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Stillers-Browns Postgame Analysis and Grades

November 03, 2002 by Still Mill

Stillers 28, Browns 7 ���

Stillers 23, Browns 20���. Nov. 3 2002 ����Game #8

Stillers-Browns Postgame Analysis and Grades

Games in Cleveland have long been an adventure, and this one was no different.The Stillers dominated every statistic possible, yet had to hang on for dear life for a 23-20 win.

Big Plays:

1. Northcutt takes Josh's first punt and dashes untouched for an 87-yard TD return.

2.Couch hits Morgan for a 63-yard post, setting up��

3.On a 4th & goal at the 1, Couch hits Heiden for a TD and a 14-3 lead.

4.Maddox hits Ward with a laser for a 21-yard TD pass, cutting the Clev. lead to 14-3.

5.Late in the 2Q, Maddox aims a weak pass that is INT'd at around the Clev. 1.

6.INT by Brent on 1st series of the 3Q, off a tip by KenBell in sound coverage�.

7.�But Peterson misses 41-yard FG.

8.D.W. INTs Couch early in the 4Q, setting up Peterson's FG.

9.Stillers call gutless shorty curl on late 4th & 9, and El is stopped short of the sticks.

10.Morgan hauls in 31-yard TD pass late in 4Q.��

Grades:

QB: Maddox was spotty all day.He did fire the laser TD pass to Ward, plus a nice deep crosser to Plex for 31 yards.But on the whole, Maddox spent most of the day aiming the ball, rather than throwing it.This ultimately led to a mediocre 23 of 42 and the horrific INT late in the 1st half with the Stillers knocking on the door for another score.Maddox had Plex for an easy six on a deep flag, but overthrew him badly.Tommy also dropped a SG snap, and was stripped (but recovered) on one sack.Adding to that, Maddox accomplished the near-impossible feat of running from the pocket slower than Neil O'Donnell.C+.

RB:The Tubby Tailback and Fu sat this one out, so Amoz got the bulk of the work.AZ had a career high of 111 yards on 29 carries, including a 27-yard scamper.He also chipped in 5 grabs for 62 yards, including a 25 yard gain.On a down note, Amoz clumsily stumbled and tripped -- while untouched -- after receiving the trick-play pass in the 1Q.Haynes also some light duty as RB.�� A-.

FB: Kreider led many a run with some hard-nosed blocking.In a somewhat surprising development, Kreider was a key cog in the passing game, gaining two 1st downs on grabs of 15 and 8.Haynes got some work at FB and RB.He drew my rage when he dropped a screen pass on 3d & 13 early in the 2Q.A.

WR:Ward led the way with 9 grabs and the clutch TD.Along with the TD (and a dropped pass earl y in the 2Q and 2 penalties in the 3Q), Ward may have been at his best when he grabbed a short pass on 3 & 7 late in the 3Q, and then weaved and slashed his way for the first down.Plex, despite abusing whomever was assigned to cover, was ignored virtually the entire game.He did have 4 grabs, but could have had 14 if the Stillers had decided to throw to him.In fact, despite numerous chances inside the "official" red zone, as well as just outside the red zone, Burress was thrown to just once, which resulted in a completion to the one-yard line that set up the short TD to Breuner. Matter of fact, in 3 career games in this particular stadium, Burress seen a grand total of zero passes thrown to him in the EZ.El completed 2 passes and caught 3.Mathis had 1 grab for 13 yards and a clutch first down.A-.

TE:The so-called God of Blocking was flagged for a hold on the trick-play pass by Ward that was completed to Burress for 32 yards.Breuner had the 1-yard TD grab.John Aldred, who has spent more time in the hot tub than Nolan Harrison, had a chance to contribute, but instead fought off a well thrown Maddox pass as though he were fighting off a rabid rattlesnake, resulting in a horrible drop.Very piss-poor.B.

OL: The O-line was whipped and outplayed by the Clev. DL for a good bit of this game.Sure, the line opened the occasional hole for AZ to dash through for nice yardage, but far too often, Fat O. Roye, Courtney Brown, and others spent most of the day in the Stiller backfield.Marvel Smith received numerous whippings, allowing loads of pressure on his QB.He also enraged me in the 4Q on a 2d & 13, when, on a designed 0-step hitch to Ward, Smith failed to ENGAGE C. Brown and instead backpedaled as ferociously as Jason Gildon facing a running play, thus allowing C. Brown to get totally unfettered directly in the lane of Maddox's throw, and then stick a paw up and bat the ball away.A vet OT has absolutely got to engage and tussle with the DE on this kind of play, not backpedal like a complete jackass.All in all, a rather disappointing effort from this gang, given the opponent.C.

DL:The D-line was pretty stout and active all day.They shut down the running room for what is admittedly a sub-par Clev. rushing attack.They also provided good heat on the QB.Smith was as tough as nails and was a man among boys all day.Bailey, who has stepped up his play after a somewhat slow start, was active as well.Hampton did a superb job of clogging the middle during the Clev. goal line plunges that got nowhere.A.

LB:Porter, Bell, Farrior, and Haggans were active throughout the game.Haggans demonized Couch, stripping him late in the game and also getting several plays with good heat & harassment.Watch the long completion to Morgan in the 2Q, in which Bell simply devastates the living piss out of the Clev. LG.Bell also caused an INT by breaking up a pass with good coverage and good reaction on the ball.Farrior did a nice job to jam up the run on the unsuccessful goal-line plunge attempts in the 2Q, and was pretty active and tough.Sitting fallow nearly the entire game was none other than "defensive captain" Jason Gildon, who did little more than take up space and steal oxygen.The Big 4:A.Gildon: C.��

DB:The secondary had an overall decent game, but gave up some big plays.DeWayne had a long afternoon.He was beaten on the long 63-yard post, although he got absolutely no help at all from either safety.He was also beaten on the late TD to Morgan, in which he had good coverage, but, as is his penchant, failed to "pick up" the ball and react accordingly.DW did have a decent INT.Brent had a Dong INT off a nice break-up by KenBell.Townsend had a good stop of Davis on an early 3 & 10, to hold Davis to just 9, thus forcing the punt.Hank had a weak-assed tackle attempt on a dumpoff to White in the 3Q.Chad was flagged for a bizarre, poorly thrown PI flag in the EZ.B.

Spec teams:Once again, the Stiller special teams fall flat on their collective ass.On the game's first punt, Northcutt runs untouched 87 yards for the TD, while 8 (eight) Stillers are leveled on this play.Absolutely sickening.But there was more.The KO coverage was soft all day.Poteat failed to haul in the late punt, thus allowing the ball to roll into the EZ.Adding insult to injury, John Feel-all-a dove alongside Poteat for no good reason, other than to hug and snuggle with the prone Poteat, and the ball was never "downed".Peterson badly shanked a 41-yard FG, but did make 3 of 4 FGs.Still, the lack of confidence in Peterson by a coach that loves nothing more than to kick FGs speaks volumes about the confidence this team has in Pete.Mayes provided on a nice spark on the final KO return.D+.

OC:Mularkey, although perhaps handcuffed by Cowher, was overly dull and conservative aside from the gadget plays.I'll go back and count up the pure numbers, but the ratio of pass to run on 1st down was abominable.Here's a defense that has been DECIMATED by injury in the secondary, and Mr. Vanilla, Mike Mularkey, is playing right into Cleveland's hands by calling run after run after run after run on 1st down. (Admittedly, a lot of this may have been ordered by Cowher.)Ignoring and literally freezing out Plex in the red zone was stone stupid and inexcusable.And that little piss-ant 4-yard curl to El on the late 4th & 9 was Tampax playcalling at its worst.On a positive note, the pitch to El and the follow-on shovel pass to AZ was a very nice wrinkle that built upon the pitch play that opponents have seen for ages, and a few of the other gadget plays were good as well.C.

DC:Lewis actually ignored the softee vanilla that he has a rampant fetish for.He hounded and harassed Couch nearly the entire game, and the result was, just as I'd predicted on the message board, a case where Couch was thoroughly unable to cope.A-.

HC:Judging from the way this team slopped and slathered in the 1Q, especially in the trenches, it's rather apparent that Cowher allowed this team to get soft and complacent after the recent whippings over Balt. and Indy.Why the team wasted a TO on the late 4th down at the Clev. 45 -- when a 5-yard penalty would actually help punter Josh Miller -- is typical of the dimbulb management by the NFL's most intellectually-challenged coach.To his credit, the team responded after a sluggish start with some decent football, but all in all, the slop and carelessness allowed a badly out manned Clev. team to stay in the hunt.B.

Synopsis: Against a hated, divisional foe like Cleveland, you relish any win that you can get your hands on, no matter how ugly or dysfunctional it may have been.So it is with this particular game.Having said that, I wasn't overly pleased with the slop.The O-line did too much swimming and flailing.The spec teams allowed yet another long TD.At least 4 easy passes were dropped.Maddox, for no apparent reason, spent most of the game aiming the ball, rather than zinging it.The 5-3 Falcons await, and although the Falcs are hardly worldbeaters, I have vast concerns about a letdown against an opponent that strikes no fear or hatred from the Black n' Gold.But, while the Stillers are hopefully cracking heads and gearing up for the Falcs, we Stiller fans can sit back and relish the TWO WINS over the Brownies this season!!Cleveland still sucks, and Pittsburgh stands heads and shoulders above the rest of the AFC North.���

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