Loose Slag from The Still Mill������ Nov. 13, 2007 ����
- Received a fair amount of feedback regarding my postgame analysis.� Much of it claimed the following:��
����������� - I�m too
negative.��� I should be proud of such a
great win against such a great team.
����������� - Bruce
Arians is a great OC and is doing a fine job.��
����������� - The
defense is great, dominant, and probably better than the �85 Bears.� The defense played great yesterday.�
����������� - Derrick
Anderson is a great QB and to even hold this guy under anything like 57 points
is an amazing �feat .
In response, I offer the following:�
�����������
����������� - Sorry, I
hadn�t received the memo from the NFL that changed the schedule. ��Gee, I actually thought we were playing the
lowly, yet hated & despised, Cleveland Browns�not the �67 Packers or the �88
49ers.�� I thought the Stillers would be
fired up to play a bitter rival, albeit a rival that is a mediocre football
team.�� I now hear a lot of crowing about
how vaunted the Browns supposedly are.�
Let�s see -- their 5 wins came against:
����������� - Cinci (sucks)
����������� - Balt.
(sucks)
����������� - Miami (sucks
and winless)
����������� - Rams
(sucks, and finally won their FIRST game this past week)
����������� - Seahawks
(decent team that the Stillers thoroughly dominated and humiliated, while Clev
barely beat by the skin of their dicks)�
� ��Yet, according to various numbskulls and
halfwits, we should be proud of, and revile in the glory of, beating this
ramshackle, piece of shit Browns team AT HOME by a razor-thin margin.�
��� ������� - Being content with 1st half mediocrity;
playing down to an inferior opponent; lazy, half-hearted effort; and totally
inattention to detail are precisely what led to the embarrassing playoff losses
to inferior teams such as SD in 1995; NE in 1996; Denver in 1998, NE in 2002;
Tenn. in 2003; and NE in 2005.�
����������� - I stated this in this same column
3 weeks ago, and I�ll repeat it, because: �a.) it needs to be repeated, and b.) some people have difficulty
comprehending simple English --
����������� �
����������� It all leads to the very obvious
conclusion that not only is Arians running a grab-bag offense, but he has no
clue as to game planning and shifting gears.�� As each week goes by, I can�t help but see the massive resemblance
between Arians and Chan Gayboy.� Both are
quite capable of the science of sitting around a chalkboard, and
sitting around a film room, and sitting around the austere environment of a
practice field and walking through plays.��
����������� Problem is, each is a complete
incompetent when it comes to being AT a game, DURING a game, amidst the ebb and
flow of battle.�� This aspect is an art,
not a science, and neither one of these daft simpletons is remotely close to
being a master at this art.� Arians has
no clue to having a feel for the game, and seeing where he can exploit a
defense. �Instead, just like Chan
Gayboy, he simply pulls plays blindly out of a velvet grab-bag and send them in,
tactics and strategy be damned.� Only be
the grace of having a super QB; a superb RB; a strong starting WR duo; a superb
TE; and an average OL is Arians able to muster anything.� Put Arians in, say, Cleveland, and he�d be
run out of town.� Oh, wait, that has
already happened before.� �
����������� - For all the Arians fans out there
-- StillaYinzer being chief among them -- please see me in mid-late January and
remind me of just how great this guy is as an OC.�
����������� - As for
Derrick Anderson, the guy has some potential, but as you clearly saw in the 2H
on Sunday, he is green, erratic, spotty, and inconsistent.� He has a hideous sidearm throwing motion
that really limits his accuracy.� In the
2H alone, he misfired on at least a half-dozen simple, easy, short passes to open
receivers.�� This wasn�t Brady, Manning,
or even Rivers or Carson LipBalmer.� It
was Derrick Fucking Anderson, making his 11th career NFL start, along with the absolutely
slowest starting WR in all of pro football (yes, and that includes Arena
Football, NFL Europe, and semi-pro leagues); a washed up starting RB; a mediocre
O-line that has been ravaged by injury; and absolutely nothing for a 3rd or 4th
WR.��
On to other bits of slag --
- Per the PG, �The Steelers had only 10 players on the field
when the Browns quickly punted late in the fourth quarter, forcing Harrison to
run on the field at the last minute. That caused Rossum, who said he was
counting players, to refuse a fair catch and let the ball roll to the Steelers'
11.�
����������� I don�t care if Rossum is counting
the number of big-titted blondes that are sitting in the bleachers.�� Actually, if there are only 4 other men out
on the field, it still doesn�t fucking matter.�� At that juncture in the game, his ONLY responsibility once the ball
is snapped, is to secure the punt via a FAIR CATCH -- in which no one can tackle
or even touch him -- before additional yardage is garnered by way of a long
roll or bounce.�� Last time I checked, a
punt returner needs exactly -- and no more than - ZERO blockers
to execute a simple fair catch.�� There
is no excuse for this dumbassesd �refusal� action by Rossum, no matter what bullshit
rationalization he, or an idiot fan out there, might conjure. �
- Per the TR, Tomlin stated after the game, �We
were close to people. It's not about sacks, it's about pressure, and pressure
was sufficient."���
����������� Tomlin
may be trying to put a positive spin on things for the media, because he is utterly
delusional if he thinks the pressure was �sufficient�.� Sufficient my ass!!� �The game
was played in the mud bog of Heinz Cow Pasture, which is a muddy, piece of shit
field.� Hell, the singer for the
national anthem gets muddy just walking out to the microphone stand.�� Yet there was Derrick Anderson at game�s
end, with a uniform so white, clean and spotless that you�d swear he�d just entered
the game as the emergency 3rd QB.��
����������� �Sufficient
pressure� means a QB is getting slapped and shoved about just as he�s releasing
the ball.� �Sufficient pressure� means
the QB is being rushed, harassed, and unable to step into throws.� �Sufficient pressure� means a QB is taking
some good, hard, legal shots to the ribs as he�s releasing the pass, which
leaves him woozy, gimpy, and guilty of �happy feet�.� There wasn�t a single �sufficient pressure� in the entire
ballgame, as I don�t count Foote�s little love tap after Anderson released the
short, accurate crosser to Winslow as �pressure�.� Tomlin and LeBeau can sugarcoat this all they want, but if they
don�t start putting in schemes that free up a rusher, or get the best rushers
in prime positions to exploit a weak blocker, this defense is in some serious
trouble against a capable passing attack, especially when we�re not sitting on
a 17-point lead.�� ���
����������� I�ve stated this numerous times
before.�� I�m not fretting about sacks.�� I�m talking about a simple paw in the face
of a QB, or some heat just as the QB releases, or some pressure to make the QB
shorten his stride on his delivery.� What
I still cannot understand, is why LaMar Woodley is being marooned on the BENCH
during all of those 3rd & 9s, amidst long drives when other rushers must be
tired.�
(Still Mill
and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Stillers,
no one else comes close�.)