Stillers 27, Eagles 3 ���. Nov. 7th, 2004 ����Game #8
Stillers-Eagles Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The
undefeated Iggles traversed the rocky roads of Pennsylvania to visit
Pittsburgh, and were rudely shown what Pittsburgh hospitality -- football style
-- is all about.� The Iggles were
bludgeoned and pummeled en route to a 27-3 Stiller victory that was as
deliberate and thorough an assbeating as you'll see in the parity-driven
NFL.� In every phase of the game, the
Iggles were grossly outclassed and outperformed by a Stiller team revving on
all cylinders.�
Grades:
QB:�
Roth wasn't on fire in this game, per se, but he made numerous big plays
that kept drives alive and/or resulted in scores.� He kept the first drive alive with a good 16-yard scramble on 3d
& 13.� On the next drive, facing
another 3d & 13, Roth rolled from pressure to his left, and then threw
across his body to Haynes for a terrific 18-yard gainer.� He showed good poise on the bootleg and TD
pass to Jay Riem.� Then there's the deft
touch that Roth displayed today, which is touch that is years beyond what a
rookie should be able to have.� He sold
the play well on the 2Q screen to Haynes, and then had a velvet touch on the
screen pass, good for 26 yards.� He also
showed nice touch on the late completion to Cushing, and good touch on a seamer
to Plex in the 3Q that should have gone for a long touchdown.� Ben did thrown an INT, but it was on a bomb
to Plex that was a wee bit long and Plex appeared to slip just a bit.� Roth may have forced this one a lil', but an
INT on a long bomb isn't much different from a punt. And this kind of turnover
rarely kills a team. Roth also turned the ball over on a fumble, on a gimpy
looking play in which Cushing's foot appeared to hit Roth's, and the draw HO to
Bettis never materialized.� All in all,
when you compare the matchup of these 2 star QBs, Ben Roth threw the ball
better, scrambled better, and led his offense better.� A-.��
RB:�
With Staley out with a hamstring injury, The Tubby Tailback, Jerome
Bettis, was given the start.� This was
like allowing the fox to pillage the henhouse, as Bettis rumbled all over the
softee Philly defense for 149 yards on 33 carries.� His tiptoeing on 3d & 1 on the 1st drive, which was stuffed
for no gain, enraged me, but after that Bettis contributed loads of yardage,
albeit most of them through gaping holes.�
I was actually impressed with Bettis' sharp, adroit cut on a stretch
play to the right on the opening play of the 2Q, which netted 8 yards.� I hadn't seen The Doughboy cut that quickly
since I saw him at a Giant Eagle last year swooping in on the last tray of
donuts.� Overall, Bettis, who always
looks sharp in November (but dull in January) looked sharp today.� Verron Haynes had a very strong effort
today, both running the ball and catching the ball.� He carries 12 times for 51 yards, and showed some good instincts
and reading.� Both receptions were good
efforts by Haynesie.� He made a nice
catch for 18 yards on 3d & 13, and then showed good reading and cutting on
the 26-yard screen.� He also had a nice
read and a strong hole-hit on the late 4Q 3d & 2, which gained 3.� Willie Parker got some work late in the
game, and showed his speed with a nifty 10-yard gain around the right end.� A.�
FB: Dan Kreider opened the game with a nice
12-yard catch & run.� He had a
semi-drop on the 2d series, although the pass may have been thrown to Jay
Riem.� He chipped in with many a block,
but then left with a hip injury and his status is unknown.� B+.��
WR:�
Burress and Ward each gave the Iggle defense Excedrin headaches.� Ward ran for a score on an end around, and
also caught a short pass and took it to the end zone for a 20-yard TD pass
reception.� Burress helped spring Ward
on the 1Q Ward TD run, and had a nice pluck on 3d & 5 for 11 yards on the
1st drive of the 3Q.� Three plays later,
he had another nice pluck on a seamer and was off to the races.� Unfortunately, just when you think Burress
-- who has caught most everything the past 3 games -- might have turned the
corner of maturity, he had to revert back to his juvenilish manners, and with
nothing but open field ahead of him, he one-handed the ball and was getting
ready to taunt and pimp en route to a long 68-yard TD.� His hip jarred the ball loose, and luckily
Plex was able to recover. �A real
boneheaded, juvenilish stunt by Jaxico.�
El had only 1 grab, good for a paltry 6 yards.� A-.
TE:�
The stats won't show it, but this was an outstanding game for the
Stiller TEs.� Tuman helped establish the
running game early & often, including a very nice backside seal that gave
Bettis a huge hole on a 9-yard gain.�
I've said it earlier this season, and it's worth mentioning again --
Tuman's blocking has improved exponentially this season.� He did drop a fairly tough try on 3d & 5
in the 1Q, although defensive offsides gave us the 1st D.� Jay Riem caught a critical 2-yard TD pass,
in which he craftily stopped his pattern and left LB J. Trotter slippin' and
slidin' while Riem gathered in the TD pass.�
Riemersma's craftiness in the red zone is his BEST attribute, and
finally, in his 24th game as a Stiller, that savvy craftiness is used for the
good.� Riem also mauled Trotter late in
the game on a routine plunge, which is always nice to see.� In all, this was a game that is as good as
it gets for the TE crew in the Stiller offense.� A+.�
OL: For the 2nd week in a row, the
O-line simply dominated the line of scrimmage.�
Words cannot describe the manhandling.�
Even when the Stillers ran plunges that appeared to be for meager
yardage, they were still getting 3 or 4 yards.�
The holes on many a running plays were large enough to accommodate a
John Deere tractor.� Oliver Ross
deserves accolades for shutting down Jevon Kearse.� Ross did get tooled badly to the inside by Kearse late in the 1Q,
which prohibited BenRoth from stepping into a bomb to Plex.� That play aside, Kearse was as quiet as a
church mouse the entire afternoon.�
Faneca allowed a sack when he foolishly double teamed a rusher with
Hartings and left his LG spot wide open for the easy sack, but otherwise Faneca
was strong.� He and Hartings sprung
Haynes on the 26-yard screen.� Smitty
was effective at LT, and Max Starks got some work.� Key Vincent had some solid run blocks, but struggled some in the
passing game.� He was thoroughly abused
by Rayburn on the sack in the 2Q, and then on the Roth INT, was blasted
backwards onto his ass.� Not good.� In all, this O-line deserves a cold keg of
Iron City for a job well done.� A+.�
DL:�
Leading the way was Aaron Smith, who had a very, very strong game.� The stat sheet doesn't show it, of course,
but that's the nature of defensive football, which just doesn't lend itself to
stats in raw isolation.� Time and time
again, Smitty helped seal the hole or string out a running play, and he applied
heat on the QB on multiple occasions.�
In fact, his hit of McNab caused a 3Q incompletion.� Kimo was totally held off the stat sheet,
but contributed quite well, fighting off the solid Tra Thomas very
capably.� Hoke held his own at NT,
although the Iggles never remotely tried to establish the run.� Kirschke provided relief.� A.
LB:�
James Farrior, the defensive captain, had a couple big plays to lead the
defense.� He made a sterling open-field
stop of Westbrook on a 3d & 2 flare pass late in the 2Q, which resulted in
a 4-yard loss.� Compare the intensity,
and the tackling technique, between Farrior and the defensive captain from the
past 2 seasons, and it's quite easy to see why this defense is playing so tough
and so effectively.� Farrior also had
the huge INT and the 41-yard INT return.�
As the Winged God of LB Pass Coverage, he was tooled rather badly by
Chad Lewis on the 21-yard flag route in the 3Q, but overall, Farrior has been
superb.� Clark Haggans also chipped
in.� He showed good quickness and
instinct on the 4Q sack of McNab, which actually was a strip, but McNab managed
to corral the ball with his other hand.�
Haggans also helped string out several wide running plays, warding off
the blocker and keeping good spacing in regard to the ball and the
sideline.� A perfect example of this was
the 2d play of the 3Q, in which Haggans fought off a blocker and helped Smith
string a running play, which was stopped for a 1-yard loss.� Haggans also had heavy pressure, along with
Hoke, which induced the hideous INT thrown by McNab.� Foote came in untouched for an easy sack, his only tackle of the
game.� Kendrell Bell finally saw his 1st
action of the season, and hardly seemed rusty.�
He bowled over some blockers, and had a big 3-yard stuff on a 2H ground
play.� Bell fully appears healthy, and
I'm convinced enough that this man needs to start next week.� Foote filled in admirably and adequately,
but Bell is ready to answer the bell.�
Joey Porter had just 2 assists, but was far more active than those stats
would indicate.� B+.�
DB:�
The secondary had the luxury, for the 2nd week in a row, of sitting on a
fat lead, and they played fairly well.�
Troy Pola established the hitting, drilling T.O. on 3 occasions after
short receptions.� These kind of
punishing hits are something that was sorely missing the past 4 seasons.� So, too, was the speed to limit RAC yardage,
and when you review this game on tape, you'll see how little RAC the Iggle
receiving corps had.� Wee Willie
Williams hung in there with an acceptable day, although any fawning over Wee
Willie is foolishly premature.� In fact,
he was beaten by Pinkston on the 4Q bomb, but the ball was thrown a wee bit too
much to the outside, and Pinkston simply failed to haul in what was a very
catchable ball.�� Hope and Townsend were
solid, and Ike and Colclough saw some package work.� B+.�
Spec
teams:� Although not a fiasco, this was probably the
weakest aspect of today's game.� Reed
missed an easy 33-yard FG, and also kicked one KO OOB, and another shallow KO
went only to the 12 and was returned for big yardage.� The KO coverage was poor on the final KO, allowing a return of 45
yards.� Aaron Smith committed a foolish
false start on a PAT after the 2nd TD.�
El did nothing on PRs.� In fact,
the lone bright spot was Verron Haynes, who smartly picked up a Phil punt that
was rolling backwards and gained 5 yards on a heady play.� The offensive domination was such that Chris
Gardocki did not punt.� B-.�
OC:�
WiseHunt had a pretty good day.�
He opened the game with a PAP dump to a wide-open Kreider, good for 12
yards.� I really liked the playcall
after the Philly injury TO on 3d & 4 on the 2nd drive, which put Ward in
motion for the short out, which Ward turned into a 20-yard TD.� Hunt kept the tempo up and attacked the soft
underbelly of the Philly defensive front 7, which resulted in 140 rushing yards
in the 1H alone.� The lone sour note was
the 3d & 8 play late in the 3Q at the Phil 25.� Hunt had lined up Haynes and El as boxcars in the SG, forcing
Philly to call a timeout due to the concern over El.� After the TO, Hunt came out with the same alignment, and then ran
a fake pitch to El, and a flare lob back to Haynes that was incomplete.� This play was as gimpy as the phys ed class
at a special ed middle school, and with the Stillers up 21-3 and well within
chipshot FG range, they needn't have run such a gimpyassed, naked throwback
flare that could have quite easily been picked off and returned for 6
points.� I have no problem passing in
this situation, but I want some sort of downfield pass -- not a cutsey, naked
throwback floater that could be picked off and sliced a 21-3 lead to
21-10.� To his credit, Hunt pulled his
head from his ass and, when faced with a later 3d & 7 in the 4Q, used a
similar formation and called for a direct snap to El, who ran around right end
for 12 yards.� Two nice stats for
WiseHunt: no punts, and a TOP of 41:49.�
The long drives chewed up enormous amounts of time, which kept the
dangerous Philly offense off the field.�
A-.��
DC:�
Like last week, LeBeau was given the comfy lead, and like last week,
facing a team with no running game, LeBeau was able to pin back the ears of his
defense and attack the passer.� He kept
the Iggles off balance with a variety of blitzes.� With Philly going 0-8 on 3D, that's some nice work.� And shutting down a talented offense like
Philly's to just 3 points is a most impressive feat.�� A.�
HC:� Billy
Cowher, who thrives during regular season football, had his troops ready and
fired up, as they put the whuppin' on the Eagles early and often.� A.�
Synopsis:�
Two consecutive weeks of an undefeated opponent, two complete
assbeatings!!�� The Stillers!� The final score of the game just doesn't tell
the full story of the asswhipping administered today by the Stillers over the
Iggles.� The Men in Black proudly stand
atop the NFL!� Of course, let's keep
some perspective here.� Championships
are won in January, not November.� The
time to peak and play at max effectiveness is after New Year's Day, not weeks
before Christmas.� It's nice to beat up
on the 2 supposed kingpins in the league, but there's an awful lot of football
to be played.� Opponents will start to
adjust.� Stiller injuries could
mount.� And, of course, no one does less
in January than Billy Cowher, who loves to wrestle with the apple in his throat
come the beginning of the new year.� At
any rate, enjoy the current ride!� 7-1
and atop the NFL!!�� Here we go,
Stillers�here we go!!�