Texans 30, Stillers 6 ...... Oct 1, 2023 …………Game # 4
Stillers - Texans Postgame Analysis and Grades
The 2-1 Stillers visited the 1-2 Hou Texans. HOU bolted to a 13-0 lead. At the half, the Stillers had 30 yards rushing, 16 yards passing, with HOU up, 16-0. The 2nd half wasn’t much better, and HOU cruised to a knee-slapping blowout, 30-6.
Grades:
QB: KP got the start. Good 3rd down scramble for a 1st, on first drive. Got picked off on a deep seamer to Austin. The pass was a tiny, wee bit behind, but Austin did no favors by not high-pointing the ball. Got injured on the fiasco of a 4th & 1, SG pass play that was sacked, which KP actually ran INTO the sack. KP wasn’t helped out that much, but his play was spotty. C-
Tribisky – came in for KP. Did little.
RB:
Harris – good run to open the 2d half. Heckuva’n effort on a 3d down grab and run, 3Q, good for 32 yards. Big run of 23 yards, late 3Q. Ran hard, esp in the 2H. B
Warren – big 18 yard run, early 3Q. Fumbled the ball after a handoff, but KP was able to recover. Fumbled late in the game, and HOU returned it for a garbage TD, but it was correctly overturned by replay. Chipped in here and there, esp with 6 grabs.. B
FB: rarely if ever used.
WR:
Dionte – did not dress, due to the lingering leg injury.
Pickens – Had a quiet day, with 3 grabs for 25. I wasn’t too enthralled when he grabbed a short pass, then FUMBLED, and got up and signaled “1st down. Sure, the ball rolled OOB, but it was a rotten look. C
Austin – I didn’t like his feeble high-pointing on the 1Q INT…..made a very lame, weakling attempt to go up for the ball, and slow-footed Steven Nelson, of all people, was able to snatch the ball for an INT. Good grab on out pass, early 3Q. Had 3 grabs for 24.
Robinson – Had 1 grab for 8.
GunnerO – Thankfully, sat out again due to injury.
TE:
Pat FryBoy – thrown a short waggle pass, 2nd play on O, but was totally blanketed. Got rag-dolled on a key 3d & 2, early 3Q, while deep in HOU territory……a shoddy, pathetic blocking attempt. Got hurt on Harris’ 32-yard pass play, 3Q; left the game with a hamstring and did not return.
Darnell – Grabbed a short bootleg pass and gained 10.
Con Heyward – did little. Had some big catches last season; now is mostly written entirely out of the script.
OL: Overall, the line (Moore, Seumalo, Cole, Herbig, Okorafor ) had a miserable 1st half. Daniels sat out due to injury; replaced by Nate Herbig.
Brod Jones came into the game, late 1Q, for Dan Moore, who got injured in the 1Q and was ruled out. Okor was flagged for a hold on the early INT.
The run blocking was better in the 2H, but the line had troubles all game long with the twists and stunts by the HOU pass rush. D+
DL:
Heyward – Thankfully, still on IR.
Ogunjobi – blew up a screen pass, 5:00 3Q. Chipped in a little, but not enough.
Adams – Quiet and subpar.
Lowdermilk- See Adams.
Benton – Had a couple stops.
Leal – good run stop, first series. Was fairly active, but then left the game with a concussion.
LB:
Kwon Alex – 1 solo tackle……which ain’t good enough, at all.
Watt – got sealed, easy as pie, 2nd play of game, for an outside run of 13. Good rush and pressure to force an INT grounding, 3Q. Finished with ONE tackle all game long. Not good. C-
Highsmith – Stop the presses ! For the first time in nearly FIVE quarters of play, Big Alex Highsmith (aka The Donut Roller) finally DID something late in the 1Q. He applied some pressure on 3d down and helped to force an Inc pass and the FG. Stunning !!
Stop the presses !! The Donut Roller, Big Alex Highsmith, finally got onto the stat sheet with an ASSIST, late in the 2d Qtr. His FIRST assist or solo in over SIX quarters of football.
Forced a hurried, errant pass on 3rd down, 4:50 3Q. A rarity ! Got a slop assist, first play of 4Q, after the RB had already been hit twice.
Big Alex Highsmith was RIGHT THERE in the backfield, 6:00 4Q, for a FOUR yard loss, but was upright as a fuking giraffe and got jock-juked, good for a 7 yard run.
The Donut Roller finished with ZERO solos and 3 measly, piddly assists, along with 3 pressures. Against a BACKUP left tackle, and was rarely double teamed. The Big He-man has now gone TWO ENTIRE CONSECUTIVE games with zero solos. D-
Herbig – saw limited PT, did little.
Elandon Roberts – got picked on in pass coverage and wide runs.
Cole Holcomb – played ok, but not didn’t produce enough.
Golden – got some PT; did little.
DB
Wallace – busted up short pass, 1st play o’ game. After that, his game went down the crapper. Allowed a TD at the end of the drive, and then got used and abused all game long. D-
Peterson - got abused for the late TD, in hilarious fashion. Very weak and feeble. D
Joey Porter Jr. - good coverage on a 3rd down pass, late 2Q. Of course, he’ll rot the bench ALL season unless an injury occrs.
Kazee – didn’t do much.
Keanu Neal – didn’t do much.
Minkah - flagged for PI on the 2 yard line, first drive of the game. Really a ticky-tack flag. Felt he was used too much today as a down in the box safety rather than a ballhawk FS, which is where he’s superior.
Spec teams:
Harvin – did not dress. Wing got the punting chores. Mediocre 41-yard punt, early 2Q. Next punt was 44 yards, but was aided a good 8 yards by a bounce and roll. Boomed a 51 yarder, 5:00 2Q, that rolled into the EZ, no thanx to Boykin, who failed to find and corral the ball. Punted ok. B
Boswell – booted a couple FGs.
Desmond King – did the KO return chores.
OC: Matt Canada oversaw yet another moribund, trashpile of an offense.
The Steelers have played a month of football. Four games. They recorded only four 1st downs in the first quarter. All season. Four. As slow starting of a team as you're going to find.
4th & 1, in HOU territory, late 3Q, down by 10…..and after a PIT timeout, fuking Canada calls a SG snap, pass, with no one open and a sack. There wasn’t an obvious intended receiver on a short, QUICK hitting pass, on a play that needed to gain 35 inches. To add salt to the wound, Pickett got his knee wrenched and missed the rest of the game.
4 games into the season, and this offense still looks like it’s the 2nd day of camp at Latrobe. Complete garbage. F
DC: Austin should have been feasting…..facing a bumbling, struggling HOU offense that was missing 3 O-lineman and starting a rookie QB.
Heard all week how bad the Texans OL and run game is. Today the Texans were a runaway chuck-wagon, running it down our throats. This happened right from the very 1st drive, when HOU took the opening KO and marched…..and marched…..and marched all the way down the field, and actually scored THREE TD’s. The first 2 were nullified, one on replay and the other on a flag, before HOU easily and casually scored a TD that counted. But the azz-kicking continued all game long.
Down by 10 early in the 4Q, this vaunted, over-paid, over-hyped defense gets gouged for a 58-yard TD march to put this game away. Yes, the offense sux....but SO DOES this PIT defense.
Nico Collins, just like every other #1 receiver this D has faced this season, went off with a career game.
All in all, another sorry game for Austin, who presides over THE highest paid defense in the entire NFL F
HC: Mike Asslin presided over this fiasco. He led the preparation, the game plan, and the in-game adjustments….all of which sucked buttock.
His in-game decisions were putrid, as always –
- Punts on 4th and 2 from midfield down 13-0 after offense has zero life.
- Kicks FG on 4th and goal from the HOU 2 down 16-3
- Calls a timeout and agrees on a shotgun 4 wide passing play on 4th and 1.
- Punts down three scores in the 4th Qtr.
The Steelers have the highest paid defense and were facing a rookie QB who had an O line that’s missing both Right and Left tackles, and were starting (hold your laughter, please) Kendick Green. But as any true Steelers fan knows, this was the stereotypical Steelers let-down game where the defense struggles like girlish beeyotches. Stoogelin’s preparation for this ballclub was sorry and completely substandard.
Mike Stoogelin and his coaching staff got out-schooled and out-maneuvered ALLL game long today. ALL....GAME...LONG. Their game plan must have been scripted on a long roll of Charmin. F-
Synopsis: A complete azz-kicking to a team that won 3 games last season and hasn’t won 2 consecutive games in ages. And it wasn’t just a loss……they got dominated and thrashed by a very mediocre foe, in embarrassing fashion. This was as sorry a loss as this team has suffered in the past 7 or 8 years. Up next, a big game against the hated PoeBirds.
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