Stillers 27, Falcons 20 ……. Dec 14, 2014…………Game # 14
Stillers-Falcons Postgame Analysis and Grades
The Stillers went down to Atlanta to face the lowly 5-8 Falcons. This game mirrored many a Stiller game this season against inept bottom feeders -- Stillers dominate early, only to have a thin lead, and then the lead vanishes to a razor-thin margin as the defense imitates a screen door on a submarine. Fortunately, with a combination of just enough Atlanta ineptitude combined with a big play by Ben to Heath to salt away the clock, the Stillers held on for an uninspiring 27-20 win over the DirtyBirds.
Grades:
QB: Benji had a very solid game, going 27 of 35 for 360 and no INTs. This is the kind of game they needed, and need, from Ben down the stretch. A-
RB:
Bell - Stutter Bell faced an ATL defense bent on stacking the run. Had a quiet 1H, with 10 rushes for only 17 yards, although he had a big RAC off a dumpoff for 44 yards. On his first carry of the 2H, he blasted up the gut for a 10-yard gain. Dashed around left end for a quality 13-yard TD run, early 4Q. Finished 20 with carries for only 47 yards, but also chipped in 5 grabs for a very impressive 72 yards. B+
Archer - Pee Pee Archer, the vaunted 3d round draft pick, was once again a healthy scratch. What a pansie ! F-
FB:
Wilbur Johnson saw a fair amount of PT. His blocking was ok. B-
WR:
Brownie – superb 28-yard catch along the sideline, late 1H, getting a toe-skim just before going OOB. This put the ball at the ATL 1, which Bell punched in a play later. At the end of a bubble screen, 3Q, he committed a masking foul as well as a foolish dead-ball taunting penalty. Finished with 10 grabs for a buck-23. The foolish penalties slightly degrade this grade. A-
Pinkie Wheaton - clutch grab & RAC, mid 4Q, on 3d & 7 for 13 yards, which moved the chains in a critical drive. Had 5 grabs for 66, which is still too smallish of a YPC, but he did chip in decently. B+
Justin Brown – thankfully did not dress. Wasn’t it just yesterday that this genius staff was gushing over and praising Justin for (hold your laughter, please) his run blocking??
Archer: Did not dress. By the way, he’s just so fast & explosive, and quick, too. Good thing Doltbert rabidly reached for this smurf in the 3rd round…!
Lance “Yancey” Moore - Had 2 opportunities to make tough catches, and failed each time. Neither was easy, but each was eminently possible. C-
Martavis Bryant - good RAC, bubble screen, 1st series. Nearly nullified Bell’s 44-yard RAC play, 1Q, with a foolish, near block to the back in which a flag was thrown but then picked up. Nearly hauled in a 1-handed grab in the EZ, late 1Q. Finished with a paltry 3 grabs for 31. C+
Heyward-Gay - fortunately was not involved in any pass plays. He has more penalties, and last names, than he does receptions. Inc
TE:
Miller - Hauled in a 26-yard pass, late 3Q. Iced the game with a clutch 25-yard grab. Had 4 for 68, and provided some solid run blocking. A-
OL: Overall, the OL provided lots of time for Ben. The running game had fewer holes, but much of that was due to an ATL sellout to stop the run.
Beacham - Had an ok game. Had some struggles in run blocking. B-
Adams - started in place of the hobbled Gilbert. Painfully slow off the snap, late 3Q, causing a 6-yard loss of Bell on a ground play. Also allowed some pass pressure via outside speed rushes. C
Gilbert - FatAss Marcus was supposed to start, but somehow the Fatass pussed out and did not dress. Gee, it’s a good thing GM Kevin Doltbert rushed out to extend this stiff. Even better, I suppose, that Dolbert overpaid him. D-
Foster - Allowed some leakage up the gut.
Pouncey – solid game.
DeCastro - the counter powers got jammed up, as ATL simply ran a defender thru the gap as well as where the OG was pulling.
DL:
Cam Thomas - played a fair amount and waddled to and fro, imitating the jumbo yellow duck that floated along the Pittsburgh rivers last summer. A complete waste of oxygen and food at the training table. D-
McLendon - started and had a quiet day. Too quiet, frankly. C
Heyward – batted a pass, 3Q. Totally blew up a goal-line plunge, 3Q. Excellent play. B
Tuitt - the vaunted 2nd rounder got another start. Stopped Jackson on a run up RT, mid 3Q. Had 2 solos in a quiet effort. B-
LB:
Timmons – Much as he injured Ike weeks ago, he injured Vinnie on a combo tackle, late 2Q. Had only 2 solos, which isn’t enough. B-
Shaquier – Dressed, but played on sparsely. Got a stop, last play 2Q. How on earth is this fellow healthy enough to play, but then sits and rots…? Oh, wait. That’s right. The Supreme Papal Deity of Defensive Coordinators, Dick(head) LeBeau, would rather be sodomized with a broom handle covered with barbed wire, rather than give a rookie meaningful PT. Inc
Worilds - ATL attacked Big Jason from their very 1st play from scrimmage, running Jackson up RT for an easy 8 yards. In the 2Q, had a chance for a cake-easy forced fumble, coming in UN-blocked and attacking the QB basically unseen. Instead of chopping or stripping the football, Clumsy Jason just lumbered into the QB up high for a Dong Sack, which was negated when he was flagged for “roughing the passer”. Now, to be fair, this was a bullshit call, as the QB never released the football, meaning he can be tackled in any way, shape, or form, and Worilds never hit him in the face, neck, or jaw. Still, an ass-clumsy play by The Hokie Hooker. Played basically every snap of the game, and finished with ZERO solos and 1 lame-assed assist. D-
Jones - started at ROLB., despite the idiot announcers claiming Moats started. Held off the scoresheet in a vanilla effort. C
Harrison - did not dress, due to the knee injury.
Moats - Played here and there; did little. B-
Vinnie - got an ankle grab stop of Douglass on bubble screen, mid 2Q. Took an atrocious angle on a Ryan scramble, early 4Q, allowing 12 yards on a 3d & 3. Delivered a sure-handed lick on Douglas, 3d & 6 in the 4Q, which forced a punt. Finished with 5 solos and 2 assists, and actually looked like a competent backup LB at this level. B
Spence - helped run Jackson OOB, mid 2Q. Dropped Freeman in backfield for a 3-yard loss, 2Q. Had 3 solos. Still remains unimpressive. B-
DB
Ike - did not dress, due to injury.
Pola - blew up a ground play, early 3Q. He then limped off the field. Quiet game, with 3 solos and no impact. C
Mitchell – limped off field after making slop stop of Jackson, mid 3Q. Unfortunately, he came back to action a couple plays later. Bitchell got nicked up again, early 4Q, but again regrettably came back to action a few minutes later. As usual, was never anywhere to be found on ANY downfield pass play. What a tool. He should be sponsored by Craftsman or SnapOn. C-
Gay - Had a pick 6, first play of the 2Q. Tooled by White on a 24 yard dig route, mid 2Q. Led the team with 8 solos. A
Sharko Thomas - Not permitted to play on D. I guess he might get some PT in 2016. Remember, this franchise traded UP to draft him, and now he sits and rots the bench. Inc
C. Allen - Queertez again sat the bench. Inc
Will Allen - replaced Swalla-malu, early 3Q.
Blake - Tooled and abused on a 17-yard TD catch by Hester, 4:19 2Q. Got scorched by Douglas on a deep out on 3d & 7, 3Q, good for 19 yards. Got used on a slant route on 3rd down for a TD, 10:21 4Q. Had 7 solos, but an awful game he’d soon like to forget. D+
McCain - started in place of Ike. Chipped in some. Wasn’t abused. B
Spec teams:
Wing – punted only 3 times, and surprisingly didn’t shank any. B
Suisham - booted two 1Q 38-yard FGs. Some of his KOs early on where shallow, and then the staff must have ordered the mortar type KOs you saw a couple times.
Archer – Did not dress. He’s just so fast and explosive as a kick returner, though. An absolute steal in the 3rd round. Colbert once again fools the rest of the NFL.
AB – Had his first worthwhile punt return since opening day, gaining 31 yards in the 2Q. A
Sharko Thomas drilled the ever-dangerous Devin Hester in KO coverage, early 1Q. Showed superb speed and athleticism by running across the field and hauling down Hester in KO coverage, early 4Q. Of course, on this team, those kinds of plays earn a DB nothing more than a thicker cushion at the end of the bench. A+
The KO coverage unit had shoddy coverage, final play of the 1Q, allowing a 38-yard return.
OC:
The offense totally dominated TOP in the 1Q, but when the quarter ended, the Stillers had a slim 6-0 lead.
I failed to understand the consecutive TOs taken late in the 1H. Ben hit Wheaton for 9 yards, and the Stillers took TO #1 at 1:19 2Q. I can live with this TO. Bell then converted a 3d & 1 plunge, gaining 2 yards…and this stupefying offense immediately pisses away TO #2 !! Why ??!! You just called a TO. High school teams routine call 2 playcalls, and then run two successive plays with no huddle. How is it that an NFL team cannot?
Continuing on that theme, the offense had to piss away their 1st 2H timeout, mid 4Q, when Ben wasn’t able to get off the play before the playclock expired.
3d & 1, 2:00 4Q….gutty, and astute, call by Gayly to have Ben roll right and then hit Miller downfield for 25 yards, which iced the game. I was waiting for the vanilla plunge to be engulfed by an ATL defense that spent the entire afternoon selling out to the run. Thankfully, Gayly finally realizes he has no defense to fall back upon to close out a game. B-
DC:
Dick had the luxury of facing an Atlanta offense missing superstar WR Julio Jones, who sat out with an injured hip. For the uninitiated, this fellow hauled in 259 yards of receiving in their game last week, which makes Tonio Brown’s production look like a 2-bit possession receiver. To add to Dick’s luxuries, starting ATL OG Jon Asamoah was injured in the 2Q.
Dick dodged a bullet on the opening drive, when on 3d & 8, Roddy White was WIDE open and allowed an on-target pass to clang off his hands for an incompletion on what should have been an easy 22-yard gainer.
Dick was gifted a 20-7 halftime lead. Sure as shit, on the very first play from scrimmage in the 2H, Dick gets gashed for 46 yards on a bubble screen. Then, a 16-yard completion. A holding flag and a bobbled catch derailed the ATL march, but not before they got a chippie FG to make it a 10-point game. (This drive traveled “only” 70 yards…) Dick then allowed a 13-play, 75-yard march, which culminated in a chippie 22-yard FG to make it a 7-point game at 2:40 3Q.
Leveon Bell scored early in the 4Q to make it look like a commanding 27-13 lead, but sure as shit, Dick promptly allowed the Falcons to methodically march 84 yards on 10 plays for an easy TD, making it a nail-biting 7-point lead.
Fortunately, Ben and the offense ran out the clock, as we could all foresee ATL getting the ball on their, say, own 10 and then marching 90 yards for the tying score.
The rotting of Shazier, along with Sharko Thomas, utterly enrages me to a full boil. I have no patience for assaholic, stubborn stupidity.
Dick allowed ATL to convert 6 of 11 3d down opp’s, which is obviously over 50% and thus quite poor.
The only productive thing this defense managed to do was Gay’s pick-6 in the 1H. And there was nothing in that INT that was schematic; it was all, remarkably enough, a sheer athletic play by Gay. C-
HC: Mike Dumblin again managed to play down to a weak, downtrodden opponent. Only ATL’s own ineptitude, and the missing of Julio Jones, enabled this squeaker of a game to be won. This effort & performance certainly was nothing to be overly proud of. C+
Synopsis: A thin win over an inept, bumbling opponent that has exactly 1 (one) win outside of its own, sorry-assed division. Sure, the W is much better than the L. But sure enough, just when you think this team might have it figured out, they are apt to ay an egg. They should play fired up at home next week, but the KC defense will bring much more pass rush and harassment than this mediocre ATL defense did today. KC also possesses a dangerous return game, as seen today on the long punt return for a TD versus Oak. Don’t look now, but Dumblin’s spec teams are long overdue for a back-breaking KO or punt return for a TD. And lest we forget, KC has a roster full of WRs who have a combined Zero TDs….which could easily change next Sunday against Dick’s Softee Defense.
(Still Mill and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Stillers, no one else comes close….)
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