Loose Slag from The Still Mill (Sep. 29th, 2003)
�some loose
slag from the hideous loss to the Titans�.
- Having scrubbed the tape (unlike 99.9% of the Pittsburgh
media), I can vouch that the O-line play was absolutely horrendous.� Pure vomit.�
AZ's 1-yard loss on the 1st play of the game?� Fordham whipped badly.�
Haynes' 2-yard loss, 3 plays later?�
Fordham again whipped badly.�
AZ's 3-yard loss early in the 3Q?�
Simmons pulled & whiffed, and his man totally disrupted the
play.� Then there's the safety, plus
numerous other QB pressures.� With Ross
in the starting lineup, the Stillers have 3 sub-par starters on the
O-line; a marginal starter at center, and a standout at LG.� Not good.���
- Seeing Fordham flapping in the wind brings back horrible
memories of Anthony "Skates" Brown and Chris "The
Mannequin" Conrad.� These kind of
vile images are actually keeping me up at night.�
- Never have I seen a lineman regress the way Simmons
has.� After a very solid rookie
campaign, he stunk opening day and hasn't been worth a tinker's damn
since.� If he's still recovering his
strength and stamina from diabetes, then this coaching staff absolutely must
give serious consideration to sitting him out and allowing Vincent to
play.� Staunchly insisting on starting a
guard who is continually getting overmatched and overwhelmed is just stone
stupid.�
- Titan WR Drew Bennett could have been flagged for illegal
motion on his TD catch.� He'd shifted
laterally just a couple of yards, and after he set himself, he then wrongly
anticipated the snap count, and his back foot moved backwards.�
- I'm still puzzled over the whole sequence of events late
in the 2Q, deep in Titan territory.�
Ward gained 4 yards on 3rd & 5, and Billy Cowher challenged the
spot.� The spot was upheld, and then on
4th & 1, Cowhead opted for the FG.�
Up 10-9 with 2:45 left in the half, it's not inconceivable to go for the
1st down in this scenario.� Because of
the obviousness of the spot, the challenge itself was boneheaded, but if it had
any utility, it's that it gave Mularkey, Maddox, and Cowher a good 3 minutes to
chew on a playcall for the inevitable 4th & 1.� Instead, Cowshit wasted those 3 minutes of free time and did
nothing more than chat with Reed about the extra-point-length FG.��
- Amoz had 6 catches, but not a single one of them was the
kind of FLARE pass that my esteemed colleague Still Desi called for in his
recent article.� Amoz's receptions were
either screens, valve dumps, curls, or out-patterns that had him catching the
ball as he was running into the sideline.�
Since Mularkey has NO CLUE as to what a flare pass is, allow me to
describe it.�� It's little more than a
long handoff, in which the RB "bananas" out and catches the ball as
he's facing the line of scrimmage, with a decent head of steam.� The RB is not stationary, nor is his back to
the LOS.�� The flare pass has been
around since at least the 60's.�� It'd
be nice to see it thrown, just once, this season.�
- I found this quote by Joey Porter to be very
disturbing:� "Not
to disrespect them (Bennett and McCareins) at all, but that's not how we had
the focus of our defense. We don't go into a game like, 'Oh, you have to stop
Bennett and McCareins."�� Oh,
really?� What guidance was Tiny Tim
Lewis issuing his defensive troops?�
Just last week, in the Titans' win over N.O., Bennett led all Titan
receivers with 8 catches for 105 yards, plus he completed a pass for 14
yards.� McCariens was second with 5
grabs.� And, lest I forget, both of
these receivers caught a TD pass against the Saints.�� Seven days later, the Stiller defense is basically tutored to not
worry about Bennett and McCariens.� Both
score a TD.� Go figure.�
- Before everyone jumps on the "Troy Pola is a wasted draft
pick" bandwagon, remember this: Plex Burress spent his entire rookie
season looking like a lost puppy.� Hines
Ward rotted on the bench his entire rookie season, as did Joey
Porter.� It's too early to tell with
Pola.� Burress looked like a wasted pick
as a rookie, because we did NOTHING to INTEGRATE him into the offense.� Same with Pola.�� Some guys need coaching and tutelage.�� Some young guys need a somewhat simplified
set of tasks to do, not advanced trigonometry.�
As a rookie, Jevon Kearse wasn't tasked with anything more elaborate
than pinning his ears back and going after the QB.� This coaching staff isn't capable of doing any of this with young
players.� The youngster either arrives
and is a SELF-LEARNER, or he's left to struggle on his own devices, with the
coaching staff treating him like a leper.�
This is yet another reason why Billy Cowher needs to go.
- For all those blind imbeciles that love to trumpet how
great a blocker Mark Bruner is, go back and re-watch the 3rd & goal toward
the very end of the 4Q.� Bruener gets
shoved back so badly that he gets in the way of Dan Kreider's lead
block, thus clogging up the entire play.�
One would expect just a little bit more from the guy who's widely
heralded as the greatest blocking TE who ever roamed the Earth.�
- Every time I see Jevon "The Freak" Kearse, I
cringe at my memories of the 1999 draft.�
This guy would be an absolute terror in the 3-4 defense.� Porter and Kearse -- now there is a dynamic,
dangerous, ferocious pair of OLBs.�
- As this writer noted a couple weeks ago, the Stillers
continue to pull Plaxico Burress OUT of the game deep in the red zone.� As usual from a Billy Cowher-coached team,
this is utter stupidity.� You'll hear
babble about double coverage on Plex.��
Hey, if they're doubling Plex, that means someone else HAS to be wide
open.� Furthermore, I'd sooner take a
stab with the 6'5" Plexico, regardless of double coverage, rather than
trying to jam the ball through 6 pairs of arms at little El or Ward in tight
coverage, or running Bettis on a line plunge for 2 yards. ��
- Alonzo Jackson was a no-dress for the 2nd week in a
row.� The guy makes a blunder on spec
teams coverage -- as if no one else on a Cowher-coached team ever does -- and
now he's in Cowshit's doghouse, banished to wearing street clothes for the rest
of the season.� Rocky Boiman is a
2nd-year LB who put 9 points on the board for the Titans.� Next season, Jackson will be a 2nd-year
player who "still is trying to get a feel for the game".�� When it comes to player development, no one
does less than Lil' Billy Cowher.�
(Still Mill
and Stillers.com -- the only nationally read coverage on the Pittsburgh
Stillers that has accurately predicted the how's and the why's of the past 3
Stiller playoff losses�.)