Loose Slag from The Still Mill�
- The oddest fact from Sunday's win over Cinci?�� How 'bout the fact that, once the Bungals
suffered the botched FG snap, and the Stillers went down for a score to take a
whopping 4-point lead at 5:12 3Q, RB Rudi Johnson did not touch the ball
the remaining 20 minutes of the ballgame.��
None of us will probably ever know why Marv Lewis jumped on the panic
button and essentially took Rudi out of the ballgame in such a close contest,
and gave what few carries were tried to backup Chris Perry.� Very bizarre, and of course, very
stupid.�
- It's sad, but Bob Smizik wrote yet another rambling, babbling article in today's PG, making up excuse after excuse for Billy Cowher and kissing Cowher's ass so badly that he probably left hickies on each of Billy's cheeks.�� This, after a similar bit of bromide in the Dec. 27th edition of the PG.�
���������� Smizik pulls out the old fable of, "Just look at the QBs Cowher has faced in the playoffs compared to the QBs he had to work with."� What bullshit.�
���������� First, football is the ultimate TEAM sport.� No QB does anything if his WRs are smothered and his OL is getting bullied and rampaged.� Just ask John Elway, whose team lost to far INFERIOR QBs in the Sup Bowl because his TEAM was inferior.��
����������
���������� Second, if
QB were the almighty variable to winning an NFL title, then Joe Montana should
have won at least 13 Super Bowls.� Dan
Marino, who never won any, should have won at least 14 titles.� Ditto for Fran Tarkenton, who, like Marino,
never won any but, according to Smizik's bullshit theory, should have won at
least 15 NFL championships.� John Elway
shouldn't have won a mere 2 SBs; he should have won at least 10.� Jim Kelley should have collected at least
10, and Roger Staubach should have won well over a dozen.� And, for the matter, Terry Bradshaw, who
wasn't even a starter at the start of the '74 season, should never have led the
Stillers to their first Super Bowl, because every QB he faced in the playoffs
was far superior.�
Third, let us ask ourselves this -- WHO decided to keep Kordella as the starting QB all those years?�� And who INSISTED on keeping Mike Prozac as the backup for all those years?�� ANSWER:� Bilbo Cowher.�� If Bilbo wasn't pleased with his QB, he, and he ALONE, could have made changes. �
���������� Fourth, let
us all ask -- "Who forced Billy Cowher to THREATEN to jump to Cleveland in
March 1998, 2 months after he was humiliated by Shanhan and the Broncos, at
HOME, in the AFCC?"� ANSWER:� Nobody.�� Billy Cowher made the threat HIMSELF, and when the Stillers went
for his blackmail ploy and failed to call his bluff, Cowhard was LAVISHED with
an enormous raise.�� What's he done
since then?�� Nothing, aside from
gagging and choking against INFERIOR playoff opponents.�
- Then, Smizik cannot let go of his asinine stupidity of defending Cowhard's onsides KO to start the 2H in the Indy game.� On Dec. 27th, he claimed, "�Nor did this play have any affect on the outcome of the game."�� Again, today, he claimed, "Except that when the Steelers lost to the then-undefeated Colts, 26-7, Nov. 28, and were outplayed in every phase of the game, the most-remembered and most-criticized play of that game was the onside kick Cowher called to start the second half. The kick, which Indianapolis recovered, did not affect the outcome of the game."�
���������� Allow me to
reiterate the REALITY of Cowhard's stupidity, just in case there are any
readers of this site as ignorant as Smizik:�
��������������������� Regarding
the moronic, brainless, riverboat gamble of an onsides KO to start the 2H
versus Indy in a 9-point game, this was yet another dimbulbed move that,
when examined in breadth, depth, and context, made no sense.� The Stillers were not desperate; at least,
they should not have been.� Perhaps
Cowhard himself -- getting embarrassed on national TV -- was desperate, but the
situation was most assuredly not.� The
Stillers had just limited Indy to a FG at the end of the 1H, and after a shaky
opening quarter, had shored things up quite a bit.�� A decent march after the 2H KO could have made the game 16-10,
or even 16-14.� Perhaps, barring a
score, the Stiller might have pinned the Colts at their 2-yard line after a
pooch punt.� But, alas, Billy Cowher
called for the onsides, even though there wasn't a shred of evidence that the
Indy front-line blockers were peeling back prematurely and thus were ripe for
the onsides kick.� Smizik then claims,
"�.Cowher's gamble made perfect sense. Nor did this play have any affect
on the outcome of the game."�� The
play made no sense whatsoever, and 7 plays later, after being given the ball at
the Stiller 37, Indy cashed in for a TD that made the score 23-7.� Devoid of any momentum, a team that relies
enormously on the run and "wearing down the opposing defense in the 2nd half"
had to scrap the ground game and play catch-up football��and lost
26-7�.but somehow this asinine onsides KO "had no bearing on the
outcome".�
- As I'd
noted a couple weeks ago, there's been an enormous amount of fawning -- led by
Bouchette and Smizik, no less -- over the Stiller defense late in the reg.
season.� Yes, they played some tough,
inspired football.� But like anything
else, there must be breadth, depth, and context applied.� In this case, the context is this:
���������� - The 4 QBs the defense faced in that
gaudy streak were: Kyle Orton, Bad Johnson, Charlie Frye, and Joey
Harrington.� Orton and Frye are
greenhorned rookies, Harrington plains sucks, and Johnson is well
past any prime he may have had; basically, a never-was and never-will-be.�
���������� - The opposing WR/TE corps the D
faced in that streak were:�
����������
��������������������� - Mushin Muhammed, Juistin
Gage, and Des Clark.�
��������������������� - The Robinson brothers,
and Jim Kleinsasser.
����������
��������������������� - Northcutt, Bryant, and
Shea/Heiden.
���������� Unfortunately, this Sunday, the Stillers
don't have the luxury of facing Jon Kitna or Kyle Orton, nor will they be able
to sit back and smother the likes of Justin Gage and Dennis Northcutt.�
- Now that
Quincy Morgan has been placed on IR, here's who should be inserted into
the game when the Stillers go 4-wide -- HEATH MILLER.� Cowher, stupid as ever, actually sat Miller
and inserted Sean Morey 3 days ago.�
Miller is obviously not a WR, but he was 2nd on the team in receptions;
is a huge target; has terrific hands; and runs well after the catch.� We know Cowhard's a moronic imbecile, but
let's hope he has enough brains to LEARN from his mistake and gets Miller into
the fucking ballgame!!
- Unlike
lethargic sluggos like Bouchette and Cook, the Still Mill gets around, all over
the country, to keep his finger on the pulse of football.� This past weekend, I attended both the US
Army All American Bowl, as well as the US Army/Reebok National Combine.� I got to meet both of Pitt's highly touted
recruits, WR Dorin Dickerson and TE Nate Byham.� I can't say enough about either of these young men.� Both were polite, humble, and really fired
up about playing for the Mighty Panthers.�
Dickerson seems, to me, to be a potential star CB, as he has the size
(6'2") and speed.� I don't know how
well he can turn his hips, nor how well his shuttle run is, but he's a smooth,
adroit athlete that ultimately could help the Panthers on defense.� Much of it may come down to how much
Dickerson's grows, either in height or bulk.�
Byham was a dominant blocker during this game, and at 6'4", he'll
bulk up rather easily from his current 230 to probably 255.�� I got a chance to chat with Pitt's
recruiting coordinator, Greg Gatusso, who was on a 1-day visit (that's all the
NCAA rules allow).� Also chatted with
national scout Tom Lemming, who noted that Pitt's recruiting class is very
solid (currently ranked 8th at Scout.com, by the way).
- As noted,
Pitt's recruiting class is considered good, and, by golly, it better be.�� Just look at the final AP Top 5.� PSU, OSU, and WVU round out the top 5.� All are within 180 miles of Pittsburgh.�� We can thus conclude that, heretofore, Pitt
has failed miserably against its 3 brethren in the fight for the PA-Ohio talent
pool.��
(Still Mill
and Stillers.com -- the only nationally read coverage on the Pittsburgh
Stillers that has accurately predicted the how's and the why's of the past 4
Stiller playoff losses�.)