Dolts 30, Stillers 13 ...... Dec 16, 2023 ………Game # 14
Stillers-Dolts Postgame Analysis and Grades
The 7-6 Stillers mosied out to the midwest to face the 7-6 Dolts. Early in the 2Q, the Stillers went up 13-0, and a potential rout seemed to perhaps be on. Not so fast -- of course Indy immediately marched 75 yards for a TD, and soon, it was 24-13 after 3Q. Indy piled on a couple FGs in the 4Q to cruise to a cakewalk 30-13 win
Grades:
QB: Mitchell Trib got the start.
Good completion of 18 on 3d & 4 from the PIT 4, late 1H. Finished the 1H with 9 of 14 for 83 yards
3Q, good scramble for pressure on 3d & 20, and hit Dionte for 26. Big play.
But in the 4Q, he threw a completely hideous INT to basically salt the loss away. D-
Rudolph came into the game in garbage time, and completed 2 of 3 passes for (hold your snickers) 3 yards.
RB:
Harris – good 14-yard run, 2Q. Why does Najee Harris insist on running upright like a fugging giraffe? TWICE in the 1st half, he got his jock rocked by running like this. Had 7 rushes for 18 yards, 1H. Fumbled the ball away after being tackled by a D-BACK, FFS, early in the 3Q. Had 12 rushes for 33, and were it not for the 15 yard run, this stat line would be far, far more grisly. D
Warren – Had 5 carries for 16, 1H. Woulda had more, but dumbazz Cole was flagged for a needless hold on a 15 yard run by Warren. Had 10 rushes for 40, and 5 grabs for 28. B
FB: not used.
WR:
Dionte – good TD grab of 4 yards, early 2Q. Had 4 grabs for 62. B
Pickens – clutch grab for 16, 2d series. Good RAC a few plays later, to set up 1st & goal. Got out-jousted on a deep ball, 2Q, which was INT’d. Very poor, considering he is 6-4” and the man who made the INT was 5-10”. Had 3 grabs for 47. C+
Austin – Anyone remember the non-stop gushing and fawning over this guy during the entire offseason by the ENTIRE Pgh media and Steelers front office ? Wasn’t targeted even once tonite.
Robinson – Had a couple grabs.
TE:
Pat FryBoy – moved the chains on 3d & 3, 2d series. Had 3 grabs for 16. His blocking was shoddy. C
Darnell – never targeted. Chipped in with some blocking.
Con Heyward – nothing of value.
OL: Overall, the line (Moore, Seumalo, Cole, Daniels, Jones) had a subpar game.
They allowed a sack vs a 4-man rush, first series. Cole committed a silly, needless hold, well downfield, on a 15-yard run by Warren. Daniels was flagged for a hold, mid 3Q. Moore was flagged for a hold, late 3Q.
Between the flags, the poor run blocking, and the leaky pass pro, this was a game to forget. D
DL:
Heyward – Big Scam did very, very little all game long. He had a whopping 3 solos and 2 As, and was never harassing the QB. On the Minshew scramble and pass for 26 yards on 3d & 5, Scam lumbered after the QB slower than whaleshoit, looking all the while like a 64-year old man suffering with lung disease. All this, for $23M per year. D-
Ogunjobi – got a flush sack, late 1Q, when the QB was flushed. ‘bout time this powderpuff did something. That was about it, of course, as he did very little. C-
Lowdermilk – healthy scratch, and for good reason, as he ain’t done much in weeks.
Benton – played sparingly.
A. Watts – did little.
LB:
Landon Rob – was too slow to react on the RAC, and allowed the TD to tie the score at 13, although replay review ruled the RB down at the 1-1/2 yard line. . Completely lost Montgomery, late 1H for the Indy TD pass.
Mykal Walker – got tooled on some RB dumpoffs, 1H. More of the same, 2H. C-
Watt – abused the rookie RT, first series, for a sack. Had only 1 other solo the entire rest of the game. D-
Highsmith – Stop the presses....first play of game by Indy, Big Alex Highsmith just got a solo, on a dumpoff while he was in pass coverage! He's so impressive! Two plays later, Big Alex gets bamboozled on the 3rd down RPO, completely jumping towards the RB, and allowing the QB an EASY completion to move the chains. Indy was COUNTING on the bamboozlement, and they got it. Got a solo on a plunge, 2Q. 4th & 1, 5:00 2Q ....the Colts ran RIGHT AT Big Alex Highsmith, who got mauled and was nowhere to be found.
Late in the 3Q, Big Alex Highsmith got completely SUCKED INSIDE on a running play, good for FIVE yards. On the next play, he was completely UNBLOCKED, and chased the RB down for a solo, but only AFTER a NINE yard gainer. Around 4:30 4Q, Big Alex Highsmith, the vaunted $17M he-man, gets his dik shoved into the dirt by a RB in hilarious fashion.
Herbig – played little. No sense
Golden – batted a pass, early 2Q.
Mark Robinson – got abused for a TD pass, 3Q.
DB
Wallace – surprisingly, wasn’t picked on.
Peterson - didn’t see much action/targeting.
Joey Porter Jr. - flagged for a long PT, late 1H.
Kazee – delivered a lick on a 3rd down slant, first series. Delivered a lick to a WR, 2Q, and not only was flagged, but ejected. This was entirely unfair, as he never launched, nor did he use his helmet.
Keanu Neal –sat out, due to injury/IR.
Minkah – got nicked up, 1H. He did not return.
Killebrew – got pressed into service at safety due to the Minkah injury and the Kazee ejection.
Spec teams:
Harvin – first punt, a low liner, with ZERO hangtime, that went 42 yards. Low liner punt of 41 yards, 3Q, which was returned 13 yards. Asslin eschewed a 56 yard FG try (down by 11) late in the 3Q, and got a piece of shoit punt by Pressley Barfvin, FC at the 17. Complete BARF. Of course, the NFL has a useless stat, "inside the 20", which will claim this is a good punt. It wasn't. D-
Boswell – shanked the first PAT off the upright, no good. He trotted onto the field and was ready to try the 56-yarder, but Asslin called him back and ordered the punt.
Igwebuike had 2 good KO returns, 1H.
Connor Heyward blocked a punt, first play of the 2Q, giving the O golden FP at the 1 foot line.
OC: Faulkner and Sullivan oversaw another drab, moribund offensive performance.
I despised the bland vanilla on the series of plays on the 1st & goal at the Indy 6, 1Q. Warren run, Warren run, QB sneak, Qb Sneak. Luckily, Trib got the ball 1 inch over the plane before the ball was punched out.
They scored the 2nd TD, only because a blocked punt gave them 1st & goal at the 1. The rest of the game was pure trash from this offense. D-
DC: Austin was given a comfy 13-0 lead, and then completely pooped the bed from that point on.
After PIT took a 13-0 lead, leave it to Austin to allow Indy to march, easy as pie, 75 yards for the TD.
Montgomery appeared to tie the game for Indy late in the 2Q, on a baby-soft pass on 4th & goal at the 1, but the fool dropped the ball as he was tumbling. With a PAT, this would have made the score 14-13 Indy.
After PIT punted late in the 1st half, Indy took over on its own 26….. and sure as shoit, Austin allows a 34-yard gainer on the very first play. A long DPI flag the next play, and all of the sudden, Indy was on the 14 yard line. 2 plays later, Indy scored, easy as pie, to tie it at 13 (the PAT made it 14-13). Minshew went 14 of 21, 185 and 2 TDs in the 1H.
AllieCox dropped a CAKE EASY TD pass, 3Q, which (with a PAT) would have made it 28-13. Instead, Indy had to settle for a FG.
After a punt put Indy on its own 17 early in the 4Q, The Softee Defense promptly allowed a 15 play, 70 yard drive that chewed up NINE minutes of clock and ended with a chipshot FG to allow IND to go up by 14. What esp sucked was that the first 13 plays were RUNS, as this vaunted defense got gouged continually.
The Steeler defense -- THE highest paid in the league. Make more, do more. They got GASHED by a bland Indy offense. Stop the excuses and sob-stories. F
HC: Mike Asslin will spout his meaningless word salad after this miserable loss. Supposedly playing with everything on the line, the entire team (aside from Kazee) played a timid, meek brand of football.
What was Mike Asslin doing late in the 3 Q? It's a 56-yard field goal. It's indoors. Your kicker has a 57-yarder this year and wanted to kick it. You're down 11 late 3rd quarter. AND YOU PUNT!?!?
Not letting Boswell try a FG there down 11 — in a dome — with your season on the line is the absolute definition of living in your fears. Especially when your punter sucks and defense hasn’t been good today.
Mike Stoogelin said after the game, that part of the reason he didn’t attempt a 56 yard field goal, in a dome and down 11 with his season on the line is because he “didn’t like the down before”. Da fuq ? That play has ZERO bearing on the FG unit being able to execute a snap, hold, and kick for a FG.
You’ll hear sobbing about the Steelers defense being decimated by injuries. Colts were minus QB1, RB1, RT1, and lost WR1 during the game, lost RB2 during the game & still tore the Steelers apart.
Tomlin hasn’t beaten a rookie head coach in his last 6 tries.. Tell me more about “Who could we ever hire to replace him?” F-
Synopsis: A grisly 3rd consecutive loss. This one will probably be the nail in the coffin on making the playoffs.
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