Stillers-Dolts Postgame Analysis and Grades

Stillers 21, Colts 18 ���. Jan. 15, 2006 ����AFC Divisional Playoffs�

Stillers-Dolts Postgame Analysis and Grades

The heavy underdog Stillers traveled to Hoosier Country and vaulted out to a 14-0 lead, which quieted the crowd in the RCA Dome.�� The Stillers seemingly had the game wrapped up, but gave the ball back to Indy and survived a late scare to hold on for a win and a chance to go to Denver next week for the AFCC.� (This post-game will be a joint effort, with Still Trivia assisting with the tape scrub and the writing of the post-game report.)�

Grades:

QB:� Benji came out hotter than the Nixon Watergate tapes, going 6 for 7 on the opening march that culminated in a short TD pass to El.� (The lone incompletion was actually a perfectly thrown out pass to El that was dropped.)� The deep lob to Miller -- well thrown and well placed -- set up that first TD on a 36-yard gain.� He was also sharp on the 2nd scoring drive in the 1Q, hitting Ward on a 3d & 10 seamer that gained 45 yards and then coolly hitting Miller in the EZ for a 7-yard scoring pass.� The lone INT wasn�t Benji�s fault; this was simply the case of Smith getting whipped by Freeney, who hit Ben as he threw, which caused the wounded quail that was picked by June.� There was really just 1 hideous pass all day, that being the poor floater into near-triple coverage in the 2Q that Doss dropped for what would have been an easy INT.� Ben moved well in the pocket and ably scooted from pressure.� Last, but certainly not least, Benji made a game-saving tackle of Nick Harper after the Bettis fumble late in the 4Q.� In all, a very cool, collected, competent effort by Ben Roth.�� A.

RB:� Parker started and finished with 17 carries for 59 yards, and also chipped in 3 catches for 19 yards.� He put on a burst and turned the corner on the Stillers� 1st play of the 3Q, god for 9 yards, and he had a nice 13-yard run in the 4Q that led off the long, 12-play march.� Bettis got most of the work in the 2H, and finished with 17 carries for 46 yards.� Two plays, of course, stand out vividly for the Tubby Tailback.� On 3rd and a foot in the 4Q, The �great God of Short Yardage,, Big Jerome Bettis, lumbered toward LG-LT and tiptoed as though he were walking on egg shells, and was easily stuffed and actually lost yardage.� Luckily, Bettis got a reprieve on 4th down and squirmed for the requisite yardage.� Then, with 1:20 to go in the game, with the Stillers basically icing the game, Fatboy Bettis runs a plunge from the Indy 2-yard line, running as upright as a giraffe and holding the ball with ONE hand like a complete jackass.� Gary Brackett stepped up in the hole and made the hit, and the ball popped out of Bettis� hand like a greased bowling ball for his THIRD fumble in his past 4 playoff games.� Indy�s Nick Harper then scooped up the ball and nearly ran it back for a game-wining TD.� Bettis wasn�t carrying the ball like a loaf of bread, but after having TWO hands (and arms) on the ball directly after the handoff, the bonehead removed 1 hand/arm and carried the ball far too nonchalantly.� He should have had TWO hands/arms firmly wrapped around the ball like Emerson Boozer or Larry Czonka.� Haynesie had a solid run on a 3d & 3 SG pitchout in the 2Q, gaining a critical 5 yards.�� Parker and Haynes: B+.��� Bettis:� D-.�

FB: Kreider sprung some key gainers, working from both the FB spot as well as an H-back/wingback type of spot on occasion.� He had a quick-hitting plunge on 2d & 1 that netted 2 yards.�� A-.�

WR:� Hines Wards led the way with 3 grabs for 68 yards.� His superb RAC on the seamer helped set up the 2nd drive, gaining 45 yards plus a 15-yard masking penalty on Indy that gained an extra 8-yards (half the distance).� (In review of the game tape, Ward should have been assessed a 5-yard masking penalty for grabbing Sanders� mask.)� El dropped the very first pass of the game, but responded with a clutch TD catch on a difficult play, in which the rifled pass was a bit behind El as he slant-curled in the EZ.� Wilson was shut out, although he did grab a short curl for about 7 yards in the 4Q, but the Stillers took the defensive penalty that gave them the auto first.� Recently signed Lee Mays was, quite fortunately, not active for the game.�� A-.�

TE: �Miller got the ball rolling with 2 catches on the opening drive, good for 36 and 18 yards.� He then snared the 7-yard TD later in the 1Q.�� After that, of course, he was basically written out of the offense, and didn�t have a single ball thrown his way the remainder of the game.� Tuman had a surprise 19-yard reception in the 1Q, but then allowed a short dumpoff in the flats to clang off his hands in the 2Q.� Tuman was very weak in his help of Faneca on Mathis, which caused a hit on Ben�s arm as he threw at 4:00 1Q.� Miller had his share of struggles in the blocking department.� Freeney blew right by him on the Stillers� first play from scrimmage.� Miller offered pitifully poor help on Freeney at 6:36 3Q, which resulted in a sack.� Miller also had a miserably weak block on Brock on the 3d & 5 sweep by Parker, which Brock engulfed for a 2-yard loss.� B.�

OL: The O-line was by no means dominant, but overall they did just enough to help carve out the �W�.� Mistakes were plentiful.� Marvel Smith got eaten alive ALL game by Dwight Freeney.� Smith allowed Freeney to easily cut inside in the 1Q, which caused the hit on Ben and the resultant INT by June.� In the 2Q, Freeney went wide and abused Smith, which forced the BenRoth shovel-throwaway.� In the 3Q, Freeney did the ol� spin moved and totally tooled Smith, dropping Benji for a loss.� To be fair, Smith wasn�t alone in the gaffe department.� Maxipad Starks got badly whipped on the final play of the 1Q by backup scrub Josh Thomas, which allowed Tripplett to drop Benji for a 10-yard loss.� Faneca moved far to his right for a pickup peel block on Mathis at 4:00 1Q, but inexplicably whiffed, which allowed Mathis to hit Ben�s arm as he threw.� In the 3Q, Faneca whiffed miserably on Reager, resulting in a 3-yard loss by Parker.� And, on a critical 4th & inches at 11:42 4Q, Faneca twitched quite visibly on the play that the refs stopped and then botched� by ruling it �no flag�, which negated what should have been a sure-fire 5-yard false start on Faneca.� On the 1st & goal plunge late in the 3Q, center Jeff Hartings stood straight up like a kangaroo, and then got literally pancaked onto his ass by Corey Simon.� Oddly enough, neither Triv nor I spotted any glaring gaffes by KenDoll Simmons, which is fairly bizarre.� Thank goodness the passing game clicked as it did, because the ground game averaged a pitiful 2.7 yards per rush.� C-.�

DL:� The D-line had an ok day.� Edge James had some decent ground success (13 rushes, 56 yards) but the deficit limited his workload.�� Kimo whipped Glenn to the inside for a sack in the 1Q, and also had a hit on Peyton Womaning in the 2Q.� He also alertly jumped and pointed out a Glenn false start; given the clumsy, dullardly stature of this reffing crew, Glenn may have gotten away with this had Kimo not jumped and pointed it out.� Aaron Smith had a superb effort in the 2Q on the 3rd & goal sweep by James from the Stiller 3-yard line, knifing off a block and cutting down James to force the FG.� Smith had the lone Stiller penalty (aside from an intentional DOG penalty on the punt team), getting flagged for encroachment.� Casey blew by RG Jake Scott and chased Womaning out of the pocket and forced a TA in the 3Q.�� Brett Keisel had some pressure, and a high, outstretched arm, on Manning�s final pass, a 3rd & 2 that fell woefully incomplete.� Kirschke allowed James to bounce right off him and into the EZ for a TD, but fortunately that play was nullified by the Glenn false start.� Next week, the DL will face the best line they�ve faced all season, and they�ll need to play at an even higher level of play.�� B.

LB:� A lot of spottiness, but Peyton Womaning�s queasy, feeble play helped overcome the spottiness.� Farrior led the way on the stat sheet, with 8 solos and 2 assists.� But there were several weak whiffs and shoddy plays by Farrior.�� He had a weakassed flail on James, in the backfield on a wide 9-yard run late in the 2Q, that CBS re-played for laughter all around America, as James put on a simple juke that had Farrior grabbing at nothing but air.� Farrior then completely flopped �n flailed on Clark�s RAC on the 50-yard TD, and followed that gem up with a feeble tackling attempt on James� 4Q TD plunge.� He did have a decent sack after fighting thru a block late in the 1Q.� Joey The Mouth woofed all week, and ten went out and did very, very little.� Porter slowed up in his coverage of Harrison in the 1Q, which allowed Marvin to run away after the catch and gain big RAC yardage en route to a 24-yard gain.� Joey The Mouth also had a weakassed, 1-arm flail at Rhodes on a run to the left at 7:15 2Q.� In fact, virtually nearly all of Indy�s ground success came when they ran to the left, directly at Big Joey Porter.� The Mouth was actually shut out from the stat sheet until late 4Q, when he twice came in totally untouched and got a Dong Sack and a Half Dong Sack.� Larry Foote did little, as usual.� He was in his prime form on James� 15-yard jaunt, taking a poor angle and then meekly shadowing James as he sauntered down the sideline.� Clark Haggans had a very solid all-around game.� The Dolts continually tried t run t his side, especially early in the game, and Haggans stood strong at the POA (point of attack).� He helped repel James on the critical 3d & G sweep from the Stillers 3-yard line.� Harrison did not dress, due to injury.� As noted above in the DL section, this crew has got to step it up, big time, next week against the best OL and running game that they�ve faced all season.� B+.�

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DB:� This was a solid group effort that, combined with Manning�s woman-like play, helped to shut down the vaunted Indy passing attack.� Ike Taylor had a strong game, providing good, sound coverage throughout.� It probably went unnoticed to most, but it was Ike�s sure-handed tackle of Harrison on a 1st down slant that set up the 2d & 2/3d & 2 at the end of the game, which Indy failed to convert and Vanderjagt then missed the 46-yard FG.� Troy Pola also had a big game, flashing up several times to trip up Indy ballcarriers.� He also had 3 near-INTs, 1 of which was an INT and should have never been overturned.� Pola wreaked havoc, several times, on his blitzes.� His only weak play was the Clark TD, in which he was clumsy and failed to break down.� Chris Dope was also feeble and clumsy on the Clark TD, and got away with blatant PI on a crosser to Harrison on Indy�s 1st drive of the game.� Dope met James up high at the end of a long 2Q run, and when he tries that dumbassed technique next week, he�ll have Mike Anderson�s footprints all over his chest.� McFadden was beaten by Wayne on the late 2-pointer, but this was simply a perfect pass n� catch.� With the game hanging in the balance with under 1:00 remaining, Womaning threw deep to Wayne in the EZ, but McFadden was right there, step for step, to bust up the play and preserve the win.� Just go ahead and ink in McFadd as next year�s starting CB opposite Ike.� Carter was again active and delivered a couple good hits.� Pressure and predictability made this crew�s job fairly easy today.� Next week could present a stiffer challenge if either or both �P�s� are reduced.� A-.���

Spec teams:� Knocking on wood, there were no spec teams meltdowns or fiascos today.� Reed was strong on his KOs.� Gardocki punted fairly well, pooching 1 punt in the 2Q to the Indy 2 and booming a punt 50 yards late in the 4Q.� His only boner was the boomed punt into the EZ in the 4Q.� El had a key 20-yard punt return to the Indy 30-yard line, which set up the Stillers� 3rd TD.� Frazier had 2 stops in coverage, and Kriewaldt, Logan, Morey, and Iwuoma chipped in as well.� A.�

OC:� Ken Whisenhunt came at the Dolts with a razor-sharp game plan to open the game, carving them up like Nick Harper�s wife with a knife.� The offense crisply marched for the opening TD, and 2 series later marched again for another fairly-easy TD.�� Whisenhunt deserves accolades for exploiting the soft middle of the Indy defense, as well going to the air early on rather than the Neanderthal plungefest that we�ve seen in countless playoff games under Bilbo Cowher.� One aspect of the Whisenhunt Offense still annoys me -- the Shitgun formation on 3rd & short.� For example, the Stillers went to the Shitgun on 3rd & 3 early in the 2Q, and with Freeney wreaking havoc and mayhem, Benji had to do the shovel-throwaway.� The PAP was working well in the 1H; why you would go out of your way to eliminate the PAP possibility on 3d & short is absolutely bizarre.� A.�

DC:� Dick got a fair amount of mileage from the base 3-4, and when he went nickel or dime, the run defense wasn�t exposed too badly.� He applied pressure from the get-go, which turned Peyton Manning into Peyton Womaning.� Dick also did a nice job of using initial rushers to �open the door� for Pola on delayed blitzes.� This worked to perfection at least 4 times, in which rushers acted almost like blockers and opening up a nice �hole� for Pola to flash through and attack the QB.� Dick also did a nice job of feasting on LT Tarik Glenn, who was a steaming, wretched pile o� shit the entire game.� Once Dick realized this, he was like a shark after blood and attacked Glenn mercilessly.� His task will be stiffer next week, playing in altitude against a very sound OL and strong running game.� The tackling technique must be honed and improved upon at least threefold prior to next week�s tilt at Denver.� A.��

HC:� Billy Cowher had his men focused, energized, and loose for today�s game, unlike the tight-as-a-snare drum routine that Cowher typically prefers.� Rather than the Neanderthal, bravado offensive approach that he�s taken in every single playoff game he�s coached to date, Cowhard actually opened up the offense, and voila -- the Stillers jumped out to the easy 14-0 lead.� The team was prepared and focused, as evidenced by their one lone penalty (aside from the intentional DOG penalty by the punting team).� Instead of blindly running their heads into a brick wall, Cowhard�s tea, on both sides of the ball, attacked and exploited weaknesses, which, of course, is exactly what you�re supposed to do in playoff football.� The wasteful possession at the end of the 1H enraged me, as did the turtling in the 2H in which Cowhard refused to allow Benji to take any kind of passing stab on 2d & short or 3d & short, which could have iced the game.� Instead, Cowhard�s close to the vest turtling did what it was intended to do -- it kept the game close to the vest, which allowed Indy to roar back in the 4Q and nearly snatch the lead or a tie.� We were facing Manning and the Colts, so turtling so early was imbecilic, but typical of the apple lodged in the throat by Cowhard.� Had the Stillers not had golden FP at the Indy 30 on their 2d drive of the 3Q, it�s entirely likely they would have turtled for a punt or a FG.� We can collectively give Cowhard some credit for leading the way to this big road win against a heavy favorite, and of course, regardless of what happens next, Cowhard will be revered by the typical Steeler fan and the Pittsburgh media more than Pope John Paul 2 and John Lennon combined for at least the next 17 years.� By Monday morning, the Pittsburgh newspapers will print at least 4 articles proclaiming Cowhard as the greatest coach ever in the history of the NFL.� Before anyone nominates Cowhard for sainthood, let�s just see what he does next week in Denver, and should they advance, let�s see what he does in Detroit in early Feb.� For a guy that lays more eggs than a blue-ribbon chicken, let�s not count our chickens before they hatch.�� A. ��

Synopsis:� A big road win that advances the Stillers to the AFCC!� One should pause to consider a few reasonable �what if�s� --� what if Manning doesn�t play like a complete puss?� What if CB Nick Harper -- the guy that scooped up Fatboy�s fumble and had open field -- doesn�t have his leg slashed the day before this game by his angry wife, and then have his other knee nearly wiped out by a hit from SS Mike Doss in the 1Q?��� What if Vanderjagt -- a very reliable PK -- doesn�t shank the living shit out of a makeable 46-yard FG?� But once these fortuitous circumstances are acknowledged, it�s then time to move on to preparing for the Denver Doncos and the altitude at which the game will be played.� Stay tuned for this week�s Hard Hat award, and then a pregame analysis of the Stillers-Doncos tilt.�

(Still Mill and Stillers.com -- still the only nationally read coverage on the Pittsburgh Stillers that has accurately predicted the how's and the why's of 9 of the past 10 Stiller playoff games�.)