Stillers vs. 49ers Pregame Analysis (Game #10, @ San Fran)
The 3-6 Stillers travel to the Bay City to take on the 4-5
49ers on Monday Nite Football.� The
Niners are well rested after last week's bye week.� The Stillers are fairly refreshed as well, after last week's
cupcake contest against the lowly Cardinals.�
* When the 69ers have the ball, their offense
will be without starting QB Jeff Garcia, who is hobbled with injury.� Instead, ex-LA Techster Tim Rattay will get the
nod.� The Ratt played well enough in
leading the Niners to a big win over St Louie a couple weeks ago, and another
couple weeks of practice and studying were probably a big boost to his
confidence.� Rattay has impressed his coaches
with his ability to spread the ball all over the field, such as when he hit 9 different
receivers in the win over the Rams.�
Of course, Ratt has enough weapons on this 69er offense that
he hardly has to carry the burden all by himself.� The running game is led by Garrison Hearst, who is still one of
the better all-around back in the NFL.� Hearst
has been quite impressive both on the ground and in the aerial game.� He's averaging a very healthy 4.6 yards per
crack on the ground, and he's averaging almost 10 yards a pop in the passing
game.� Former Pitt Panther Kevan Barlow
provides a stellar backup to Hearst.�
Barlow is also averaging well above 4 yards a carry, and is a very solid
contributor (15 grabs, 8.7 yards per) in the passing game.� Freddie Beasley serves as a capable FB.�
The WR corps is led by all-world, all-mouth Terrell Owens.� The ever-loud Owens is having a decent, but
far from great, season.� Opposite Owens
is Tai Streets, who is a capable receiver.�
Cedrick Wilson gets the bulk of the work as the #3 receiver.� Seldom-used Jed Weaver starts at TE.�
The offensive line has a few solid rocks and a couple of
weak links.� Anchoring the line is
center Jeremy Newberry, who is one of the league's better centers.� The Berry hasn't missed a start in the past
5 seasons, and is stout and reliable.�
LT Derrick Deese is a solid graybearded veteran who ably blocks on both
runs and passes.� RG Ron Stone is
another greybeard who's been in the league over a decade, and is still a
reliable contributor.� The weak links
are at LG and RT.� Former 7th rounder
Kyle Kosier is a mediocre blocker at LG, and journeyman RT Scott Gragg may as
well be called Scott Gagg.� �
For the Stillers, the Circle-Triangle Defense (no corners,
and a dunce cap on top named Alex) got a boost last week when DeShea Townsend
started in place of DeWayne Wash and rookie Ike Taylor saw considerable time in
the dime defense.� However, starting CB
Sad Scott is hobbled, and might not be able to go on Monday.� If not, DeWayne will probably be inserted back
into the starting lineup, as Bill Cowher's sphincter will pucker up far too
tightly at the thought of allowing a rookie (Taylor) to start at CB.�
The key matchup will be the 69er passing game against
the Stiller defense.� The Stillers
hardly shut down Jeff Blake last week, and had Randle El not returned that punt
for a TD, it would have been pucker time late in that ballgame.� Rattay is no greenhorned youngster -- he's
been in the NFL since 2000 -- so the 69er coaching staff isn't afraid to let
him throw the ball.� The Niners have a
capable running game, led by the 1-2 punch of Hearst and Barlow, but the
Stiller front 7 is good enough to minimize their effectiveness.� If Rattay plays with the kind of presence
and effectiveness he showed two weeks ago against the Rams, it could be a long
afternoon for The Softee Defense.�
* When the Stillers have the ball, they'll
be brimming with confidence after their big win over the lowly Cardinals.� QB Tommy Maddox looked renewed in the Cards
game, although he had his share of woeful passes.� The running game was supposed to be revitalized by the great messiah,
FatBoy Bettis, but the big tub o' lard hasn't done much at all.� �
The San Fran defense has been pretty stingy against the
run.� Then again, because their pass
defense has been a bit soft, some opponents have probably eschewed the run in
favor of the easy pass.�
The D-line is above average.� Ageless DT Bryant Young leads this gang, along with DE John
Engelberger.� Rookie Anthony Adams has
had an ok rookie campaign.� Chidi
Ahanotu, who has among the top 10 strangest names in the NFL, mans the LDE
spot.�
Julian Peterson leads the LB corps.� If you want to see what a very good
all-around left outside LB looks like, watch #98 on Monday nite.� Veteran Derek Smith is a solid 'backer, and
Jeff Ulbrich chips in adequately at the other LB spot.�
There's a fair amount of talent in the Niner secondary.� Ahmed Plummer and Mike Rumph -- each a
former 1st rounder -- work the corners.�
The Plummer will probably go against Ward, while the bigger Rumph will
take on Plex.� Tony Parrish and John
Keith work at the safeties.�
The key matchup will be the Stiller ground game
against the Niner front 7.� The Stillers
would love to be able to chew some clock and quiet the San Fran crowd with a
good dose of the running game.� At the
very least, the Stillers would like to have some balance so that the Niners can't
collapse heavy coverage on Ward and Plex.�
The Niner rush defense is 2nd in the NFC, so this is a stern test for a
Stiller ground game that has yet to take over a game this season.�
* Special Teams: �For once, the Stillers might have a marked spec teams advantage
over an opponent.� The SF spec teams are
rather subpar.� Punter Bill LaFleur
isn't anywhere near as successful as, say, Guy LeFleur.� Todd Peterson, if you can believe this, is
the 69er placekicker.� Yes, that
Todd Peterson.� Backup CB Jimmy Williams
handles most of the PR tasks.� The lone
bright spot is KOR Cedrick Wilson, who has taken 1 KO to the house for a
95-yard TD.� The Stiller spec teams had
a rare day last week, in which they not only scored a TD, but more
surprisingly, they finished a game without a major gaffe like a blocked FG,
blocked punt, fumble, etc.�
Key Individual Matchups:
* Center Jeremy Newberry vs. NT Casey Hampton.� This is a classic mano-o-mano matchup.� This is as good as it gets in the NFL for a
center-NT matchup.� Even better, the MNF
TV crew has enough cameras that we should see several replays of these two players
brawling it out in the trenches.�
* Plex Burress vs. Mike Rumph.� Prime Time Plexico has been as quiet as a churchmouse the
past month.� He usually comes up big on
prime time TV.� He's got a tough
matchup, but he's got to rise to the occasion if the Stillers have any chance
at victory.
* Hearst vs. the Stiller LB corps.� Hearst is dangerous out of the backfield on flares, slants, and
circles.� Each of the Stiller LBs will
be tasked at one point or another to cover Hearst or bring him down after a
short pass.� It's absolutely critical
that Hearst be kept in check.� ��
* Julian Peterson vs. RT Fat Oliver Ross.� This could be very, very ugly.� Keep small children away from the TV
set.�
* Chidi Ahanotu versus Chidi Iwuoma.� The Battle of the Chidi's.� Should be a real mouthful for Fat Madden if
these two tangle on a special teams play.��
* Synopsis: Both teams are scrapping hard for
a playoff berth, and both teams are essentially in a do-or-die situation.� The Niners are going to have to forge ahead
without their starting QB, which is never an envious position.� The Stillers are thumping their chest and
brimming with confidence after their win last week, but that win needs to be
put in perspective.� The Stillers have
yet to beat a respectable team, and until they do, I have my doubts.� The Niners, playing at home, will prevail,
27-20.�