LB corps helped stop the run and also added 2 picks by 2 entirely
unlikely candidates -- Foote and Kriewaldt.��
Farrior was active and went sideline to sideline all day long.� Joey Porter added a couple of Dong Sacks to
his resume, bowling over Michael Pittman in a solo blocking assignment for an
early sack and then chasing down Gradkowski on a coverage sack.� Haggans was fairly quiet and chipped in with
4 A's and zero solos.� �A-
DB:�
Facing a rookie QB and the anemic Tampa WR corps, this was a fairly easy
task.� McFadden again started and had a
solid game, leading the team in tackles.�
He also made a good play on an EZ lob for an INT in the 3Q, and forced a
fumble early in the 3Q.� Ty Carter
started in place of Pola and did a solid job.�
He chased down a running play for a 2-yard loss in the 2Q.� He also came flying up for a flash and slash
of Becht on a 4th & 2 out pass that was stopped for 1-yard.� Even Pola would have admired this play.�
���������� Towsend had a large share of
struggles today.� He was badly juked by
the bootfooted Gradkowski on a 3rd & 3 scramble that netted 4.� A short while later, he read the WR screen
and stepped in for the easy INT, but clumsily dropped the pass with nothing but
green acres in front of him.�
���������� Tony Smith got some decent PT, for
once.� He may have been guilty of the
botched coverage that allowed Clayton to be wide open on the deep ball that he
dropped in the 3Q.�
���������� B �������
Spec
teams:� Not great, but not the usual slop that we've
become accustomed to seeing.� Madison
had a nice swoop and stop on punt coverage in the 1Q.� Ditto for Jamie Harrison in KO coverage in the 2Q.� Tony Smith had a good stick in punt coverage
in the 3Q.� Reed nailed a 50-yard FG,
the longest NFL FG ever booted at The Heinz Bog.� Daven had a decent KO return to start the 2H, but then coughed
the ball up.� Fortunately the Stiller
recovered. �Gardocki got off a piss-poor
punt from his own EZ in the 3Q.� Reed
missed an easy 32-yard chippie in the 4Q.��
B-
OC:�
A rather bland, vanilla game plan.�
Seemed like Cheezenhunt dumbed down this game plan due to the lethargy
of the Tampa offense and the mud pit at Heinz Field.� I was stunned in the 1Q, when, on 3d & 7, Heath Miller was in
the pattern and was thrown the ball, which netted 11 yards !!� Wow, imagine, using Miller on 3rd down as
something other than an extra pass blocker !!��
��B-
DC:�
Dick had the easy luxury of facing the greenhorned rookie QB and an anemic
offense.� He shouldn't be too
elated, as Tampa dropped 2 obvious TD passes.�
�B
HC:� At least the
team played better than the embarrassing assbeating that took place last
week.� Still, the team looked, for much
of the game, as though it was disinterested and all too nonchalant.� �B.�
Playing Surface:�
An absolute disgrace.� It's embarrassing
to have, by far, the worst surface in the NFL.�
���F�
Synopsis:�
A struggling team takes any "W" it can get, although this one
was a bit of a bland bore against an NFL bottom feeder.� Up next, the hated Brownies visit Pittsburgh
for a Thursday nite primetime game.� Any
chance field turf can be installed in the next 2 days?� (Yes, I know�..since NE did it, the NFL has
outlawed the in-season replacement of a surface with a different surface.)�
(Still Mill
and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Stillers,
no one else comes close�.)