- Learn the following names as you'll be hearing plenty
about them soon enough:� Eli Manning (my
personal fave), Robert Gallery, Stephen Jackson, Kevin Jones, Chris Gamble,
Marlin Jackson, Sean Taylor, etc.
-
A few tidbits from last night's game: did Hines Ward actually
"outdrop" Plax this game?� Are
we in bizarro world?� It's frightening
to think how pathetic this offense could become if Plax is traded this
offseason as many on the message board clamor for.� Oh wait a sec, this offense is already pathetic due in large part
to Plax being ignored for pretty much half a season.� I pointed this out over a month ago and Madden reiterated it
again last night.� If you have a big
play WR (ie. Owens, Moss, Plax - please note I'm not stating Plax is in this
group, but rather he's the only true big-play threat on the offense), you MUST
get him involved in the game early.�
Maddox threw a few early completions to Plax last night, and he was
actually of some value.� In fact, if
Maddox was accurate on a deep ball in which he had his 6'5" WR 5 yards
behind the DB, they would have scored a TD.�
Or how about if Maddox could actually lob a deep throw to Plax as
opposed to firing those line drives that allow smallish DBs to effectively play
the ball.� But honestly, I don't expect
Maddox to make throws on par with a QB like Tim Rattay.� Here's a game for all the folks at home, if
you could have Maddox or the Steelers opposing QBs from the games we've played
how many times would you select Maddox:�
maybe over Boller for this year only (though he's a rookie with good
upside), perhaps Blake, and probably Beurlein (since Plummer was hurt I can't
count him for this game).� Maddox is
what he is, a solid backup QB, who happens to be getting paid solid backup QB
money.� Hey it beats selling
insurance.� Once again the line did a
decent job of protecting him, but at the first hint of pressure you can
actually see Maddox discombobulating.�
Very rarely have I seen a QB with less pocket presence and/or athletic
ability.
- The best RB on the team is Verron Haynes, mostly through default by not
getting a chance to fail yet.� In the
few spurts he's been able to play, he's shown the best blend of power, speed,
and moves.� Is he the answer, or does
the answer lie in Oregon or Virginia - let's use the next 6 games to find out.
- I bet you Hines Ward always wears a mouthpiece from now on.
- Unless you can get Gallery in the draft, Alan Faneca is your left tackle
going forward.� Guards are much easier
to find either in the middle rounds of the draft or through free agency.� Most teams won't ever let good young tackles
leave.� Give Faneca an offseason and
training camp to learn the position and he'll be a top shelf left tackle.
-
Tim Lewis must not have spent all week sleeping in his office this past week.� Surely he could have come up with a better
coverage scheme than isolating Chad Scott on Owens while having both safeties
help out on the ever dangerous TE Shad Meier.�
Yes that's right folks, Scott was burned by TO, but did you even see a
safety within 30 yards of the play?� TO
only happens to be one of the best WRs in the game.� I bet this week Tim Lewis is going to design a great gameplan to
take Kevin Johnson out of the game.� In
fact, sleepless in Timdom will probably study all kinds of film on Kevin
Johnson's route running and tendencies and will build his gameplan around
shutting him down.
- The pass rush was again non-existent.�
Don't worry though, Jason Gildon and Co. are still celebrating their
breakthrough performance against Arizona which as the Pittsburgh media reported
was their coming out party.� Speaking of
Gildon, this guy's a world beater against the Cardinals, Texans, and other
meager offenses, but does little or nothing against the better teams in the
league.� Too bad we won't be facing many
more tough offenses, as Gildon might patchwork a statistically misleading
decent sack total to keep his sorry behind in the 'burgh for another
season.� But hey that means you get
another year of Gildong Reports.
- Going into the season, I couldn't wait for the new Killer B's (Bell &
Burress) to replace the old Putrid B's (Bettis & Bruener) on the
payroll.� My thought was the
organization had to strategize a way to keep both Bell & Burress no matter
the cost.� Now it's becoming quite clear
that neither should be extended this offseason.� You let them play out 2004 and then try and resign them, or use
the franchise tag to protect yourself.�
Basically the hope would be to sign one (most likely Bell) after 2004
and franchise the other (most likely Burress).�
Then you could do a deal much like the Bills did with Peerless Price and
get an extra 1st rounder.
- The coaching decisions of Mularkey and Cowher are mind boggling.� Mularkey for running an offense that has
absolutely zero identity and such a clear lack of strategy that opposing
defensive coordinators must be scratching their heads thinking when will the
shoe drop.� And Cowher for
hiring/retaining Tim Lewis, and the myriad of other game management decisions that
he continually fails.� Having said that,
most head coaches not named Bill insert a name other than Cowher here
tend to mismanage games beyond belief.�
But then again, most head coaches don't have an 11-year tenure.
- I was severely disappointed as a kid back in '83 when the Steelers passed on
Dan Marino.� I'm starting to get a real
sense of disappointment that the Steelers could not pull off a deal with the
Jets (the one rumored to be Plax for Shaun Ellis and Chad Pennington).� The Steelers, quite obviously, should have
asked for a little less and jumped at the chance to snag Pennington.� I think Pennington is the best young QB in
the game, and I'd probably take him over anyone else right now if I were
starting my own franchise.� This guy has
a tremendous arm, outstanding pocket presence, accuracy, touch, athletic
ability, and toughness, but we simply have to settle for a QB who's
tremendously accurate if you don't let a defender within 5 yards of him.