Stillers 20, Jets 17 (OT) ���. Jan. 15, 2005 ����AFC
Div. Playoffs
Stillers-Jets Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The Stillers
got out to the early 10-0 lead, and then slammed on the brakes and came to a
screeching halt, allowing the Jest to storm back for 17 straight points.� The Stillers tied it on a 4Q TD by Ward, but
then allowed the Jest to twice venture deep inside Stiller territory in the
final 2 minutes of the game.� Luckily,
Jets kicker Doug Brien hit the crossbar on the first and badly hooked the 2nd
as regulation ended, giving the Stillers new life.� The Stillers then drove against an exhausted Jets defense and Jeff
Reed capped the win with a 33-yard FG.�
Grades:
QB:�
There can't be much praise thrown at Roth after this stinker.� He threw an inordinate number off poor,
off-target passes, including two INTs that were as hideous as any thrown by
Kordell Stewart.� He began the game
poorly enough on the 1st series, with a gawdawful 3d & 14 pass that was
nearly picked off by Strait.� He threw a
ghastly screen pass right into the chest of Robertson on 3d & 10 in the
2Q.� As the re-plays were show at least
10 times, I won't overly belabor the gross vomitude of either of the INTs.� The first was a greedly, stone-stupid lob
while on the run and throwing a little bit against the grain. The 2nd was a
gimpy, off-balance toss that had no business being thrown.� Ben did hit come nice completions, and he
had a good 20-yard scramble on the first play of the long 4Q TD drive.� Nonetheless, this is the kind of QBing that
ain't anywhere good enough to win a championship.� By the 4Q, every time he went to unleash a pass, my heart was
skipping a beat.� I'd written my
concerns about Roth in my pre-game analysis -- "�his
pre-snap reads and split-second decisions in the midst of plays will tell us if
he's making decisions like a rook or a vet."� Quite obviously, he looked like a greenhorned rookie and will
have to play much better next week.�
D.������
RB:�
Bettis got the start and got exclusive work until late in the 3Q, when
Duce was finally permitted to tote the ball.�
Bettis had a solid day, rushing for 101 yards on 27 carries, good for
his typical 3.7 YPC.� He also had a big
gainer on a screen, lumbering for 21 yards.�
The downer, of course, was (cough, cough) the Bettis fumble (cough,
hack) at the NY 23 early in the 4Q, off of a 1-armed slap at The Big Bellyback
by Sean Ellis.� Bettis coughed it up,
and the Jets got a badly-needed turnover.�
As noted, Staley wasn't allowed to play at all until late, late in the
3Q, but he churned out the majority of 4Q and OT yardage, gaining 54 yards on
11 carries.� Verron Haynes played only
on 3Ds, and chipped in well.� He had a
clutch SG draw run of 8 yards on 3d & 4 in OT.� He also had a superb blitz pickup early in the 4Q on a 3d & 4
completion to Ward for 5 yards.� The
downer was the semi-dropped pass on 3d & 3 screen pass by Roth, which was a
high wobbler and poorly thrown, and bounced off the fingertips of Haynsie.� It was a tough opportunity, but when Moss
took the punt to the house on the next play, I'm sure Haynes' name was muttered
alongside expletives shortly thereafter.�
It's a shame that Duce Staley had to rot on the bench for 3/4 of this
football game.� After gaining 5 yards a
crack in this tilt, perhaps he'll be allowed just a few 1st half carries next
week.� B+.��
FB: Kreider didn't play all that much,
due to the Stillers going to a ton of 1-back sets.� He did throw some good blocks and the Jets were pretty bruised by
his efforts by game's end.� B.�
WR:�
The ever-so-trusty Ward led the way with 10 grabs for 105 yards, with at
least 4 of the catches being of the great-catch variety.� He also adroitly read the blocking and ran
the shovel pass in for the key 4-yard TD in the 4Q.� For all the fanfare of Plex's return to the lineup, his impact
was similar to the gnat on the butt of a buffalo.� He snared just 2 passes, good for 28 yards. �Like a dumbass, Plex also committed a false
start.� Few things in football enrage me
as much as a WR committing a false start, and Plex has committed about 26 of
these in his short career.� Randle El,
who'd really emerged in Plex's absence, was basically written out of the
gameplan, grabbing just 1 pass for 6 yards.�
Mays had a couple clutch grabs.�
Facing a very ordinary NYJ secondary, more was expected.� C+.�
TE:�
Not an overly positive outing from the TE spot.� As usual come playoff time, the TEs were
totally written out of the passing gameplan.�
The run blocking saw some good spots, but then had a slew of downers
that really soured the milk.� Tuman had
a good block on a rare toss-sweep to Bettis in the 1H.� But then he allowed Thomas to tool him and drop
The Tubber for a 3-yard loss in the 2Q.�
On the Bettis fumble, it was Tu-woman that got brutalized by Ellis, who
then got the paw on The Bellyback.� Had
Tuman done anything more than imitating a traffic barrel, Bettis wouldn't have
received the paw from Ellis.� Tuman also
committed a foolish false start on the opening drive on 3d & 9.� When it comes to Stiller playoff time, no
position does outrageously less than the TE.�
C-.�
OL: The O-line had an overall good
game.� Bettis ran through many a GAPING hole
in this tilt, and Staley also had some nice fissures.� BenRoth was given decent time on most pass plays, and on many a
play was given ample time.� Ross had a
good down-block on the Bettis TD plunge, caving his man down into the middle of
the field and creating a nice hole.�
Next week's opponent will play less vanilla than the Jets did today,
especially if it's the Pats.� A-.�
DL:�
The D-line helped keep Martin in check.�
When rushing, they maintained their lanes and didn't allow ChadPenn any room
to scramble.� Hoke got a sack of Penn
when the QB pumped and waited around like a simpleton.� Kimo had a very nice sniff and snuff of a 4Q
reverse by Crotchery, holding it to no gain.�
Kirschke saw a fair amount of work as a backup.� B.�
LB:�
Farrior and Haggans led the way with strong efforts.� Hag had a nice sniff and snuff of a naked
bootleg in the 2nd series, stuffing Pennington for an 11-yard loss.� As the game wore on, I noted to myself how
nice it was to see all-out intensity, hustle, and grit from the LOLB spot,
something we'd not ever seen since 1995.�
Farrior helped blow up many a ground play.� Foote played ok, although he got totally roadkilled by a Jets'
blocker on a 4Q screen pass, which netted 17 yards.�� Porter was a bit quiet.�
He allowed Penn to slightly elude his grasp and turn a sure-sack into a
shoveled incompletion.� Port did have
good pressure and a hit of Penn as he threw on 2d & 13 in OT, which
resulted in a weak incompletion.� Port
was also flagged for a helmet-to-chest hit in the 3Q, good for 15 yards.�
DB:�
An ok showing, although it has to be considered how anemic the Jest
offense is and how the Jest have only 2 legitimate WRs.� Wee Willie Williams was active all game
long, and chipped in on both pass coverage and run support.� He had a splendid bataway of a sure TD pass
to Moss in the EZ on a long post in the 2Q.�
But he was far too soft on McCareins in the 4Q, allowing a 22-yard gain
on a deep crosser in which Willie was as soft as moldy margarine.� Willie was also flagged for PI in the
2Q.� Townsend had good coverage on the
OT bomb to McCareins.� Pola had a strong
game, including a clutch INT and good runback that set the table for the first
Stiller TD.� Pola also flashed up with
lightning speed and stopped Martin on a screen late in the 2Q, resulting in a
4-yard loss.� You hear "pro
bowl" hyperbole bandied about all the time.� Let me tell you -- this was an ALL-PRO play, folks.� Hope had a shabby outing.� Rarely was he found near the ball on deep
passes.� Worse, he got his face driven
into the ground by a Curtis Martin stiff-arm in OT, which allowed a no-gain to
be turned into a healthy 10-yard gainer.�
Having your face driven into the turf by a 210-pound RB on national TV
has got to be high in the list of most embarrassing moments.� B.�
Spec
teams:� Yet another Copwher-led special team debacle
in the playoffs.� It was deja vu all
over again.� Morey and Kiewalt were too
wide and overran their coverage, and combined with Tuman's slip on the shit
turf at Heinz Field, this allowed Moss a huge seam that he took advantage of
for an untouched 75-yard punt return for a TD.�
El foolishly fielded a punt on his own 3-yard line.� Ike had some good work on 2 KO returns in
the 2Q.�� Morey had a good stop of Moss
on a PR in the 1Q.� Reed's KOs were ok,
and he booted a 45-yard FG in the 1Q and the game-winning, 33-yarder in
OT.� C-.�
OC: A bizarre, grab-bag performance by
WiseHunt.� He started off the game
ingloriously enough, running the Whaleshit Counter by Bettis that was engulfed
for a meager 1-yard gain.� 2 short
drives (37 yards on the FG, 25 on the TD) staked the Stillers to an early 10-0
lead, and then WiseHunt grabbed at plays in whatever random sequence he could
latch onto.� Facing a beaten-up,
undersized Jets defense, this was unacceptable.� So, too, was the enamorization of the SG formation on 3rd & 1
and 3rd and 2, which happened several times in this game.� You've got the supposed Great God of Short
Yardage Running, Big Jerome Bettis.� If
you really have a burning desire to pass on 3rd & short, why not, pray
tell, do it off of play-action?� This
offense has gone stale and flaccid, and WiseHunt needs to hunt for some fresh
schemes in time for next week's game.�
D.�
DC:�
The Stillers held the Jest offense to 3 points.� Nice job.�
Now let's put this in perspective.�
The opposing Offensive Coordinator was none other than Paul "I
Can't" Hackett, who literally possesses one of the ugliest pile of shit
resumes in all of the NFL coaching ranks.�
This guy couldn't plan and coordinate to move a football out of a phone
booth, much less move a football into the EZ come playoff time.� This isn't meant to disparage LeBeau, but
holding a Hackett-coached playoff offense to 3 points is no more difficult than
standing on the deck of an aircraft carrier and hitting the ocean with a thrown
rock.� Unfortunately, we won't see this
shitty of an OC during the rest of the playoffs.� Inc.��
HC:� This game
was precisely how Billy Cowher prefers his playoff games: "Let's keep it
close and hope for a win in the 4th quarter."� This was
yet another example of Billy Cowher arriving at a playoff game without a clue
as to how he was going to attack and destroy the enemy.� He got the 10-0 lead and then, true to his
nature and upbringing, played fiddle-faddle with an injury-ravaged, beaten-up
team that was practically begging to roll over.� The turtling you saw was a direct reflection of the head coach,
Lord Billy Cowher.� While the opponent
made all the big plays, Cowhard and his troops are standing around, frozen,
with their asses puckering tighter than the Rooney budget.� Watching everyone but Key Vincent quit and
give up on the Tongue INT return for a TD was downright sickening, but typical.� Then Duce Staley has to rot the bench until
late in the 3Q, all because Bilbo is too afraid to do anything without his
longest-running pacifier and security blanket, Big Jerome Bettis, in the
game.� No one plays down more to
an inferior playoff opponent than does Little Billy Cowher, and no coach does
less with more than Bilbo himself.� The
apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and you saw today precisely why Marty
Shittenheimer and his son, Bilbo Cowher, have never won a Super Bowl.� D-.�
Synopsis:�
A win is a win come playoff time, although only to a certain degree and
ultimately, only in the Super Bowl.�
This game was, quite frankly, a big bag o' barf.� I'd written about the Stiller playoff
myths, all of which I'd given the detailed facts surrounding the mythical
babble, yet far too many fans clung to mythical bullshit rather than realizing
real, concrete facts and trends.� To
wit:�
����������� - "The Steelers have learned
from their past playoff failures".��
Obviously,
this myth was absolute bullshit.� They
didn't and haven't learned jack shit.�
����������� - "We have home field
advantage".��� Yep, it was such an
advantage that a 9-point underdog came to our house and would have won the
game, were it not for scattershot kicking.�
����������� - "We have momentum from the
season finale".�� Yep, the
momentum was so overwhelming that we allowed a weak underdog to have 2
chip-shot FG attempts to win the ballgame late in the 4Q.�
����������� - "The opponent is
tired, beaten, injured, travel-weary�."�
Yup,
they were so tired and travel weary and OT weary that they came to our house
and came within a gnat's eyelash of beating a heavily favored team.� I shudder to think was a rested, un-weary
opponent will do.�
Today's game was a loss, for all intent and purpose, much
like the weak, totally uninspiring 7-6 win over an injury-ravaged Pats team in
Jan. '98.� The apple is already lodged
in Billy's throat, and he's got a week to dislodge it, find his gonads, and
then get his team to start playing real, hell-bent, devil-may-care
football.�� Anything less will be
another dismal playoff failure, regardless of opponent.�
