Stillers
17, Jaguars 13 ��.
Oct 16, 2011 ����Game #6
Stillers-Jaguars Postgame Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers roared out to a comfy 17-0 lead, and like the Pitt lead of 14-3
yesterday in the same stadium, it seemed to be a done-deal amidst a yawny afternoon. Of
course, just like Pitt, the Stillers slopped and stumbled
the entire 2nd half, allowing the Faguars back into
the game and making the 4th quarter quite interesting. The Stillers held on by the skin of their schwanzes, with a flimsy, uninspiring 4-point win.
Grades:
QB: A tale of 2 halves. Ben started out afire, going 11 of 15. He then cooled off, more resembling the
Pitt QB duo that amassed all of 50 passing yards in their game yesterday, than
the QB who fired 5 TDs last week versus the Titans. Tino, er, Ben, showed signs off problems early, when on the 1st
play of the 2nd series, he badly underthrew a deep ball
to an open Wally, which was nearly INTd. This trend continued the rest of the game,
as Sunseri, er, Rothelisberger, continually misfired on deep balls;
sometimes too long, sometimes too short, but never catchable despite his WR
being wide open in the clear. And on
these plays, the pass pro was superb.
Ben
also badly over-threw a wide open Brown in the EZ on 3d & goal, forcing the
Stillers to settle for a FG. Late in
the 1st half, he nearly threw 2 INTs, each of which was dropped (1 by Mathis, 1
by Landry). The 2nd half was just a
train wreck, and the lone productive play Ben made that half was his scramble
on 3d &2 at 2:54 to move the sticks and chew more clock. In
an entirely Sunseri-like manner, Ben managed to
complete all of ONE pass in the 2nd half.
Just one.
Ben committed a DOG penalty on 3d & 2 in the 4Q, a play where the
entire O was lined up with plenty of time, but Ben failed to keep tabs on the
playclock and it simply ran out on him.
The next play, he was sacked to force a punt. Perhaps the Stillers need to separate
themselves from that high stink-tane offense of Pitt,
lest the stench starts to rub off even more.
D+
RB: Socrates Mendenhall returned from the ham
injury with a vengeance, gashing the Jags with 146 yards on 23 carries and 1 TD. He ran with 8 times more authority and focus
than he had all season. The big carry
was the 68 yard jaunt that sliced thru the middle of the Jag defense and then,
after a strong stiff-arm, down the sideline.
While a splendid run, I was enraged when Socrates, who is such a mindful thinker, failed to change hands with the football,
which could have resulted in a costly strip on the TD-saving tackle. Dumb; just really dumb. Mendy used better vision today, bouncing
outside when the corner was there for the taking, such as his 8-yard TD run and
the 10-yard run late in the 3Q.
With
Mendy back, Redman, of course, was immediately relegated to bench duty, even
after a long 68-yard run that left Mendy gassed. Red carried all of 4 times, for 22
yards. He had a strong plunge on 3d
& 1 on the 1st series, plowing and driving for 11 yards. Red had a strong blitz pickup on 3d & 4
on the 1st play of the 2Q, which enabled Ben to hit Ward for 9 yards.
Dwyer
had a nice lunge for 7 yards, and finished with 2 rushes for 8. A+
FB: rarely used,
although Johnson had a good lead block to spring Mendy for a 12-yard run late
in the 1Q. Inc.
WR: Wally led the way with 2 grabs for 76,
although he could have easily had 4 grabs for about a buck 60. He made a superb grab on a deep flag for 48
yards. He did drop a backshoulder
sideline pass in the 4Q.
Ward
had 3 grabs for 47. He allowed a short
TD pass to slither thru his hands in the 2Q.
He had a good RAC on a screen for 19 yards.
Brown
had 1 grab for 16, that on a nice pluck on 3rd down in the 2Q. He had a foolish false start flag on a
potential Hail Mary play at the end of the 1H.
Sanders, who seems to have been written out of
the offense, had 1 grab for 32 yards.
Perhaps he�ll see more passes. A-
TE: Miller had 4 grabs for 27 amidst taking some
punishment. The blocking was
decent. A-
OL: The line played
fairly well as a unit. Ben was given
decent time, and there were some good holes for the running game. Legursky wrenched
a toe on the 1st play of the 2Q and ended up getting carted to the locker
room. Essex replaced him and played the
final 3 quarters. Essex had a good
short-pull and block on Mendy�s long run.
Max
Starks spent most of the week reading press clippings. He then had his lunch handed him to him in
the 2nd half, as the Jags demonized him with speed rushes that attacked Max�s
weakness. Twice in the 4Q, he was beaten
to the corner on a speed rush, first forcing a sack and then causing a strip
that would have been disastrous had Essex not pounced on the loose ball.
Pouncey played solidly, although he was flagged for
a hold on a running play.
Scott
was far from dominant, but didn�t get outrageously tooled or abused. You have to wonder exactly what this
coaching staff was thinking when they thought this stiff could play LEFT
tackle. A-
DL: Hampton and Smith did not dress, due to
injury. Keisel had a rare, big
game. He batted a pass in the 2Q. He then got a fingernail grab of Drew on a
screen pass and hung on for dear life, holding the dangerous RB to a 3-yard
loss. Brett then bullrushed through the fissure of 2 blockers and dropped Gabbert for a clock-eating sack in the last minute of the
game.
Hood
started and didn�t even make the stat sheet.
D-side stats are often skewed and often meaningless, but would it hurt a
former 1st rounder in his 4th season to show up on a stat sheet after being on
the field for 50-some plays ? He whiffed on a sack on a key 4th down in
the 3Q, which allowed Gabbert to scoot ahead for the
1D. In the 4Q, he correctly read a
screen, but then dropped a potential INT.
Hoke
delivered a big smack on the game�s 1st play, belting Drew on a 1-yard
gain. Hoke got a stinger, though, and
was replaced for a good chunk of the game by Steve McClendon, who acquitted himself
quite well. Amazing how there is ZERO dropoff from the $4M per year fatass
to a 3rd string scrub named McClendon. To
add more insult to the $4M FatBoy at nose tackle, the
Stillers are now 17-1 in games where Hoke starts at NT. Heyward saw some PT in the 2H. B+
LB: Taunto Farrior led the way, with 6 solos and
5A�s. He was fairly active and
lively. He even had a rare pass bust-up
in the 2Q. On the next play, Farrior
also had a Dong Sack when he came in untouched and unblocked. Taunto did struggle some in the 2H. He got rumbled over by Drew on an 11-yard
carry in the 3Q. He then was quite poor,
along with Timmons, on a 3d & 1 plunge by Karim
that netted 14 yards. Midway
thru the 4Q, Farrior -- long known as The Winged God of LB Pass Coverage -- got
totally tooled on a flag by Lewis, which gained 21 yards and sparked that drive. Lewis was actually wide open the entire
game, but a bumbling, inept rookie QB kept the Jags from taking advantage.
Larry
Slow-a-Foote started at ILB and did little.
He badly over-ran the cutback play by Drew that gained 19 yards at 10:52
2Q. Foote did have a rare, but good,
hole-fill on a Drew plunge that gained 2 yards in the 4Q.
With
Harrison out, Casper Timmons again started at ROLB and was completely invisible. Playing in a glory spot against TWO rookies
at LG and LT, he was held completely off the stat sheet. Again, stats don�t define everything, but a
LB in THIS system should be flying to the ball and making some tackles. He failed to react at the POA (point of
attack) on the 3d & 1 plunge that gained 14 yards in the 3Q. Earlier, he whiffed on a QB scramble that
saw a conversion on 3d & 11, although a Jax penalty nullified the
gain. His pass pressure was minimal and he isn�t
coming close to making the kind of impact, splash plays that this defense needs
from an OLB.
Big
LaMarr had a lot of slop n� glob for cheesy paper stats, but there was little substance. Yes, he showed more desire than those first
4 pitiful games in which he stood around with his thumb up whatever orifice was
handy. On paper, it looks liked Big
LaMarr had a �monster game�, but it was loads of gooey slop.
He got 2 early assists on half-assed slop
assists. Then, the Jags tried to use a
wingback, backup RB Brock Bolen, from the LEFT side of their formation to come
over and block Big LaMarr. With a
shitty angle and being outsized by 40 pounds and 4 inches, Bolen was easily
over powered by Woodley for a Dong Sack.
Later in the 2Q, The Dogger was solo blocked by tackle Guy
Whimper, and after eons of time, Gabbert took a
coverage sack by Big LaMarr that officially got recorded as yet another Dong
Sack.
There was more slop assists in the 2H, plus
a slop solo where Drew ran up RG/RT and was totally stuffed, and Big LaMarr --
who had nothing to do with the stuffing -- reach over and got a slop stop.
Two plays exposed Big LaMarr as the
over-hyped he-man that he truly is. At
4:09 1Q, Woodley was solo blocked by the TE and got driven and then BURIED into
the turf on a 4-yard run by Drew. Then,
in the 3Q of a close ballgame, Big LaMarr got into a scuffle with FB Greg
Jones. The scuffle grew heated and turned
into some fierce jostling. All of the sudden, one man slammed the other onto the
ground, onto his back. Poor Jonesie....er, wait, no, Poor
LaMarr, who got his ass thrown onto the turf by a running back who gave up 2 inches
and well over 20 pounds. What a
weak-assed puddpuller. It�s bad enough
Woodley got goaded into a scuffle that could have resulted not only in a costly
penalty (luckily there were offsetting flags), but also a possible ejection. But then, to make matters worse, he gets his
fat ass kicked by a no-name RB. Maybe the
Penguins� Aaron Asham can give Big LaMarr some
fighting lessons. Lest we forget, there
was also a stupid-assed offsides penalty by Woodley on a 3d & 4 in the 2Q,
which gave the Jags a freebie 1st down.
Of course, none of this will show up on the stat sheet, so you can be
assured that there will be another 5 articles this week praising �the great
play of Big LaMarr Woodley�.
All LBs:
C
DB: lke had his first
sub-par game of the season. He finally
allowed a TD, getting scorched by Hill for an 18-yard score. He was also beaten on a deep post on the 2nd
series of the game, but the pass was overthrown. And although Mundy was called out by the refs
for a holding flag in the 2Q, it very clearly was Ike. Hopefully this off-game isn�t a portent of things to come. To his credit, his run support was very
sturdy.
Pola
had another stupendous game. Dude was
just flying out there like a crazed maniac.
In the 2Q, he timed the snap and then pounced between center and guard
to grab at the QB, forcing an inc. He swooped in to stuff Karim
for a 2-yard loss late in the 3Q. On a
key 3d & 2 in the 4Q, he slashed in and cut down Drew for no gain. However, he wobbled off the field after this
play, apparently taking a knee to the head, and did not return.
Clark
had a flailing whiff on a WR screen in the 2Q.
He dropped an INT (what else is new) on the game�s final play, although
one could claim that he intentionally dropped it, although the nearest receiver
was a good 7 yards away. Gay started
and wasn�t picked on, although Gabbert just isn�t
experienced enough to pick on anyone.
Mundy
and Lewis saw a fair amount of PT. As
usual, this crew picked off zero passes.
Pola: A+
All others: B-
Spec
teams: A fairly ugly day at the office.
- poor KO coverage after 1st TD; allowed 33-yard KO return.
- Suisham missed a
46-yard FG, duck-hooking the piss out of the kick a good 30 feet wide to the
left.
- Sepul rocketed an easy pooch punt into the EZ in the 3Q for a net
of 25 yards
- Sepul then had a
nice 55 yard punt, but then shanked an ugly -23 yard
punt that nearly went into the bleachers, giving Jax the ball at their 48.
- With the Stillers sitting on a nice
14-point lead, Mundy blatantly roughs the punter on 4th and 21, giving the Jags
a 1st down and new life, which they converted for a TD.
Curt
Brown and Battle had good solo tackles. Brown
seems confident and ready to break a KO return any time he touches the ball. D+
OC: It�s hard to place a ton of blame on Arians
for this 2nd half debacle, which all too much resembled Todd Graham�s �high
stink-tane� offense at Pitt, which shares the same
mud bog. Ben had open receivers and mis-fired time and time and time again. There were some botches, though --
- On the 2nd play of the 2Q, Arians calls
this cutesey PAP pass to Miller, who catches the pass
4 yards behind the LOS. He�s lucky
to garner forward for 2 yards, but it�s still a 2-yard LOSS. Haven�t we seen enough of these behind the
LOS passes to the un-quick Miller ??
- Mendy ripped off the 68 yard jaunt to the
Jax 4, which, with the flag on Jax, set up shop at 1st & G at the 2. I don�t care who you are, 68 yards -- which
really was about 80 yards of �real yardage� -- is a long way to run in pads and
then take a tumble at the end on a shot OOB.
At this point, unless there are only 10 seconds left in the game, you
HAVE to get Mendy out of the game for a breather. This point is even more obvious when one
considers that Redman has established himself as THE short-yardage runner on
this team. Nope, not
Asshole Arians. Mendy stayed in
the game, and was stuffed on the ensuing play for a 1-yard loss.
- 2 plays later, the Stillers faced a 3d
& G at the 3. Arians, true to his
nature, went with an empty backfield, SG set.
This is a faggot-fuk formation led by a
complete asshump of an OC. That close to paydirt,
you actually CAN run the ball, and if nothing else, you can run a PAP. The RB also gives you a chance to block a blitzer, which is highly likely to occur. Ben felt some pressure from an untouched DB
on his left, and hastily lofted a pass to Brown that was too high, forcing a
FG.
As
well as Mendy ran today, I despised the immediate banishment of Redman to the bench., especially when a hamstring can re-occur quite
easily the first 1-2 weeks after it supposedly is �healed�. Platoons
at RB can, and do, work in the NFL. If only this staff knew how to implement one. B-
DC: Dick, the luckiest man in the modern history
of the NFL, once again was able to FEAST upon a rookie greenhorn. One would think that, having feasted on Tarvarius Jackson, Kerry Collins, Curtis Painter, and Matt Hasseljack, Dick�s good luck would run out.
Today Dick had the outrageous luxury of facing rookie
QB Blaine Gabbert, who just turned 22 yesterday and
is THE youngest Qb in the NFL. Making his 4th start, with a receiving corps
that would make the Andre Hastings/Ernie Mills due looks like John Taylor and
Jerry Rice, Gabbert was easy fodder for Dick. What�s more outrageous in terms of luck, was that the Jaguars started two rookies on the left
side of the offensive line due to injuries
to guard Will Rackley and tackle Cameron Bradfield.
Of course, Dick still had his problems
trying to stop the weak-assed Jax offense, and at times Dick was just about
overwhelmed and flailing about like a drowning man latching onto an anvil. After the opening KO was a touchback, Dick
allowed an easy, 9-play drive that ended with a punt to the PIT 13. That�s called FLIPPING the field; in this
case, from the 20 to the 13.
Then, after the roughing the punter, Dick saw fit to allow a 12-play
march from the Jax 35 for a TD that turned a laugher into a squeaker. A 4th quarter, 12-play,
65-yard TD march to a scrub-assed rookie QB. That seems to be Dick�s mantra.
Late in the game, with less than a minute left, Dick actually allowed
the Jags -- after a sack at the Jax 10 -- to march (with no timeouts, mind you)
from their 10 to the Jax 48, for a legit Hail Mary attempt.
Overall,
if that�s not shit defense, then I don�t know what shit defense is. C-
HC: Tomlin, whose clock management skills are
akin to a plumber running a jewelry store, again botched this routine
task. Near the end of the 1H, he failed
to call a TO after Keisel�s minus-3-yard stop deep in
Jax territory. 25 seconds were wasted as
the Jags ran another play, and when Jax punted, the Stillers had the ball near
midfield but only time for 1 snap.
Then
there was the decision to go for a punt block, which was foolish on many
levels. Not only was a block entirely
not needed there -- what with the punter punting INTO the brutal wind -- but
had the Jags run a stunning fake punt, their man would have run untouched for
80 yards for a TD. As it was, the dumbassed roughing flag gave the Jags a free possession,
which they cashed in for a TD. The
situation to call a blocked punt simply was not there, and this was a myopic
decision made by a mental midget grasping at straws.
There still is a lot of sloppy play, combined with poor discipline
(foolish penalties and the like). B-
Synopsis: A lukewarm win over a weak-assed opponent
that is in a 5-game loss tailspin. With
a 2nd half that saw the Steeler offense eerily mirror the woeful likes of the
Pitt offense from the day prior on the same field, it leaves a lot to be
desired. Next week, a
trip out to 1-4 AZ, where the Stillers have long flubbed and floundered. And, of course, this will be the very 1st
offense the Stillers have faced this season that has a competent, semi-dangerous
passing offense.
(Still
Mill and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the