Chefs 41, Stillers 20 ���. Sep. 14th, 2003 ����Game #2
Stillers-Chefs Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers had 1Q leads of 10-0 and 17-7, but then got ransacked for 21 points during
the 2nd quarter and never recovered in route to a fairly embarrassing 41-20
whipping by the KC Chefs.� The Stillers
fought back a little in the 2nd half, but 3 turnovers and another special teams
fiasco ruined any chance at a comeback.�
Grades:
QB:�
Maddox was sharp early on, but decent pressure by the KC front 7, as
well as a poor lack of support by his WR corps, led to problems and also a turnover.� The INT returned for a TD was off a high,
but entirely catchable, pass to El, which El allowed to slip thru his hands and
then into the hands of Woods, who promptly took the ball 46 yards for a
score.� �Maddox made a fine pass to Plex in the EZ on the team's first
drive, but Burress foolishly bobbled the ball and was ruled OOB, thus forcing
the Stillers to settle for 3 instead of 7.�
Ward allowed two balls to slip thru his hands and El also had a drop (in
addition to the one mentioned above).� Bettis
dropped a high screen pass.� To be fair,
Maddox deserves blame as well.� The INT
in the EZ was the kind of backbreaking play that snatches defeat from
victory.� A score there cuts the KC lead
to only 7, but Maddox never saw Barber and threw a hideous INT into what was
double coverage, which took away whatever remaining air was left in the
Stillers' sail.� �Maddox also tried jamming a few passes into
double and triple coverage, and probably was lucky to avoid a couple more
picks.� He had some hideous, off-target
misfires in the 2H as well. Overall, Maddox was ok, but despite passing for 336
yards, he's seen better days. �B-.�
RB:�
Amoz ripped off 22 and 15-yard runs in the 4Q, but otherwise was held to
11 yards on 9 carries.� He also grabbed
2 passes.� For a so-called
"starting" RB, though, Amoz isn't on the field anywhere near
enough.� Doughboy Bettis got his token
carries and ran 4 times for a whopping 7 yards. �As noted above, he also clumsily bobbled a catchable screen pass
that resulted in an incompletion.� �Haynes made a nice play on a 3d & 2 screen
pass late in the 2Q, in which he used 2nd and even 3rd effort to churn for 11
yards.� But in the 4Q, Haynes coughed up
the ball on similar 2nd effort on a screen pass, turning the ball over and essentially
pounding the nail in the coffin.� And
late in the 4Q, Haynes was trucked by a blitzing LB, leading to a sack of
Maddox.� C+.�
FB: Krieder didn't play all that
much.� He sprung a couple solid runs
with good blocks, and also grabbed a valve dump for 1 yard.� Haynes saw some FB duty, and was generally
ineffective in his blocking chores.��
B.� ��
WR:�
On paper, Ward and Burress appeared to have great days.� Every FFL geek in America will be fawn over their
146 and 115 yards, respectively, in receiving.�
Problem is, football ain't played on paper.� Ward allowed two very catchable balls to slither right thru his
hands.� Stonehands Plexico had the
foolish bobble in the end zone, which negated what should have been a routine,
easy TD.� Burress was also a bit lazy on
a 3rd down pass in the 1Q, in which he lazily never came back to the ball, thus
allowing Warfield the opportunity to bat the ball away at the last second. �Plex did have a nifty pluck on the 33-yard TD
pass, although he got away with a little push on the DB just before the ball
arrived.� El had a drop on a 3rd down
pass, and allowed another 3rd down pass to slither thru his hands and then get
returned for a KC TD.� If you combine
El's deflection that led to the Woods TD with Plex's bobble that turned an easy
TD into a field goal, this crew caused a swing of 11 points.� As if this crew didn't do enough negative
damage, both Plex and Doering were flagged for false starts, which is
inexcusable for a WR in the NFL.� There's
too much pro experience and talent in this crew for this kind of overall
slop.� C.�
TE:�
Welcome to the Stiller offense, Jay Rimersma.� Riem was a big hit last week, with a TD and loads of
accolades.� This week, Riem was ignored,
other than the EZ pass attempt that was INT'd by Barber.� Tuman and Bruener did little.� B.�
OL: The O-line had its problems against
the Chef defense.� I'd pointed out in my
pre-game report about just how big it was for the Chefs to have Ryan Sims back
from injury, as well as the acquisition of Holliday.� Sims spent a good bit of the day in the Stiller backfield,
applying loads of pressure and hits on the QB, and helping to bottle up the
ground game.� Hartings was called for a
hold on a running play; was also feeble in allowing a sack in the first series
of the 3Q; and overall was well below average.�
Todd Fordham continues to be an abysmal failure at RT.� He was equally wretched on a Bettis run that
was stopped for -1 (getting whipped badly when all he had to do was seal the
back side!), as well as on a sack early in the 4Q, when Gary Stills effortlessly
wheeled him back and then shoved him aside as though he were an invalid.� This sack-play was simply a horrible play by
Fordham, in which words can do no justice to the horrific technique and footwork
by Ford that allowed Stills to crash inside for the easy hit on Maddox.� When your tackle is getting abused to the
inside, as Ford has for 2 weeks now, there's a very high chance your QB will
miss playing time from an injury.� Simmons
was flagged for a false start.� Surprisingly,
Marvell Smith continues, for the most part, to hold his own over at LT with
another ok effort.� Not by any means
great, but better than adequate.� Overall,
this O-line isn't playing anywhere near up to snuff.� Very disappointing.� D+.�
�
DL:�
The D-line was far too soft and spongy.�
Leading the way in the disappointment department was none other than
Casey Hampton.� Fat Casey was facing an
undersized center (Wiegmann), and instead of eating him up, Casey got eaten up.
�He wasn't bullied, but all too often,
he allowed himself to be influenced too wide, as well as allowed himself to
wander too far upfield at times, in which Priest would merely cut underneath
thru a massive fissure.� Kendrick Clancy
continues to show that he has no business even being on this team's active
roster, much less getting somewhat regular work.� The Priest TD run in the 2Q came with much assistance from the
feeble play of Ken Clancy, along with some slothful support from Rod
Bailey.� On the plus side, Kimo and
Smitty had very solid games.� Kimo's
clever swim move caused the flush of Green, which allowed Fat Casey to record a
sack.� Smitty was stout against the
run.� Bailey chipped in with a couple
solid chasedowns.� �In my pre-game report, I'd noted my concerns
about this run defense, as well as the containment of Priest being the key
matchup, and this D-line was shellacked rather thoroughly.�� C.�
LB:�
A mixed bag from the LB crew.� In
my pre-game report, I'd noted my concerns about this run defense, as well as
the containment of Priest being the key matchup, and this LB crew (along with
the D-line) clearly didn't come even remotely close to "getting it done".
�Farrior led the way with some stellar
play.� He showed confidence and good
technique on a few stops, and also had a key INT.� On the down side, Farrior got caught up in the 'wash' during more
than a couple Priest runs, which allowed sizeable chunks of yardage.� He was also trucked by a pulling lineman on
the Priest 4-yard TD run early in the 3Q.�
Bell jammed and stuffed a few plays -- to include a nice knife-in &
stop of Priest on a 3rd & 1 plunge in the 3Q -- but overall, this man
simply isn't on the field anywhere near enough to make the kind of impact that
he is unquestionably capable of making.�
Haggans had his share of ups and downs today.� He was badly mismatched in zone against Kennison on a short 2Q
reception, and could do little more than chase on a 21-yard play that was
mostly all RAC yardage.� Hagg missed a
tackle of Priest on a 1Q screen play, but to his credit, he'd aggressively dashed
forward in the first place and beaten the block by an O-lineman, and he got
back to his feet and helped corral Priest for what turned out to be a piddly 1-yard
gain.� Hagg was fooled on a reverse by
Hall in the 2Q, but unlike some OLBs you'll see, he showed great hustle and desire
to chase down Hall.� Hagg was called for
an offsides, although Hampton was just as much offsides on the play.� Overall, Hagg finished with 6 solos, and also
did a nice job of stringing out Priest in the 2Q on a 2d & goal run from
the 3, in which Priest gained nothing.� �
Leading the
way in doing absolutely nothing all day long was none other than the
"defensive captain", Jason GilDong.�
Jason stood around and did nothing the entire day.� Jack shit nothing.� He was credited with a tackle on Hall's 1Q end-around, in which
he flaccidly stood and got shoved back, as though he were wearing roller
blades, a full 6 yards by Dunn -- to include turning his back to the blocker --
and made a weak tackle along the sideline after a 12-yard gainer.� Twice -- to include Priest's 3Q TD run -- Jason
was bullied so badly off the line of scrimmage that he ended up out of bounds.� Yep, that's right -- he was literally shoved
and bullied off the field of play on 2 different occasions.� ("Jason had outside contain," The GiDongites
will claim.)� On the Dunn 3-yard TD
catch in the 2Q, Dunn ran right by Jason off the snap of the ball, yet Jason
didn't give Dunn even a pinkie's worth of a shove or a jam.� �The biggest
mention of Big Jason all day was his offsides flag in the 2Q.� In sum, the Stillers could have set out an
empty 55-gallon drum and gotten just as much impact.� The Big 3:� B-.� Jason GilDong:� D.�
�
DB:�
The secondary picked up right where they left off against Balt. last week
-- getting beaten downfield and committing penalty upon penalty.� DW committed a foolish personal foul on a
tackle OOB in the 2Q, and 2 plays later Chad was whistled for PI.� Chad was also badly beaten by Morton and the
4Q and had to commit a PI in order to avoid an easy TD.� Townsend looked weak and unsure of himself
on a short completion deep in Stiller territory in the 2Q, coming up meekly and
allowing a couple extra yards near the Stiller goal line.� Logie had a nice bust-up early in the game,
although it would have been nice if he'd picked it.� Chad had the nice INT and TD on the 2d play from scrimmage, but
did little afterwards.� Brent whiffed
rather feebly on the Priest 2Q TD run.� This
will come as a major surprise to Billy Cowher and his band of minions, but 2
games into the season, Bent has yet to defend a single pass.� Troy Pola got a decent amount of PT but
didn't make any kind of impact.� The Achilles
heel was badly exposed today, and without a change in personnel and scheme, it
will continue to be exposed against competent offenses.� C-.� ��
Spec
teams:� As I'd noted in my pre-game, Dante Hall was
14 times the threat that last week's inept Raven return game presented.� Sure enough, Hall torched the Stillers for a
100-yard TD return to get the crowd and the KC team back into the game after a
10-point deficit, and he also set up another TD with a 45-yard PR that set up
shop at the Stiller 7. �The main culprit
on the long KO return for a TD was rookie LB Zo Jackson, who pulled a silly,
foolhardy, Gildonesque pirouette move and thus took himself out of his lane,
which thus opened up a crevice about 18 feet wide.� Josh helped Hall on the long punt return by delivering a rotten
33-yard punt with little hang time, smack near the middle of the field.� Remember this sorry punt the next time you
hear someone fawning about how great a punter Josh supposedly is.� Troy Pola and then Haynes missed tackles on
that jaunt.� Reed did a better job on
KOs today than last week, and he came thru with a clutch 51-yard FG as the 1st
half expired.� Aside from the shameful,
gawdawful punt that led to the long punt return, Josh's punting was ok.� Ike Taylor chipped in very nicely in
coverage, making 2 stops on PRs in the 1Q and then (combined with Haggans) chasing
down Hall with good speed and hustle on the 45-yard return in order to prevent
the TD. �Chidi had a solid stop on the
opening KO.� When the special teams give
up a TD on a 100-yard KO return, and allow a 45-yard punt return that sets up
an easy 7-yard TD drive, they deserve to be flogged in public.� F.�
OC:�
Mularkey had a rather poor afternoon, showing too much cuteness and an
apparent smugness in himself.� The
Stillers had to waste a TO on the very first series, on 3d & G at the 2,
because the play apparently took far too long to get to the QB, and by the time
the team broke the huddle, the playclock was approaching zero.� More egregious were the total refusal to
throw the ball to that big, 6-5" WR named Burress on that 3Q march deep in
KC territory, as well as things like going 5-wide and throwing the ball on 3rd
& inches.� On the 3Q drive that
ended in the INT, Mularkey out-clevered himself with a 2nd down lob to little
Hines Ward --while Plex sat on the bench -- and then a cutesy pass to Riemersma
that wasn't sold with any play-action and was smothered by 2 Chiefs, one of
which (Barber) picked it off.� Sure,
Maddox connected with Plex on that 3rd & inches, but going 5-wide on 3rd
and inches is, in essence, telling your offense and your line that you've got
no confidence to either run the ball or gain the yardage off play-action for a 1st
down.�
And, in
essence, Mularkey seems bent on slinging the ball and the running game be
damned.� Not good and not smart. �We don't want Woody Hayes football here, but
in these first 2 weeks the running game has been treated with the kind of
disdain associated with cleaning out the garage -- a chore that has to be done
once in a while, but is done grudgingly and with very little enthusiasm or
mental effort.� At halftime, the
Stillers had rushed for a whopping total of 13 yards.� Unacceptable.�
There was
also a disgusting dickdance in the 2-minute drill late in the 1st half.� The Stillers began the drive at 2:19, and
after Plex was stooped in-bounds on a 5-yard completion, the offense lazily
allowed the clock to run down to 2:00.� Then,
after the 2-minute warning "timeout", the Stillers came out and
completed a pass to Haynes for 2 yards.�
Instead of rushing to the LOS -- aided by the ability to call two
plays during the 2:00 warning -- the offense instead slogged back to the huddle
and dawdled around like schoolchildren after recess.� Haynes was stopped on that 2-yard gain at 1:50, and the ensuing
play wasn't snapped until 1:17, a full 33 seconds later.� Some will crow a line of babble that
Mularkey wasn't sure if the offense would be moving or if they'd punt, but with
enormous talent level at the skill positions, combined with the 10-point
deficit on the road, this offense needed to go full-bore during this 2-min.
drill.� There was also a DOG penalty
late in the 4Q, another indication of sloth by the OC.� �
Finally, it
was a known fact that this Chef front 7 is far more of a flowing defense than a
"stout at the point of attack" defense.� So what did Mularkey do?�
Virtually every running play was a slow-developing play that allowed the
Chef defense to flow and spurt, thus disrupting and stopping the play for
little or no yardage.� �Mularkey needs to shelve some of the cutesy
bullshit and get back to mano-o-mano, helmet-on-helmet drive blocking.� �C-.� �
DC:�
No surprise here.� With no rookie
QB to feast on like last week, Tiny Tim Lewis was in his usual small-minded mindset.� His defense applied no heat or harassment on
Green whatsoever.� And, the D was far
too soft against the run, playing too much "catch the blocker and
read" instead of playing with mean-spirited aggression.� The total lack of heavy blitzing to rattle and
pressure Green was inexplicable.� As
noted above, the Achilles heel (the pass defense) was badly exposed again today,
and without a change in personnel and scheme, it will continue to be exposed
against competent offenses.� They say
that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again, all the while
expecting different results.� So it is
with Tiny Tim Lewis.� C-.�
HC:� This stenchfest
was classic Billy Ball at its best.� Disorganization.� A dozen
penalties.� Loads of slop & slather.� Horrific special teams.� Softness & a lack of hitting on
defense.� Carelessness and lack of
discipline all over the field.� There's
1 man responsible for making sure all of the aforementioned horse manure
doesn't occur, and his name is Billy Cowher.��
Cowher himself was a special team player, and only a spec teams player,
during his few playing years, and he's a former spec teams coach, yet his spec
teams continue to get burned for one big play after another.� D.�
Synopsis:�
This was precisely the kind of team stink you expect from Billy Cowher
this early in the season.� As I'd
sternly warned in last week's post-game, as well as my pre-game report, this
Stiller team has yet to show they can play defense against the big boys of the
NFL, and today it showed.� Their gross
inability to stop the running game and make critical stops of the Chefs in the
red zone shows this defense isn't anywhere near ready for playoff-caliber
competition.� Offensively, the offense
is still groping for an identity, but we know for sure that the O-line and
offensive scheme aren't geared at all to running the ball with any kind of
determination or success.� The right
side of the O-line is a glaring weak spot, but given Cowher's refusal to
address it during the plethora of time in camp, it's doubtful it will be fixed
during the tight time constraints of the regular season.� The special teams continue to be a sorry
bunch of woefully inept clowns, and, as we've seen the past 10 years, it certainly
won't be rectified before the playoffs hearken.� The Stillers get some generosity from the schedule with a game at
Cinci next week, followed by a tough battle against the Titans at home.� Be wary of Cinci, though�Kitna threw for
over 300 yards against the Raidas yesterday, and against the Softee Defense of
the Stillers, Kitna is capable of the same next Sunday.