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Week 14 in Review

December 09, 2002 by Steel Phantom

Week 1

Week 14 in Review:

 

Long-term Stiller.com fans may remember the stat breakout shown below as similar to those begun last season.� The first (3) categories are variants of the traditional �control the tempo� paradigm.� Takeaways can be an equalizer.� YPA is (yards per passing attempt); TOP is (time of possession).�

 

Category

Previous

This week

Year to date

Won this stat but lost the game

Total yards rushing

124-52-3

9-5-1

133-57-4

Pittsburgh

Washington

Denver

Seattle

Minnesota

TOP

127-51-1

11-4

138-55-1

Pittsburgh

Buffalo

Denver

Cincinnati

100 yard rushers

68-26

4-3

72-29

Jacksonville

Denver

Seattle

Minnesota

>/= +2 Takeaways

83-6

9-2

92-8

Jacksonville

Cincinnati

YPA

136-38-5

11-3-1

147-41-6

Pittsburgh

Baltimore

Detroit

 

Futility Index:

 

As usual, takeaways were the great leveler:

 

* Pittsburgh won every stat except takeaways; they were (-4) in that department.

 

* Buffalo and Washington were (-5) in takeaways.

 

* Baltimore was (-3).

 

* Seattle was (-2).

 

For teams that won the takeaway battle but lost the war:

 

�        Jacksonville lost every other stat including YPA where they were a ridiculous 4.35.� Still, the Coughlin-ites (+2) in takeaways kept them in the game until Couch�s Hail Mary to Morgan put the Jags down.

 

�        Cincinnati was (+2) too but gave up an astonishing (3) TD on returns; throw in a safety against and there is your margin in a (21) point game.

 

The anomalous game was Denver vs. Jets; the Broncos won or tied every category but still lost.� So it goes�

 

�Steelers Index:

 

  1. Following their Game 9 tie (which effectively eliminated all tiebreakers with, say, the Browns) the Steeler O-side leapt from the middle of the pack in YPG into the Top 10.� There they stayed and now, after rolling up and down the field against the Texans, the B&G offense is up to #3.� At 380.2 YPG, they are just 0.9 yards per game behind the mighty Chiefs.

 

  1. That offensive explosion against the Falcons was small consolation; just so, though the D-side moved to #8 after stuffing the Texans, the game result was certainly a step backward.

 

  1. The Texans came into the game at #32 on offense, averaging just less than 240 YPG.� They left at #32, averaging about 223.� How bad is that? Well, the Texans are now 52 YPG behind #31, Detroit.�

 

  1. The Panthers� offense, after getting about 400 yards against the Bengals, is at #30 overall.� The Ravens are #29, we can expect that Big Nasty Defense to keep moving up over the next few weeks.� Hopefully though, the Steeler brain trust won�t get fooled again.

 

  1. The Steelers are (1) of (4) teams with units on both sides of the ball that are ranked in the top 10.� The others are Philadelphia, Denver and St. Louis.� Of those four, only the Eagles have a playoff spot assured.

 

  1. Of the four teams listed above, the Eagles have the most takeaways and the least turnovers.� Denver, which has an outside chance at a playoff berth, has the least takeaways of the four but does take care of the ball fairly well.� The Rams, a team with talent but no shot now, leads this group in the (dubious) category of giveaways.� The Steelers have given it away 10 times more than the Eagles but have 9 less takeaways.

 

  1. Though #3 and #8 with respect to YPG, the Steelers are just 11th in scoring average and 20th in scoring defense.� RZ inefficiency accounts for the first; (5) return for TD against for the 2nd.

 

  1. In the season�s second half, the Steelers have thrown (7) INT, (6) by Maddox.� In the same term, the D-side has (0) picks.

 

  1. Having held the Jags to 3/11 on 3rd down and the Texans to 1/12, the Steelers have risen from 31st to 28th in 3rd down % against.� They dug themselves a deep hole early in this area and have yet to climb clear.

 

  1. James Farrior had (3) stuffs Sunday and now is tied with A. Smith with (10) TFL.� Last year, Bell led the way with (21) while Porter had (17) with Gildon and Holmes at (16.5) each.� The decline in TFL this year among the LB corps is the single leading stat indicating the demise of the 3-4.

 

  1. Cleveland rookie RB William Green, a laughingstock in the first half, has averaged better than 100 YPG in (4) starts.� He has spilt Amoz and Bettis now in the AFC rush leaders list; it is highly possible that Cleveland has a franchise RB and the Steelers do not.

 

Next Opponent, fast facts and axes ground:

 

The Panthers are 5-8 overall but 3-0 against the pitiful AFC North.

 

The Steelers are 7-5-1 overall, 5-0 in division but 2-5-1 outside the AFC North.

 

On the plus side, the Panthers have lost twice to Atlanta; the combined score is 71-0.

 

The Panthers beat the Bengals 52-31 last week; their offense accounted for 401 yards, (4) TD and (1) FG.

 

The Steeler offense got (6) points last week on 422 yards total offense.

 

Against the Bengals, Panther WR Steve Smith had 144 yards receiving on (5) catches including a 31-yard TD.� Additionally, Smith brought back (2) punts for TD; those returns covered a total of (148) yards.

 

Against the Bengals, Panther QB Rodney Peete was 21/29 for 319 and (3) TD.� This impressive showing brought his season QB rating to a mediocre 79.0.� However, Peete has been the starter at QB in all (5) Panther wins.

 

Former Steeler DE Brentson Buckner starts at DT for Carolina; Buckner was a 3-year starter here but ran afoul of Coach Cowher and was let go just prior to the �97 season.� That year, the Steelers went with Henry, Harrison, Roye and Rod Manual at DE; of those men, only Roye is still in the league.� For a period in �95, when Steed was suspended, Buckner filled in effectively at NT.� The Steelers had both Steed and Gibson at the spot in �97 but shortly lost the latter to FA and the former to attrition; subsequently, they drafted such luminaries as Jeremy no-Staat, Angel Rubio and Antonio Dingle to play the position, before striking gold with Hampton in �01.

 

My DB sleeper last winter was Dante Wesley, younger brother of the Chiefs� SS Greg.� Wesley was taken #100 overall last spring, at the top of the 4th just behind Chris Hope.� Dante was hurt in preseason and held out for the first (4) games this year.� Subsequently, he was inactive in games 8-10; however, in the (7) games he has played, generally in the Panther nickel, Wesley has (14) T, (1) FF and (6) PD.� Wesley is 6�-1�, 215#; he ran a sub 4.5 last winter.� Those are all the attributes one might wish in a Steeler 3-4 CB; better yet, they fit the big-hitting, ballhawk paradigm of FS as 3rd CB required by any scheme.� We should do so well next spring.��

 

Judgment:

 

Here is what I wrote last week before the Texans game; I see no reason to change:

 

�Expect the Steeler defense to inflate their season sack and stuff numbers�

 

Speaking of winter, the Steelers have to discover whether T-Max can play in that season.� Maddox made his bones in-doors in the Arena League and, later, with LA in McMahon�s summer league.� I like Tommy, I called for Tommy to replace Kordell pre-Saints but he has yet to show the kind of tight-spiral rifle that, traditionally, has worked in bad weather.� Tommy throws to spots, he throws on time (usually), he uses all his weapons but, usually, he throws balls with some flutter.� We�ll see whether that translates in December.� Certainly, Houston�s secondary and Carolina�s D-line will give him a test up here; the Buccaneer unit will too but, of course, weather will not be a factor then as winter does not exist in the Sunshine State.������

 

 

 

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