Patriots 23, Stillers 20 ���. Sep. 25, 2005 ����Game
#3
Stillers-Pats Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers spent the past 2 weeks feasting on cake and pie, easily devouring the
Titans and Texans.� They got their first
taste of a playoff-caliber opponent at Heinz Field today, and all the injury-riddled
Pats did was leave a sour taste in the Stillers' mouths after the Pats pulled
out a hard-fought 23-20 win.�
Grades:
QB:�
Benji had been sailing on easy street the first 2 games, but came down
to earth with a raggedy game today against the Pats.� Ben opened up well enough, hitting Ward with a perfect strike
that enabled Ward to saunter 85-yards for the long TD.� But Ben finished the half just 4 of 10, and
was a mere 12 of 28 for the game.� 2
bits of ugliness cropped up during this game:�
���������� a.�
Not once, but twice Benji threw quail-like, lame duck passes into the
field of play (not into the bleachers, etc.) while in or near the grasp of a
defender.� The first was in the 2Q,
while nearly in the grasp of Davis.� Ben
actually got hurt on this play and was on the ground for a minute or so.� Had he simply eaten the ball, he'd have been
in a more secured position on the sack.�
The second was on the 1st play of the 4Q, while wrapped by a Pats
defender.� The quail was nearly INTd,
but dropped, by DE Rich Seymour.�
Neither pass was well-advised whatsoever, and these are the kind of
no-brained passes that will kill a team come playoff time.�
���������� b.�
Hideous, high overthrows in the 4Q on 2 consecutive passes.� These seemed to be caused by the punishment and
harassment Ben was taking in the pocket on the previous plays.�
On the plus
side, Ben showed good elusiveness in the pocket and ran hard and strong when he
had to.� At any rate, this is one Benji
will want to forget, albeit only after he learns from the mistakes.�� C-.�
�
RB:�
Parker had also enjoyed a frolicking first 2 weeks, only to get bottled
up by the Pats today.� Park finished
with 55 carries on only 17 rushes, and caught a valve dump for minus-6.� He ran hard, with authority, including some
nice 10-11 yard bursts.� His best run
may have been his churning, grinding 6-yard run on 2d & 8 on the Pit 8 in
the 2H.� Parker has to be disgusted that
he wasn't given some more carries, as well as wondering why he can't catch some
easy middle-dumps 5 yards downfield like Faulk and Dillon.� Haynes had a terrific effort on a 3rd &
16 dumpoff, juking and plowing for an 18-yard gain.� B.�
FB: Kreider had a pretty quiet
game.� He didn't blast open too many a
hole, and in pass pro in the 3Q, he stood around and allowed McGinnest to blow
right by for a sack.� B-.�
WR:�
Some good, some bad.� Hines had 4
for 110, although once you take away the 85-yarder, he had 3 grabs for 25
yards.� Wilson had 2 big catches in the
2H, grabbing a slant while smothered by Starks and snatching a clutch 3d &
3 pass late in the 4Q.� Randle El had
what was probably his worst day in his pro career.� He dropped 2 passes in the 2H, one on a 3Q pass that clanged off
his shoulder pads, and another in the 4Q where he simply took his eyes off the
ball to peek ahead at defenders.� He
stopped his pattern too quickly in the near-INT by E. Wilson that the Stillers
challenged and won.� And, of course,
while running with the ball after a catch in the 2Q on the Pats 11 yard line and
without any defender draped on or near him, El got the brainy idea to pitch the
ball to Ward, which backfield when Ward muffed the pitch and the Pats
recovered. �To be sure, Ward deserves
blame for dropping a perfect pitch, but with no defender hanging onto him, all
El had to do was lower his shoulders and run ahead for at least another 3
yards, setting the Stillers up for 1st & G at the 8.� Despite possessing a mismatch against the
injury-depleted NE secondary, Morgan wasn't allowed to play until late in the
4Q, and then made a clutch grab and also drew a PI flag by Sad Scott that set
up the tying TD.� The Stillers like to
brag about their WR corps, but they were badly outclassed by the NE WR corps in
this tilt.� C-.�
TE:�
Tuman started, with Miller getting some spot work from time to
time.� Miller showed his talents on the
big reception in the 3Q, displaying drive, determination, and athleticism by
turning a short pop pass into a 13-yard gainer.� The play worked so well that it wasn't used again.� There was an attempted seamer to Miller in
the 2Q that was batted at the LOS, and Tuman was wide open in the 3Q on a
seamer but heavy pressure forced Ben to scramble.� The blocking was ok. ��B.�
OL: An absolutely miserable, embarrassing
afternoon for this crew.� I re-watched
the entire game on tape, and believe you me -- they got eaten alive by the Pats
DL.� For those of you old enough to
remember Mean Joe Greene, what Rich Seymour did today was highly reminiscent of
how Greene used to dominate a game.� Seymour
toyed with, and then rocked the jock, of anyone that dared to block him.� I'd noted in my pregame my concerns about
Kendall Simmons blocking Seymour, and those concerns were well-founded.� Seymour shoved Simmons aside in the 2Q and
dropped Ben, although the loss was negated by a Seymour masking flag.� Seymour totally abused Hartings late in the
3Q, causing a flush, and then the same drill happened again for a 4Q sack.� Smith got wheeled back by Colvin on 3d &
goal late in the 1Q.� Smith foolishly
blocked the wide defender and allowed Harrison to rush unfettered to the inside
on the minus-6 yard pass to Parker, despite the fact that Tuman was there to
provide blocking help to the wide man.�
Lowly Monty Beisel tooled Simmons on the 1st play of the 4Q.� Then there were the penalties.� Simmons was flagged for 2 false starts, and
both he and Smith were flagged for holding on the QB draw late in the 4Q.� �All
in all, 1 of the sorriest, stenchiest O-line efforts I've seen in quite some
time.� D.�
DL:�
The D-line was soft and spongy the entire game.� They didn't make the key stuff when they
needed to, as witnessed:�
���������� 3d & 3; 3d & 1, and 3d &
2 --� all converted by NE on the ground,
in relatively easy manner.�
On the 1st
Dillon TD, Smith had a clear shot at Dillon, but allowed Dillon to slip out of
his lame arm tackle.� Meanwhile, on that
same play, Fat Casey Hampton stood up like a hungry giraffe when the ball was
snapped, and was easily shoved 3 yards backward by the blocker, thereby
creating the large hole for Dillon.� Hampton
had a good stop of Dillon for no gain late in the 2Q, but overall, this man
played in only about 12 plays the entire game.�
For the amount of sal cap he's eating, and for all the accolades of how
great he supposedly is, he's not getting anywhere the associated PT.� In fact, �on the 3rd & 1 listed above, Fat Casey wasn't even in the ballgame.� Kimo was pretty active, and caused the Hope
INT by deflecting the pass at the LOS.� �Facing an O-line ravaged by injury, the
D-line play was unacceptable.� D.�
LB:�
Leading the way, by far, was LOLB Clark Haggans, who had a stellar,
strong overall game.� Hagg forced 2
critical fumbles, one on a tough-nosed play in which he shed a blocker and dove
at Faulk for the strip, and the other when he sniffed the draw play and stripped
Faulk when many OLBs would have taken it easy on that kind of play.� Hagg provided some good pass pressure, including
a tooling of Ashworth for a sack, and gave some solid run support.� On the down side, he was sealed in a couple
of times on wide runs, including Dillon's 2nd TD run.� But his play dwarfed that of Farrior and Porter, who apparently
were fighting for the Raid Stinkbomb Player of the Game award.� Each was absolutely pitiful. �Porter did NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, the
entire game.� Facing a greenhorn reserve
LT (after Light's 1Q injury) who'd never gotten any meaningful work in the NFL,
Porter had a whopping 1 tackle, that coming on a short out to Johnson early in
the 2Q.� Other than that, he was a
complete ZERO.� In fact, he may as well
trade in his "55" jersey for a "00" one, in order to match
his productivity and contribution.� The
epitome of Porter's lowly play came in the 1Q, when Graham drove Porter off the
ball, and then shoved Porter into the dirt on a 3-yard run by Dillon.� Overall, this was as Gildonesque a performance
as I've seen in some time.� Not to be
outdone, James Farrior was a complete zero as well.� He had a sack�.when he came untouched up the gut on a botched
blocking assignment.� That aside, he did
nothing all day but chase opposing ballcarriers, especially after catches.� Well known as "The Winged God of Pass
Coverage", Farrior played like the Wingless God of Clodhopping, getting
whipped and beaten, time and time again, to include:
���������� - Bit on pattern by Dillon, and was woefully
too late on the mid dump to Dillon, resulting in a 19-yard gain in the 4Q.
���������� - On 1st play of final NE's final
drive, was juked badly by Faulk after the catch, resulting in a 17-yard gain.
���������� - On very next play, was too slow in
getting over to Patrick Pass, who grabbed a short pass and rumbled for 14
yards.�
There was
also the 3rd & 2 play in the 4Q, in which the blitzing Farrior was drilled
by Dillon and then shoved, face first, into the dirt.� And, lest I forget, there was the 2nd play of the 2Q, in which
Farrior flailed and whiffed on a Faulk sweep, good for 4 yards.� Foote lumbered around and made some stops,
although none rattled the teeth of an opposing ballcarrier.� Harrison made a couple decent plays in brief
spot work, and should be elevated to 1st team ROLB, especially if Porter's knee
is not healed.� �Haggans = A.�� All others, C-.�
DB:�
After gleefully cruising through the 1st 2 games, this crew got a taste
of what it's like to face a deep, talented, NFL-caliber WR corps, as they got
carved up by The Brady Bunch.� Givens did
most of the damage, hauling in 9 grabs for 130 yards.� Branch had 6 grabs and Brown 4.�
The coverage was all too often just a bit too soft.� Taylor had a decent game.� He saved huge yardage with a key shoestring
nip of Faulk on a screen pass on 3rd & 5 in the 4Q, and had a near-INT on a
spectacular, athletic 1-handed stab at a deep pass in the 2Q. �Ike struggled on successive plays late in the
1Q.� He slipped on an out pass, then got
torched on a deep crosser to Brown for a 19-yard gainer.� Colclough meekly whiffed on a 3rd & 2
hitch to Givens, which allowed huge RAC yardage and a 30-yard gain.� Pola had a disappointing day.� He finished with just 2 solos and was more
often than not flailing in the dirt, such as on the 2nd Dillon TD.� HE took an utterly poor angle on a screen to
Faulk late in the 2Q, in which �he
overran the play and failed to even get a hand on Faulk after the catch was
made, which allowed Faulk to rumble 23 yards.�
I counted 7 blitzes by Pola, with only 1 of them creating any pressure
on Brady, and on the others:
����������
���������� - easy 15 yard completion to Branch
���������� - easy 23-yard screen to Falk
���������� -
easy 8-yard compl. to Faulk
���������� - easy 18-yard compl. to Givens
���������� - easy 30-yard compl. to Givens
���������� - inc. pass to Brown
There was
also a fake blitz by Pola in the 3Q, and by the time he veered back into
coverage, he was smoked by Graham down the seam, and only a faulty pass by
Brady prevented a long reception.� Mike
Logan got roadkilled by Pass near the end of a Dillon sweep.� Logie saw a lot of PT with the extensive use
of the "quarter" defense.� Townsend
played ok, though he was flagged for an illegal contact in the 4Q.� Overall, this healthy, experienced secondary
laid far too few hard hits, had too many whiffs, allowed far too much RAC, and
broke up too few passes.� C-.�
Spec
teams:� A pretty miserable afternoon.� The punt coverage and kickoff coverage
sucked ass nearly the entire afternoon.�
They gave up the 28-yard PR by Dwight late in the 3Q, which gave the
Pats golden FP.� Coke and Warren both
flailed on this play.� The KO coverage
allowed Hobbs to return the ball 34 yards, just moments after the Stillers had
tied the game late in the 4Q.� There was
also a near punt block in the 4Q, when Kriewalt ignored Chatham rushing from
the LDT spot and Logan left his backfield post too early.� El had a nice PR of 17 yards in the 1Q, and
Coke set up the game-tying drive in the 4Q with a 44-yard KO return.� Reed's KOs went to:� -4, 3, 12, 7, and 4.� He was 2 of 3 on FGs, badly duckhooking the
52-yard attempt after the Brooks false start negated the 47-yarder.� Gardocki's hold on the 52-yarder wasn't all
that good.� �Fat Barrett Brooks took 3 points off the board, committing an
assaholic false start on a FG attempt, which is almost unheard off. On a team
with a real coach, Brooks would either be heading to the unemployment office or
at least relegated to the furthest end of the bench. �Miller was flagged for an illegal block on a JO return.� C.�
OC:�
After 2 prior weeks of easy pickin's, Whisenhunt resurrected The Grab
Bag Offense, never allowing the offense to get into any rhythm or flow.� True, his O-line got eaten alive and
manhandled, but much of that was due to the abandonment of smashmouth
football.� Despite being in the lead a
good bit of the game, and never being behind more than 7 points (that being
late in the 4Q), Parker was handed the ball only 17� times, which was woefully too little.� Worse, the Stillers never once tried to get to the ball in the
air to Parker with purpose, aside from the valve dumpoff that resulted in a
6-yard loss.� There isn't a LB on the
Pats roster that can run with Parker, but not once was Parker ever hit with a
quick flip or a Kevin Faulk-like middle dump in open space.� �The
pop pass to Miller worked well, and then it was never used again.� Miller is like a boring little toy to
WiseHunt, used sparingly, only out of boredom.�
The offense had 2d & goal, and 3rd & goal, on the 10-yard line
in the 1Q, and where was Heath Miller?�
On the bench, sitting on his ass, while the smurf receiving corps got
smothered by the Pats.�
The Gay
Play o' the Day award for Not-Whise-enhunt, was the 3rd & 2 shitgun draw
late in the 3Q.� The shotgun draw had
already been tried on 3d & 7 at the NE 12-yard line earlier in the game --
another homo playcall, by the way -- and with Haynes in the game, the Pats were
all over this gay-assed, homo-laden play.�
�The difference between WiseHunt
and the Pats is that if something works for the Pats, they go back to it until
the defense counters.� When something
works for Whisehunt, he drops it like a hot potato and reaches inside the grab
bag for something else.� And facing a
secondary totally decimated by injury (remember, Poole and Gay were injured
going into this game), Whisenhunt didn't go deep the entire game, until
the lob with 90-seconds remaining to Morgan that drew the PI flag.� Duh-uh -- the entire secondary is wiped out,
so badly that Sad Scott is playing safety, and Whisenhunt plays into their
hands with a shorty passing game.� C-.�
DC:�
LeBeau is supposed to be the grandmaster of defensive football.� Here he is, at HOME, facing an
injury-riddled Patsie offense that lost its starting LT early in the 2Q.� Amidst the crowd noise of the home field and
facing a rookie greenhorn at LT, LeBeau graciously allowed 4 consecutive
2nd-half scoring drives, 3 of which came in the 4Q with the game on the line.� The softee defense allowed the Pats to march
86 yards for the big TD in the 4Q, never once making a stand.� The litany of big-yardage plays could fill
up en antire page.� The
interesting thing is that the Pats had gobs of big plays through the air -- 30,
22, 23, 19, 19, and 18 -- but only twice did they truly thrown deep downfield,
and both of those passes were busted up.�
�And the flaccid defense allowed
Brady to go a perfect 12-12 in the 4Q.� Allowing
acres of open room for RAC yardage isn't the brainiest of ideas.� As I'd warned about in the pre-game
analysis, the defense had been over-reliant on pass pressure by Pola and the
DBs.� Brady punished them today when
Pola blitzed, and aside from Haggans and once by Harrison, the pass pressure was
far too feeble.� Overall, very, very
poor.� C-.�
HC:� When the
going gets tough, the tough are supposed to get going.� Of course, in Billy Cowher's world of
non-accountability, when the going gets tough, the excuses start flowing.� When Greg Lloyd was carted off the Alltel
turf in Jax during the '96 opener, it was bandied about that it
"devastated the team to see its captain carted off", and the Jax
proceeded to whip the Stillers.� Rod
Harrison, the tem leader of the NE defense, was carted off today in the 1Q, but
unlike a Cowhard, Belichick made no excuses, nor did he throw in the
towel.� The big decision of the game
came in the 3Q, when, after Hagg's forced fumble, the Stillers marched to the
NE 12.� The Stillers led 10-7, had a ton
of momentum, and were poised to deliver the knockout blow on this drive.� Instead, on 3rd & 7, Cowhard allowed his
offense to play pussy football, running a SG draw for 6 yards.� I could live with this play, if the HC had
the mindset that this was 4-down territory.�
But The Turtle King, Billy Cowher, had other plans, foolishly assuming
that a FG would provide all the cushion he would need.� So, on 4th and 1 at the NE 6, with a chance
to break the Pats' backs, Cowhard elected to boot the 24-yard FG.� This wasn't as pussyfied as the FG try early
in the 4Q of the AFCC, but nonetheless it was gutless, weakassed call by a
coach that claims to be this swashbuckling leader full of spirit and bravado.� �The blame
for the shredding of the defense and the horrible ST play also belongs, in some
part, to Cowhard, as those areas are supposed to be his lone areas of
expertise.� D.�
Synopsis:�
As I'd noted in my pre-game, this game means absolutely nothing, win or
loss, unless Billy Cowhard learns something from it and then applies that
learning to the playoffs.� The learning should
be obvious:� don't abandon the run; go
for the throat instead of Turtle Ball; don�t play a softee defense that allows
acres of RAC room; create pass pressure without relying on DBs for it.� Whether or not Cowhard has the sense to
learn, and then apply, remains to be seen.�
Perhaps the sting of the loss will induce better learning and
applicability than an easy win.� One
indicator of Cowher's learning, or lack thereof, is to see what happens to Fat
Barrett Brooks before the next game against San Diego.�