Titans
31, Stillers 23 ���. Nov. 17th, 2002 ����Game #10
Stillers-Titans
Postgame Analysis and Grades
The Stillers opened the
game with a 72-yard scoring strike on the game's first play from
scrimmage.� After that, the team went
flaccid and soft in all phases of the game, and the Titans roared back and
issued a severe whipping before giving up some garbage points late in
regulation.� The result was a 31-23 loss
to the Bitans, and just as importantly, the loss of QB Tommy Maddox for an
undetermined amount of time.��
Big Plays:
1. 1st play from scrimmage
-- Maddox to Ward, 72 yards and the TD.
2.� On the next series, Maddox throws a horrible
INT, which is returned to the Pit 1, and Tenn. quickly scores to tie the game.
3.� Porter recovers a McNair fumble�.
4.� but 2 plays later, the trick play
"double pass" is INT'd in the EZ on a horrible decision by Maddox to
throw into double-coverage.
5.� On a 3rd & goal from the 4, late in the
2Q, George busts up the gut and then vaults over the stack for a critical TD.
6.� Maddox throws a crosser ever-so-slightly
behind Plex, who allows the ball to clang off his hands & body, and the
popped ball is INT'd.
7.� On the very next play, Big Jason GilDong has
McNair dead to rights, but flails and allows McNair to escape, completing a
20-yard pass to Dyson.� 5 plays later,
Tenn. scored to make it 21-7.
8.� On a 3d & 9 in the 3Q, McNair hit
McCareins for a 55-yard bomb, and the next play George iced the game with a
5-yard TD run.�
Grades:
QB: Maddox had what was obviously his
worst game as a Stiller.� One gruesome
flaw has emerged, one in which I'd brought up last week, when Maddox had to
step UP in the pocket and missed horribly on a deep crosser to a wide open
Burress.� Today, Maddox stepped up from
pressure and threw the horrific INT on the 2nd drive.� This was virtually a carbon-copy play from the play I'd cited
last week.� On the trick-play double
pass, Maddox again had to "step up" from pressure, and threw a
lollipop, ill advised floater into double coverage for a pitiful
INT.� Once Maddox saw the smothering
coverage on Ward, he should have thrown the ball away or gotten whatever
yardage he could, but instead FORCED a hideous INT.� The first INT gave the Bitans the ball at our 1, and the other
snuffed out golden field position at the Tenn. 34.� Maddox also missed a very open Burress in the EZ for an easy TD
on the 3d series, and poorly overthrew Ward on a deep seamer in the 3Q.� Maddox sold the opening TD superbly with an
astute play-fake, and hit a few good passes, but overall had a nightmare of a
day that ended with an apparent concussion/stinger on a another forced pass
that gained a whopping 2 yards and left Maddox off-balance & defenseless
for the hit.� Stewart came on in relief
in garbage time and led 2 TD drives, obviously aided by the luxury of facing a
softee defense that gave him loads of the underneath stuff of which Stewart is quite
fond.� Stew did complete a couple nice
TD passes with limited room, as well as a surprisingly pinpoint 2-point
conversion pass to Ward.� Maddox:� C-.��
Stew: inc.
RB:�
The running game was sporadic and sputtery.� Amoz started and didn't do much, although he wasn't given much by
an O-line that got thrashed by the Bitan front 7.� Bettis played some, and the God of Running Backs had 4 carries
for 6 yards.�� So much for the "�if
Bettis was in the Falcons game, he would have worn out the Falcons and ran out
the clock�."�� No, FatBoy Bettis
would have worn out the sideline snack vendors and run out to the concession stand
of the 1st level.� What really enraged
me with Doughboy Bettis was his feeble pass-blocking attempt in the early 2Q,
in which Maddox was hit as he threw.�
Bettis -- all 280 pounds -- stepped up and laid a little sideways LOVE
TAP on the rusher in pathetic fashion.� Bettis�
acting job -- and pass to Maddox -- on the trick play was also sorely wanting.� C+��
FB: Kreider was ok, but nothing spectacular
and was rendered fairly useless against a defense that simply overwhelmed Cowher
and Co.� He did grab the 2-point
pass.� B.
WR:�
Ward led the way with 168 yards on 2 TDs, much of which was gained on
tenacious, tough receptions in traffic and just before he received the
hit.� The only thing that perturbed me
with Ward today, was his tomfoolery on the game-opening 72-yard TD, in which
Ward --hardly a speed burner -- began waving the ball out with 1-hand while
still a good 10 yards from the goal line, and luckily he was able to bust the
tackle and take it into the EZ.� This
kind of taunting & jack-assed stupidity is totally unnecessary, and a good
coach would have sat Ward for a play or 2 on the very next series.� That aside, Ward had a stellar game.� Burress was quiet after his huge day last
week.� He grabbed 4 balls for a paltry
41 yards, and worse, dropped another and allowed still another to clang off his
hands & body for a critical INT on the 1st series of the 3Q.� El was pretty quiet throughout most of the
game, but then grabbed a few short curl passes in the 4Q.� He also threw a decent lob to Hines in the
EZ for a 2-pointer.� Mathis had a very
strong game, making some good, clutch grabs and holding on despite some good
hits.� B.�
TE:�
Bruener had 1 grab on a valve dump, for 8 yards.� The God of Blocking was so dominating and
impacting that the Stiller running game stunk and sputtered all day.� C.�
OL: The O-line got their collective
asses handed back to them by the Bitans.�
The O-line played like stone-footed oafs, while the Bitan front 7 ran
over, through, and between the O-linemen, which bottled up the ground game and
produced loads of pressure & harassment on Maddox.� Gandy and Simmons were both flagged for
false starts.� Hartings left the game
with a hobbled knee, making his start last week -- and his head coach -- look
all the more imbecilic and stone stupid.�
D.�
DL:�
The D-line was fairly soft and quiet.�
Smith had a pretty strong day, dumping runners, stuffing a QB sneak, and
harassing/hitting McNair twice to force harmless inc's.� But the rest of the crew was quiet and
feeble.� Kimo, just like last week, had
a good grab on George, but then was simply shrugged off on the late TD
run.� Bailey was unheard from, and
Hampton, aside from a couple jam-ups on running plays, did dick.� C+.�
LB:�
The LB crew had what was probably its worst collective game.� On paper, Gildon "led" with 5
solos and 3 assists.� Of course, nearly
every one of these was a cheesy stop after a short reception or a cheapo add-on
assist.� GilDong flopped and flailed
numerous times this game, whiffing miserably.�
And few things were more hilarious than Jason meeting McNair after a
scramble, and Jason totally and thoroughly unable to bring down McNair, who
simply bulled and carried GilDong like a toddler.� Or Gildon standing flatfooted in his little zone coverage, while
McNair dumps the ball in the flat to George, who easily gained 14 yards before Jason
Come Lately got a "solo tackle" on a push OOB.� Or, as noted above in the �big plays�, Jason
coming off a solo block by a backup RB and pathetically flailing and
whiffing on the sack attempt, allowing McNair to then complete a key 20-yard
pass.� Sure enough, because Jason got in
on some tackles -- cheesy and soft as they were -- and finally defended a pass
downfield, a good number of fans will fawn and claim "Jason was all over
the field today."� Fact is, Jason
stunk again today.� Bell, Porter, and
Farrior all had 4 solos.� Farrior had a
couple solid run stops before succumbing to a small knee injury that hobbled
him.� Porter wasn't lousy, but this was
obviously his worst game of the season.�
He flailed a few times, and took a stupid, boneheaded angle on Dyson's
TD pass, in which Porter had outside help, yet went too far outside and allowed
the inside cutback for the TD.� To his
credit, Porter�s motor was revving the whole game, and he took on some blockers
and rushed with ferocity.� John
Feel-all-a got a good bit of PT, ineffective as it was.� Few, if any, NFL ILBs get steamrolled by RBs
on line plunges as easily as John Feel-all-a.�
In all, this group wasn't nearly good enough.� C+.
DB:�
The secondary received its usual beatings, especially on 3rd downs.� There were some good plays, like some good
coverage by DW and Chad on deep stabs early on.� But Chad foolishly slowed down on the key bomb to McCareins.� Logan had a couple effective blitzes,
including a good bat on one blitz and a also grab of McNair that forced an inc.
on 4th & 2.� Brent actually broke up
a pass in the EZ, but on the whole, offered no more help than a barbell thrown
to a drowning man.� In all, too many
beatings and scorchings, although it is slightly tempered based on the good skill
of The Sons, Dyson and Mason.� C-.
Spec teams:�
Yawwn�..another day of barf and vomit from a Bill Cowher-coached special
teams.� Meat-eater Peterson missed FGs
of 31 and 37.� Not to be outdone, Josh
Miller punted like a bag of shit, shanking one late 1st half punt all of 25
yards and another 2nd half punt from the Steeler 25 all of 35 yards.� The coverage teams, both on KOs and punts,
stunk like elephant shit.� After the
72-yard TD strike, the illustrious KO team allowed a 47-yad return, and Pete
banged up his ribs making the tackle.�
Pete's first onsides KO sucked.�
As each game goes by, KO returner Lee Mayes more and more resemble the
last guy who wore 89, Will Jackwell, who was the master of The TipToe
and The EggShell Walk.� F.�
OC:�
Mularkey opened the game nicely with the PAP/bomb, but after that,
Mularkey was about as confused and confounded as Bill Cowher taking the
entrance exam for the 8th grade.�
Mularkey never was able to counter the Titans overly aggressive defense,
and then fell into wretched predictability.�
The Titans shot every gap possible and Mularkey never countered it.� The play that really hits home was the 3rd
& 10 late in the 2Q, in which Mularkey called for the ever-popular screen
pass to Amoz, and everyone in Nashville except Dolly Parton sniffed out the
screen and smothered the play accordingly.�
D+.�
DC:�
This number says it all:� Tenn,
12 of 19 on 3rd down conversions.� Yep, just
about a 66% failure rate by Timmy Lewis and his defense on 3rd down.� And these weren't all 3rd and inches and 3rd
& 1.� These failures included 3d
& 9; 3d &11; 3d & 10; 3d & 7; 3d & 8; and 3d & 9.� Here's one reason why the failure rate is so
high: on the 3d & 7, Lil' Townsend rushed the passer and Clark Haggans
covered Dyson, who easily grabbed the 1st down catch.� You'd think it would be better for Haggans to rush and DeShea to
cover, but Tiny Tim never has been known as a terribly bright bulb.� Tiny Tim got beaten by just about every
Titan except rookie 7th round WR Darrell Hill, whom I expected to trot off the
bench and snare a 27-yard grab on 3rd down and 22, but then he hurt his fibula.� (Then again, fractured fibula and all, Hill
might have still tormented this defense if given the chance.)� No sacks, no INTs, and little QB harassment
spells another 30-point give-up by Tiny Tim.�
Lewis has quite a bit of talent to work with, and it�s high time he extract
head from ass and get the glaring defensive problems resolved.� D-.�
HC:�
Cowher's team got the early lead, and then laid an egg the rest of the
way.� In slumbering thru this game in Nashville,
Cowher's team was grossly out-hit, out-hustled, and "out-wanted" by
the Titans.� Some will claim, "the
team is still exhausted from the OT game vs. Atlanta", but the obvious
answer to that, is that Billy Cowher FORCED the OT with gutless, chickenshit,
Shittenheimer football.�� How 'bout that
phantom TD by Eddie George, which Cowshit refused to challenge??� Cowher got burned last week with a dumbassed
challenge, and then this week, he's got a far better challenge -- one that can
refute a crushing TD -- and Cowher stands ossified on the sideline with his
head buried so deep up his ass that his headphones are strapped around his
buttcheeks.� The special teams continue
to be a FIASCO, and Dullardly Bill refuses to ADDRESS the problems and FIX
them.� How long will Cowshit allow
Peterson to sabotage the season?� Knowing
Billy Cowher�s head-in-the-sand management style, quite possibly until at least
January.� The lingering effects of
Cowher�s pathetic turtle job last week were clearly evident, and that�s
precisely what happens when you handcuff and collar aggressiveness in a sport
that demands aggressiveness.� D-.�
Synopsis:
�Sitting fat and happy just 8 days ago at 5-3,
the Stillers are now 5-4-1 and sitting on thin ice as the Ravens and Browns
eagerly pursue them for the division title.�
On top of that, the starting QB, Maddox, could be lost for extended
time.� Because of such a relatively
injury-free season last year, Cowher had a free ride through the NFL season in
'01.� Now, this season, he's faced with
injury to KenBell, Hartings, and now Maddox.�
Welcome to the NFL, Bill.� Next
week's home game versus Cinci is no longer a laugher; the Stillers must take
this game seriously and get back onto a winning track before this promising
season goes into a full-blown swoon.