Stillers 27, Jags 3..... Nov 22, 2020 …………Game # 10
Stillers-Jags Postgame Analysis and Grades
The 9-0 Stillers moseyed down to north Fla to face the lowly, inept 1-8 Jags. True to form, the Stillers had to claw and scrap thru 3-1/2 quarters before they could put the bumbling Faguars to rest.
Grades:
QB: Benji had an ok game. His TD passes to Carpool and Ebron were stellar, and there were some other nice strikes. But there was a inordinately large number of misfires and incompletions (32 of 46), and numerous completions were Rudolph-like 1 yard completions. And then there was the hideous, inexcusable INT in the EZ on what turned out to be the final play of the 1H. The LOS was the Jax 24, so you HAVE a FG literally in your back pocket. This is a play in which, if nothing’s open, fling the ball into the EZ bleachers and TAKE the fuking FG. It was 17-3 at the time, so it was hardly a blowout. Worse, this INT almost got taken to the house. Imagine, a pick-6 there turning this into a 7-point nailbiter, all because a 16 year veteran was too brain-dead to fire the ball away and take the easy FG. C+
RB:
Conner – had an adequate game, with 13 rushes for 89, plus 3 grabs for 10. Busted a couple nice gainers, and moved the chains here and there. B
Samuels – did not dress.
Snell – moved the chains with a couple key plunges, and also had a 1-yard TD plunge. A
McFarland – Was stupidly ordered to tote the ball up the gut on 3 plunges, which netted 3 yards. Never used in the passing game, because Sphincter has no concept of how to exploit a fast RB on a slow LB.
FB: Watt played here and there, and then got a bunch of snaps in garbage time.
WR:
JuJu – gained some tough yardage off underneath stuff. Injured his foot in the 4Q and sat out the rest of the game. Not a good way to enjoy his 24th bday.
Wash - Had just 1 grab for 12 yards. If JuJu misses any playing time, Wash will need to step in and step up.
Dionte - Led the way with 12 grabs for a buck-eleven. Had a stellar, diving grab of a skinny post in the 1H that converted a 3rd down. Also had a high quality grab off a juggling, DB-deflected ball near the Jax goal line. Is rapidly establishing himself as THE #1 receiver and as Ben’s go to guy. A
Claypool – Had 4 grabs for 59, including a stellar TD catch. Misjudged at least 3 deep balls, and had 1 go right through his hands. B
RayRay – Had 4 grabs, and seems to have supplanted James Wash as the #4 receiver. B
TE:
Ebron – Had 4 grabs, including a TD catch that sealed the deal. B
OL: Overall, the line had an adequate day; not that they were facing the ’85 Bears. They gave up no sacks, and Benji had decent room and time in the pocket. The run blocking was a bit better than it’s been in weeks. There were some bondheaded false starts by Feiler and Pukes Okorfor that didn’t help matters. B+
DL:
Heyward – The $65M Man had a whopping ONE solo the entire game. Sure, he applied some pressure here and there. Not quite worth the $65M. C+
Tuitt – another vaunted DE who also had just one solo the entire game. And, sure, he had a couple pressures, but again, weak-assed production from a fellow who eats up a large amount of the salcap. C+
Alu – got his paw on a pass that enabled Minkah to pick off a pass at the goal line. B+
LB:
Vinnie – solid game; helped stuff the half-decent Jax ground game.
Spillane – chipped in with 3 solos.
Watt – demonized the Jags all game long. Though he recorded no sacks, he harassed the QB continually, and nipped his arm on a couple pass plays. B+
Crud Dupree – Crud got a Dong pressure when he came in, untouched and unblocked, in the 1H. He later got a hit on the QB..... after the greenhorned QB held the ball for like 6 seconds back in the pocket. Crud also committed an offsides penalty. In the 2H, to his credit, Crud fought through a blocker (for, what, the 9th time in his NFL career), and then reached out and grabbed the QB by the neck for a sack. This was the rare, acceptable play by Crud. Highly rare. Of course, he had only 1 other solo the rest of the game. B
Odeniyi – played a few snaps.
Lowsmith – chipped in with some PT.
Williamson – apparently will sit and rot until 3 other ILBs get injured.
DB
Haden – solid game. Got dinged up when he bravely met Robinson in the hole on a dive play in the 2H. A-
Nelson – Took a silly-assed, needless 15-yard penalty via an after-whistle scuffle with a Jax WR. Extremely boneheaded. Played ok. B-
Hilton – Finally returned to action. Had 1 PD, with no solos or A’s. B-
Edmunds – Got a Dong INT off a pass that sailed 12-feet over the head of HIS man. Actually got a legit INT – his first ever in the NFL – when he (gasp) READ the QB and leapt up and snared the INT. Also had 2 solos. A
Minkah - Adroitly grabbed two INTs, along with 3 solos. A
Sutton – Kind of a quiet game, although that can be good.
Spec teams:
Cherry– punted adequately. B+
Boswell – 2 for 3 on FGs, but the miss was the result of a rotten snap that surely screwed the placement of the hold, as well as the timing. A-
RayRay– inexplicably called for a punt FC in the 2H even though the closest Jag was some 14 yards away.
Marcus Allen had an alert recovery of a clever onsides KO in the 1Q. With how slumbering the team came out, this was a rather big play at the time.
OC: Randy Sphincter again oversaw a truckload of slop n’ vomit. The 3Q was nothing but a punt-fest, in a fairly close 14-point game, in which Spincter was unable to generate jack squat in offensive momentum. Randy Sphincter couldn't move the ball, with all these weapons, against the feeble, inept, injury-ravaged Jag defense. Sphincter had two quarters of football, PLUS the halftime, to figure out the vaunted Jag defense and make some adjustments. The adjustments never came. The "highlight" of the 3Q was the 3rd and 2 playcall, a cutesy flare pass to Conner some 4 yards BEHIND the line of scrimmage that was easily engulfed. That the Steelers finally scored in the 4Q was more a matter of attrition than anything else. C
DC:
Keith Assler had the luxury of facing a greenhorned QB and an entirely drab Jax offense. Sure as shit, Jax takes the opening KO and marches, easy as pie, down the field and boots a chippie FG to take the 3-0 lead. THIS gives an underdog life, and sure enough, Jax competed hard during the first 3+ quarters. Assler was hugely lucky that the greenhorn QB kept overthrowing receivers and scatter-shotting passes all over the farm. B
HC: Mike Asslin will surely be all proud over beating a hapless, inept Jax club. Stoogelin, of course, will quickly forget that his team had to scratch and claw for well over 3 quarters against the bedraggled Jags. B
Synopsis: A grind-it-out win against a feckless, completely inept opponent. At 10-0, you’ll take the W and hope that the overall team health is decent in prep for the game in 4 days against the hated WoodPeckers.
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