Stillers 16, N.Y Jests 19 (OT) ���. Nov. 18, 2007 ����Game #10
Stillers-Jests Postgame Analysis and Grades
The Stillers apparently thought this game, along with next week�s Dolphin game, were �postage� games � drop �em in the slot and mail �em in. They forgot that, as opposed to Cameron Cameron, Eric Mangini is actually an NFL coach. A coach who took his team to the playoffs last season. Even though they were on a 6-game losing streak, the Jests came out to play today; the Stillers, not so much.
Although the Stillers once again came out flat in a road game, it appeared that they gathered themselves, and were set to pull out another slop-laden victory. But, poetically, this team did not pull it off, and if you peel back the layers of this game, you�ll find that the lethargy from the start of the game actually permeated the entire game. Lazy, pathetic tackling was the hallmark of this loss. Sure, we only gave up 19 points, but there were more missed tackles than there were total points in this fiasco. Plain and simple, the Stillers did not deserve to win this game, and we can only hope that they will finally learn to come out of the gate in away games the way they do for home games.
Grades:
QB: B. Big Ben went 15 of 25, and was scurrying around quite a bit of the game. Ben�s tactic of saying how great his offensive line is, on a weekly basis, is not working. The �Pygmalion effect� will only work so long � it�s time to call a spade a spade. His line is playing atrociously. Unfortunately, Ben was not able to make the miraculous throws on the run like he has in previous games. He was without Holmes for most of the second half, and his receivers dropped some passes, so he wasn�t able to get into a comfortable groove this game. Still, Ben played well enough to win � if he had better support.
RB: C. Parker didn�t always hit the holes with authority, when there was a hole. Never got into rhythm. Part of the problem, in this writer�s humble opinion, was that almost all of Parker�s running plays were slow-developing delays, with Willie lined up a full 8 yards deep. Parker would then have to find a hole to run in, and the linemen did not hold their blocks long enough for these slow plays to open up. Early in the game, the OL was getting great surge, yet, didn�t sustain the block for as long as the delay plays took to get to the line-of-scrimmage. Contrast that with the quick-hitting running plays of Najeh Davenport, who averaged 5 a pop, and you can see that the OL should have been using �smashmouth� running plays in the gameplan.
FB: C-. Kreider played sparingly, and surprisingly, blocked fairly ineffectively. Cary Davis had a couple good runs.
WR: D. The wide receivers had a pedestrian game as a whole. Hines dropped an EASY pass early, and this has become an alarming trend for him this season. Holmes dropped the LONG pass that would have been 63-yards save for Maxi-Pad Starks� hold on the play. Nate had a ball go through his hands. Sure, it was a bit high, but it would be nice to see a wideout make a play once in a while.
A lot of the sack problems that occurred today were directly due to Ben holding the ball so long. His wideouts were getting little separation, and Hines was the main culprit. Two catches? Are you kidding me??
TE: D+. Heath Miller had a couple catches, both for big gains. Of course, in the Arians Nation, you�re not allowed to use the TE too much. You can have LOTS of them, but you can�t use �em! Miller�s blocking was lacking, however. He got bulled into the backfield on most every running play that went wide on his side. Very poor. As bad as Heath�s blocking was, though, Matt �Tim� Spaeth�s was worse. He absolutely WHIFFED on one pass play, and caused his QB to get smoked. Spaeth clearly has little lower body strength, and he�ll have to correct this in the offseason to improve his blocking.
OL: D-. The casual reader might ask why this grade is not an �F�, but truthfully, the line was able to get surge on the defense on numerous occasions. It�s exactly why
DL: D. Thomas Jones ran for 117 yards. Most of the time, the defenders were there, but poor tackling allowed him to spring ahead for more yards, sometimes many more. Aaron Smith took a terrible roughing the passer penalty, extremely foolish of a cerebral vet like Smith.
LB: B. Harrison. D. Rest. Overall, this group tackled poorly. Period. Farrior, Foote, and Haggans missed tackle after tackle. The three of them could use a �technique lesson� from James Harrison, a man who understands the meaning of �tackling a man through his belt�. Haggans ruined a great endzone defense when he held the tight end for about 5 minutes without letting go, as the man tried to get out into pattern. Guess Haggans decided after the first Jests� TD, they were going to put an end to the season-long inability to cover the RB or TE at the goal line.
DB: D-. Polamolu. B+. Rest.
Townsend had a nice play on his INT, and should have had another in overtime. Anthony Smith was seemingly everywhere, and is a terrific upgrade over
Spec teams: D+. Most of the game, they played well. When the chips were down, however, they let the team down. Start with punter Danny Repulsiva. Is it too much to ask the guy who we drafted in the fourth round to show us his booming (sic) leg every once in a while??? Like, say, in overtime when he is kicking WITH a vicious wind??? His putrid punt led the special teams to over-pursue the ball, and the returner was able to run up and field the ball on the fly, and gash us right up the gut for 33 yards. Pathetic. Jeff Reed continues to be an amazing bright spot on the �special� teams.
OC: D. Hey Bruce, could you please ask Arians Nation exactly what the gameplan was today? This writer has no idea�?? We played the worst rush defense in the league, yet could not run. Oh, wait, we could if we ran straight ahead, and let the line zone block. So what were we doing running delay after delay after delay, that caused the linemen to need to sustain their blocks for ages? No idea. We didn�t utilize Heath Miller enough�again. This writer thought Arians Nation was in love with tight ends�? Wanted three on the field at the same time. He could have 6 on the field all day, and he�d only throw to them twice�! Seemed like the middle was open all day. Seems like Hines Ward is probably the best WR in the league at going over the middle. Seems like every time we saw Hines, he was running loopy patterns everywhere BUT the middle of the field. Bruce????
DC: B+. Dick Lebeau had his defense in place to win. The players were where they needed to be, for most of the game. Dick can�t make the tackles for them!?! In fact, at times, the secondary looked as if they knew where the passes were going before the Jests� wideouts did!! Can Dick solve the enigma that is Troy Polamolu? That, Stiller Nation, is the question for the rest of the season. In fact, the season could ride on it. Can Dick get his best playmaker to make impact plays like an All-Time 75th Anniversary Pro Bowl safety?
HC: F. Mike Tomlin must take responsibility for a bunch of things in this game. After all, he is the head coach, and he has overall responsibility. He must take responsibility for: an �offensive� offensive gameplan against a bad defense, another special teams debacle, nauseating tackling, numerous senseless penalties, and yet another egg laid on the road against a poor team.
Synopsis: NO WAY should the Stillers lose a game to the Jests.
Praise the Lord that this team gets to face Cam Cameron, a coach and leader who would have a hard time organizing a two-car funeral, next week. Stiller security must keep close tabs on the players this weekend, to make sure they don�t toke with Ricky before the game.
When it comes to the analysis of the