Saints
32, Stillers 29���. Oct 6, 2002 ����Game # 4
Stillers-Saints
Postgame Analysis and Grades
Coming off the thrilling win
over the Browns, the Stillers hoped to capitalize on their first win by
visiting the Bayou and getting a win over the Aints, who'd lost to the hapless
Lions last week.� Instead, the Stillers
came out flat and sloppy, and played a hopeless game of ketchup football that
proved futile.� The Saints made the big
plays, while the Stillers defense once again faltered.��
Big Plays:
1. While Marvel Smith
imitates a statue, Maddox is hit and stripped of the ball, giving N.O. golden
field position that it converted into a FG and the early lead.�
2.� Pathon grabs a 15-yard TD to give the Aints
a 10-0 lead.
3.� Maddox hits Plex for a 20-yard TD strike.
4.� Pathon scorches the Stillers for a 64-yard
pass, setting up an easy 1-yard TD plunge.
5.� On a 3d & 6, Amoz takes a short pass and
scampers 54 yards, setting up a Ward 2-yard TD pass.
6.� McAllister dashes 52-yards for a killer TD
early in the 3Q.
7.� Bettis gains 8 on a 4th and 1, allowing the
Stillers to maintain the ball and continue an impressive march that culminated
in a Bettis TD run.
8.� Maddox throws a horrible INT late in the 4Q
to help seal the loss.�
Grades:
QB: Maddox got his first start in
nearly a decade, and responded with decent play.�� He had some harassment to deal with, and for the most part stood
entrenched in the pocket, which is according to his skill set.� He threw 3 TDs, something that is as rare
for a Pgh. QB as a goalie getting on the scoresheet in the NHL.� On the down side, Maddox misfired on several
attempts in which he had an open receiver, but the pass was woefully off-target
&/or with poor timing.� The INT was
absolutely hideous, as Maddox was scrambling to his right and tried to throw
back against the grain -- an absolute no-no and something you typically see
only from greenhorned rookies in the NFL.�
Taking away Amoz' receiving production, Maddox's average gains thru the
air were fairly puny.� The numerous
misfires and the INT were poor, but considering this was his first NFL start in
about ten years, this was an adequate "first" start for Maddox.� Of course, the grading will be more
stringent as Maddox gets more playing time.�
B.
RB:�
The Tubby Tailback finally got his big behind in gear, and gained 84
yards on 19 carries.� Amoz, who has
excelled on Astroturf in his college days and limited NFL career, came alive
and gave the Stillers a nice boost, averaging 7 yards a crack on the ground and
gaining 84 yards on 3 grabs.� The
ever-brittle Fu did not dress.� A-.�
FB: Kreider helped pave the way for
some solid running gains.� Haynes saw
the most work of his rookie season thus far, and frankly did not overly impress
me.� B.��
WR:�
Ward and El both led the team with 5 grabs, though both had puny YPC of
about 9.� Ward did a nice job to reach
for the pylon on his TD, and also had a nice 11-yard run.� Plex had the TD grab -- caught in his
gut/chest, as is his penchant -- and had a few other grabs.� Mathis had the 14-yard TD pass late in the
game.� An ok game from this crew, but if
you take away Amoz' receiving yardage, you'll see this gang provided rather
paltry yards per catch.� B.
TE:�
For one series, at least, Bruener had a career day, grabbing 3 passes in
a 2Q drive.� Of course, they were for
meager yardage -- 7, 3, and 2 yards -- and then Breuner was unheard from the
rest of the game.� Supposedly the God of
Blocking, Bruener was mauled back and humiliated by rookie DE Charles Grant --
hardly a huge, powerful end -- on a 1st half play.� Tuman, as usual, did little.�
B.
OL: After struggling like bitches for
the first 3 games, the O-line responded with, by far, its best effort of the
year.� Nowhere near perfect, mind you,
but still their best effort.� Faneca
received a hideous, bloody gash, but came back to help pave the way for the
Bettis TD run.� Gandy was a lil'
hobbled, but fought it off and had a decent game.� The lone ranger in terms of pitiful, sub-par play, was RT Marvel
Smith, who more resembled former Pirates CF Marvelle Wynne.� Smith appeared to have spent the previous
night on a huge drinking binge down on Bourbon Street, because he stumbled
around in a drunken stupor the entire game.�
On the early Maddox sack and fumble, Smith never moved out of his stance
until the play had long been initiated, a horrible miscue for a man playing in his
3rd NFL season.� Smith's play was so atrocious
that Fat Oliver Ross must at least be considered for PT at RT next week in
Cinci.� Smith: F.� Rest of O-line: B+.�
DL:�
The d-line had a solid game at times, yet at times was gashed by the
N.O. ground game.� Smith led the team
with 7 solos.� Hampton and Kimo were
active, but there were some severe holes opened up here and there by the
Aints.� The pass pressure and harassment
from the line was mediocre.� B-.
LB:�
The LB crew failed to shut down McAllister.� Farrior, at times, had a pretty solid game, but not near an
"A" grade for a veteran ILB.�
Foote gives a good effort, but is clearly undersized and lacking the
savvy needed to excel at inside LB in the NFL.� Sadly enough, Fiala -- the man the Stillers rushed out in a
ridiculous hurry to re-sign before the free agency period even began -- isn't
any better.� Porter had a pretty solid
game.� Jason Gildon had a sack
(resulting in a whopping 3-yard loss), but otherwise stood around in yet
another shameful, pedestrian effort.�
With the way Jason the Gimcrack is so adroitly playing the role of spectator,
it's high time the NFL cracked down on the Gimcrack and started charging him
full admission, just like every other paying spectator.� C.
DB:�
The secondary received what is becoming a weekly torturing of
burnings.� Scott bit on fakes so often
the entire game, that he'll need a new mouthpiece, since the once he was using
got bitten and chewed up like a dog bone.�
Flowers had an ok game, but took a moronic angle on the McAllister TD
jaunt.� Alex continues to be more of an
observer than a pass defender.� Facing
an average offense that was missing star WR D. Stallworth, this crew should
have responded with a far better effort than this.� D+.
Spec teams:�
Yet another vomit-laden day for the special teams.� For once, they weren't scorched for a huge
TD, or a blocked punt or FG, but the overall play from the spec teams was
sloppy, slovenly, and a lot of simply going through the motions.� The Saints routinely began drives after
kickoffs with nice field position, to include their 35, 31, 32, and 35.� Meanwhile, the Stillers sluggish KO return
team gave the Stillers such wonderful starting FP as 25, 23, 23, 23, 15, and
10.� Josh had a good day punting,
although kicking inside the dome is as favorable and easy as shooting fish in
barrel.� Peterson�s place-kicks still
scare the piss out of me.� El had a
sterling PR of 29 yards, but otherwise the special teams provided nothing to
help this team win a football game.� C-.
OC:�
Mularkey went with more 2 TE sets than I'd have liked, and at times in
the first half he was forced into low-probability 3rd-and-longs with excessive
vanilla.� He did get Maddox into a
decent comfort zone, and the offense had its best collective effort of the
year.� One area of concern is the re-emergence
of the dink and dump offense, in which nearly every pass travels
no more than about 8 yards downfield.�
B.
DC:�
As I'd stated a couple weeks ago, if you're a fantasy football geek,
you've got to "start" anyone who faces this softee Stiller defense.� The Stillers made Pathon -- a barely
above-average WR -- look like a combination of Lance Alworth and Mark
Duper.� The pressure on Brooks was
minimal.� I'll hear lots of pooh-poohing
about this, but given the relatively enormous talent, experience, and depth on
this defense, what Tim Lewis has done thus far in �02 has more than merited his
removal as the Stiller defensive coordinator.�
D.�
HC:�
Billy Cowher had the chance to capitalize on last week's win -- however
flimsy it may have been -- by beating up on a Saints team ripe for the beating,
and then stockpiling some wins against patsies like Cinci, Clev, Atlanta, Tenn.
Jax, and Houston.� Instead, Cowher's
team comes out with all the energy and enthusiasm of a snail, and makes
numerous mental mistakes en route to a terrible loss.� The plethora of sloppy play, foolhardy mental boners, and a
near-total lack of intensity and mayhem all indicate that Cowher's summertime
country club in Latrobe has miserably backfired.� The continued slop on special teams shows that Cowher has once
again failed to address a problem that stands out like a cockroach on a
billiard table, and worse, it's becoming apparent that Cowher is thoroughly
incapable of getting the problem fixed. D-.
Synopsis:
�29 points should be more than enough to win a
football game for a team that prides itself with its defense.� Perhaps that's one problem -- this team has
no pride.� A team that once prided
itself on hitting, creating mayhem, and physically taking it to the other team,
is now flat-footed, lethargic, and stale.�
This is the time when leadership must take the bull by the horns and get
the ship righted, but sadly enough, this team has no leadership from the head
coach, and certainly not from its defensive captain.� Facing the Bengals should be a cure for all that ails you, but
the Bengals have perennially given the Stillers fits, and with the way this
Stiller team is floundering, this game looks to be an immense struggle.�