Stillers 18, Vikes 3���. Dec 18, 2005 ����Game #14�
Stillers-Vikes Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers went way up north to Minneapolis and ran the Vikings' ship aground in
a solid all-around effort, cruising to a fairly easy 18-3 win.�
Grades:
QB:�
Benji wasn't spectacular, and in fact was, at times, downright spotty
and skittish.� He finished 10 of 15 for
149 yards and no INTs/no TDs, although he came dangerously close to a couple of
hideous picks.� The poor pass o' the day
award would probably go to the quail-like bomb Ben attempted to El in the 2Q,
which was woefully underthrown.� If his
thumb is what's causing this kind of woeful underthrow, opposing defenses will
hawk to that shortcoming like rice on roni.�
There was also a horrific throw across the body on a scramble deep in
Vike territory, which was dropped by DE Darrion Scott.� Ben also had a botched snap exchange with
Hartings on 3d & goal at the Minn 2 on the very first drive, which forced a
FG.� Benji slipped in a bizarre manner
while back in the pocket on the 2nd series, which helped cause a sack.� His TD run showed a good mix of pocket
presence, agility, and guts.�� Overall,
this was moderately acceptable QB play, but not the kind that will win a
playoff game against a solid opponent.�
B-.�
RB:�
Willie got the start and had a solid game, gaining 81 yards on just 14
carries.� The big play, of course, was
the 49-yard dash in the 3Q, which set up the FG that put the Stillers firmly ahead,
13-3.� Parker also had 2 grabs for 16
yards.� Bettis got some work in relief,
gaining a paltry 16 yards on 9 carries.�
The "Great God of Short Yardage" was toppled like a sapling on
a 3d & 2 in the 4Q for a 1-yard loss.�
�Big Jerome was also soft and
feeble in blitz pickup on 2 & G at the Minn 3, which forced Benji to run
for his life and nearly throw a horrible INT to a DE.� Haynesie saw a lot of work in garbage time, and churned out some
nice runs.� Duce Staley, the best
all-around RB on the roster, was fully healthy but not permitted to dress,
which must be horribly embarrassing to this veteran, in-his-prime player.� B+.�
FB: Kreider played some and did ok, more
so in the 2nd half.� The Vikes used a clever
tactic, whether intentional or not, of simply diving at Kreider's legs on a
couple plays, which upended Big Dan and obviously nullified his lead
block.� B-.
WR:�
For once, Ward did not lead the way for the WR corps today.� In fact, he was basically at the bottom of
the receiving heap, snaring 2 passes for a puny 11 yards.� (One catch was for 11 yards; the other for
zero.)� He also had a semi-drop on a 3d
& 4 pass that was thrown a bit behind him.�
El led the way, grabbing 2 passes for 48 yards, most of which was gained
off good RAC.� Wilson had 2 grabs for 16
yards, but the 1 catch was a key reception in the 3Q on a 3d & 12 that
gained the requisite 12 yards.� Morgan
had a good block on El's 28-yard catch-and-run.� Perhaps the concern is more so rooted with Ben's thumb, but I
worry about the extreme lack of verticality in this WR corps.� B+.��
TE:�
Miller opened the game fast & furiously, grabbing a pass for 8 yards
on the first play from scrimmage, and then, 2 plays later, grabbing a crosser
and eluding 2 tacklers, en route to a 50-yard gain.� He was thrown just 1 pass thereafter and was basically written
out of the playcalling.� He allowed some
leakage and penetration with his run blocking.�
There's absolutely no reason why this guy shouldn't catch, at a minimum,
4 passes per game.� His progress and
prowess as a receiver is probably the most pleasing aspect of this 2005
team.� A-.�
OL: A somewhat decent day, though far
from superb.� The pass pro wasn't all that
shabby; some of the sacks were coverage sacks or, on the 1 sack, Benji slipping
on bone-dry turf.� Essex got tooled
somewhat on this play, although, overall, his play was far superior to the
garbage we'd seen from him just a couple weeks ago.� Maxi Pad Starks, who nearly has the reach of Shaq O'Neal, inexplicably
alligator-armed his blocking on a 2Q sack.�
The plethora of penalties was the ugliest part of today's effort.� Right from the get-go, Simmons was flagged for
a hold on a running play.� On the next
play, Starks was whistled for a false start.�
Faneca had a false start in the 2Q; Simmons a false start in the 3Q; and
Essex was flagged for a hold (on a running play) in the 4Q.� Hartings was also flagged for a false start
on 4th & inches, but this seemed to be a bullshit call as the flag seemed
to be thrown for his ducking of his head, which he did twice on this play and
all centers do on virtually every play.�
Hartings, who was so solid last week, had some troubles with Big Pat
Williams.� Essex, as noted above, was
hardly dominant but mostly played acceptably.�
B-.�
DL:�
The D-line, which has been shabby and quiet most of the season, had a
very strong game today.� The holes in
the Viking ground game were kept to a bare minimum and the pocket containment (not
that Bad Johnson is any kind of scrambling threat) and pressure were
constant.� The work near their own goal
line was superb.� Kimo had a strip of
Bennett on the 1st series, but Benny recovered.� Hampton helped seal the win by blowing the center (Withrow) 2
yards off the LOS and then forcing Bennett to stutter wide and be dropped for a
safety.� Smitty had a solid effort, and
Keisel and Kirschke chipped in off the bench.�
Kimo had a foolish offsides.� Overall,
although the opposing O-line was rather mediocre, this was the D-line's best
showing in quite some time.� A.�
LB:�
The LB corps in the 3-4 defense is designed to make big plays, something
that we've not seen in weeks, if not months.�
Today, the LBers snapped out of their funk with their best all-around
effort of the season.� Leading the way,
strangely enough, was Larry SlowaFoote, who had a career game.� Foote showed agility, tackling technique,
even quickness -- pretty much all the things that he has rarely ever shown on
any given Sunday in his largely undistinguished career.� He helped polish off Bennett for the safety,
although, like a complete jackass, he had to whoop and taunt, which drew a
15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct flag.� Farrior
snapped out of a long funk with some solid run-stuffing.� Even Joey Porter got into the act, providing
some pass pressure and grabbing an easy INT off a dropped pass that clanged off
the pads of Koren Robinson.� Clark
Haggans had his usual steady, unspectacular-but-effective game, though he was
flagged for a late masking penalty and was also slow and timid on Bennett's
18-yard dash early in the game.� In all,
an impressive day for the LBs, something that we'd all been waiting for during
the past 13 weeks.�� A. �
DB:�
There was some spottiness and overt softness from time to time, but
overall the secondary had a solid day. �Ike
led the way with a bunch of bustups, including a near-TD catch by M. Rob in the
EZ off a short lob that Ike was able to rip away just a millisecond before any
ref would have signaled a TD.� He
allowed some deep outs on outrageously soft coverage, but overall had a good
afternoon.� He dropped an easy INT that would
have been 6 points late in the 4Q.� Pola
had an active day, though he was flagged for a very ticky-tack PI penalty.� �Townsend,
who was dinged up going into this game, played ok.� He dropped an easy INT early in the 2Q, but later in the quarter,
picked off a quail in the EZ.� McFadden
saw a fair amount of PT.� As usual,
Chris Hope was all but invisible.� The overall
grade would probably be higher if the caliber of the opposing QB were a bit
higher than a sorry SOB like Bad Johnson.�
A-.�
Spec
teams:� Some good, some bad.� El did his usual, ineffective reverse pivot
on the first couple punt returns, gaining next to nothing.� He finally decided to take the ball
north-south, and 72 yards later, he set up the Stillers at the Minn 14 for
their lone TD drive.� The Stillers
recovered a 3Q KO after an intentionally high, short spinner was muffed by the
Dykings.� Kimo blocked a FG, although
Edinger's boot was so pitifully low that any 5-foot tall human could have stood
flatfooted and reached a paw up and blocked it.� Gardicki had a rare, good day booting the ball, both in distance
as well as landing the ball inside the 5.�
On the down side, the coverage was spotty and the spec teams were hit with
a couple yellow flags.� The first two Stiller
punts were returned 17 & 18 yards by the Vikes.� The 2H KO was returned 43 yards by Da Dykes.� Randle El allowed a punt to hit him after he
peeled off from his FC signal; while attempting to block a Vike, he got shoved
onto the ground and the ball hit his noggin, thereby resulting in a costly
turnover deep in Stiller territory.� Stuvaints
was flagged for an illegal block on a PR, although a Minn penalty nullified
that flag.� But on the re-punt, Logan
was flagged for a hold, which negated El's 21-yard return. ��B.� �
OC:�
Cheezenhunt had the right idea, exploiting Miller early on the opening
drive, good for 2 grabs for 58 yards.�
It worked so well that it displeased Cheezenhunt to the point that aside
from 1 other short passing attempt, he refused to get the ball to Miller the
entire remainder of the game.� Cheeze
can't use the "Miller had to stay in and block" excuse, either, because
Essex was playing much better today, as noted above.� The use of the SG on 3rd & 2 -- twice, no less -- is as annoying
as it is maddening.� There should also
be some concern that the lone TD drive was all of 14 yards, so it's not like
this offense was a juggernaut against a very average Dyking defense.� �I
suppose Cheezenhunt deserves enormous props for going with a silent count,
something he did not do in the game in Indy's RCA Dome.� Silent count for an NFL team playing inside
an enemy dome�.?�� Gee, what a revolutionary
idea!!� �B-.�
DC:�
LeBeau played a lot of vanilla in the 1H, which helped keep the Dykes in
the game.� He turned up the heat in the
2H -- even using a rare CB blitz -- which forced a load of erratic passes and
throwaways.� Beware, though; come
playoff time, he'll face offenses that are, oh, about 12 times better than the
sorry offense he faced today.� B.�
HC:� Cowhard had
his team focused and moderately fired up, although the plethora of foolish penalties
is disturbing and absolutely must be whittled down.� The spottiness on STs is still a nagging concern, despite El's
72-yard PR jaunt.� It would seem fair to
also bestow adulation on Cowhard for going with the silent count on offense;
one can only wonder why the imbecile didn't do this 3 weeks ago in Indy.� B+.�
Synopsis:�
Obviously, this late in the season and with a wild card berth in
question, this was a must-win game and the team responded with the similar desperation
as last week's win over Chico.� Although
getting the W is great, it has to be kept in perspective, given the overt
mediocrity of the opponent.� Is the
defense rounding into form, or was it simply the case of feasting on the laughable
likes of Bad Johnson and Michael Bennett, after last week's feasting of Kyle
Orton?� My analysis tells me it's the
latter.� Two more sub par opponents remain
-- Clev and Detroit -- although the Browns will be fired up to spoil the Stillers'
playoff hopes and Crenell has them playing some hard-nosed, respectable
football.� I expect a tooth n' nail
dogfight (no pun intended) up at the Dawg Pound next Saturday.�