Seahags 31, Stillers 17...... Sep 14, 2025 …………Game # 2
Stillers - Seahags Postgame Analysis and Grades
The 1-0 Stillers hosted the 0-1 Seahags. PIT won toss and deferred. SEA scored first and was up at 1Q, 7-6. PIT up, 14-7 at halftime. SEA tied it in the 3Q, and the 4Q began tied at 14. SEA took the lead by 3 at 12:46 4Q. Then a bizarre “ignored KO” enabled the Hawks to kick the ball off, recover it in the EZ, and score the cheapest 7 points of all time. SEA prevailed, 31-17.
Grades:
QB: Rodgers got the start. Good eluding of pass pressure and completion to Fryboy, 1st series, for 7 yards.
Got sacked, 11:20 2Q, looking slower than Cliff Stoudt. Hideous 3rd down pass, 6:30 2Q, which CLANGED off the ILB’s facemask and should have been INT’d. A meager 33 passing yards, 1H. Tried to scramble on 3d & 4, 4Q, and got swallowed up as he lumbered toward the sticks like an elderly fellow limping to the bus stop.
Pitiful INT late in the game, adding whipped cream to a crap sandwich. Finished 18 of 33 for 203 and 2 INTs, which ain’t nowhere near good enough. Overall, Rodgers looks every bit of 41 years old, and he’ll never survive 17 games taking the beating he’s taken thus far. D+
RB:
Warren – good flare RAC, 1st play, good for 12. Hurdled a tackler about 6 plays later after a quick dumpoff. Superb RAC on short pass, 3Q, good for 65 yards, in which he broke or eluded 4 tacklers. Had a solid effort, with 14 carries for 48 and 4 grabs for 86. Warren is the least of this team’s problems right now. B
Kaleb J. – Had 1 carry for 1 yard. At camp, he was continually fawned over like the 2nd coming of Walter Payton. Looks more like Walter Abercrombie.
Gainwell – Did very, very little. Dropped a short pass, 9:24 4Q. Don’t be fooled by his final stats, which were PADDED when he gained 13 yards on a run in the waning seconds of the game in garbage time. He’s slow, ineffective, and clumsy. Other than that, he’s a superb backup to Warren. D
FB: rarely if ever used.
WR:
Metcalf – dropped a 2nd down pass, 6:40 2Q. Good joust to grab short TD pass, late 2Q. Had 3 grabs for 20, which is nowhere near enough from a WR1, although SEA shaded of TON of coverage onto DK because they had zero fear for the WR2 or 3. B
Austin – Drew hold flag, 1st series. CLANG !! A routine TD pass CLANGS off the hands of PeePee Austin, and is INT'd by SEA, 4:00 3Q. Grabbed a 22-yard deep in just before the 2MW in 4Q. Finished with ONE relatively meaningless reception while doing jak squat the ENTIRE game, despite SEA shading coverage onto DK nearly every single snap. D-
Rom Wilson – grabbed a short out for 7 yards and was dropped immediately, late 4Q. Gee, now he has 1 NFL catch in his career. This, for a guy who was supposedly the 2nd coming of Lynn Swann.
Skowronek – never targeted.
Scott Miller – never targeted.
TE:
Pat FryBoy – failed to haul in a deep ball, 1st series, on a very catchable pass. (The Hawks got flagged for a hold on Austin, so this was super-costly, although a catch would have gained 25 more yards or so.) Had 3 grabs for 31, including a stellar 20-yarder in the 4Q. Of course, this ain’t nearly good enough given his fatty salary. C-
Jonnu Smith – grabbed 5 yard dumpoff, early 3Q. Then grabbed a TE screen a few plays later for 3 yards. Had 4 grabs for 27, although it’s all piddly little dumpoffs and short stuff. C
Darnell – easy 2-point grab, late 2Q, lightly shoving the DB and grabbing the pass to make it 14-7. Technically had no catches, as the 2-pointer doesn’t count.
Con Heyward – Had 1 grab for 6 yards. Not sure why.
OL: Overall, the line (Jones, Seumalo, Frazier McCormick, Fautanu) had a subpar game. The running game was sporadic, and Rodgers took a beating in the pocket.
The line allowed leakage and harassment on 3rd down of the first 2 drives, both of which forced Inc passes and 48-yard FGs. Allowed a sack, last play of 1H.
Fautanu was flagged for a hold on a pass play (declined), early 3Q. Rodgers has been sacked 7 times in 8 quarters, which doesn’t bode well. C-
DL:
Heyward – Waddled around and did very, very little all game long. In the 1sdt half, these were his 2 plays:
12:57 2Q — Z.Charbonnet right guard to PIT 17 for 2 yards (Ca.Heyward).
05:34 2d Qtr Shotgun — Z.Charbonnet up the middle to PIT 33 for 5 yards (Ca.Heyward). ESPN must have credited this as an assist, as their stats at Halftime show 1 solo, 1 A.
Scam came in UNTOUCHED and UNBLOCKED and deflected a 4th down pass, mid 2Q, which Herbig INT’d and ran back about 40 yards to set up PIT on the SEA 21. Had ONE tackle at halftime. Did jak fuq the entire 2H as SEA stormed back with multiple scoring drives. Good thing this fat waddler did a “sit in”. D-
Benton – actually made a stop on a ground play, 4:50 4Q. Otherwise, was far, far too quiet. C
Ekuale – batted a pass, late 3Q.
Lowdermilk – hurt an ankle, 1Q. Perhaps this will end his bland tenure in Pgh.
YaYa Black – got a good amount of PT and had 2 measly tackles and zero impact. Anyone recall during preseason, how this fellow was being compared to Aaron Donald, Reggie White, and Bruce Smith, all rolled into one ?? Funny how mediocre he looks when not feasting on 4th string blockers.
LB:
Queen – solid lick on a toss sweep, 1st series. Slashed in an dropped the RB for a 1 yard loss, 3rd series. Got nicked up, 2Q, with a rib. Got tooled for a short TD, mid 3Q, to tie the game. Got juked on 3d & 9, mid 4Q, which allowed Darnold to flip the ball to the TE for 19 yards. A huge play that a $41M LB has GOT to make. He totaled 3 solos, which ain’t nowhere near good enough. Nowhere near. D
Payton Wilson – came in untouched for a sack, mid 2Q. Later in the 2Q, Wilson was projectile vomiting in the Steelers huddle. Can't blame the fellow. This defense makes me want to vomit as well. Got a solo tackle on a ground play, 3Q, but it was 9 yards down the field. On a 20-yard run by SEA, early 4Q ....Big Payton Wilson got PANCAKED in hilarious fashion by the FB, which also took out Queen. Thank you Payton.....now run along to IHOP and get pancaked there while making $12.50 per hour. Wilson, of course, finished with “8 solos”, so the idiot fan out there will praise and fawn over him like the next Ray Lewis. D
Watt – wreaked havoc on 2d & 3d down, early 4Q, to force a FG. Still, no sacks, only 2 solos, and far too much time elapsing between him making any impact on the field. C
Highsmith – Got a solo, 1st series, on a stuttering run where Alex finally came off a block and clamped down on the RB. Got nicked up late 1Q and did not return. Has a high ankle sprain and could miss 4-5 weeks.
Herbig – forced the 1st sack, forcing Darnold to step up in the pocket and got nabbed by Pay Wilson. Had the big INT and athletic INT return to set up the 2nd PIT TD. Slashed in and dropped the RB for a 7-yard loss, late 4Q. Tiem for the best ROLB on the team to assert himself these next 4-5 weeks. B
Holcomb – got pressed into duty after Queen got injured. Almost gave up the 1st down by waiting to make a tackle on a 3rd down dumpoff, 2Q. Way, way too timid and flaccid on this play. Hopefully will be relegated to the prac squad or the bench.
Sawyer – came in UNTOUCHED and got a sack, 4:10 4Q.
DB
Joey Porter Jr. - did not dress due to injury.
Slay – decent tackle, 1st play of 2Q, on WR screen; held WR to 3 yards. Busted up a short curl, late 2Q.
Thornhill – got trucked by Walker en route to a 15 yard gain, 10:00 3Q, which allowed an extra 6 yards.
DeShon Elliot – sat out due to injury.
Jalen Ramsey - Got abused, initial 3D pass play, on a deep in for 15 yards. A few plays later, got scorched on 3d & 10 for 12 yards. Then he allowed a 21-yard TD. In toto, Jalen THE Almighty Ramsey got COOKED and ABUSED on 3 long pass receptions, 1st drive, including a 20+ yard TD. Wasn't Big Jalen supposed to be better than Lester Hayes, Ronnie Lott, and Mel Blount COMBINED?
Redeemed himself, 2d series, with an INT off a hideously poor throw by Darnold. Popped ball out of Arroyo’s hands, early 2Q, hitting him as the pass arrived for an Inc pass.
Got abused on a slant by Kupp, 3d & 4, 9:00 3Q, for 15 yards. Got cooked on deep bomb, 4Q, 43 yards, which pretty much sealed the loss. Maybe Jalen THE Great isn’t quite the 2nd coming of Rod Woodson. D+
Spec teams:
Waitman – punted adequately.
Boswell – booted two 48-yard FGs, 1Q. Also booted a 2H FG. A
Poor KO coverage, opening boot. Literally gave away 7 points on the 4Q squib KO that Johnson allowed to roll into the EZ. Sadly, neither Kaleb nor ANY of his teammates had any sense to run to the EZ and cover the football. Danny The Almighty Smith strikes again. Smith: F- Kaleb J: F-
OC: Art Smith had the luxury of facing a SEA team missing starting DB Devon Witherspoon.
3d & 2, first series, Smith goes EB, 5 wide, and the pass rush forced an inc and a 48-yard FG. This vaunted offense had a meager 33 passing yards, 1H. The 2H wasn’t much better. Aside from Warren’s 65-yard catch & run, the offense mostly stunk and sputtered. And if Smith doesn’t figure out some better protection schemes, Rodgers will bow out to injury around week 6. D
DC: Austin had week 1 to work out the kinks on his vaunted defense. So sure as shoit, the initial drive, gave up 1st down conversions on 3d & 6 and 3d & 10. Then a cake-easy 21-yard TD pass. The $158 million defense has given up the MOST 1st quarter points in the NFL dating back to week 1 of last year.
Austin got carved for a longish drive, early 2Q, but SEA missed a chipshot 36-yard FG. In the 3Q, allowed SEA to march easy as pie for 80 yards for a cake-easy TD to tie the game at 14.
SEA ran a gimpy lil' sweep on 3d & goal from the 19, under 4:00 left in game, content to gain 3 yards and SETTLE for a FG. Instead, the entire $158M defense stood around and flailed, and Walker ran UNTOUCHED for a game-clinching TD. Game over.
Steelers are allowing 27.9 points per game over their last 10 games. That’s more than half a season spent being one of the worst defenses in pro football. F
HC: Mike Asslin was all smug after last week’s win over the lowly Jets. Today, he had his ass handed back to him with a severe whipping.
Playing at home, total yards were 188-75 Seahawks at the half. Stoogelin was awfully lucky to be up 14-7.
In typical fashion, Asslin ordered a punt, 4th & 1, 1:48 3Q, near midfield (PIT 48). As always, living in his fears. The 4th quarter disaster all began when Mike Stoogelin decided to punt on this 4th and 1 at midfield. Stoogelin talks all sort of tough guy bravado, but then, when he’s called upon to make a decision in a tight game, he goes chickenshoit. When you coach not to lose, ya rarely win. The poor preparation, the bullshoit schemes, the lack of the KO return team knowing the rules on the kickoff…..it all feeds into the grisly loss. And it all falls into the lap of the head dunce, Mike Stoogelin. F
Synopsis: Funny how after last week’s thin win over the lowly Jets, fans were preparing plans for a Sup Bowl parade. Today the team looked like azz and got fairly humiliated at home by a mediocre west coast team that had to fly cross-country. Not good. Up next, a road game in Boston to face the inept Patriots, although no foe can be taken for granted by this bumbling Stiller team.
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