Stillers 34, Browns 23 ���. Oct. 10, 2004 ����Game #5
Stillers-Browns Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers hit the Brownies early and often, and essentially coasted to a fairly
easy 11-point win over the hated Brownosers.�
This game was a 34-13 laugher at one point, but Billy Ball allowed the final
score to be much closer.
Grades:
QB:�
Words cannot adequately sum up the quality work and effort by Ben Roth
in today's win.� The man simply played a
sterling game in all aspects of quarterbacking, to include passing the ball;
running when forced from the pocket; throwing on the run; and
managing the offense.� I'm not one to gush
and fawn over a Stiller player, but I ain't kidding -- this guy had a
superlative game today.� Ignore the INT
on the stat sheet -- it was a perfectly thrown pass to Randle El that was
simply batted into the air by El and then picked off by a Clev defender.� Roth was on target, and more importantly,
his pocket presence and his ability to look downfield while being flushed from
the pocket shows maturity well beyond his years.� Witness the 48-yard strike to Burress in the 1Q, when Ben showed
the awareness and athleticism to avoid a rusher, and then had the presence to
spot Plex far downfield for the big play.�
Ditto on the 37-yard TD pass to Burress.� But there are other aspects of Roth's game today that caused me
to marvel.� He executed a nice play-fake
-- not the bullshit, bare hand 18 inches from the RB's belly like you typically
see in Pittsburgh -- and then deftly placed nice touch on a 15-yard pass to
Ward on the last play of the 1Q.� He
astutely scrambled, then cut, and then dove into the EZ for the big 1Q TD.� Then there was the screen play in the 3Q, in
which Clev defenders got in too fast, so Roth couldn't have tossed the
traditional screen pass.� What did he
do?� While avoiding a rusher, he adroitly
flicked the ball, shovel style, to Haynes, who unfortunately slipped on the
shitty Heinz turf.� Nonetheless, it was
yet another play in which Roth, cool under fire, improvised in a calm yet
effective manner.� It's not my intention
to compare this guy in any way to Terry Bradshaw, but quite frankly, the
Stillers have not gotten the total quarterbacking package of this degree since,
oh, about 1981.� I really don't want to
overly praise such a young QB, but his play today was absolutely magnificent.� A+.�
RB:�
Staley overcame the injured toe and started, and had yet another
sterling effort.� He gashed the supposedly
vaunted Clev run defense with 117 yards on 21 carries, which translates into a
gaudy 5.6 yards per crack.� Duce's
25-yard TD was a beauty -- he read the play, then hit the hole, busted a
tackle, and then dashed for a TD.� Kind
of reminiscent of Jerome Bettis�about 5 years ago.� The Tubby Tailback got his largest workload
of the season, toting the ball almost exclusively in the 2H.� He finished with 24 yards on 14 carries,
which is a typical Bettis day of 2.4 yards per crack.� Typical of The Doughboy were the 4th and inches, and 3d & 1, attempts
by Bettis that were easily stuffed by the Browns.� Imagine, all the bullshit blather you've heard all spring and
summer about how the almighty Lord of short yardage, Fatboy Bettis, would come
into the game in the 2H and "wear down the defense".� What a farce!� The only thing Bettis wears down nowadays is the vendor at the
local nacho stand.� It's almost sad and
pathetic to see Bettis lumber and stumble about any time there isn't a 4-foot
wide hole for him to plunge through.� Haynes
drew my rage when he slipped on a 3d down screen pass, which resulted in a
1-yard loss.� He was allowed to tote the
ball a meager 2 times, because, hey, ya gotta pad The Lardback's statistics to
the maximum extent possible.� A.�
FB: Kreider was again very solid in his
blocking chores.� He had a superb lead block
that helped spring Staley on the 25-yard TD run.� Am still perplexed as to how and why, after he'd proven last year
that he's a very valuable safety valve, he's still been totally ignored in this
offense.� A.�
WR:�
Plex Burress broke out of a quiet season with a big game, hauling in 6
passes for 136 yards and a TD.� He made
a great fingertip grab on the deep pass in the 2nd series, good for 48
yards.� He toyed with the Brownies on a
few easy underneath catches, in which he was able to drive the defender waaaay
off, and then cut the route off for some easy pitch n' catch.� He did draw my ire on the deep pass in the
2Q, in which I felt he did a very, very poor job of adjusting to the flight of
the ball and then consequently failed to make a reasonable jump-up at the
ball.� 2 plays later, though, he hauled
in the easy TD pass from Roth.� Hines
Ward had 6 grabs for 61 yards, including a beautiful 1-handed grab for 15
yards.� He also had a gem of a catch in
the 2Q, when he managed to haul in a pass despite Griffith's hand being inside
Hines' arms and on the ball.� Randle El
became everyone's goat early in the game, when he foolishly allowed a perfect
curl pass to clang off his hands and into the hands of DB Chris Crocker, who
raced 20 yards for a tying TD.� El redeemed
himself later, when he made a superb catch on a slightly off-target 3d & 3 pass,
although this 14-yard gainer was wiped out by the Ross personal foul.� He finished with 2 grabs for 29 yards, which
included some nice RAC work.� Lee Mays managed
to catch 1 pass for 6 yards, and with his 2nd catch of the season thereby
apparently cementing himself as the vaunted #4 WR in this offense.� A-.�
TE:�
No passes were even attempted to any of the lumbering TEs on the
roster.� The blocking was pretty solid.� B+.�
OL: The O-line had a very strong
game.� Faneca got hits on 2 defenders on
the Staley 25-yard TD run.� Vincent had
a good block on the 3rd & 1 run in the 1Q, which netted 4. Roth was given
time and room to survey the field.� Sure,
he was flushed from the pocket, but that rarely ever, if ever, happened from a
base defense; rather, the pressure Roth faced came from heavy blitzes.� Cleveland had shut down such noted RBs as
Jamaal Lewis and Portis, but today the Stillers averaged a comfy 4.0 YPC, which
was simply outstanding.� Oliver Ross
committed the only penalties from this group, scoring 2 false starts and a
personal foul for a punch (lucky he wasn't ejected).� Still, Ross was quietly effective, and despite the 3 penalties, I
can't really ridicule him, because he fended off Ekuban and Lang with aplomb and
opened up some running holes.� The
entire line played as solid a game as you can ask for.� A+.�
DL:�
The stat sheet might lead one to believe the D-line had a shabby day,
what with Clev getting 4.9 YPC on the ground.�
The sheet doesn't tell the story.�
This line bottled up Suggs quite nicely; most of the Clev rushing yards
came when Garcia was running for his life, which was basically the entire
game.� Aaron Smith and Kimo disrupted
the Clev offense all day.� Kimo had a
nice stop of Suggs in the 2Q, and then made a diving, shoestring nab of a
scrambling Garcia later in the quarter.�
Hampton impressed me on an attempted screen early in the 3Q, when he
sniffed the screen and peeled back, causing Garcia to abandon the play and
reverse field.� Hampton didn't stop
there; rather, he pursued Garcia in a fine display of hustle and movement for a
man his size.� Kirschke chipped in as
well.� A.
LB:�
Again, the stat sheet doesn't come even remotely close to telling the
story of how well this LB corps played today.�
On paper, this gang had zero sacks, which would lead the uninitiated to
believe that the LB's created no pressure on Garcia whatsoever.� Nothing could be further from the truth, as
Farrior, Haggans, Porter and Foote spent most of the afternoon harassing,
disrupting, and occasionally getting hits on Jeff Garcia.� This game was the classic example of just
how grossly overrated, and under important, the sack statistic truly is.� Farrior and Haggans forced Garcia into a TA
(throw away) in the 1st series, and the tone was set.� Farrior induced another TA the following play, on 3d &
8.� Porter slashed inside of Ross Verba
late in the 3Q and caused a hasty TA.� Porter,
in fact, gave Verba fits throughout the day.�
Haggans had a nice slash and stuff of Suggs for a 1-yard loss late in
the 1Q, and also recovered the fumble that sealed the win late in the 4Q.� Probably the only down note was the 35-yard
completion to Shea in the 1Q, in which Farrior lagged far behind in coverage on
the lumbering TE.� In all, a very
acceptable showing by the LB corps.� A.�
DB:�
This gang's job was made considerably easier, what with Garcia running
for his life most of the day.� It's
rather easy to play DB when a QB is running for his life, rather than perusing
the field and setting his feet and playing pitch n' catch.� Still, the secondary faced a very dangerous
trio of WRs and acquitted themselves well.�
Townsend had a strong game.� He
blitzed in the 2Q and leapt and deflected the pass on a key 3d & 2 pass
play.� It seemed like any time the
Browns threw at DeShea, he was right there with good, sound coverage.� He did miss a sack on the 3rd down TD pass
to Davis late in the game, although his angle was such that it wasn't a clean,
direct angle.� Troy Pola was pretty
active, playing an assortment of alignments throughout the game, to include
serving as an extra LB at times, to serving as a quasi MLB like he did on last
week's big INT, as well as the deeper SS chores.� He had a near 1-handed INT late in the 3Q on a play in which he
broke sharply & smartly for the ball, a play that simply wouldn't have ever
been made by any of the slowpoke safeties employed by this team the past 4+
seasons.� He was flagged for a late hit
on a Garcia scramble, but he actually tried to brace himself, and he himself
hit the turf before he bounced into Garcia.�
Colclough had a nice play covering Morgan on a bomb in the 4Q, in which
he kept up stride for stride with Morgan and ensured the incompletion.� Chris Hope was pretty active, though he
narrowly avoided a personal foul flag on a Garcia hit near the s-line, and then
was whistled for a 15-yard penalty for a blow to the face on a 3d & 10
incomplete pass.� Cowhard, like the
complete jackass that he is, got all over Hope in a public manner, but frankly,
when you are playing a bitter divisional rival, you, as a defense, have got to
send the message that you're going to hunt bear and knock the tar out of your opponent
on every snap.� Sadly enough, this is
the precise element that this softee defense had been missing the past 5
seasons, so I'm not one to quell Hope's intensity and willingness to punish.� The down note was once again Charred Scott,
who simply got used and abused on the 50-yard bomb to Davis that would have
been a TD had Davis' toe not gone barely OOB en route to the EZ.� Scott is very much the glaring weak spot in
the secondary and it only stand to reason that opponents with half a brain are
going to start attacking this Achilles heel more and more often.� A-.
Spec
teams:� The ST play was decent.� Colclough gave the team a huge boost on the
opening KO when he returned it 48 yards.�
Haynes had 2 good stops in KO coverage, and Stuvaints had a nice stop in
punt coverage in the 1Q.� Reed was 2-2
on FGs, including a picture-perfect 47-yard FG in the 2Q.� His KOs were on and off -- they traveled to
the 15, 6, 1, 7, 14, and 21.� Obviously,
the 14, 15, and 21 are grossly unacceptable.�
Gardocki punted ok, although he drew my rage when he launched a punt
into the EZ late in the 4Q.� El was held
in check on both KO and punt returns.� Kreider
was flagged for a hold on a PR.� �B+.�
OC: �When you put up 34 points, it's a pretty good benchmark of a job
well done.� Whisenhunt did a solid job
of mixing Staley's runs with passes by Roth.�
I really liked the idea of setting up very quickly for a QB sneak on 4th
and inches just after Roth's 9-3/4 yard scramble in the 4Q.� This caught the Browns flatfooted, and they
had to waste a TO.� On the other hand,
the bizarre use of the clock and of the timeouts on the FG drive late in the 2Q
left me a bit perplexed, but hardly surprised.�
The major sour note was the incredibly asinine call on 3rd & 1 in the
4Q, in which WiseHunt ordered a toss sweep to Fatboy Bettis that was easily
engulfed, resulting in a 2-yard loss.� I
thought we'd all seen the last of the dumbassed toss sweeps to the 285-pound
fatback in the hideous AFC championship loss to New England in Jan. 2002, but
WiseHunt apparently felt the Stillers just had to resurrect that wretched,
dogshit playcall from the tomb that it should have been sealed in forever.� A-.
DC:�
LeBeau deserves credit for what was probably the best defensive
performance of the season thus far, relative to the opponent's capability.� He had Garcia and the Clown offensive line
puzzled and hesitant throughout the game.�
After getting chewed up pretty good by Rudi Johnson last week, LeBeau
had his defense more than prepared to shut down Suggs.� There will be opponents with much better
O-lines that he'll have to contend with, but LeBeau earned his keep today.� A.
HC:� Billy Cowher
got the kind of game that he all too much enjoys -- a large, comfy lead, in
which he can play turtle and sit back and let his punter loose on the
football.� As he is always wont to do, Cowher
let his foot off the opponents throat, and allowed him to come roaring back
into the game.� To his credit, Cowhard
seemed to have his troops fired up, and they didn't seem too overconfident or
lazy.� The downside was the absurd
amount of PT given to The Tubby Tailback in the 2H.� Sure, Staley has a nagging toe, but Verron Haynes is perfectly
healthy, and obviously Haynes has a far brighter future in the NFL that the
285-pound tub o' lard.� The one image
that stands out from this game is the totally homoerotic TV shot of Bilbo
Cowher signaling for a first down.�
Nothing could be more embarrassingly homosexual than that shot -- with
the incredibly gay grin on his face --- and we all can only hope that CBS permanently
shreds the tape of this game for eternity.�
�B-
Synopsis:�
Any time ya beat up on the hapless Clowns is a great day for Stiller
fans, and this win was one of the best in recent memories over the Brownies.� Everything must be kept in perspective,
however.� The soft, cheesy part of the
schedule is now over. �The Stillers now
embark on the toughest part of the schedule, which includes a road game in
Dallas; then home games against NE and Philly, and then consecutive road games
at division rivals Clev and Cinci.� This
will be a tough, grueling 5-game stretch that will make these first 5 games
seem as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.�
We'll have a better idea then of just how good this Stiller team is, but
right now we're 4-1 and flying high behind the ace of the skies, Ben
Roethlisberger.��