Stillers 33, Cinci 20 ... Dec 13, 2015…………Game # 13
Stillers-Bungals Postgame Analysis and Grades
The Stillers visited the 1st placed Bungals, hoping to at least keep pace in the wild card chase. Aided largely by in-game injuries to the Cinci starting QB and TE, the Stillers clawed their way to a 33-20 win to improve to 8-5.
QB: Wasted a TO, first series, with far too much adjustment-making and time-wasting. Wasted another TO later in the half. Had a solid 1H, going 20 of 27 for 190, with the Bryant TD drop hampering the stats. Brilliant flip-pitch to Miller while nearly in the grasp, late 3Q. Nearly threw a foolish, forced INT near the goal line, late 3Q. Threw a deepish lollipop lob, well underthrown, to Bryant that was INT’d at the Cinci 4, 4Q. Fortunately, the DB rolled OOB, so, although it would have been nice to continue the drive and chew some more clock, that was similar to a good pooch punt. Solid game, going 30 of 39 for 282. The nagging stall-outs in the RZ are def a concern. B+
RB:
DeAngelo – slick TD run, opening series. Big run on a draw play, 2Q. Good TD run, late 4Q. Gained 76 yards on 23 rushes and added two grabs. B+
Toussaint – No carries.
FB:
Nix – Saw a goodly amount of snaps and had some solid blocks.
Will Johnson – no noticeable PT on offense.
WR:
Brownie – clutch 3D grab and RAC, 3Q. Had 7 grabs for 87. B
Pinkie Wheaton – hauled in deep lob, first series. Had 4 grabs for 65. B
Bryant – failed to haul in a well-thrown TD lob in the end zone, 2Q. Has wretched technique in terms of catching a football. Good RAC, late 2Q. 7 grabs for 49. B-
Heyward-Bey – no grabs.
TE:
Miller – 2 grabs, opening drive. Clutch 3D grab of high pass, 2d series. Good block for Bry on WR screen, late 2Q. Then made a superb diving catch on the next play. Finished with 10 grabs for 66. Dude loves to play Cinci. A-
Jesse James –not involved at all in the passing game.
OL:
Villenueva – got nicked up, 5:00 2Q. Chris Hubbard came on in relief. Fortunately, Villie returned to action. Solid game. A-
Foster – adequate play.
Wallace – See Foster.
DeCastro – pretty solid game.
Gilbert – Fat Marcus got totally abused and humiliated on a speed rush on a key 3rd down play, 3Q. A completely sorry, wretched effort. C
DE:
Heyward – batted a pass, 3Q. Good stop and slam of Bernard on a short run, 3Q. Stellar 1-handed grab and stop of GayJay McQueernan on 3d & goal, 4Q. A
Tuitt – big INT, opening series, near his 5 yard line. Excellent read and reaction. Hell, I just realized that this big fellow reads and reacts 4 times better than the big he-man, Mike Mitchell. In addition to the key INT, Tuitt’s knee injured Smallton’s thumb on the tackle attempt by the Cinci QB, which removed Smallton from the game and shelved the QB for the season. A
McLendon – Got blasted into by Allen, which knocked him from the game for a while. Inc
Fat Cam – fortunately, rarely played.
LB:
Timmons – good tackle of ground play, late 2Q. Far too slow in chasing down Bernard after a 2d & 10 dumpoff from the Cinci 4, 4Q, which allowed Cinci to move the chains. Not great, but an adequate game. B-
Shaquier – excellent chase down of Sanu on WR screen, late 2Q, thereby forcing a punt. Crushing block on an O-lineman on Golden’s INT return. Adequate game. B
Harrison – stuffed a run, 2Q. His pressure forced the hasty pass that was pick-6’d by Gay. Had some other pressures, and drew a key holding flag late in the 4Q.
Jones – JarStiff blew up ground play, 1st series. Stunning that a guy can get this much PT and not show up on the score sheet. B-
Dupree – Got nicked up in the 2H and had to bow out.
Vinnie W. – saw some PT.
Spence – saw a few snaps.
DB
Will Allen – flagged for PI, 2d qtr. Came in untouched on the QB and stupidly whiffed, and then smacked right into McLendon’s gut, injuring both men. What a moh-ron. Had 5 solos.
Mitchell – continues to un-impress. Woefully slow to recognize and react to deep slant, first series, and then added insult with moronic personal foul for a blow to a defenseless receiver. A few plays later, he lamely whiffed on a weak-assed tackle attempt of Eifert. Feebly whiffed on a Bernard run, 2Q. On the very next play, he pawed at AJ Green as though Green had leprosy, and was easily shrugged off, allowing Green to walk into the EZ. A dogshit play by a dogshit player. Was woefully slow, and LATE, on a deep lob to AJ Green in the 3Q that should have been a TD, but the rookie QB threw too late and off-target. This guy sucks…..completely. D-
Golden – huge INT on a poor throw, 5:20 4Q.
Gay – good tackle of Green, late 2Q. Read and snagged a WR screen for a pick 6, early 3Q. Stupidly drew an excessive celebration flag after the TD. A-
Blake – immediately picked on for a 1st down completion, first play of game for Cinci. Tooled badly on a stop and go for a long TD, 2Q. Continues to get torched all over the field. D-
Sharko Thomas – Not permitted to play on D, because, as you know, Allen is such a studly safety and this secondary is just so dominant. I guess he might get some PT in 2017. Inc
Boykin – good stop of Jones short of the sticks, 3Q. Had 3 solos. Hey, I just realized….despite Dumblin’s vivid fears, the entire world did not end because Boykin got meaningful PT. B
Cockrell – got tooled some here and there.
Spec teams:
Berry – excellent pooch punt, late 2Q, downed at the 2 yard line. Punted well on 2 punts. A
Boswell – Booted 3 FGs in the 1H. Booted 1 more in the 2H. Well done. A+
AB – ran backwards and lost a yard on a punt return, 3Q.
Wheaton – meekly ran EAST WEST on a 3Q KO, returning it allll the way to….the 19 yard line.
Vinnie W – good solo tackle on KO coverage, early 3Q.
OC: Still too much cutesy bullshit inside the RZ. The stall-outs have become epic.
End around to Bryant, 3Q. Hated it. The gangly legged Bryant has no cutting ability and is not the ideal runner on this type of play. I realize AB is being keyed upon, but this is a play where Wheaton would be the better choice. B-
DC:
In a LeBeau-like manner, Assler received more gifts today than the 5-year old, who has rich parents, on Christmas morning. Candy Smallton left the game in the 2Q, and Eifert went to the locker room, 12:48 2Q. Just like that, the starting QB and star TE, gone. Still, Assler had boatloads of problems and struggled like a banshee to hold off a rookie, greenhorned QB.
3d & 10, opening series, and a screen to Eifert gained an easy 23.
3d & 9, early 3Q, with Cinci reeling after the Pick 6. Easy pitch n catch from AJ to AJ – the most OBVIOUS target with Eifert out of the game -- for 18 yards. A few plays later, on 2d & 18, another 1st down is easily grabbed by, who else? AJ Green, for 21 yards. Meanwhile, Assler just stood by, with head and thumb up ass.
Cinci drove 71 yards on a 10 play FG drive, cutting the lead to 13 in the 4Q. You have a rookie greenhorn at QB, GayJay McQueerman, and Assler is struggling like a little beeyotch. C
HC: Mike Dumblin oversaw a rash of shoddy, poor discipline, with 4 personal fouls and a silly, needless PI in the 1H alone. Then Gay added to the silliness in the 3Q, with an excessive celebration flag after his pick 6. It was good to see some rare road intensity from this club, but this kind of poor discipline will doom a team come playoff time. B
Synopsis: A good road win, helped immensely by the key injuries. Next up, a home game versus Denver, which lost to Oakland. The Stillers have won 2 games in a row, which means they are completely ready for yet another egg lay.
(Still Mill and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Stillers, no one else comes close….)
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