Stillers 28, Browns 14...... Jan 8, 2023 ………Game # 17
Stillers - Brownies Postgame Analysis and Grades
The 8-8 Stillers hosted the 7-9 Browns in the season finale. The Stillers clawed back after a 1H deficit, and asserted themselves in the 2H. However, the Jets failed to beat MIA, so the season is now over.
Grades:
QB: KP got the start.
Stellar elusion back in the pocket from pressure, and hit Dionte for a big 3rd down pass down to the 2 yard line, first series.
Sailed a deep crosser waaay over the head of Pickens, 3rd down, at 11:34 2Q. Poor. Had a few other similar misfires.
Stellar TD strike to Pickens, late 2Q.
Led a stellar 75 yard TD march in response to the Cleve TD, 4Q. Among the passes, completions on 3d & 10, 3d & 8, and 3d & 8. Clutch drive. Dude was money, as he usually seems to be in the 4Q. It wasn’t a stellar game, but all in all, a terrific learning experience this season for the rookie QB. B
RB:
Harris – scored an apparent TD, first series, but was wrongly ruled short. 2 plays later, he tried to vault over the pile, but the ball was punched out and Cleve got the fumble. Very poor. Good TD plunge, late 3Q. Ran hard and ran well, with 84 yards on 23 rushes and 1 grab for 10. The fumbled hampers the grade. B-
Warren – stellar effort on a 3d & 2 dumpoff, late 2Q, eluding and grinding thru 2 tacklers for a tough 1st down. Big run, 2d play of 2H. Stellar 3rd down grab, late 3Q, to set up 1st and goal. Had 6 rushes for 36, plus 3 grabs. A-
Snell – no PT on O.
FB: Watt played only a few bit plays. Scored on a line plunge, late 4Q. B
WR:
Dionte – dropped a cake-easy pass, first series. 2 plays later, atoned for it with a 3rd down grab and nice RAC down to the 2. Fumbled an easy play after running backwards on his RAC, but lucked out when NFL replay over-ruled the fumbled and called in INC. Had another drop on a cake-easy catch, late 1H. 2-point pass to Dionte, a pass as soft as a baby's bottom and 100% on-target ....and he damn near dropped the fugging ball. The season mercifully ended with Dionte scoring zero TD grabs. C
Boykin – little PT on O.
Pickens – Failed to haul in a 50-50 deep ball, first series. Not an easy grab by any measure, but wasn’t an impossible grab, either. Big TD grab to tie the game, late 2Q. Nice grab of back shoulder throw for 24, late 1H. Next play, on another back shoulder pass, made an even better grab, but was ruled INC. Stellar grab 4Q, on 3d & 10, on a play that should have been DPI. Had 3 grabs for 72. A
Sims – good end around run, 19 yards.
GunnerO – Thankfully, not targeted on O. Ran a jet sweep for 3 yards, 2Q. Ran a jet counter on a 3d & 1, early 2Q, and while he converted it, got injured on the play.
TE:
Pat FryBoy – got injured, mid 4Q. Inc
Gentry – Big grab and run, mid 2Q. Stunning, given that his only use all season has pretty much been the 1-yard pass play or the glacially slow screen play.
Con Heyward – good counter run on 3rd and short for a nice 1st down, first series. Huge grab for a big 1st down down the seam, mid 4Q. Made another good grab, 3 plays later, on a 3d & 8, good for 9 yards. Allowed a TD pass to go thru his hands 2 plays later…..a though chance, but not impossible at’all. Stellar contribution, and I’m looking forward to seeing more from this fellow next season. A-
OL: Overall, the line (Moore, Dotson, Cole, Daniels, Okorafor ) had a decent game. The run blocking was pretty darned solid. They had a few struggles with leaky pass pro, but overall it was decent.
Dotson was flagged for being downfield on a screen pass, 2Q, which negated a 45 yard gainer by Harris.
Moore got abused by Garrett on a 3rd down at the Cleve 10, early 3Q, forcing a sack. Overall, B-.
DL:
Heyward – got a half Dong Sack, late 1Q, when Watson could find no one open. Early 2Q, got a solo when a swing pass was sniffed out by Sutton, and the RB had no where else to go. Batted a pass, late 2Q. Then, on the final play of the 1H, Watson DROPPED the snap, blowing his play all to he!!. Watson scrambled to and fro, and sure enough, there was Scam there to collect a DONG solo on a completely meaningless 6 yard play as the half expired.
Scam weakly flailed and WHIFFED on Chubb on what would have been no gain, and instead was a 15 yard gainer, early 4Q. Soon later, Scam got a sack, but was issued his weekly personal foul flag for roughing Sthe QB on the tackle, giving Clev an auto 1st down. Two plays later, Clev scored a TD to make the deficit only 6. Thank you, Scam Heyward.
Got a half Dong sack, along with Big Al Highsmith, late in the 4Q after Watson had no one open. Scam got another DONG Sack, last play of game & season amid a 14-point lead. With any luck, this'll be his last play, EVER, for the Steelers. Ya can't afford to keep fatty, low-performing CAP HOGS around year after year. C-
Ogunjobi – got a sack, late 3Q, but should have been flagged for an obvious masking call.
Adams – chipped in a bit.
Alu Alu – Did little, as usual.
Leal – good stop of Chubb, 3Q. Am highly looking forward to seeing more of Leal in ’23.
LB:
Bush – Not sure if he ever got on the field. Was held off the stat sheet in his final game as a Steeler. F
Jack – Did very, very little. He, too, may have played his last game as a Stiller. C-
Watt – Got a half Dong Sack, 1H. Got a Dong Solo, late 1H (with only 22 seconds left) on a broken play in which Watson ran for 7, and Sitter Watt got the slop stop. Got a sack, late 3Q. Had 2 solos and 1 A in a very mediocre effort. C
Highsmith – stop the presses….The Donut Roller, who had zero Solos last week, managed to grab the RB on a wide run, 2Q, for a solo. On a key 3d & 1, 2Q, Big Al got completely MAULED and shoved, allowing a cake-easy 6 yard gainer.
Got a slop solo when Watson had to elude pressure, and Big Al grabbed him from behind for a 1 yard gain.
Got a meaningless sack, 30 seconds left in a 14-point game. Big Al slopped on a lot of slop stats, but wasn’t overwhelming by any measure. Need to see much, much more from this fellow next season…..or perhaps we have seen his zenith. C+
Spillane – flagged for a hold on an inc pass, 2Q. Helped WHIFF on Watson on the Edmunds cheeze-sack, 3Q. Chipped in here and there. C+
Robinson – on 1st play of ga,me. FLAILED with his dik in the dirt on a short dumpoff, adding at least 12 yards to the RAC. Very poor. WHIFFED on a cake-easy sack, which allowed a short dump for 12 yards. C+
DB
Wallace – Got an INT, his 4th of the season, late 1H. B
Cam Sutton - Wasn’t abused, and played ok. B
Norwood – did not dress.
Edmunds – deflected a pass, first series, to force a punt on 3d & 9. T. Edmunds gets TOOLED and HUMILATED on a simple pattern, good for 38 yards. Remember plays like this when ya hear bullshoit trip about "they should re-sign this guy". TD, Njoku. And which defender got abused? Why, Terrell Edmunds, THE slowest, clumsiest starting safety in the entire NFL. Blitzed in and WHIFFED on Watson, 3Q, but was somehow credited with a “sack” despite never touching Watson on the play.
4th & 6, late 4Q .....and Big Terrell Edmunds gets SCORCHED by Ngjoku for 18 yards. But remember -- "they need to re-sign this guy". My ass. This guy, Edmunds, sucks elephant appendage. C-
Minkah - stellar guy, esp in run support. Dude’s a baller. A-
Pierre – played here and there.
Kayzee – chipped in here and there. Had a nice INT, pouncing on a pass, which is something never, ever seen from Edmunds. THIS is your starting SS next season. B+
Maulet – played here and there.
Spec teams:
Harvin – Had 2 good punts, 1H. Had a decent punt, 2H. 3 punts, and 3 good ones. Stunning! A
Boswell – booted a 49-yard FG, late 2Q. Booted 3 yard FG, 3Q. B+
Sims – nothing much in the return game.
Elijah Riley delivered a harsh tackle in punt coverage, 11:00 2Q.
Horrendous KO coverage, late 1H, with the returner advancing from -2 to the 37. Warren had a good stop in KO coverage, last minute of 1H.
OC: Matt Canada oversaw a good opening drive that produced a TD, only for the refs to blow it. But why was the offense RUSHING to get another play off, after the 1st down plunge by Harris that appeared to be a TD ?? This was jackassery at its worst.
And, why the sam fuking he!! was this offense RUSHING to run a meaningless line plunge just before the 2 min warning ?? Da fuq ?? Like the 1st series, there was ZERO need to rush a play there. NONE. As it was, the plunge was a NO GAIN, meaning the offense pissed away a down, with no gain, on the foe’s 26-yard line late in the half, while down by 7.
Pickett seemed to bail out Canada with the stellar TD drive in the 4Q. Let us all hope and pray that Canada has served in his last game with the Stillers. D+
DC: Austin had a comfy assignment, facing a mediocre QB in Watson.
The team was sitting on a comfy 20-7 lead, at HOME, in the 4Q. What does Austin do? He allows a 7 play, 77 yard TD drive to give Clev life and turn a laugher into a potential nailbiter.
Austin seems grossly outmatched, and although he’ll likely be back, he desperately needs rabid improvement next season. C-
HC: Mike Asslin will be all proud of beating the hapless Clowns, at home, and keeping his entirely meaningless “hasn’t had a losing record” intact.
Stoogelin, the fool, refused to CHALLENGE the missed TD on a plunge by Najee, first series. And to add salt to the wound, Asslin and Canda RUSHED the 2d down call, instead of TAKING THEIR FUKING TIME and seeing a replay on the scoreboard or receiving a call from their spotter.
You'll hear a lot of blather about "what a great job Big Mike Tomlin did the last half of the season." What ya won't hear, is how he PISSED AWAY the 1st half of the season. NOBODY gets paid for doing HALF the job.....except for Mike Asslin. I won’t fawn over mediocrity. C
Synopsis: Another season of abject mediocrity under Big Mike Tomlin. With KP and GP, there is hope, but there’s loads of fat tying up huge amounts of salcap dollars, which makes offseason moves tough to occur. We’ll see what Omar Kahn does, although he was the fool who caved in to Sitter Dionte’s silly-assed sit-in at camp, and lavished Dionte with the fatty contract. In return, Dionte, by far the most targeted receiver on the team, scored zero TD catches.
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