Stillers 24, Browns 10 ���. Nov 14, 2004 ����Game #9
Stillers-Browns Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers overcame a sloppy and shaky start, and then simply overwhelmed the Brownies,
en route to a 24-10 drubbing that was more dominating than the final score
indicates.���
Grades:
QB:�
Ben Roth wasn't tasked to do much and threw just 16 times, completing 10
of them.� Roth was sharp when he had to
be, and as he has become expected to do, Roth made several plays out of nothing
to move the sticks.� Perfect example --
in the 2Q, Ben did a 360 back in the pocket to avoid pressure, and then rolled
right and threw a dart to Burress for a 13-yard gain.� Later in the quarter, he adroitly scrambled for a 20-yard
gain.� Roth also executed a superb
play-fake in the 1Q, which fooled the entire defense while Ben ran left for 9
yards.� And, as he has done so well, Ben
simply has taken charge of the offense and is running these long, consuming
marches to perfection.� He threw an INT,
but this was simply the case of the receiver (Ward) getting tangled and
tripping, and the DB (McCutcheon) made the pick.�� The one boner he made was the late throw over the middle to
Tuman in the 2Q, which was nearly INT'd.�
Tuman was Ben's 3rd look, and aside from the poor decision to throw late
over the middle, Roth threw this one off his back foot, thereby committing a
double-felony.� Fortunately, nothing bad
arose, and all in all, Ben now holds the NFL rookie winning streak all by
himself with another good showing.�
B+.��
RB:�
With Staley and Haynes out, The Tubby Tailback, Jerome Bettis, got the
bulk of the work, gaining 103 yards on 29 carries against what was a very
porous, malleable Clev defense.� The
Plunger ran for two more plunge TDs, although in the 4Q, was unable to plunge
it in with 3 tries from the Clev 1-yard line.�
(His one plunge in that series may very well have crossed the plane, but
the Stillers did not challenge.)� Parker
dropped a pass in the 3Q, but redeemed himself in the 4Q with an electric move
in the backfield and then a burst to the outside for a 24-yard gain that was
reminiscent of OJ Simpson in his prime.�
Dante Brown gained 2 yards on a 3d & 1 plunge late in the game.� Overall, the Stillers were again able to
withstand the loss of their top 2 RBs.�
A-.�
FB: Kreider played sparingly, getting a
stinger in the first series.� Cushing
got most of the FB work, and gave a good, hard-nosed effort.� B.�
WR:�
As noted above, Roth wasn't tasked to throw much, so, obviously, the WR
corps wasn't tasked to catch much.�
Burress led the WRs with 5 grabs, good for 66 yards.� Burress drew my ire on a couple occasions,
including a false start, and also the 10-yard catch on the Stillers' 2nd drive,
in which he fell to the ground after a reception without any kind of hit or
stick.� This is the main difference
between Plex and Ward -- Plex is too often content to catch the ball and fall
down, whereas Ward is determined to claw for every possible inch.� Plex did make a good effort to try to
"reach" the ball over the plane of the GL on a pass play in the 4Q,
but was denied a TD on this close play by a ref crew that deemed him short at
the 1-yard line.� Ward had only 3 grabs
for 42 yards, but helped set the tone early in the game with an impressive
catch and run, busting multiple tackles, for a 22-yard gain.� Ward was held in check rushing the ball,
with 2 carries gaining 1 and -8, and got tangled up with McCutcheon and
slipped, which caused the 1 INT by Roth.�
Ward issued a nice clocking on O. Roye on the long Ben Roth scramble in
the 2Q.� El had 1 grab for 19
yards.� B.�
TE:�
No receptions, but the TE trio of Tuman, Riemersma, and Cushing helped
pave some massive holes.� B+.�
OL: The O-line just mauled the tar out
of the Clev front 7.� The holes Bettis
ran through today could have literally accommodated an elephant.� The O-line simply ground down loud-mouthing
Gerard Warren and his Cleveland cohorts.�
The epitome was the Bettis 5-yard TD run, which was a collective maul by
an O-line that simply bulled and plowed the Clev defenders toward the GL, and
Bettis simply followed this scrum into the end zone.� Vincent had a nice pull and block on Bettis' 1-yard TD plunge, although
later Vincent was wheeled back to the QB and the pressure forced an inc pass on
3rd down.�� Hartings was called for a
hold on a 3Q sack, in which the penalty was declined.� Starks chipped in nicely on some short yardage work.� In all, this O-line is playing some
incredible football.� A.��
DL:�
The D-line really put the wood to the weak Clev O-line today.� Aaron Smith continued his strong play,
jamming up the run and pressuring the QB.�
He stripped Garcia in the 4Q, which allowed Stuvaints to return the
fumble for a TD.� Smitty failed to fall
on a fumble earlier in the 4Q, but overall, this man is earning his keep with
good, strong D-line play.� Hoke
continues to play adequately in Hampton's absence, playing actively and even
getting his first NFL sack.� Kimo was
held off the stat sheet, but played acceptably.� Sure, the Clev O-line is a total disgrace, but the Stillers
D-line owned the LOS and held Suggs to a meager 38 yards on 18 carries.� A.�
LB:�
Joey Porter got into it with William Green in pregame warm-ups,
resulting in ejections for both players.�
In Porter's absence, James Harrison got his first NFL start, and
responded with a splendid effort.�
Harrison was like a hungry junkyard dog, chasing the ball all over the
field and showing aggression, hustle, and grit that Stiller fans never
saw from a #92 in the past decade of Stiller football.� Harrison, in fact, is just another poster
boy for the immutable dogma of, "You can't show your stuff while sitting
on the bench".� Of course,
Harrison, unlike players like Haggans, Pola, Townsend, and Hope of yesteryear,
is not rotting behind a feeble stumblebum, but the dogma remains
undeniable.� Factor in the fact that
Harrison obviously got no work in practice with the first team this past week,
and his showing was that much more impressive.�
Kudos to Harrison for playing like a rabid dog.� Even on the Smith strip of Garcia, Harrison
was being held around the helmet but was still surging forward.� Kendrell Bell saw a lot of PT and started to
show his stuff, making hits on ground plays and providing harassment on
Garcia.� He did trip and fall on Suggs'
7-yard run on 3d d& 3 in the 2Q.�
James Farrior was solid as a rock, including a huge, devastating,
big-time hit on Lee Suggs that is sure to be on ESPN highlights all week.� Farrior simply rocked Sugg's jock and forced
a fumble.� Haggans showed great hustle
in the 4Q, running all the way across the field to stop Suggs on a wide run for
no gain.� Imagine Haggans' predecessor
making a play like that.� Foote saw some
action and chipped in.� Zo Jackson wasn't,
of course, allowed to dress.� In all, a
very active, rabid effort by the LB crew today that bottled Suggs and kept
Garcia skittish.� A.
DB:�
Troy Pola led the way with 2 big INTs, and you can just see the
confidence brewing in this young man.�
DeShea had a FF on a sack and hit of Garcia in the 4Q.� Hope was a bit awkward on the long 58-yard
reception by Northcutt in the 1Q.� Ike
busted up a pass to Bryant in the 4Q, although he was also picked on by Holcomb
in the prevent defense.� Stuvaints
returned Smith's FF for a game-icing TD.�
The secondary befitted from a total lack of a Clev ground game, as well
as Garcia being harassed and hurried nearly the entire game.� B+.�
Spec
teams:� Like last week, this was the low point of
the game, and, as easy as it is to casually dismiss sloppy ST play, we know
full well how it can bite a team in the ass come the playoffs.� Clev opened the game by taking Reed's KO all
the way back to the Stiller 18.� Putrid
coverage at its worst.� Ike nearly
committed a hideous TO in the 2Q, wandering far too close to El and coming
dangerously close to being skimmed by the punted football.� Near the end of the game, on a chip shot FG,
Schneck's snap was subpar and Gardocki was unable to pin the ball down in an
orderly manner, leading to a blocked FG.�
Not good at all.� Ike committed
an illegal block on a 1Q PR, and Foote committed an illegal formation penalty
on a 3Q punt.� The lone bright spots
were the snuff of a Clev KOR reverse by Stuvaints in the 1Q, as well as a nice
stop by Morey on a 4Q KOR.� C-.���
OC:�
Whisenhunt called a nice game, helping to orchestrate two long,
impressive TD drives of 14 and and 11 plays that chewed loads of clock and the
will of the Clev defense.� I also loved
the naked boot by Roth in the 2H on 3d & inches, which fooled the entire
Clev defense and gained an easy 13 yards.�
The one downer was the foolish reverse to Ward, which was engulfed for
an 8-yard loss.� With the Stillers
gaining easy 4 & 5 yard chunks of yardage on the ground, it seemed rather foolish
to go to trickery.� Of course, we could
be stuck with Paul Hackett and give away what was a steamrolling of the Ravens
by calling for a moronic HB option pass, but that's a problem for Jest (sic)
fans to deal with.� J��� B+.
DC:�
My only beef with Lebeau was the softee prevent that allowed Holcomb to
march for Clev's only TD.� Sure, Cowhard
may have ordered this, but at any rate, it was sickening.� Here the Stillers are, up 21-3 in the 4Q and
the game basically over, and we're backpedaling like the French army and giving
up ground by the acre.� You've got such
little to lose, and in reality, it's the perfect time to get Ike, Townsend, and
others some reps in tighter coverage.�
B+.�
HC:� Billy
received incredible help from Gerard Warren and William Green in what could
have been a letdown game.� First Warren
popped off about hitting Roth in the head, and then Green got into a pre-game
spat (no pun intended) with Porter.�
Unless bribery is used, you simply can't get that kind of help from an
opposing team.� The foolish slipping and
sliding (see below) belongs to Cowher, who is paid to oversee everything under
his auspice and failed to have his team wearing the right cleats.� B+.
Notes:�
�- I'm absolutely
amazed at the number of slips and slides by Stiller players all day, on what
was a reasonably dry, decently manicured field.� I can only conclude the Stillers were wearing the wrong cleats,
which is simply unacceptable for a pro team in this day in age.�
�- The Clev
encroachment penalty after the Stuvaints TD shed the light on a brilliant
tactic.� I don't know if the
encroachment was intentional, but following a TD that might be reviewable, it
makes perfectly good sense to commit the intentional encroachment in order to
allow your coaching staff an extra 15 seconds to mull over the replays and
throw the red flag.� The punishment is
so minimal that it makes incredibly good sense to encroach and buy some time;
which, if nothing else, might then save a much-needed timeout by not challenging
a play that might have been challenged due to haste and then denied.��
Synopsis:�
Any win over Cleveland is nice to savor, but a whipping of Cleveland in
their little shabby Dawg Pound is even more worth savoring.� Unlike the past 2 wins, this was more of a
workmanlike, business-like effort, but a very solid, all-around effort.� The Stillers are on a roll, and the time is
now to polish the rough spots and start gelling for the playoffs.��� Here we go Stillers, here we go!��