Ravens 27, Stillers 0 ���. Nov. 26, 2006 ����Game #11��
Stillers-Ravens Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers ventured to Baltimore, apparently intent on copying last week's
lethargy in which the team stumbled and bumbled for 3 quarters before roaring
back to beat the hapless Browns.� The entire
team came out in its usual 1st half slumber, and in the 2nd half things simply
got worse.�� A grande' mixture of
dropped passes, missed blocks, horrendously sloppy tackling, and a feeble game
plan all conspired to produce one of the most severe assbeatings this franchise
has received in quite some time, with the PoeBirds getting the shutout,
27-0.�
Grades:
QB:�
Ben Roth had a rocky day, made miserable due to the relentless pass
pressure of the Raven defense.� The
offense sputtered miserably in the 1H and he must take part of the blame.� Ben again slipped into the bad habit of
throwing off his back foot, as well as, at times, not stepping into his
passes.�� He showed tremendous toughness
by taking a brutal hit from Scott in the 2Q, but shaking it off and coming back
into the game a short while later.� He'll
have a lot of soul searching and work to do in the offseason.�� C.�
RB:�
Parker again found the going tough on the road, gaining 22 yards on 10
rushes.� The holes were paltry, of
course, so the entire blame can't be placed on Parker.� Davenport dropped a screen pass on 3rd &
10 on the game's 1st series.� Staley did
not dress.�� C.
FB: Kreider was limited in the amount
of his blocking chores.� He grabbed 1
pass for 2 yards.�� Inc.
WR:�
Hines fought off the injured leg and made a go of it, and had 4
grabs.� However, it was clear that he
didn't have the burst, and the Ravens soon smothered him on any short hitches
or crossers.�� He dropped a slant in the
3Q and had a measly 33 yards on the 4 grabs.�
He also committed a dumb-assed dead-ball personal foul penalty in the
2Q.�
���������� Wilson and Nate each caught 4 balls
for 49 yards.� Nate dropped yet another
TD pass -- about his 6th of the season -- on a simple 10-yard slant in the EZ
that he juggled and then dropped in the 4Q. �To his credit, he did make a superb play on a deep seamer in the
3Q, holding onto the ball after getting crushed by a Raven DB, good for 27
yards.� �
���������� Holmes had 3 grabs for 31 yards, as
well as a dropped slant pass in the 3Q.��
�����C.�
TE:�
Miller had a spotty day.�� He
dropped a low out early in the 3Q.� Set
up as a box car in the 1Q, he got literally pancaked by Suggs on a bulrush.� He did grab 3 passes for 35 yards.� Tuman, as usual, did nothing of any
value.���� B-.�
OL: This O-line, long fawned over and idolized
like a crowned princess, hit rock bottom in today's loss.� They got overwhelmed and annihilated by the
Raven front 7, both in the ground game as well as pass pro.�� The pass pro was particularly wretched,
with 5 blockers standing around with thumbs up any orifice they could find, as
flatfooted as a WalMart greeter.�� If
you didn't watch this abortion, you won't believe this assessment, but rest
assured, these 5 stumblebums had their asses not only handed back to themselves
today, but also jammed down their own throats.�� Perhaps hanging around the same practice facility as Pitt's
woeful, disgraceful offensive line has been a bad influence.��� F.�
DL:�
The D-line allowed some severe gashes, and gaping holes, to the Balt
running game.� Even the fat waddler,
Casey Hampton, was getting shoved or influenced all too often.� Especially with a rookie starting at RG for
the injured Key Vincent, this was far from a dominant O-line that they
faced.�� D.�
LB:�
The LB corps was soft and tackled entirely too poor today.� In the 2Q, the Ravens just embarrassed this
crew.�� Mughelli easily rumbled over
Foote en route to a 9-yard gain.�
Farrior had a weak, arm-only flail at Lewis on the 1-yard TD
plunge.� �Haggans had a pretty quiet afternoon.�
Big Joey Porter collected a ton of slop stats on plays run
away from him, in which he was either lightly blocked or not blocked at
all.� When Balt wanted to run left --
and they did all too often -- Big Joey was usually nowhere to be found, except
either on his back or getting pile driven downfield.�
���������� The overall pass rush was just as weak
as the run stuffing.��
���������� D.�
DB:�
The big pre-game news was that Ike Taylor was benched, and McFadden
inserted in his place.� Balt wasted no
time mercilessly picking on, and abusing, McFadden, who was no match for
veteran Derrick Mason, who just ate McFadden alive.� McFadd also got juked by Clayton after a short curl, giving up an
extra 9 yards in RAC.� He also had a PI
flag on 3d & 7 late in the 2Q.�
���������� Townsend -- the guy that really
belongs on the bench as the team gets a look at next year -- bit badly
on a stutter move by Heap and was beaten easily for a 20-yard TD pass.� He also was flagged for holding.�
���������� Pola was fairly active, but got
rebuffed on many blitz attempts and also flailed quite a bit.� �Clark got steamrolled at the end of an 8-yard run by Lewis.��
���������� McNair had his way, picking this
secondary apart like a surgeon.���
C-.�
Spec
teams:� No blatant disasters, but little good.� �Gardocki had a 53-yard boot in the 1Q, but then resorted to his
usual self with 27 and 32-yard boots.��
Daven dropped a KO and gained all of 7 yards on the return.�� Tony Smith had a sterling swoop-in and stop
of Sams on punt �coverage.�� �B-.�
OC:�
Last year, Cheezenhunt was one of the hottest coaches in the NFL.� He supposedly was being courted by as many
as 4 teams for head coaching jobs.�
Today, he'd be lucky to get hired to clean the commodes at any NFL
stadium.� He game plan in the 1st half
was so half-assed and half-baked that it produced all of 37 yards. �The game plan was apparently stolen out of
Dave Wannstedt's office at the UPMC complex, because it had everything a
Wannshidt game plan has -- sloth, zero creativity, bland vanilla, and an
insistence on plunging headfirst into the enemy's strength.� ��D-.
DC:�
Dick continued his season-long slide with another abysmal effort.� His defense showed up meek, timid, and
wholly unable to stop anything the Ravens did.�� Very disappointing.�� D.
HC:� For weeks
now, some fans have been fighting off the reality of what a disgraceful job
Cowhard has done in terms of preparing and focusing this team, as well as
personnel management.� Today just adds
more fuel to the obvious fire.�� Of
course, in Cowhard's case, there is no fire.�
The man is simply mailing it in this year, en route to his quaint
retirement home in Carolina.� The height
of this team's overt carelessness, lack of attention to detail, and all-around
sloth, could be seen in the 2Q, when Ben Roth was blistered by Scott and lay
writhing in pain on the turf.� This sack
brought up a 3rd & 17 from deep in Stiller territory.� Roth must have been on the turf for at least
3 minutes until he was able to get up and limp off the field.� In the meantime, NOBODY on the Stiller
sideline was moving with any kind of purpose to insert a replacement for
BenRoth.� Suddenly, as Roth got off the
field and the play clock resumed, Charlie Batch was spotted grabbing his
helmet, dashing over to his coaches for a brief, 3-second chat, and then
rushing onto the field.� What in sam
hell was Batch, and the coaching staff, doing while Ben Roth lay on the field
for 3 minutes??�� Answer:� Absolutely nothing, the same as they've done
ALL season under the supreme leadership and tutelage of Lord Billy Cowher.�
What Cowhard needs to be told, in
no uncertain terms, is this: The difference between a champ and a chump is u.���� F-
Synopsis:�
The season is now over.� There
will be no playoffs and therefore no stab at a repeat.� The key will be to get long looks at
youngsters in order to prepare for the FA period and the draft.� If the team is willing to sit and rot
Duce Staley for the 2nd year in a row, then they should be more than
willing to sit or reduce the roles of various other veterans in favor of
youngsters that have more long-term potential.�
Tony Smith needs to play.� Both McFadden
and Taylor need to play.� Chris Kemo
needs to play.� The last 5 games of the
season needn't be wasted on veterans who have little or no future with the
team.��
A special note of kudos to longtime Stiller fan KikiPhil,
who attended today's game in Balt.� We
chatted via cell phone before and after the game.� KikiPhil (and other Stiller fans in attendance) took a ton of
abuse after the game, but he wore his black n' gold proudly and none of the
lame PoeBird fans even thought twice about messin' with him!!��� Yer the man, KikiPhil !!
(Still Mill
and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Stillers,
no one else comes close�.)