The Gildong Report (Sep 26th, 00)
In light of many a fan being bamboozled and ga-ga over Jason Gildong�s 11 sacks in �98 --- despite only 2 being anywhere near "earned sacks" --- I devoted considerable time last season to monitor the work of the exceptionally average Jason Gildon. Jason has been famous enough with his coverage sacks, flop sacks, the QB-slipped-on-the-wet-turf sacks, the OT totally forgot his blocking assignment sacks, and so on, that the NFL designated a new statistic, called the "Dong Sack™", in honor of Jason Gildong. (Some fantasy football leagues are incorporating this into their point systems.) Again in '00, I'll take time to expose Jason Gildon as the fraud that he is.
For those of you new here, you can peruse past Gildong Reports by going into the Still Mill articles archive. (click on "Articles" on the left side of your screen.)
In the season�s 3rd game, versus the Titans, Gildon actually had what may have easily been a career day for a player of his lowly stature.
Gildon was credited with 7 solos and 3 assists, which in and of itself, is startling. Remember, this is the same man who finished a November game last year versus these same Titans with nothing�..0 tackles, 0 assists, 0 pressures, 0 passes defended, 0 hits on ballcarriers, and 0 hits on blockers.
Gildon was left alone for nearly the entire day by the Titan staff, who chose to use their blocker on other defenders rather than on Gildon. To his credit, Gildon, for once, took advantage of this, often slanting right down the line of scrimmage to make stops of Eddie George on runs up George's LG, LT, & LE. It was nice to see an unblocked player take advantage of a team that was showing this much disrespect.
One of Gildon's solos was on a dumpoff to FB Neal, who has as few moves as Jon Witman. Another solo was on a scramble by McNair, in which an unblocked Gildon came over to make the stoop, 9 yards downfield.
Again, give Gildon credit for taking advantage of some freebie opportunities, as well as, on a few occasions, helping to string to wide runs by George. Gildon also finally recorded his 1st sack -- and actually his first pressure -- of the season, dropping O'Donnell at 2:36 of the 4th qtr. This was an earned sack, as Gildon -- who lulled RT Fred Miller to sleep with nothing but the Wide Loop Rush all day -- suddenly put on the brakes 2/3 of the way into his loop, and veered toward the QB. Miller was stunned, and the QB was dropped.
However, this was far from a flawless game from the Gil-Dong.
On Picken's early 67-yard play, Gildon pass-rushed, and then inexplicably, while O'Donnell was still in the pocket holding the ball, bolted BACK toward the line of scrimmage, for no reason at all. Perhaps if Gildon had bolted TOWARD O'Donell, rather than back toward the LOS, the throw may have been hampered.
The 38-yard toss to Pickens in the 3rd quarter? The Titans left George to solo block Gildon, and George easily handled Gildon as though he were a placekicker. The Titans, in fact, used George in this manner several times, and on one 2nd-qtr. play. George literally rocked Gildon as Jason came in on a pass rush.
Other than the sack, not once did Gildon ever get a sniff of O'Donnell or McNair.
And lest we forget, there's that game-winning TD pass to Kimmey. Gildon was lined up as a DE, but as Cowher said in his press conference, this was a zone blitz. Gildon initially covered Kimmey -- just like he had in previous instances when the Titans used this formation -- but then let Kimmey go, and Gildon stood around in no-man's land, 9 yards downfield & covering no one. Cowher wouldn't admit in his press conference who the culprit was, but it's readily apparent that Gildon should have maintained his man coverage during that entire play.
Season to date totals for Jason, in 3 games:
Earned Sacks: 1
Dong Sacks™: 0
Strips, Jars, fumbles caused: 1
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