Stillers-Titans Postgame Analysis and Grades

Titans 30, Stillers 13 ���. Sep. 28th, 2003 ����Game #4

Stillers-Titans Postgame Analysis and Grades

This game was advertised as the Stillers' big "payback" to the Titans for the two beatings received from the Titans last season.� The Stillers started off well enough, jumping out to a 10-0 lead and seemingly in command, controlling the trenches, the clock, and the tempo.� Sure enough, however, Billy Ball took over, and a host of slop allowed the Titans back into the game, both on the scoreboard and in the tempo & intensity department.� The Stillers were still in the game early in the 4Q, down by only 10 but given golden FP after an exchange of punts.� But a hideous Maddox INT was returned 61 yards by Rocky Boiman for a back-breaking TD, and the Titans cruised to an easy 30-13 asswhipping of the Stillers.�

Grades:

QB:� Maddox had a day eerily similar to the one versus Houston last season, as well the one against these very Titans in the regular season.� The Madd Ox was personally responsible for 3 Titans scores -- 2 TDs and a safety.� On the safety, Maddox wasn't hit from the blind side.� He felt and saw pressure from the side, and had room ahead to simply plunge and dive forward to get over the goal line in order to avoid the safety.� Instead, he pulled this awkward, punch-drunk half-slide, and was stopped inches short for the safety.� The first INT was a slant that was jumped on by Rolle.� Part of the blame needs to go to Burress, who was slow coming off the snap of the ball, but this was still an awful INT right before halftime, which gave the Titans 7 free points and a lead going into the locker room.� As bad as the 1st INT was, the 2nd INT was 5 times worse.� The Stillers were just embarking on a drive, starting at the Tenn 41 early in the 4Q, down by 10.� On the drive's first play, Maddox faked a handoff on a slow-developing play, and was harassed by the blitzing Tank.� Instead of simply taking the sack and taking a shot at 2nd & 3rd down, Maddox forced this hideous, off-balance, off-target pass to Reim that was INT'd by Boiman in the right flat.� Boiman got up and ran 61-yards for the TD, and the game was all but over.� Again, this kind of play shows the outlandish over-hype placed on the sack, which is the most over-rated stat in all of pro sports.� The correct move in this situation is to TAKE THE SACK and regroup on 2nd down, not force a no-brained, off-balance pass.� Maddox also had another INT from an off-target pass, but hard work by Chris Doering resulted in "simultaneous possession" and the Stillers retained the ball.� Maddox hit some nice passes, but when a QB gives the opponent 16 points, it's a pretty awful day at the office.�� D.�

RB:� Amos started and toted the ball 18 times for a meager 51 yards.� In his defense, all too often, he was met in the backfield by a Titan or two within a millisecond after receiving the hand off.� Amoz drew my ire on the direct snap "trick play" late in the 1Q, when he simply slipped without really making a cut and without anyone hitting him.� I also wasn't pleased with the futile goal-line attempts at the end of the game.� Amoz isn't a bull, and he's got to learn to vault over the stack on many of those goal-line occasions.� To his credit, Amoz did have a nice 5-yared TD run in the 1Q, and grabbed 6 passes.� Amoz also hustled hard on both long INT returns, and saved a TD by knocking Rolle OOB at the 1.� Doughboy Bettis had 3 token carries for 6 yards.� The running game wasn't good enough today.� C+.�

FB: After Roger Craig-like involvement last week, Kreider was pretty quiet today.� He had no carries and just 1 pass thrown his way, on an ill-conceived, poorly executed rollout at the end of the game in garbage time during the futile 1st & goal.� He did blast LB Peter Sirmon with a crushing block on the 1st drive harshly enough that it drove Sir Mon out of the game with a rather severe injury, and he also made a key block on the Amoz TD run.� Come to think of it, perhaps Kreider hurt the team by putting Sirmon out of the game, as it was Sirmon's backup, Rocky Boimon, who caused both the safety and the INT/TD return.�� Haynes had 1 carry as a FB and was smothered for a 2-yard loss.� B.�

WR:� Hines Ward led the way with 9 grabs, but for a paltry 76 yards.� Ward also coughed up a couple (2) receptions in the 4Q on plays in which he was hit as the ball arrived.� On both occasions, given Ward's trusty ability and track record, it seemed they were plays that Ward usually comes up with the catch.� Plex made a great finger-tip catch on a deep flag in the 3Q, which surprised Coach Fischer so much that he challenged the catch and was denied.� Of course, no game would be complete without Burress having mental lapses and poor hand-work.� He dropped an out-pass on the first drive of the game, which nearly was a fumble. As noted above, he was nearly a full second late in moving off the LOS when the ball was snapped on the 1st Maddox INT.� Randle El took a SG snap and niftily ran 15 yards, and also grabbed 5 passes.� �Chris Doering made a nice over-the-shoulder catch of a deep flag in the 4Q for 26 yards, and also had a great effort to fight and gain "simultaneous possession" of a near-INT late in the 2Q.� Ironically enough, Rolle INT'd the pass on the next play and ran it back to the Stiller 1, setting up an easy Titan TD.� Like Kreider, Doering's hard work backfired in a most bizarre way.� Mays had 1 grab for 9 yards in garbage time.� Ward was flagged for a hold, and El for blocking downfield during a pass.� B+.�

TE:� JayRiem had 3 grabs for 44 yards.� He threw some key blocks on the drive that ended in the Zereoue TD run.� B.�

OL: The O-line was abused and dominated throughout the game.� Fat Oliver Ross struggled at times, including a piss-poor tooling on the Maddox safety.� Ross also was called for holding, which negated a 20-yard catch-and-run by El on 3d & 6.� Kendall Simmons got abused late in the 1Q, but luckily Maddox hit Ward for a 24-yard catch & run.� Late in the 3Q, Simmons nearly got Maddox decapitated after feebly whiffing on Kevin Carter.� Not wanting to be left out in the derelict department, RT Todd Fordham had his share of woes.� He was tooled badly in the 4Q, which caused a flush of Maddox.� Worse, just a few plays later, Fordham imitated a wheelbarrow and got wheeled back by Jevon Kearse a good 5 yards, and The Freak then pounced on Maddox for the easy sack.� As noted above, the running game got bogged down in large part because there was nasty penetration on almost every running play.� Then there's the penalties: holding calls on Ross and Fordham.� The O-line had its fun last week in Cinci against a soft front-7, but they got their asses handed back to them today by the Titan front 7.� C-.�

DL:� I'd noted in my pre-game analysis that Titan center Justin Hartwig simply didn't have the experience or pedigree to fight off Fat Casey, and that this is the kind of matchup that Hampton needs to start dominating.� To his credit, Hampton did just that, so much so that Hartwig will probably go AWOL or arrange for his own abduction just to avoid the embarrassment during film session with his teammates.� Hampton forced Hartwig into 3 holding penalties, and when Hartwig wasn't hanging on for dear life, Hamton was blowing him up and causing havoc.� Casey's best play may have been late in the 2Q, when he fought off Hartwig's hold (a flag was thrown and assessed to Hartwig) and still was able to knock down Holcomb and stop him for a short gain.� Not to be outdone, Aaron Smith had a very strong game.� He was extremely disruptive and tough.� Kimo held his own over on the other side.� This was the line's best game of the season thus far.� A-.�

LB:� All those imbeciles questioning Kendrell Bell can now shut up and flagellate themselves.� KenBell was an animal today, making hits and stops all over the field.� Farrior and Porter were also active and tough, each chipping in with 4 solos and some crisp stops.� Then there's The Dogger, Jason GilDong, who dogged it the entire afternoon.� "Jason had a sack," his legion of blind fans will cry.� Yes, he sure did, for a whopping loss of 3 yards when McNair dropped back a full 10 (ten) yards from the LOS.� Otherwise, he did jack shit all day.� He stood around and did nothing.� Zilch.� Nada.� The empty set.� He pawed, groped, and titty-fought, and nothing more.� The Big 3:� A-.� Big Jason GilDong:� C.�

DB:� Here's a terrific barometer for how this secondary did today: Steve McNair was 15 of 16.� Yep, 15 of 16.� The one incomplete pass?� Oh, that was the hitch to Mason, in which Chad Scott got away with a PI when he came up and jarred Mason well before the ball arrived.� When your secondary rarely, if ever, makes a play on a ball, it makes quarterbacking as easy as shooting ducks on the pond.� Scott was pretty poor all game long.� He lost track of McCareins and the ball on a 25-yard fly-stop.� He was out jumped by Bennett on a 42-yard bomb.� And, worst of all, on a 3d & 9 in the 3Q, when the defense desperately needed a stop, he got tooled on a downfield swim-move by McCariens, resulting in a 29-yard TD.� Chad whined and sulked about the swim move, thinking it was PI, but it clearly wasn't.� Rather, it was a deft, legal, adroit downfield swim move by McCariens, and Chad -- a veteran who has, oh, about 8 times more NFL experience than McCariens and is nearly as big -- simply got outclassed.� DeWayne was hopelessly beaten by Bennett on the 10-yard fade TD.� As usual, during all of these beatings, Burnt Alexander offered no more help than throwing an anvil to a drowning man.� Logie had an adequate game.� Troy Pola played here and there, and as is usual for a rookie on a Billy Cowher team, did nothing other than get flagged for a post-whistle personal foul.� C-.�

Spec teams:� Just another typical day at the office for the Stiller spec teams: the team did little in the return game, and overall, gave up a big play.� The big play this time was a blocked FG by Tank Williams in the 3Q, on a FG try that would have tied the game at 16.� Rod Bailey was the primary culprit over on the left side of the line; he was pancaked onto his back and the opening allowed Tank to hover in for the deflection.� Todd Fordham also helped create the fissure for Tank with some subpar work.� Reed hit his other 2 FGs.� Josh punted adequately.� The return game was "ok", but hardly awe-inspiring.� Kick returner Freddie Million, who was acquired in a trade late in pre-season, once again did not dress.� After all, the Stiller return game is so incredibly productive and daunting that there's no need to dress Million, who "still is learning our system", according to Billy Cowher.� On a down note, El allowed 2 punts to hit the round and then roll several more yards in favor of the Titans.� El's no longer a wide-eyed rookie, and he's got to gather in these short punts on occasion in order to better the team's field position.� The plethora of spec team penalties was reprehensible.� Tuman was flagged on the opening KO for a hold, moving the ball from the 35 back to the 15.� Kreider and Schneck were each flagged for holding during a punt.� C-.�

OC:� The Stiller offense has a new moniker: The Slow Mo Offense, led by Mike Mo-larkey.� The offense went into a hideous, slow-motion funk, in which play after play after play after play was conducted in such absurd slow motion that the referees were actually mulling over the idea of issuing a delay-of-game penalty just on principle.� The Boimon INT was on play that had a slow-developing play-action that lumbered along with all the speed of a glacier.� The running game was bogged down with a host of whaleshit lethargy.� There's some good things with this offense, but without question, the pace and execution of too many plays is too slow and lethargic.� Today's red zone failures were horrible.� Much of this can be blamed on Mularkey, who got Cowheritis and got bogged down plunging the ball too much, all the while ignoring stabs at the EZ to Plex.� Of all the trips to the RZ (five), the Stillers took 1 stab to Plex in the EZ.� I don't want to hear babble about bracketing and coverage and so on.� When you get down to brass tacks, you've got to allow your great players to make great plays.� And as we saw in the Pitt-A&M game, which WR Larry Fitzgerald simply took over with 3 sterling TD grabs, you've got to seize the initiative & put your star receiver in situations where he can optimally make plays.� Instead, here's what we got from Slow Mo at the end of a long 2Q march.�� On 1st down at the Titan 14, Bettis plunge, 3 yards.� 2D, Bettis plunge, 2 yards.� �3d & 5, a short out to Ward that netted 4, and the 4 yards were only because of great RAC work by Ward.� Result:� Field Goal.� Not good.� C-.� ��

DC:� What else can be said about Tiny Tim that hasn't already been said?� The mental midget allowed McNair plenty of time and comfort, and a near-perfect day (15 of 16) throwing the ball.� There's not an ounce of evidence that, aside from the healthy KenBell, this defense is improved over last year's swiss cheese defense.� When is Tiny Tim going to make some major adjustments in scheme and personnel?�� 2005�?� C-.�

HC:� A great coach, tactician, and motivator patrolled the sidelines of Heinz Field today.� Problem was, he did so on the Titan sideline, and his name is Jeff Fisher.� It's neither coincidence nor aberration that Fisher has won 10 of the past 12 meetings against Billy Cowher.� Fact is, Fisher has long proven to be the far better coach, continually getting far more with less than Little Billy has.� Meanwhile, Billy has padded his coaching record with wins over the Bungals, the Browns, the expansion Jags, and a host of other cream puffs, but when Billy has to face a decent team with a good coach, Billy is usually left confused and embarrassed.� Showing his brainlessness, Billy challenged the spot of the ball on the Ward 4-yard catch late in the 2Q.� This play was as obvious as Dolly Parton's cleavage -- the refs made the correct spot in an obvious manner -- yet Cowher frittered away a timeout and a challenge. �Billy Ball is good enough to collect 9-10 wins a season against softee teams and injury-decimated teams, and it's good enough to get beaten when it comes time for the gut-check of the playoffs.� Perhaps Cowher ought to spend less time exhorting his fans to "show up and make a lot of noise on Sunday" -- as though the always-sold out, always liquored up Steeler crowd even needs this sophomoric exhorting -- and more time scouring film, addressing glaring problems, and overseeing better tactics and better execution.� �Finally, the two big plays by 2nd-year LB Rocky Boiman highlight the difference between a Fisher-coached team and a Cowher-coached team. Boiman, a 4th round draftee who has never started in the NFL, came off the bench cold when Sirmon got injured.� The guy responded with 2 huge plays, causing a safety and the INT return for a TD.� On a Billy Cowher-coached team, youngsters ROT, and their development is as slow and feeble as an autistic 4-year old from Russia thrown into a 3rd-grade Japanese classroom.� Coddled by bullshit babble about "not knowing the scheme" and "not knowing the whole playbook", Stiller youngsters rot, and when put into a game, are usually tentative, unsure, and flaccid.� On a Billy Cowher team, a starter like Sirmon gets hurt, and then Billy spends the entire post-game conference making up excuses as to why his backup couldn't execute the most basic of tasks and that the backup "is still learning and trying to get a feel for the game".� D.

Synopsis:� As I'd stated in the pre-game analysis, I was worried that until the Stillers show that they can play with the big boys and eat up more than just cr�me and cupcake, I've got to acknowledge my suspicions.� My suspicions turned out to be well founded: this Stiller team is perfectly capable of feasting on a rookie QB making his first start, or the perennially inept Bungals�but when faced with stiff competition from the Chiefs and Titans, the Stillers folded as easily as a lawn chair.� There's more than enough cupcake on this year's schedule to get Billy Cowher a 10-win season.� Problem is, those cupcakes aren't the opponents we will face in the playoffs, which have long been a bugaboo for Bill Cowher.� Aside from whipping the pathetic Browns next week, where this team goes from here is anyone's guess, but they're not going far in the playoffs if they can't play with the big boys in the regular season.�