Stillers 27, ForeSkins 12 ……. Oct. 28, 2012 …………Game # 7
Stillers-ForeSkins Postgame Analysis and Grades
The Stillers stormed out against the lowly DeadSkins and held on for a 27-12 win. Leading 20-6 at halftime, the Stillers took their foot off the gas pedal a bit, and aided by 12 drops by WASH receivers, the Stillers were able to hang on for the “W”.
Grades:
QB:
Ben - started out on fire, going 7 of 8 on the first series (long TD drive), with the lone incompletion being a Miller drop. He was up to 10 of 11 early in the 2Q. Good scramble from pressure on 3d & G and then good pass to Miller for the TD to make it 17-6, mid 2Q. Finished a very efficient 24 of 33 for 222 and 3 TDs, each to a TE or FB, which has to be a modern Stiller record. Better, he committed no turnovers and was only rarely nipped in the pocket and never sacked. A+
RB:
Dwyer - big run, 2d series, 34 yards. Finished 1H with 61 yards on only 7 rushes. Superb 2nd effort, early 3Q, gaining 10 yards. Good RAC late in the game on a short dumpoff, staying IB and getting the 1st down. Dwy finished with 107 on 17 rushes, good for a healthy 6.3 yards per crack. He topped 100 yards in back to back weeks, becoming the first Stiller RB to do so since Fast Willie Parker in 2008. He got a quad pull during the game and will be questionable going into next week’s tilt.
Rainey - good plunge on 3d &2, 2Q; got 3. Dropped an easy pass at the WAS 3 yard line that would have either scored a TD or at least put the ball at the 1. Very poor. Too slow to hit daylight on the draw play late in the 2Q, which gained only 1 when it should have gained much more. Good run on 3d & 3 direct snap, going wide right and gaining 19 yards.
Baron Batch - nifty catch and RAC up the chalk, 3Q, good for 8 yards on 2d & 7. Had 3 carries late in the game in garbage time.
Redman - did not dress, due to injury.
Socrates Mendenhall: Surprise (sic)….did not dress. Good thing he was rabidly rushed off PUP (sic). A-
FB:
Johnson - good lead block to spring Dwyer on good run, early 3Q. Then snagged short pass on the next play. Several plays later on this drive, he snagged a short TD pass to give the Stillers a 26-9 lead. A-
WR:
Wally - Mister Holdout caught the first 4 balls thrown his way. Made a super attempt to haul in a 1-handed grab near the pylon, mid 2Q. It was ruled INC, but looked awfully close to a reception. Finished with a team-high 7 grabs for 62 yards.
Brown - .good block on WR screen, 1st series. Good RAC on WR screen, 2Q, got about 17, and then on the next play, made a tremendous snare of a high bullet for 18 yards over the middle. Had 4 grabs for 38.
Sanders - clutch grab of high pass and RAC, 1st series, on 3d & 7, got 15. Failed to throw the ball away on a gadget play in the 2nd series, and lost 7 yards. On 3d & 6 at 10:00 4Q, Sanders was wide open on a 6 yard route that would have gained at least 15 yards. Instead, he pussed out and dropped the fuking ball on a perfect pass, forcing a punt instead of enabling the offense to chew up at least 2 more minutes of clock. Stood up to CB DeAngelo Hall late in the game with a short scuffle, which caused Hall to commit 2 dead-ball 15-yard penalties.
Cotch - rarely played and was never targeted on a pass play. A-
TE:
Miller - drop of fairly routine catch, 1st series. Superb TD grab, mid 2Q. Allowed outside pressure in pass pro, late 2Q, which forced Ben to shuffle rather than whipping a deep ball to Brown. Trucked a helpless DB after a short grab, 3Q. Finished with 4 grabs for 46.
Pope - Having not done anything the entire season thus far, Pope had a clutch grab and held on after a big hit to score the 1st TD.
Paulsen played some. The overall run blocking was solid. A
OL:
Starks: got shoved back on the 3d & goal plunge, 1st series. Very soft and a poor effort. Had some problems, but managed to keep Ben’s blind side safe.
Gilbert - did not dress, due to injury.
Adams - actually played acceptably in place of Gil. Seems to be getting more and more acclimated with the steady diet of playing time.
Colon - good seal block on Dwyer’s good 13-yard run, late 2Q. Had some struggles in pass pro but played adequately.
Foster - blocked okay. Flagged for a personal foul late in the 3Q.
Pouncey - returned from injury and started, and played well. Pulled and led on the Rainey 19-yard run.
Overall, the line kept Ben clean and did its job on both the ground and the air. A
DL:
Keisel - solid support on 3d & 1, 1st series. Sniffed out a screen pass at 5:00 4Q, nailing Paulsen for minus 7.
Hood - Little impact once again (1 solo, 1 A, and no meaningful impact), but at least he wasn’t blown off the ball or tossed around.
Hampton - good middle surge on 3d &1, first series. That aside, did little. Fatty was flagged for an offsides in the 2Q, which enraged me.
Heyward - Played some and did some. Seems he ought to be able to bat a pass every now or then with his size, wingspan, and ranginess.
McClendon - played some in relief/platoon.
The line got gashed far too many times by Morris, who averaged 4.5 yards a carry. They did a solid job of maintaining rush lanes against Griffin. B
LB:
Foote - rushed from the ROLB spot and beat RB Evan Royster, and sacked Griffin on a 3rd down early in the 4Q to force a FG try. Led the D with 5 solos.
Timmons - Blew up a toss sweep, early in the 3Q, -2. Flashed in and flushed Griffin in the 3Q, displaying outstanding speed and athleticism. Finished with only 2 solos, which simply isn’t enough for an ILB who rarely, if ever, leaves the field.
Woodley - took a foolish inside step, and then beaten to the corner by RG3 early in the 3Q (14:26), which gained 7 yards. Of course, Big LaMarr got a tiny love tap on RG3 as the QB turned the corner and stumbled OOB, earning The Big He-Man a “solo tackle”. What a fuking joke Early in the 4Q, Big LaMarr was totally untouched and unblocked, and made a solo stop on a line plunge for -1. Totally unblocked, LaMarr whiffed on an easy sack, 8:51 4Q. Finished with a whopping 2 solos and provided ZERO heat on the QB, aside from the couple of plays where he was totally untouched and unblocked. Strained his right hamstring (again!), which often happens to a player that is overly stiff and overly bulked.
Worilds - provided a breather at both OLB spots. Had 1 solo.
Harrison - fooled on end around, 9 yards, first play of game. Came back next 2 plays to stuff wide runs for no gain and then -3. Good read of gadget play (flea flicker) at 7:00 4Q, reading the pitch-back to Giriffin and pressuring the QB so that he couldn’t fire deep.
As with the DL, they were gashed far too much by Morris, but their rush lanes were mostly pretty smart and sensible. Foote, Timmons, Harrison: B. Yancey Woodley: D+
DB:
Ike - good deep coverage on 3rd down gadget bomb to RG3, 4:20 2Q, although true to his nature, Ike nearly whiffed on his bat-away attempt. Wasn’t picked on much at all.
Lewis - PeeBoy mis-played a pass in the EZ, mistiming and whiffing on his bat-away attempt, but the WAS WR simply dropped the TD pass. He chipped in on 3rd down stop of Griffin at the PIT 2-yard line early in the 2Q, and then ran around and pranced as though he’d won the $200M Powerball lottery. Problem was, WAS had no intention of settling for a FG, and on the ensuing 4th and goal, PeeBoy got picked on for a slant in the middle for a TD. Very piss poor. Perhaps had he not exhausted himself with his juvenilish celebrating and prancing, he would have had enough energy and focus to bust up the 4th down pass play. PeeBoy dislodged a curl pass late in the 2Q with a solid hit on the WR as the ball arrived. PeeBoy literally STOPPPED RUNNING on the deep ball to the EZ early in the 4Q, which the WAS receiver should have caught for a rather easy TD. Instead, the ball slithered out and hit the ground.
Bundy - played in relief of the injured Clark. Fortunately, he didn’t muck up anything too badly, although he wasn’t all that effective, either. Moving forward, it might be cheaper and just as effective to use a traffic cone in place of Bundy.
Cortez Allen - played some.
Will Allen - abused on flag to Paulsen, 26 yards, 1Q. Busted up a short pass to Coolley, 2Q. Had an EASY INT in the 3Q, but fought the ball off as though it were a rabid wolf.
Clark - solid run support on toss sweep, 5:00 2Q. Injured (concussion) early in the 3Q and did not return. Replaced by Ryan Bundy.
Pola - did not play once again, due to the calf injury.
On paper, a solid performance by this secondary, but much of it was masked by the 12 drops by WASH. C+
Spec teams:
Suisham booted a 48-yard FG to stake the Stillers to a 10-0 lead. Also hit a chippie FG, and has only missed 1 FG this season. Butler punted quite well.
Hood, who rarely does much of anything, blocked a PAT early in the 2Q. Superb catch of a Butler punt by Curtis Brown late in the 2Q, which downed the ball at the WAS 1 yard line.
Brown returned a punt for a TD late in the 3Q, but a ticky tack illegal block flag on Curtis Brown negated the score. Brown also assaholically pranced backwards on his way to the EZ, and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Act like you’ve been there before, Tonio. Act like a fuking grown-up professional, please.
Worilds did a shit job in punt coverage - displaying skills and athleticism of a 52-year old insurance salesman -- and the Skins returned the punt 27 yards late in the 3Q.
The coverage teams remain spotty and yet another costly penalty was committed by the spec teams. Perhaps Momlin should fire the ST coach. C.
OC:
Facing just about the very worst defense in the NFL, Haley had easy pickins, but struggled at times despite golden FP and total dominance in TOP.
Smart, clever fake bubble screen, 2nd play of game, then deepish lob to Miller, 25 yards. After running about 37 of these screens, it’s high time Haley does something OFF of those WR screen looks.
Hated the TE screen from the WAS 2 yard line, 1st series. On the 2nd series, Dwyer gained 34 yards to the WAS 38-yard line, and the porous Skins defense looked to be on the ropes. Haley then got cutesy and immediately called for an assaholic end-around gadget pass play, which was blown up and throw for a 7yard loss. He followed that up with a bubble screen that gained 2 yards. Just like that, the drive bogged down and the Stillers settled for a FG instead of throwing mounds of dirt into the grave of the Skins.
3d & 7 at the WAS 12-yard line, late 2Q, and what does Haley call? A piss-ant 2-yard slant to Wally, with TIGHT coverage (again, you’re on the opponent’s 12-yard line), which gained all of 3 yards. Bullshit!! A faggot-fuk playcall by a complete homosexual. Once again, the offense settles for a pussyfied FG deep in enemy territory against a shit defense, instead of going for the jugular with an actually playcall that had a genuine chance of gaining 1D yardage.
I wasn’t pleased with the 1H RB usage, with Dwyer -- who was gashing the Skins offense with huge chunks of yardage -- getting only 7 carries (for 61 yards) Rainey got 3 carries in the 1H, about 2 more than he should have. Remember, the field was soupy and sloppy due not only to the rain, but also Pitt’s game yesterday. You want the big, bruising back to carry the ball in these field conditions, not the scatback who will struggle to gain the footing needed to jitter and juke.
3d & 8, late 3Q, and Haley calls for a pussyfied screen pass to Rainey, instead of, you know, EXPLOITING a horrendous WAS secondary that couldn’t cover a toddler inside a phone booth. The play got blown up and the Stillers were forced to punt. Counting that screen, Haley had only 6 screens on the day.
Lastly, I noticed once again today that Ben is not put on the move enough with boots and waggles. He ran 1 of those all day, aside from a late-game run that was designed just to chew some clock. This isn’t Kent Graham at QB, fer chrissakes. C
DC: WASH came into the game missing starting TE Fred Davis and starting WR Pierre Garcon, both due to injury, and Dick had the luxury of playing at home against a greenhorned rookie, yet Dick struggled like a banshee all day long. Don’t let the paper stats fool you.
Washington ran 3 runs on 1st series, including 2d & 1. Dumb. Played right into Dick’s hands. However, on the 2nd series, Coach Shanahan took off the shackles and the pacifier, and Griffin easily and casually marched the Skins 80 yards for a TD, overcoming not 1, but 2 dropped TD passes on the march. WAS dropped an easy TD pass, 2nd series, as wide-open WR Leonard Hankerson had a CAKE-easy catch at the 1 and he simply allowed the ball to clang off his hands. 2 plays later, a routine TD catch was dropped by WR Dez Briscoe in the EZ. As it was, WAS easily marched the length of the field for a 13-play, 80-yard TD march on that drive, which cut the 10-0 lead to 10-6.
3rd series, Paulsen was WIDE OPEN on a 1st down boot, but the long pass was overthrown. No deep help AT ALL, and Harrison was forced to attempt to chase and cover 35 yards down the field. Stupid. Stone stupid. When is LeBeau, the complete dullard that he is, going to realize that Harrison is a total mismatch in pass coverage anywhere past 4 yards down the field ??!
On the 4th series, late in the 2Q, the Skins dropped 3 consecutive passes, including a WIDE open Moss on 3d & 10 that would have easily gained 13.
1st play of 2H, the backup TE, Niles Paul, released across the field was totally uncovered, while RG3 had enough time to make and munch on a sandwich, and the play gained 37 yards. The Skins booted a FG a few plays later, cutting the 20-6 halftime lead to 20-9. Very piss poor, but oh so typical.
2nd series of 2H, Moss was WIDE open and dropped a low but cake-easy pass. On the 2nd play of the 4Q, WAS (Robinson) dropped an EASY 30-yard TD pass in the EZ, which would have made the score 27-15 before the PAT. Morgan soon dropped yet another pass, 4 plays later, on a simple short crosser in which he was WIDE open. These drops bogged down the drive, and instead of a TD, the Skins had to settle for a FG to make it 27-12.
WAS took over at 9:40 4Q, on its own 16-yard line, and sure enough, Dick helps to jump start the drive by allowing an immediate 17-yard reception. 2 plays later, the FB dropped a cake-easy pass for the 9th drop of the day for the Foreskins. 2 plays later, Moss dropped a routine curl on 3d & 4. Sure, he was hit from behind, but this is a routine catch for a starting NFL WR. Hankerson failed to look up for a WIDE open short crosser, and then failed to grab a low but catchable pass on 3d & 17. Undaunted by all the drops, Griffin kept the march going, but the drive ended on a 4th & 17 at the PIT 24 when -- what else -- a WAS receiver (Moss) failed to catch a pass that likely would have netted 1st down yardage. This was the 12th drop of the day by the feckless Foreskins.
As noted, it looks gaudy to “shut down” Griffin and Morris, but Morris averaged a gaudy 4.5yards a crack and would have gotten at least 10 more carries had the Skins not aborted drive after drive after drive with dropped passes, miscommunications, unforced penalties, and so on. 12 drops….? My goodness, that has to be an NFL record, or close to it. Not something to crow about. Nor is the “14-1 versus rookie QBs”. Let’s see what Dick can do next week, on the road, against a top-tier QB with top flight WRs who can actually catch a football. C+
HC:
Momlin got a win in the comfy confines of his home field against a lowly opponent. Gee, I’m so fuking impressed. See me next week, when the Stillers go on the road to face the G-Men. The continued slop on ST coverage teams is unacceptable, as is the lack of discipline shown by Tonio Brown, Curtis Brown, Foster, and others. Isn’t it about time for Momlin to fire his Spec Teams coach…? B
Uniforms: The Stillers wore their 1934 uniforms. Just hideous. Looked like a group of jailbirds who’d broken out of the hoosegow a few hours before game time. As outstanding as the Stillers’ 2007 throwback were, these are simply hideous and should be locked away forever, or burned to ashes. F.
Synopsis: A nice win over a weak-assed opponent. Next week’s road game at the NYG will tell us much, much more about this Stiller team than today’s creampuff scrum.
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