Stillers 27, Doncos 19..... Oct 10, 2021 …………Game # 5
Stillers-Doncos Postgame Analysis and Grades
The Stillers had the rarest of rare birds, a comfy halftime lead. They followed up with a TD late in the 3Q to take what seemed like a commanding 24-6 lead, at home, against the mediocre Doncos. Sure as shoit, the defense got carved and gashed for 2 long TD drives. With like 20 seconds left, the Doncos were at the Stiller 2 yard line, down by 8. Thankfully, Bridgewater choked and the Stillers walked away with a flimsy victory. Note, I was at the game today, and am on the road, so this’ll be a shorter postgame report than usual.
Grades:
QB: Ben had a solid outing. He hit Dionte early for the bomb-TD, and also had a nice TD strike to Carpool. There were a bevy of odd misfires and off-target passes, and I despised the late TO he called on the 3d & 5, with less than 3:00 left in the game. Shitlesberger also was, once again, stripped of the football back in the pocket after hesitating and dicking around for far too long. C
RB:
Harris – Dude’s a baller. Best game as a pro, and he’s still far from reaching his zenith. Got cramps in the 4Q, which cramped this offense. A
Ballage – saw some PT and did jack squat on the ground. Needs to take the 3-yard gain when it’s there, rather than dancing to and fro. C-
Snell – dropped a pass. Had a couple adequate runs. Ran 4 times for 20. B-
FB: Watt saw very sparing work on O.
WR:
JuJu – Ran 2 jet sweeps, neither of which was all that effective, and the 2nd of which he appeared to seriously injure a shoulder. Word is that he was shipped to the hospital after visiting the locker room. Doesn’t sound good. Had 0 grabs for 0 yards. Inc
Wash – Sat this game out after becoming the, what, 19th player this season with a groin injury.
Dionte - Hauled in the early bomb for a big TD. Had a big grab and RAC on the final drive. Those were his only 2 targets of the game, which is highly odd when you consider how Schuster and Wash were out. A
Claypool – Had a huge RAC to set up a 2Q TD, and also had a good RAC on the final drive. Mysteriously SAT for no apparently reason, from right after that long play late in the 2Q, to well into the 3Q. Had 5 grabs for 130. A
GayRay McCloud – Had 1 grab for 1 yard. I will give this fellow credit for the head’s up, hard nosed play he made on a batted pass in the 1H. GayGay rushed over to the D-lineman who was trying to snare the batted pass, and belted him in order to break up the INT. A turnover there would have been a disaster.
Cody White – was open for a somewhat poor Ben pass, but dropped a very catchable pass that would have netted some 20 yards. Send his ass back to the practice squad.
TE:
Ebron – Had 2 grabs for 10. Amazingly, he didn’t drop any, and had a clutch grab on 3D to main the chains.
Pat FryBoy – Had 2 grabs for 7 yards, on 2 targets. Would like to see him targeted much more, esp with the various WRs out.
Gentry – Had 1 grab for 13. Because of his size and blocking, is seeing more and more PT.
OL: Overall, the line had, by far, its best game of the season. There were GAPING holes created in the running game, and even when the holes weren’t gaping, they were sizeable enough to allow numerous 2d & 5s and 2d & 4’s. Okorafor was flagged twice for false starts, which enraged me. Dotson was flagged for a hold. Green was called for an ineligible man downfield flag that I thought was IFFY, at best. The play was a quick 3-yard out pattern and he appeared to be only 4 yards off the LOS. Okorafor warded off Von Miller solidly, although Miller is now a bit over the hill. Overall, B+
DL:
Heyward – The $65M Man had a solid game. He batted a pass and was in on several run stuffs. The concern is that, once the late 3Q arrived, this fat lard had expended all his energy on the whopping ~17 plays up to that point, after which he barely did jack squat as the defense got gashed repeatedly. B
Tuitt – another vaunted DE who missed yet another game.
Buggs and Wormley – chipped in a wee bit.
Mondeaux – nice swim move to create a sack.
LB:
Bush – flashed in to drop the QB in the 1H to help force a FG. Of course, as is his nature, he got injured sometime in the 2Q and didn’t return in the 2H.
Schobert – played adequately. Sniffed out a jet sweep and strung it out. Continues to be spotty versus the pass.
Watt – Sitter Watt did a few things adequately, but let’s not go overboard. Sure, he dropped a RB for a 3-yard loss in the 1H. He had 2 other slop solos, and a few (just a few) QB pressures. Other than that, he did jack squat during the game, and certainly didn’t do a diddly on the final 3 long marches by the Doncos. For the highest paid contract of any defender in the league, this ain’t nearly good enough. C-
Highsmith – Didn’t do much. Expected a bit more out of him in this tilt. Finishing with just 1 solo and 0 A ain’t gonna git ‘er done. C
Spillane – Filled in for the injured Bush. Wasn’t lousy, but didn’t do much.
Mel Ingram – very quiet game. 0 solos, 1 A. Not good enough at’all. C
DB
Haden – Had an ok game. B-
Cam Button - sat out with injury.
Edmunds – I heard and saw all kind of raving and praise for this stiff after this game. For what? When your defense is getting GASHED, almost all via the air, for 3 long marches in the 4Q, it tells you your SS ain’t doing shit. C-
Minkah - Had several missed tackles, and again is nowhere near aerial footballs. He’s regressed to the point of being just another Ryan Clark back in the secondary. C-
Pierre – Got tooled deep for a crucial 39-yard 4Q TD. Rebounded to snare the poor, horrific pass by Bridgewater in the final seconds, to secure the Win. To his credit, he also hustled his ass off after the Denver RB popped through on a 3d & 1 and raced toward the EZ. Pierre got on his horse and nabbed him at the 2, which ultimately forced Denver to settle for a FG. Needs considerable polish and refinement. B-
Spec teams:
Harvin– punted well, for once. Boomed a 63 yarder, and his only other punt was a 56 yarder. Not shabby. A
Boswell – 2 for 2 on FGs. Also made a 51 yarder, but a leverage flag on Denver allowed the Stillers to get the 1st down and continue the drive.
RayRay – didn’t do much in the return game.
The kick return teams were victimized by a holding flag on Bennie Smell, and a flag on Layne. It got to the point where I was simply screaming to kneel down on KOs and FC all punts, what with the silly-assed penalties happening in the return game.
OC: Matt Canada oversaw a crisper offense. Of course, playing offense is mostly a cakewalk when your RB is gaining 5 yards a crack on 1st down. I despised how Carpool sat for eons……even after a TO late in the 2Q and even after halftime, so it’s hard to fathom the fellow was nicked up with injury. I mean, there were nearly a dozen, if not more, plays run with stiffs like Cody White and GayRay McCloud out there on the field, while Carpool sat. With Wash and Schuster OUT, how in the fuk is that remotely possible ?? B
DC:
Keith Assler had the luxury of facing a mediocre QB in Bridgewater, the same fellow who left last week’s game with a concussion. After a cakewalk of the first nearly 3 quarters in which the Donco offense barely did much of anything, the Doncos figured out Assler and then began an epic carve job. How bad was it?
- 14 plays, 75 yards, TD
- 5 plays, 72 yards, TD
- getting the ball with only 2:29 left, 11 plays, 72 yards, all the way down to the PIT 3 yard line, with PLENTY of time to score on both 3rd and 4th downs from that close.
It was a putrid display of defense, at HOME, against a subpar offense. The sissified 4-man rushes gave Bridgewater ample time and comfort back in the pocket, and by game’s end he was licking his chops on every passing play. What was especially annoying was that multiple times, Assler was AHEAD of schedule, meaning he had the offense BEHIND schedule during the first of those long 4Q marches, to include:
- after a sack on that “first” 4Q drive, Denver overcame a 3d & 18 and 4th & 5 to move the sticks.
- Soon later, they faced a 2d & 11, 3d & 11, and 4th & 2, and easily overcame that with a 25-yard strike to set up shop at the PIT 3.
- but wait ! A holding flag on DEN forced a 2nd and goal at the THIRTEEN. Sure as shit, Assler allows a scramble to the 2 yard line, and then a TD on 4th and goal at the 2.
A simple STOP anywhere along this drive, and the Stillers probably cruise to victory. But fok no, Assler allows a downtrodden foe to find life, and basically HANDS them the defibrillator and an ambulance to help the foe resuscitate and come back from the dead.
A complete shoit-show by Assler, who spent the entire 4Q with 1 thumb in his mouth and the other up his buttocks. D-
HC: Mike Asslin was provided an ultra-comfy 24-6 lead late in the 3Q, and it seemed this would be the rare game in which the Stillers would kick sand in the face of an inferior and downtrodden foe. But no, not Asslin. He takes his foot off the gas pedal, and before ya know it, Denver is marching up and down the field AT WILL, looking like a combination of the ’94 SF 49ers and the ’77 Cowboys. Had he pissed away this game, Stoogelin would have set a new standard for lead urination in the NFL, and would have been run out of town within hours of the game, if not sooner. The plethora of boneheaded penalties continue, as Stoogelin seems to have zero grasp on instilling focus and discipline. D
Synopsis: A flimsy win, but at this point of a hideous 3-game losing streak, the team will gladly take it. Frittering away a comfy lead by getting gashed the entire 4Q doesn’t bode well when thinking ahead to 2 games against Cleve, another against Cinci, and 2 against Balt. Up next, the Seahags, who won’t have Russ Wilson, but with this soft, over-rated defense, whoever Seattle inserts at QB is likely to pass for 300 yards and 3 TDs. I myself wouldn’t be all proud over this win; departing the stadium, it half felt like a loss. Ordinarily after a win, the fans would be charting “Here we go Stillers, here we go” during the long walk down the various stadium ramps, but today it was only a sparse, scant smattering. Lots, and I mean lots of room for improvement with this sagging, wheezing team.
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