Jets 6, Stillers 0 ���. Dec. 14, 2003 ����Game #14
Stillers-Jets Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The Stillers
finally accomplished what the rest of us already had concluded -- an end to the
misery known as the 2003 season.� They traveled
to New York, fresh off the beating of the lowly Raidas, and succumbed to a very
average Jets team, 6-0.�
Grades:
QB:�
The best news, as far as New York security officials were concerned, is
that no duck hunters were allowed to roam inside, or around, the stadium.� For safety's sake, this was a Godsend,
because Mommy Maddox was tossing wounded quails and wobbly ducks the entire
game.� Sure, the snow and cold made it
difficult, but Pennington didn't have half the problems that Maddox did.� The tone seemed to be set early on, when The
Madd Ox missed an open Ward on 3rd down from the NY 27, and the Stillers had to
settle for a FG try.� Maddox also threw
a hideous INT in the end zone early in the 4Q, but a NY roughing-the-passer
flag negated this horrible turnover.� Maddox
finished with a pitiful 3.6 yards per attempt, which is a disgrace.� In sum, when the Jets sat back and gave
Mommy time, he completed some passes and moved the ball.� When the Jets blitzed, Maddox was harried
and woefully inaccurate.� �Mommy's agent, Vann McElroy, will probably
try to accidentally forget this game if and when he tries to bamboozle Colbert
and Rooney into a new contract for The Mommy.�
D.�
RB:�
The Tubby Tailback gained some productive yardage in limited work, carrying
just 16 times for 68 yards and a 4.3 YPC.�
Bettis was nicked up in the 3Q and sat out for a bit of time, which shrunk
his workload, but it was puzzling that he wasn't fed the pill more often.� Amoz, as can be expected for his style in such
ugly weather, did little, rushing 7 times for 24 yards and grabbing 2 passes
for 10.� This game featured the man who
has been the AFC's best all-around back the past 8 years, and his name is
Curtis Martin.� Hopefully fans saw what
a true, all-around back looks like.� All
Martin did was rush for 174 yards and add 54 yards in receiving on 4 catches,
including a 29-yard reception.� B-.�
FB: Kreider was credited with one carry
(a lateral pass), good for 2 yards.� He
helped bust open some good holes for Bettis.�
On the down side, he was flagged for a false start.� B.
WR:�
Ward again led the way with 5 grabs for 68 yards.� However, he dropped a pass in the 3Q, and
dropped a tough opportunity in the EZ on 3rd down early in the 4Q.� Plex had 2 grabs for 22 yards, and he also
had his weekly false start penalty.�
Doering had 1 for 8, and never-used Lee Mays (remember him?) had 1 grab
for 8.� After a career game last week,
Randle El was allowed to touch the ball on offense only twice the entire game.� C.�
TE:�
Not much new here�.no productivity from the Stiller TE spot.� C.�
OL: The O-line played a generally
adequate game.� Simmons had a false
start for the line's only flag.� Ross
was tooled a few times for some pass pressure, but overall, aside from heavy
blitzes, Maddox had decent time.� Vincent
continues to get PT at LG, and it makes sense to consider this man as a
starting LG next year if the team wishes to keep Faneca at LT.�� B.�
DL:�
The D-line was ok at times, but got gashed by Martin too much and too
often.� Unsettling was the ability of
the Jets' guards to get off the LOS and get into the 2nd level at our LBs.� Smith played a very strong game, to include
a nice sniff and snuff of Martin on a screen pass late in the 2Q.� C+.�
LB:�
KenBell and James Farrior led the way with gutty efforts, although they,
too, allowed Martin too much yardage.� Bell
led all players with 9 solos.� The OLBs
were far too quiet.� And not only was
Jason quiet, but he also bit on every play-action rollout like a complete
simpleton.� C+
DB:�
The secondary actually played an acceptable game.� Sure, Moss was wide open downfield in the
2Q, but fell down.� On this play, DeShea
jumped up and then -- surprise, surprise -- had no deep help from the
safeties.� Speaking of DeShea, the
little man had a big game.� He busted up
3 passes and provided solid, sound coverage all game long.� I have long trumpeted DeShea's coverage ability
-- for at least 4 years now -- and he's shown the past several weeks that he
is, by far, the best coverage-corner on this roster right now.� DeWayne chipped in some, but was also
flagged for his regular PI penalty.� Troy
Pola, Hope, and Ike saw some PT, although not nearly enough.� B+.
Spec
teams:� Jeff Reed continued his downward spiral with
2 misses today, from 43 and then 20.�
The 20-yarder was an inexcusable miss, and considering that opposing
kicker Doug Brien booted FGs of 28 and 41 yards, I'm not one to shed tears for
Reed's missed boots.� Josh continued his
wallow of mediocrity with yet another day of average, mediocre punting.� The coverage teams were surprisingly
stout.� D.�
OC:�
Mularkey really has fallen off the deep end.� Amidst the bitter depths of a snowy blizzard, with his burly RB
gaining over 4 yards per carry, Mularkey has the diabolical cleverness to put
the ball up 38 times in a game in which he never trailed by more
than 6 points.� Given the luxury of 1st
and goal from the 3, and 1st and 10 at the NY 17, Mularkey was thoroughly
incapable of finding the EZ.� D.�
DC:�
Tiny Tim had to figure that the Jets would attempt to pound the
ball on the ground quite a bit amidst all the snow.� What did Tiny Tim do to counter that?� Why, absolutely nothing.�
Martin gashed the Stillers on 30 carries for a healthy 5.8 yards/rush,
while Lewis watched ossified from the box.�
C-.�
HC:� Billy Cowher
got what he asked for: yet another loss by his supreme veterans -- "they
give us the best chance to win" -- while youngsters sat and rot.� It's a sad indictment of the head coach when
a team goes 14 games thru a season and has yet to win 2 successive games.� D-.�
Synopsis:�
As Dandy Don Meredith would say in song, "Turn out the lights, the
party's over".� What was a foregone
conclusion several weeks ago has now been numerically accomplished.� There's no more bullshit needed about
"We still have a chance", blah blah blah.� Now is the time to get long looks at Troy Pola, Chris Hope, Ike Taylor,
Dante Brown, Lee Mays, Chuck Okobi, and Zo Jackson.� Even Batch deserves some PT, just to determine his future.� Don't hold your breath, though.� Given similar opportunities in 1998, '99,
and '00, Billy Cowher literally fought it off as though he'd catch the bubonic
plague if he allowed youngsters to play.�