Week 10 in Review:

 

Long-term Stiller.com fans may remember the stat breakout shown below as similar to those begun last season.� The first (3) categories are variants of the traditional �control the tempo� paradigm.� Takeaways can be an equalizer.� YPA is (yards per passing attempt); TOP is (time of possession).�

 

Category	Previous	This week	Year to date	Won this stat but lost the game
Total yards rushing	82-37-3	7-4	89-41-3	San Diego Chicago Carolina Minnesota
TOP	82-39-1	9-2	91-41-1	Carolina Cincinnati
100 yard rushers	44-15	3-4	47-19	San Diego Detroit Minnesota Cincinnati
>/= +2 Takeaways	57-5	4-1	61-6	San Diego
YPA	92-26-37	8-2-2		Kansas City Carolina (Seattle v. Arizona and New England v. Chicago were even in this category).

 

Futility Index, per right-most column above:

 

Tie games don�t count, for that reason Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh is not included.� For the record, those teams were dead-even rushing, Atlanta had a 100-yard rusher, and Pittsburgh won both TOP and YPA.

 

San Diego scored twice off takeaways and out-rushed the Rams but allowed 9.44YPA and lost by (4).� Ram QB Mark Bulger passed for 453 yards, nearly as much as Maddox�s 473.� While Bulger�s 9.44 YPA was the difference in St. Louis, Tommy�s 10.8 net couldn�t get the Steelers over the hump.

 

With Rodney Peete back at QB, Carolina won nearly every phase; while NO DE Charles Grant returned a fumble for a score that was not the difference in a 10-point game.� Still, the Panthers were (-2) in that category and that is almost always a losing margin.

 

Minnesota and Cincinnati both had 100-yard rushers; however, both teams allowed an opposing RB 100 yards too.

 

Kansas City had a slight YPA margin but had just 21:26 TOP. ��

 

Steelers Index, a post-mortem:�

 

1. For (4) quarters, the Steelers out-scored Atlanta 31-17.� Those were quarters 1,2,3 and 5.� In the 4^th, Coach Cowher and his brain trust managed to deny their team a convincing win over a quality opponent.

 

2. For the game, Michael Vick passed for 294 yards and ran for 52.� In the 4^th quarter, when Coach Lewis went exclusively with his patented soft dime, Vick threw for 114 and ran for 30.� Vick had 202 yards gross total offense in (4) quarters and 144 in (1).

 

3. In contrast, the Steeler offense, which totaled 645 yards on the game, netted all of 2 yards in their final two possessions during regulation.� Needing something like (2) first downs in a game when they had (30), the Steelers went 3 and out both times.

 

4. How about that third down package? �The Falcons had 447 yards total offense; 165 came on (5) 3^rd down conversions in the 2^nd half including:

 

Dunn 59 yard TD run on 3^rd and 3.

Vick to Finneran for 23 on 3^rd and 22.

����������� Vick to Gaylor for 27 on 3^rd and 23.

Vick to Crumpler for 21 on 3rd and 9.

Vick to Jefferson for 35 on 3^rd and 24.

 

5. In (3) games as a starter, Amos Zereoue has rushed for 287 yards on 79 carries.� That�s 3.6 per trip and that�s not good enough.� In all (3) games, the Steelers have led in the 4^th quarter and, in all (3) games, they have been unable to run time off the clock.� Late in the game, Coach Mularkey has been very conservative, presumably as his Head did require.� Zereoue has his strengths but grinding it out isn�t one; sooner or later the Steeler brain trust may get a grip on that fact.� �

 

6. If your CB can�t man-up on Finnerman and Jefferson, they can�t man-up on anyone.� Coming into the game, those (2) WR had combined for (41) receptions, slightly more than (5) per game.� Sunday, they combined for (15).

 

7. Since Tommy Maddox took over, the one consistent factor has been botched exchanges between Hartings and the QB.� I don�t recall that happening with Okobi, there was (1) shotgun blow but under-center exchanges went just fine.� Increasingly, it looks like the Steelers had their Tylski-heir in Hartings with Okobi taking over at center; this suggest that Simmons, as good as he may become, was not the best fit in the 1^st round last spring.

 

8. Even with the 3^rd down conversions by pass listed in #4 above (26.5 YPA), Atlanta grossed just 5.3 YPA.� The Falcons ran for 5.9 YPC. �

 

9. With 645 yards total offense, the Steelers YPG figure will rise by about 34 yards.

�

10. The Steelers are 4-0 against the AFC North.� Those teams have a combined mark of 9-18; excluding their games against the Steelers, they are 9-14.� The Steelers are 1-3-1 outside their division.� Those teams have a combined mark of 26-17-1; excluding their games against the Steelers, they are 25-14.� The AFC North must have (1) playoff representative; it is highly unlikely there will be more than (1).� Outside their division, the Steelers have been consistent losers; presuming they hold their division lead, this team looks like 1^st round fodder, more a playoff pretender than contender.

 

11. �Why?� Well, in (5) games against teams outside their pitiful division, the Steelers have allowed (30) or more points (4) times.� Unsurprisingly, they are 0-3-1 in those tilts.