Falcons 41, Stillers 38� (OT) ���. Oct. 22, 2006 ����Game #6���
Stillers-Falcons Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers frittered away yet another entirely winnable game, bowing out to the
Falcs in OT, 41-38.� Boneheaded gaffes, sloppy
play, and foolhardy mistakes outweighed some otherwise solid playmaking.�
The key turn in this game occurred midway thru the 2Q.� After the Stillers forced a 3-and-out, this
game was as close to being over as a game can be, with the Stillers up 17-7 in
the 2Q and in total control and domination of the flagging Dirty Birds.� But BenRoth fumbled the 1D snap, giving
Atlanta the ball on the Stiller 25.� Six
plays later, Atlanta made it 17-14, and then quickly followed up with a
successful onsides KO.� Seven plays
later, Atlanta scored to take the lead, and in a less than 3 minutes the
Stillers had handed over a commanding lead to a running team that was
hopelessly flailing and an inch away from the grave.�
Grades:
QB:�
Benji had a decent afternoon until getting a concussion in the 3Q.� He completed 16 of 22 for 238 yards and 3
TDs, which is sterling indeed.� He was
particularly sharp on the 2nd O-drive, with completions of 16, 16, and 11 (the
last being a TD to Ward).� He was even
better on the next drive, going 5-5 and hitting Miller with the TD.� But there was a bizarre, off-kilter screen
pass in the 1st series that could have, and should have, been picked off.� And then there was the ghastly fumbled snap,
the 2nd of the then-briefly played game, that turned the blowout into the OT
nailbiter.� This is inexcusable slop and
stupidity and ruins what was otherwise a good day.�� Batch came on in relief and played decently, completing 8 of 13
for 195 yards and 2 TDs.� He overthrew
an open Miller deep down the seam in the 4Q, but otherwise was sharp for a
rusty backup and made some clutch throws on both TD passes to Ward.���� Ben: B.��
Batch: A.��
RB:�
Parker had a somewhat tough afternoon, never really getting untracked
against an aggressive, hustling Falcon defense.� He gained 47 yards on 20 carries, which is entirely inadequate,
although the preponderance of blame must be placed on the O-line.� Parker, who should have been as dangerous on
that indoor field turf as a can of gasoline next to a barbeque grill, caught
zero passes.� Lest I forget, Parker had
the asinine 3Q fumble, allowing a man right in front of him to poke the ball
away as Parker was spinning to cut to the other side of the field.� Very, very stupid.� Haynsie had a nice run late in the 1H for 11 yards and caught 1
pass for 2 yards.� Davenport was only
allowed to carry once, and was engulfed for a 1-yard loss.��� B-.
FB: I don't think this was one of
Kreider's better games. He showed some lingering effects from the ankle injury
and wasn't as punishing.�� B-.�
WR:�
Some good, some bad.� Ward had a
career day, enjoying his 1st ever 3-TD game.�
The 2nd TD was one for the ages, with Ward snaring a deep seam, and
then, as he was bursting away on his RAC, flicking off a half-on/half-off shoe
and running with just 1 shoe on the rest of the way, and then juking a Falc DB
and vaulting to the pylon for a spectacular 70-yard TD.� But like all of his teammates, Ward had his
share of poor focus and dumb boners, too.�
He fumbled the ball after a catch in the 2Q, but Miller saved his bacon
by recovering.� He dropped a perfectly
thrown curl pass on the play Benji got injured.� He also committed a false start in the 2Q.�
���������� Wilson showed he plays much, much
better on a better turf, although he tweaked a groin that had to be
wrapped.� He finished with 3 grabs for
54 yards.�
Other than the last minute of each half, Nate had a fine
game.� He went up and got a deep ball in
the 4Q, good for 49 yards, and had 3 grabs for 76 yards and one TD.� But, like his ill-focused teammates, Nathan
got stupid when the going got tough.�
After his TD catch, the dumbass fairly intentionally bumped into a
Falcon, which was THE reason for the 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct flag.� The, with Batch spiking the ball with about
10 secs in regulation, dumbass Nate committed a false start as he was confused
whether he need to be on the LOS or off the LOS.� Had he simply stayed lined up off the LOS, probably no ref
would have noticed anyway, with the play being a spike.� This boner caused the clock to run out in
regulation, which prevented Reed from trying a very make-able (given the dry,
non-windy indoor conditions) 50-yard FG.��
Holmes had his best pro game to date, snaring 5 passes for
91 yards, including a fine catch on a deep out., as well as some decent RAC
work.���
Morey slightly bobbled but snagged the one pass thrown to
him.� In all, this should have been a
banner day for the WR corps, but dumbassed boners reduce the grade
accordingly.�� Reid did not dress.�� B-.�
TE:�
Miller set the stat sheet on fire, nabbing 2 passes for 4 yards.� He did have a clutch TD catch, and on a 3d
& 3 in the 2H, had a good twist & lunge for the necessary yardage.� He also hustled to recover Ward's
fumble.� To his discredit, he too, had a
boner, allowing a 1Q curl pass to go right thru his hands.� Tuman caught a valve dump and had big RAC
for a 21-yard gain.� The run blocking
was mediocre.�� B.�
OL: After shoving the Chefs around like
empty trash cans, the line returned to its typical 2006 form, getting a lot of
whippage and beating from a very average front 7 that was missing its best
D-lineman, J. Abraham.� Fighting each
other for the stench-bomb of the week award were Jeff Hartings and KenDoll
Simmons.� Hartings has played so poorly
this season that it is absolutely imperative that he retire after the season,
if not sooner.� He whiffed in feeble
fashion on the 3rd & goal QB draw play, which got Ben engulfed and
stuffed.� Simmons personally helped
created Parker's fumble, standing still while Babineaux, lined up directly in
front of him, rushed in, totally untouched.�
Chris Kemo was inserted in the 2H for a brief stint.�
The pass pro was decent, although there was blitz pressure
that was created by O-line confusion and slow-footedness.� The overall run blocking blew chunks.��� C.�
DL:�
The D-line played solidly for 3 quarters, and then got flaccid in the 4Q
and especially in OT.� Keisel had a very
active game, although he, too, committed a dumbassed gaffe, getting flagged for
a personal foul-facemask in the 4Q.�
Smith was also pretty active, especially from backside pursuit.� Hampton was a bit quiet, although the line
limited Dunn & Norwood until late, and then Hampton pulled a ham in the 4Q
and sat thereafter.� Hoke and Kirschke
saw a lot of work as subs.��� B-.�
LB:�
Farrior led the way with 8 solos and an INT off a pass that Dunn
couldn't grab onto.� He also had a good
slash and grab of Dunn on a 3rd & 3 on the 1st drive of the 2H, resulting
in a 1-yard loss.� On the other hand,
the "Winged God of LB coverage" rarely ever provided any coverage on
the big TE, Alge Crumpler, who had a career day.� Foote was too quiet for an ILB, and was a step slow on the 3rd
& goal TD pass to Crumpler in the 2Q.�
���������� Haggans had an ok game, stuffing Dunn
for a 2-yard loss on 2d & goal from the 2 in the 2Q.� But he was badly tooled by Crumpler on a
23-yard completion in the 3Q, and then made a dumbassed boner when he got
sucked inside, and then lamely stumbled to the ground while Norwood cutback to
his right and rambled 36 yards in the 4Q.�
���������� Arnie Harrison started in place of
the injured Porter and Jamie Harrison.�
He played solidly, making 5 solos, including a good stuff of Dunn off of
a direct snap from center in the 2Q.� He
harassed Vick into a TA late in the 4Q.�
But, just like every other teammate, he committed the dumbassed boner
that helped steal defeat from victory.�
Two plays later, he was fooled on the fake handoff, and allowed Vick to
easily scoot around end for 14 yards.�
In OT, he allowed Vick a few extra yards on a scramble/keeper in which
Arnie was hopelessly flailing at a complete disadvantage.��
���������� Chad Brown was enormously quiet.� The only noise he made all day was on a
dumbassed boner, where he shouldered into Vick well after Vick released a pass,
which earned Chadly a roughing-the-passer penalty.�
���������� Overall, too many gaffes and too much
feebleness in the 4Q and OT.��� C+.��
DB:�
A rocky game against a team that previously had a feeble, toothless
passing attack.�
Troy Pola had a tremendous game�.making plays all over the
field�..coming up with a superb INT�.jamming up the run like a 5th LB��and then
pissed it all away with a dumbassed boner in OT.� On a 3rd & 9 from the Atlanta 45, Pola blitzed from the
Stiller right side, with McFadden also blitzing to the inside of
Pola.� So, with a fellow blitzer to his
inside, facing a dangerous scrambler that happens to be LEFT handed and enjoys
rolling to his left, where does Pola aim for ?�� To the INSIDE, like a complete fucking dumbass !!��� Vick easily eluded Pola while Pola weakly
pawed at Vick's right shoulder pad, and Vick scrambled left and lofted an easy
dumper to a wide open Crumpler for 26 yards�
and essentially the game.� For
the life of me, I cannot fathom how a veteran star could make such a dumbshit,
dumbassed boner like this one.�
Pola wasn't all alone in the boner department, of
course.� McFadden was soft on the 1st
Crumpler TD, and Clark failed to deliver any sort of hit on Crumpler despite
fully being in the vicinity to do so.�
McFadd was also just shameful on the 28-yard play by Lelie in the
3Q.� Not only was he horrifically soft
-- allowing a huge, marshmallow cushion -- but then, with Vick stopping and
throwing back to his left, McFadd reacted with all the speed of a glacier.� When Lelie aught and turned, McFadd was
hopelessly left in no-man's land and gave up a huge RAC.�
Clark committed an illegal contact flag and was never able
to contain Crumpler.�
���������� Townsend was beaten on the 3d & 7
deeb lob in the EZ for a TD, and then had the stupid gaul to get up and
pompously signal "incomplete".�
The stupid moron actually though he'd broken the play up; not only did
he give up the TD catch, but he was also flagged for PI !!
���������� Ike was beaten on Crump's 3rd TD late
in the 3Q.�
���������� Overall, to get shredded by a
scattershot passer like Vick, with a complete joke of a WR corps, is an
outright disgrace.�� D.
Spec
teams:� A total abomination by Cowhard's special
teams.� They sucked ass from beginning
to end.� On the opening KO, the coverage
was entirely shoddy, and Ike basically saved a TD.� Soon thereafter, Holmes fielded a punt, and promptly had it poked
away for a huge turnover.� On the
ensuing KO, you'd have thought that Holmes would be angry and determined.� That he was, so much so that, with an ACRE
of open room, he allowed himself to be tripped up by a fingernail rub by the
kicker, Koenen, and what SHOULD have been an EASY TD ended up being a decent
KOR.� The Stillers ended up getting only
3 points out of this, when clearly, this absolutely should have been SEVEN,
EASY.�� On the ensuing Reed KO, Nate
Wash literally DOGGED it on this play, giving up and just coming to a complete
stop and watching,� Logan whiffed on a
tackle, and Rossum had a nice 45-yard KOR to pad his stats with.� On the next KO, the Falcons were
stopped�.for "only" a 32-yard gain.�
Holmes fielded a punt literally 2 inches from the sideline
chalk, on his own 12, late in the 1Q.�
With all the problems of catching punts and fumbling punts, why even
attempt to field a punt while standing 2 centimeters from the sideline, with no
hope of any return and with a fairly good assurance that the ball is gonna land
OOB anyway?�
�
���������� Carter got slammed in mid-air as he
tried to catch the onsides KO, and he was unable to hold onto the pig.� Hard to fault him on this; the bigger fault
is that the entire KO return team got caught flat-footed and off-guard.�
���������� Wallace, Morey, and Arnie had ok
stops in coverage in the 2H.��� Pola was
flagged on abullshit running-into-the-kicker call late in regulation.� This one was nowhere close to DeWayne Wash's
infamous penalty on Joe Nedney in the Jan. 2003 playoffs.�
���������� Gardocki punted weakly, including a
dogshit 33-yard boot in the 4Q.� Reed
barely eked through his shorty 28-yd. FG attempt, although his KOs were
solid.� Of course, we have no clue why
the Stillers insisted up kicking deep, and to the middle, to Rossum all day
long.�� Reed saved a TD with a trip and
was flagged 15 yards.��� F.�
OC:�
Cheezenhunt had a decent day today.�
I wasn't wild about the gay-assed QB draw on 3rd & goal from the 5,
nor did I like the 4Q screen to Haynes on 3d & 7 that gained a whopping 2
yards.� Still, there offense clicked to
the tune of 38 points, and the RZ production was good.��� B+.�
DC:�
Hey Dick -- that big guy on the other team, #83 -- why the fuck don't
you assign someone�.anyone�.to cover him ??�
My gawd, only Dick and Company could face one of the most feeble passing
attacks in the league and get carved up like a Halloween pumpkin.� Vick hasn't throw a TD pass since week 2 --
back on Sep. 17th -- and Micheal Lick had never thrown more than 2 TDs in an
NFL game, and Dick helps him complete 4 TD passes� !!�
And then there's giving up a deep lob in the EZ for a 17-yard TD
completion on 3rd & 7�..how in the hell does that happen ?� It's quite obvious that Dick's schemes have
gotten entirely stale and predictable.����
D.�
HC:� It all
starts at the top, and at the top sits Lord Billy Cowher.� The overt lack of focus, the inattention to
detail, the careless slop and outrageously foolish mistakes, all are
by-products of a disinterested head coach that is in total dereliction of his
duties to instill discipline, ensure focus and crisp execution, and fix
schematic flaws on the spot.� When you
have a talented, veteran-laden team commit dumbassed boner after dumbassed
boner after dumbassed boner, it's not an issue with talent or
inexperience.� It's an issue with
setting high standards and enforcing them.�
When a team loses to a clearly inferior opponent, it's not about talent,
it's about coaching and ensuring good execution.� When a team commits a plethora of undisciplined mistakes and
penalties, it is a distinct reflection on the coaching and leadership, or lack
thereof.� How many penalties after a
Stiller TD have to occur before Cowhard takes some action and rectified this
outrageous stupidity ?�� 5 ?�� 8 ?��
12 ?�� When a team continually
gets outplayed in the 4Q, it's a matter of conditioning and desire, both of
which are in obvious shortages.� Lastly,
there was the completely asinine, useless challenge of Dunn's TD plunge in the
3Q.�� My gawd, everyone in the free
world saw that is was a TD, yet dumbass Cowher challenges it and gives away a
TO.�� That TO might have been rather
handy in setting up for a Reed FG late in regulation.� In sum, it becomes more evident with each passing day -- the
Stillers won Sup Bowl 40 in spite of, not because of, Billy Cowher.���� F.
Synopsis:�
This one was every bit as annoying and irritating as the last tilt with
Atlanta, which resulted in the NFL's last tie game.� This game was there for the taking, and dumbassed boners stole
defeat from victory.� The team should be
embarrassed to have a 2-4 record equal to that of the lowly Houston
Texans.� Doing the "same ol', same
ol'" ain't getting the job done.�
Some somewhat drastic measures must be taken.� After all, what has this sagging, sorry, 2-4 team have to lose
?�� Tony Smith must be inserted at FS
for some urgently needed speed and athleticism.� Reid needs to be inserted as the primary kick returner once
healthy.� Joey Porter needs to platoon
with Jamie Harrison.�� Davenport needs
to get more than a few token carries.� Holmes
needs to be elevated in the passing game.�
Bullshit vanilla on defense needs to be scrapped in lieu of some daring
aggression.��� The situation is bleak --
very bleak -- and bleak times call for some strong measures.� Let's see if the disinterested Cowher is man
enough to do so, or if he's merely going to ride this gravy train to his
retirement home in Carolina.�
(Still Mill
and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Stillers,
no one else comes close�.)