Poebirds, 34, Stillers 17 ...... Dec 21, 2024 …………Game # 15
Stillers – Poebirds Postgame Analysis and Grades
The 10-4 Stillers mosied down to Balt to face the hated 9-5 Poebirds. Balt took a 17-7 lead, but Bos nailed a FG as the half expired to make it a 7 point game. It was 24-17 Balt at the end of 3Q. But a pick-6 put this game out of reach, with the Powerbirds winning, 34-17.
Grades:
QB: Wilson got the start. Took a foolish sack, 2d series, for a 10 yard loss. Overcame that with some good scrambles and passes, and the O scored a TD.
Big Russ got greedy on his scramble/run, 2Q, and ended up coughing up the ball at the Balt 4. An unacceptable turnover. Was 12 of 16 for 110 and 1 TD, 1H.
2 plays after Minkah’s rare INT, Russ threw a rotten pick 6, early 4Q, to make it 31-17. Was 22 of 33for 217. All in all, a miserable day at the office with 2 key, hideous turnovers. F
Fields – did not dress due to injury.
RB:
Harris – 4 rushes, 23 yards, 1H. Good, churning 9 yard run, 3Q. Had 9 rushes for 42. Dropped a dumpoff. B-
Warren – Good running, 2d series (which produced a TD), with two 9 yard runs and some good RAC as well. 4 rushes, 25 yards, 1H. Also had 3 grabs for 38, 1H. Finished with 12 rushes for 48 and 5 grabs. Solid game. B+
Cord Patt – snared (although bobbled) a 12 yard TD lob, 3Q.
FB: rarely used.
WR:
Pickens – again sat out due to injury.
Van Jeff – grabbed 21 yard in route, last play of 1Q. Grabbed a 6 yard curl on 3d & 10, 1st series of 3Q. Had 2 grabs for 27. Ain’t nowhere near enough. C
Austin – stellar grab on a deep lob, getting 2 feet IB for 44 yards, 3Q. Good grab of about 12 yards, a few plays later. That deep ball on 4th & 6, first play of 4Q, showed the reality of PeePee Austin as a WR4, at BEST. PeePee WAITS for the ball, never leaving his feet, which allows the safety to leap in and bust up the pass. On 3d & 11, got tackled easy as pie on a WR screen play that lost 1 yard. B-
Skowronek – grabbed a short seam route, 2nd series, for 17 yards. Then grabbed a 9 yad pass on 3d & 8 and few plays later. Jogged to locker room when the 1Q ended with a hip injury. Sat out most of game.
Mike Williams – grabbed 5 yard pass on a valve play, 2Q. Grabbed a 7 yard out pass, late 2Q. Grabbed 13 yard pass, late 3Q. Had 3 grabs for 24. C+
Scotty Miller - saw some PT, disappointingly enough. Actually had more snaps than Mike Williams, showing the banal idiocy of this coaching staff.
TE:
Pat FryBoy – had 3 grabs for 16 yards, with a long of 7 yards. Good thing Hextall Khan rushed out to extend Big Patrick with the fatty contract extension. C
Darnell – never targeted. Starting to become a forgotten man.
Con Heyward – grabbed a valve dump, 1Q, to move the sticks on 2d & 1.
Pruitt – snared a TD on a 1st & goal at the 1.
OL: Overall, the line (Moore, Seumalu, Frazier, McCormick, Jones) had an okay game. The running game wasn’t ultra superb, but they did have numerous solid gains. The pass pro was mostly good.
Jones and McCormick allowed leakage that forced a sack, 6:30 2Q.
Jones was flagged for false start, 4Q. Overall, the O-line is among the last of units to blame for this loss. B+
DL:
Heyward – made a rare, solid stop of a Henry running play, 6:00 1Q. Got a Dong solo when the TE grabbed a safety valve pass on 3d & long, late 2Q, and was surrounded by 4 defenders. Had 2 solos, 1 A in 1H. Finished the game with TWO solos and 4 As while Balt rushed for 220 yards. Pure garbage. D-
Ogunjobi – sat out due to injury.
Adams – did a little bit.
Lowdermilk - did little.
Benton – had a couple plays.
Lowry – on the 2nd drive, had both mitts on Henry near the LoS and weakly got shrugged off for a 9 yard run.
LB:
Queen – got abused by Andrews, 3Q, for a 15 yard pass on 1st down. Had 4 solos, 4 As in an effort that wasn’t nowhere near good enough. C
Landon Rob – slashed in on 3d & 1, 3Q, and dropped Henry short of the sticks. That was his lone solo of the game. Can’t beat Derrick Henry when a starting ILB makes ONE solo all game long. C-
Mark Robinson – saw a little PT as the D tried a 3-ILB scheme in the 1Q.
Watt – tripped up Henry for a solo, 10:50 2Q. Whiffed on Henry on a throwback screen, 3:00 3Q, for a big gainer. Had ONE solo all game long, and did very, very little, albeit he was nursing an injured ankle, and it showed.
Highsmith – got a nip of the ball, first series, for a strip-sack Lamar fumble that Balt recovered. (Did a WLR (Wide Loop Rush) and Lamar foolishly camped out too high on his pass drop.)
In the 2Q, played pussy paw-paw on SOLO blocking, and Hill cruised right by for a 25 yard gainer. Had 1 solo, 1 A in 1H.
Got duped and fooled by LaMar on a QB keeper, 3Q, good for 5 yards. Clumsily took himself OUT of the off-tackle play, 4Q, which allowed Henry to dash up an ACRE of open room for a huge gainer of 44 yards.
Went offsides like a jackass on 3d & 7, late 4Q. Finished the game with TWO solos and 2 As. Everyone will go rah-rah about his “strip sack”, and then conveniently forget he did jak fuq the entire remaining 58 minutes of the game, to go along with allowing runs of 24 and 44 yards. D-
Herbig – rarely played. Why use Herbig when Watt is nursing a sore ankle and Fraudsmith is doing jak fuq ?
Pay Wilson – got shrugged off by Henry near the end of a 12 yard run, late 2Q.
Pres Smith – played a little, and did nothing.
DB
Joey Porter Jr. - got tooled by Flowers for nice gain, 1st drive. Got steamrolled by Henry at the end of a 9 yard run, 1Q, and limped off the field with a calf. Came back, but then left the game for good.
Donte Jackson – sat out due to injury.
Kazee – got abused for TD on 3d & 8, mid 2Q.
DeShon Elliot – sat out again due to injury. Is sorely missed.
Minkah - got caught in no-man’s land on the early TD to Likely. Very poor. Flagged for a silly, needly facemask of Flowers while Flowers was surrounded by THREE defenders near the end of his RAC. Helped bust up a pass to Flowers, 2Q, as Flowers was bobbling the ball as it arrived. Got juked by Henry after a short flare, 3Q, allowing 3 extra yards. Actually made a good play, dropping Lamar on a keeper for 2 yards, 3Q. A miracle …Stinkah got an INT, 4Q. First INT in nearly 2 years ! B-
Bishop – got abused by Likely for an 18 yard gain, 2Q. Got abused deep on 3d & 5, 4Q, and then failed to make the ankle-grab tackle that allowed another 4 yards. C-
Trice – came in when Schmoey Porter got injured. Flagged for hands to the face, 2Q. Bit on a short route, on the TD pass to Bateman, 2Q. Got picked on later in the 2Q with softee cushions that Lamar took advantage of. C-
Pierre – saw some PT, did nothing.
Spec teams:
Waitman – punted solidly. A
Boswell – nailed 51-yard FG, last play of 1H. Foolishly booted a 3Q KO OOB, giving Balt the ball at the 40. (Sure enough, Balt marched 60 yards for a crushing TD. I don’t tolerate unforced errors of this nature. B-
OC: King Arthur Smith had his share of struggles today.
1st drive – illegal shift on 3d & 2, which was declined by Balt.
3d & 11, 9:50 4Q and down by 14, King Arthur calls a WR screen to PeePee Austin that loses a yard and forces a punt. WTF exactly was that?? Run from the Balt 49, this HAD to be considered 4-down territory, and you don’t call some jack-muled WR screen that could either be inc or stopped for a loss/no gain. Arthur gets a small break here due to Pickens sitting out and having to work with the worst WR corps in pro football. C-
DC: Austin struggled like a beehotch right from the get-go. First 2 plays by Balt: plunges for 6 and 14 yards. 2nd drive – runs by Henry gained 11, 13, and 9.
Stillers tie the game at 17, 3Q, but then this vaunted, over-hyped defense got clapped on a 60-yard TD march.
Then, down 14, the Stillers punted to the Balt 8 at 9:19 4Q. Sure as shoit, this vaunted defense got gashed for a longggg, clock chewing drive (over 6 minutes long) that set up a chipshot 23 yard FG to seal the loss.
Highest paid defense in the league. Twice in 6 days, this vaunted crew has been bullied, clapped, and gashed. A paper tiger that pads lots of stats against garbage offenses, and nothing more. D-
HC: Mike Asslin talks all sorts of bravdo, but when things get tough, he almost always turns cowardly. With 9 minutes left in the game and trailing by 14, Big Mike orders a punt. Sure enough, Balt marched from their own 8, alllll the way to the PIT 6, before booting a FG.
Numerous other warts existed. Both sides of the ball had loads of pre-snap confusion. The O wasted a TO in the 2Q due to confusion and time-wasting. Big Mark Andrews was left WIDE open for an easy TD due to massive confusion. The 6 Ps always hold true – proper prior preparation prevents poor performance. For Mike Stoogelin, his preparation reeks azz. D-
Synopsis: Another grisly loss, getting whipped by the Poebirds just 6 days after getting stomped by the Eagles. There isn’t much time to sulk, with the Chefs coming to Pgh to play on Wednesday.
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