Ravens 22, Stillers 20….Nov 28, 2013….Game # 12
Stillers-Ravens Postgame Analysis & Grades
The Stillers waddled about and played grabass the entire 1H, and went into the locker room down 10-0. The 2H wasn’t much better, but they clawed back and made it a 2-point game late in regulation. But Manny Sanders – the big preener and prancer himself – dropped a cake-easy pass in the EZ on a 2-point try that would have tied the game.
QB:
Scrambled 8 yards for a 1D in the 2, although he looked slower than Jamain Stephens while doing so. Deft scramble and lob to Sandy for a key TD, mid 3Q, to make it a 13-7 game.
Rotten pass on 3d & 2, late 3Q, which was way too far and fell inc. Another rotten pass to an open Sanders in the EZ, 4Q. on the next play, he lollipopped a weak-assed lob to a WIDE open Bell that was tipped at the last second. Superb pass to Miller late 4Q that was nearly a TD. Ben finished 28 of 44 for 257 ad 2 TDs, with no INTs or fumbles. He was also victimized by numerous drops, including 3 by Pansie Sanders. B-
RB:
Jones: played only sparingly. Inc
Bell: good squirting run of 4, late 1Q. Big run, 3d & 2 in the 2Q, gaining 43 yards. Huge RAC on 2d & 24 late in the 4Q, gaining about 28 and a key 1D. Strong power run to bowl into the EZ for what appeared to be a late TD, his helmet flying off in the process and Bell remaining prone on the field, a bit woozy for his efforts. Thanks to a riduclously bullshit NFL rule, Bell got no continuation on the play, and was ruled down short of the GL. He finished with 73 yards on 16 carries, plus 7 grabs. B+
Dwyer: played sparingly and never touched the pig. Inc.
FB: Will Johnson dropped a pass at the GL with about a minute left in the game. Very poor. C-
WR:
Brown: strong RAC to get the 1D, 2d series. Nice effort. Midjudged a deep ball, late 1Q, which fell inc. Had 5 grabs for a piddly 59 yards in his poorest game of the season. C+
Sanders: dropped a deep lob, 1Q, and was injured in the process. Good 3D grab, 2Q, for the 1st down. Dropped a TD that hit him in the CHEST in the EZ, although there was a PIT flag on the play. Dropped a baby-soft, cake-EASY pass on the 2-pointer that hit him IN THE HANDS, which would have tied the game at 1:03 4Q. Surprised I didn’t see him preening and prancing after that embarrassing drop. D-
Cotch: snagged a semi-shovel pass, 1Q, and plowed ahead for the 1D on 3rd down. Good block on Bell’s short TD run, 4Q. Clutch TD grab, late 4Q. The things Sanders could learn from Cotch… B+
Wheaton: never once targeted all nite long. Inc.
TE:
Miller: good grab and gainer to start the first drive of the 3Q. Clutch grab near the GL, late 4Q. Led the way with 8 grabs for 86 yards. B+
OL:
Adams: totally tooled to the inside by Dumerville on a PAP, 2Q, which forced a hasty, errant pass. Beacham got hurt, late 4Q, and Puffer had to replace him. Flagged for a stupid-assed masking penalty, late 4Q. Got injured on the pass to Miller near the GL. C
Beacham: gamely battled Suggs, and at times, Dumerville. Got injured late in the 4Q. B
Foster: Played adequately. Not great, but at his small salary, he’s providing very good value. B
Velasco: played solidly, but then got his leg rolled up by Ngata late in the game. We’ll all be holding our breath on if he can play in 10 days. B
DeCastro: abused by Ngata by swim move, first play of game. Very poor. Flagged for false start, 2Q. B-
Gilbert: Good down block on Bell’s short TD run, 4Q. Didn’t get totally abused the way he was early in the season. B
Whimper: Had to replace Adams late in regulation.
Cody Wallace: had to replace Velasco late in the game, stone cold, and did well. B+
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DL:
Keisel: played some, before bowing out and sitting the final 3 quarters. Inc
Woods: buried on a 9-yard run by Rice, 3Q. Doesn’t seem to be much more than a warm body. C
McLendon: did not dress, due to last week’s injury.
Hood: good read and stop of screen, late 2Q. Was fairly active and had 3 solos and 3 As, which is probably a career high. B-
Heyward: Had 2 solos and 5 As in a solid effort. Is really establishing himself as a legit starting DE. B
LB:
Timmons: good stuff of Rice on delayed run, late 2Q. Good lick on Rice after short dumpoff, 5:00 3Q. Actually, in this sequence after the big KO return and a 16-yard pass, Timmy made 3 straight tackles. Had 5 solos and 3 As, and was playing sideline to sideline. B
Worilds: abused Rice and dropped Jacco for a sack on 2d & goal at the 1. Strong play. Abused Ohrer and got a strip-sack and FF, late 2Q, although Balt recovered the ball. Finished with 6 solos, 4 assists, 2 sacks, and a FF in an effort 3 times better than anything from Big LaMarr at a salary that is about 15% of LaMarr’s largesse. A
V. Williams: Did next to nothing. Granted, he was subbed out in package D’s, but this guy is little more than an oxygen thief. Inc
Jones: Displayed his true 4.9 speed when he loped and lumbered after a scrambling Jacco in the 1H, looking slower than Jerry Olsavsky after the 2nd of his two knee surgeries. Despite never leaving the field, finished with a whopping 1 solo and 1 assist. Far, far too little out of this position in this defense. C-
Woodley: Once again, the $61M He-Man sat out with a sore vagina, er, calf. F-
DB:
Ike: totally tooled and abused by Smith on a 3d & goal TD pass, first series. Flagged for a PI on a deep ball, 2Q. A couple plays later, he busted up a lob in the EZ. In the 3Q, he got a fingertip on a pass in the EZ for a bustup. Had some other struggles as well. Simply not playing top flight football the past 3 games. C-
Pola: out of position, and offered no help, on the short TD pass in the 1Q. Good drop of WR on short out, late 3Q. Finished with 1 solo, 1 assist, and zero impact. Very poor. C-
Clark: Did nothing of value the entire game. Seriously. C-
Gay: beaten deep, first play of game, but the pass was woefully underthrown. Through a lot of smoke and mirrors, he had an adequate game. B-
C. Allen: good bustup of pass, 2Q.
W. Allen: chipped in a little bit.
Spec Teams:
McBriar: had a rare, ecent evening. Lone bright spot on spec teams. A-
Suisham: started his approach too soon on a 50-yard FG, @Q, which totally botched the play and resulted in Suisham carrying the ball for a loss. What was bizarre on this play was Suisham moving forward BEORE the snap, which you simply never see at this level of football. His KO on the long KO return in the 3Q was a pile of vomit, weakly going only to the GL with very little hang time. A complete dogshit onsides KO that only went about 6 yards and rolled OOB. All in all, a ghastly effort tonite. F-
Solid KO return by Dwy, late 2Q.
The KO coverage shit the bed after the Stillers closed it to 13-7, allowing a MASSIVE hole for Jones to rumble 73 yards, before Cortez saved the TD with a fingernail grab.
OC: What an absurdly vanilla opening series. Plunge, plunge, plunge (on 3d & 12), punt. There never seemed a plan to attack the Ravens, instead meekly pawing and jabbing at them, which is exactly what the PoeBirds want ya to do.
Typical grabassed confusion, 2d series, 3d & 8, which burned a TO.
The O picked it up in the 2H, but much of that was the no huddle offense. C+
DC: first 3d & 7, easy pitch ‘n catch, 8 yards and a 1D. 2 plays later, with ZERO pressure at all, Jacco had an eternity and then hit Smith on a 54-yard bomb to the PIT 1. Dick THEN used one of his infamous clever schemes – using hobbled DE Brett Keisel to drop back in middle coverage – which was easily exploited on a cake-easy TD pass.
2nd drive – 3d & 5, all day, easy pitch and catch by Jacco to Stokley for about 15.
Jacoby Jones and Stokley were nicked up, mid 2Q. Stokley did not return.
On the opening drive of the 2H, Dick got savagely shredded on a 13-play march, which resulted in a chippie FG to bulge the lead to 13-0.
On 3d & 4, last play of the 3Q, Dick rushed only FOUR men, and Jacco literally had 9 seconds to scan the entire field and then calmly toss a 34-yard completion to Jones for a 1D at the PIT 24. A shit scheme by a shit DC. A few plays later, the PoeBirds booted a routine FG to make the score 19-7.
After the Stillers scored a TD to make it 19-4, Dick face a 3d & 4, and promptly allowed a dumpoff to Rice that gained 22 yards. That Dick – he’s so clever and diabolical. A few plays later, on a 3d & 13, Dick allows a 10 yard gain to set up a routine 47-yard FG that made the Balt lead 8 points.
In fact, the Ravens had the ball 4 times in the 2d half and were NEVER ONCE stopped, scoring a FG on ALL FOUR drives. Granted, on the drive aided by the long KO return, the Ratbirds started at the PIT 37, but they were able to easily advance the ball to the PIT 7 before Rice took a foolish deadball unsportsmanlike flag to set up a 38 yard FG. If Dick, the simpletonistic imbecile that he is, could have made JUST ONE stop in the 2H, the Stillers may well have won.
In summary, facing the 29th ranked offense in the NFL, and not counting kneel downs at the end of each half, Dick managed to allow Balt to score on 6 of 7 possessions, which clearly sux ass. D-
HC:
4th & 14 inches, late 2Q (2:00 2Q), ball on PIT 37, down by 10, and Chickenshit Tomlin orders a punt. Remember, this was a MUST WIN game, and Momlin is playing it safe and chickenshit. To me, the game went downhill from there. To me, this was the signature moment of a must-win game, when Momlin went chickehnshit and yellow and cowardly.
Like a moron, he was a few inches ON the field as Jones was running by on the long, 73-yard KO return. A juvenilish stunt by a complete juvenile. I hope the NFL fines this simpleton at least $75K, which would be more than appropriate. D
Officiating: I would be remiss if I failed to comment. Twice in the last 2 minutes of regulation, the refs on the field awarded the Stillers a TD, only to have the replay booth over-turn the TDs. That, I can live with. What I cannot stomach was the placement of the ball afer each TD was overturned. On each play, the nose of the ball was at least on the 4-inch line, if not the 3-inch line. Yet, each time, the refs announced, and placed, the ball at the “half yard line”, which is complete horseshit. If the NFL is going to micro-analyze a replay down to milliseconds and millimeters, should not the same precision be used in the placement of the ball ?? There is a huge difference between 1 & G at the 4-inch line, and at the half-yard line. The QB sneak from the 4-inch line is a gimme; whereas from the half-yard line it is a 50-50. Fuk Roger Goodsmell and the officiating. D
Synopsis: The folly of “the playoffs” can now be put to bed. This was a must win game, and this team came out pawing and groping and playing grabass, as has been their modus operandi most of this season. There will be no wild card and certainly no division title. All that’s left is playing for pride, which, of course, there’s so very little to be proud of.
(Still Mill and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Stillers, no one else comes close….)
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