Stillers vs. Dolps Pregame Analysis (Game #1, vs. Miami)
The World Champion Stillers host the Dolphins to kick off
the 2006 NFL season on Thur nite.� The
Stillers received a sudden jolt on Sunday, with QB Ben Roethlisberger having an
emergency appendectomy that will shelve him this week and most likely game #2
as well.� The Dolphs reeled off 6
consecutive wins near the end of last season, and that, combined with the
enthusiasm created by new head coach Nick Saban, has provided cause for
optimism down in Fin Land.� For Stiller
fans, facing a team whose fan base overwhelmingly lists a Pittsburgher as its
favorite all-time player is a novelty of sorts, as is kicking off the entire
NFL season on prime time TV.�
* When the Dolphs have the ball, they'll be led
by their new QB, Duante Culpepper.� Fin
fans obviously haven't had this capable of a QB since Danny Marino was in his
prime.� Ballpepper appears recovered
from a knee injury of yesteryear, and should be capable of tossing the pill as well
as lugging the ball when needed.�
Ballpepper won't have a deep threat in Miami like he had in Randy Moss.� He does, however, have Chris Chambers, who
is a superb all-around WR that has few peers in the AFC.� Chambers has a terrific nose for the EZ and
can get open downfield when called upon.�
After Chambers, however, there is a dearth of quality.� In fact, the Smallphins were so desperate
for help that they gave former Va Tech QB Marcus Vick a very long look at WR
before cutting him this past weekend.�
Marty Booker will start opposite Chambers, and although he averaged over
17 YPC in '06, he doesn't keep very many DBs awake at night in terror of his
flammability.� Derek Hagen and Wes
Welker will see some time in multiple WR sets.�
Randy McMichael is a solid, very reliable TE that Ballpepper, who
enjoyed tossing to the TEs in Minnesota, will look to often as a trusty relief
valve.�
With Dickie Williams gone, 2nd-year man Ronnie Brown will
have the running chores all to himself.�
Brown had a strong rookie campaign and bulked up in the offseason, and
should be raring to embark on a 1,200-yard season after averaging 4.4 yards a
crack last year.� What was particularly
impressive about Brown's rookie year was the amount of 8-man fronts he saw due
to a total lack of respect opposing defenses had for Gus Frerotte and Sage
Pedofile.� Brown is also a capable
receiver out of the backfield, and his workload should increase this season in
that department.� With "Steroid
Sammie" Morris sitting out on a 4-game suspension, depth behind Brown is
terribly thin, so much so that the Dolphs just signed former Brownie Lee
Suggs.� Travis Minor serves as the
primary back-up to Brown.�� Journeyman Darian
Barnes out of Hampton University (a small HBCU in SE VA) does the FB chores.�
The O-line, which had been oafish and flimsy in prior
seasons, had a decent 2005 season and gives the Dolphs hope in '06, although
some significant changes were made since last season.� Left tackle LJ Shelton leads this gang, along with center Rex Hadnot,
although he'll have his hands full with Casey Hampton.� Shelton replaces Damion McIntosh at LT,
while Hadnot is moving from RG to center.�
Vernon Carey is adequate at RT.�
LG Jeno James is a veteran that has bounced around a few teams.� The Dolphs had hopes to use Seth McKinney at
RG, but his neck injury forced the Fins to place him on IR for the season.� Rookie guard Joe Toledo (a great football
name, by the way) was also in the hunt for the starting chores, but a knee
injury shelved him for the season as well.�
Instead, RG will be manned by Bennie Anderson, who was acquired in the
offseason after relatively lousy employment in Balt and Buffalo, is this unit's
weak link.�� Anderson is big�.too big
(6-5", 345), in fact, to be a mobile guard in today's era of the NFL.� Overall, this isn't a swiss cheese of an
offensive line, but it is an O-line that the Stillers front 7 should be able to
control at the point of attack and apply some pass pressure.�
The Stiller "D" remains mostly intact from last
season.� Keisel assumes the RDE chores,
and a new FS will emerge in the name of Ryan Clark, although hopefully Tony
Smith will take over by month's end.�
The one spot of concern is at ILB, where Larry Slow-a-Foote remains as
an unchallenged, entrenched starter that will apparently start at least through
the 2009 season, if not longer.�
The key matchups will be DeShea Townsend versus
Chris Chambers.� DeShea is an admirable,
gritty veteran, but on those occasions when he's locked up with Chambers, this
isn't a desirable matchup, especially as the game wears on.� Worse, I don't see FS Ryan Clark having the
speed or ballhawking to provide much help.�
Perhaps Ike Taylor will gradually, as the game progresses, shadow
Chambers on virtually every play.�
Former Stillers OC and now Miami OC Mike Mularkey vs. DC
Dick LeBeau is also an intriguing matchup.�
Mularkey is well aware of Dick's tendencies, although it remains to be
seen if Mularkey has the horses to deal with Dick's defense.� It will also be interesting to see if
Mularkey pulls out any clever gadget plays.�
Mularkey probably relished the thought of using Marcus Vick in that kind
of role, but for now, Vick is only on the Dolphin prac squad.�
* When the Stillers have the ball, they'll
be led by backup QB Charlie Batch, who was thrust into the starting role when
Benji had the appendectomy on Sunday.�
Batch has shown good enough savvy, leadership, and skills in the past
couple of seasons, and he'll need to be at his best come Thursday nite.�
The Dolphs sport a veteran, rugged D-line in their 4-3.� Leading the way is ageless DE Jason Taylor,
who can wreak havoc with his relentless play and unbelievable reach.� Taylor, in fact, will be far and away the
best pass rusher at Heinz Field this Thursday evening.� Kevin Carter is obviously no slouch at the
other DE spot.� Vonnie Holliday and Fat
Keith Traylor give the Dolphs a tough, highly-capable interior at DT.� Traylor, of course, can be worn down as the
game progresses simply due to his excess blubber.�� Holliday is a dangerous pass rusher that will give LG Al Faneca
some problems in pass pro because pass blocking is simply not Faneca's strong
suit.� Rookie Fred Evans, and vets Little
Daddy Dan Wilkerson and former Stiller Jeff Zgonina spell the interior, while
David Bowens serves as a key backup at DE.�
The LB corps isn't shabby.�
2nd-year OLB Channing Crowder is the best of the group after a very
strong rookie campaign.� He's bigger
than the 245 pounds he's listed at, yet quite capable of fast pursuit.� Crowder also isn't chowder when it comes to
hitting.� Manning the middle is another
ageless vet, Zach Thomas, who is clearly on the downside of his career but
still better than mediocre inside backers like Larry Foote.� Donnie Spragan works the other OLB spot, and
now with his 5th team in 6 NFL seasons, Spragen isn't going to make anyone
forget about, say, Nick Buonicotti.
The Fin secondary has been massively overhauled since last
season.� The Smalphins brought in CB
Will Allen from the Giants, FS Renaldo Hill from Oakland, and CB Andre Goodman
from Detroit, while also selecting safety Jason Allen in the 1st round out of
Tennessee.� That's quite a few new faces
to assume duties in a unit that requires the utmost of understanding, teamwork,
and cohesiveness on the gridiron.�
2nd-year man Travis Daniels will start at one CB, opposite W.
Allen.� Clearly, this secondary is a
weakness for the Dolphs, at least at this early juncture of the season, but
with BenRoth sitting this one out, it will be very interesting to see if Batch
can exploit this weakness.�
Besides BenRoth, the key health concern is the return of WR
Hines Ward, who missed the entire preseason slate due to a ham.� Ward needs little practice running patterns
or catching pigskins, but timing and rapport with the QB, particularly on
option routes, is something that could be rusty.���
The key matchups will be Kevin Carter vs. Max
Starks.�� Starks can get caught lunging,
or standing upright, from time to time, and Carter is more than capable of
either rocking Starks onto his ass or simply blowing right by him.� Starks has got to gain a stalemate with
Carter and keep him uninvolved and thus disinterested, which Carter is prone to
lapse into when stymied.�
Jason Taylor vs. LT Marvel Smith is also critical.� Smith can be prone to making a hideous boner
and getting his QB mauled, and Taylor will hound Smith all night long.�
The Stiller ground game versus a stout, experienced Miami
front 7 will also be huge.� Running on
the Dolphs was going to be challenging enough, but with Roth out, the Dolphs
will send more bodies to the LOS than the number of illegal immigrants in
Miami.�� I don't expect the ground game
to click until the 2nd half.� Until
then, and even at that point in time, Batch is going to have to hit Heath
Miller, Wilson, and Ward with some clutch completions.��
TE Heath Miller vs. the Dolph LB/secondary.� Jach Thomas is at a point in his career
where he can't cover a picnic table with a tarp, much less cover a quick TE
like Miller.� The Fin safeties (Tillman,
Hill) aren't causing anyone to make comparisons to Ronnie Lott.� Miller should haul in 4 passes at a minimum
on Thur evening.�
* Special Teams: �Ageless Olindo Mare does the kicking chores for Miami, with Donnie
Jones doing the punting.� Mare shows no
signs of regressing, and Jones led the league in net punting average last
season.� Wes Welker gives the Dolphs a
decent return man, although he didn't find the EZ even once last year as a
returner despite handling over 100 punts/kickoffs.� Reid and Holmes should see work in the Stiller return game, along
with Ric Colclough.� Punter Pis Gardocki
looked exceptionally average in preseason, and needs to step it up a notch with
the punting chores.�
* Synopsis: Opening day slopfests have long
been a Billy Cowher trademark (click here to peruse Cowhard's
hilarious opening-day follies), notwithstanding last season's cakewalk in
the opener against a Titan team that finished 4-12.� The Dolphs are considerably better than that
pathetic Titan team of last year, and will certainly put up far more of a
fight.� Playing at night, at home on the
opener of the NFL season, should give the Stillers a burst of energy after a rather
ordinary, lackluster preseason.�
Rallying around the absence of Ben Roth should also provide additional
vigor and focus, especially for the Stiller defense.� Fighting off a fair amount of slop and slather, the Stillers will
prevail in a hard-fought victory over the Dolphs, aided by 2 key turnovers
created by the Stiller defense.��