Loose Slag from The Still Mill (Oct. 25, 2002)

- James Farrior had a solid game the other nite.� His taking on of the pulling guard, and stuffing the hole, on the Colts' 2nd play of the game is indicative of this.� Having said that, Bill Cowher let it be known that Farrior was the culprit for Pollard's 41-yard TD pass.� For all the moaning, bitching, and whining that Stiller fans did this past off season about Earl Holmes' pass defense, and for all the praise, applause, and reverence paid by those same folks to Farrior's supposedly God-like pass defense skills, I myself have been a bit underwhelmed by Farrior's pass defense thus far.

- Just to clarify, Farrior has played good and is easily the 3rd best all-around LB on this team, behind Porter and Bell.� Clark Haggans is emerging and growing, but as the 4th best LB on this team, he's still a lil' bit distant right now to Farrior.

- Kendrell Bell really rocked the jock of opposing linemen this past Monday.� Because of this skill of his, this writer was rather vocal last spring in his opposition to the idea of swapping Bell and Porter in passing downs.� The theory, as most fans accepted, was that Bell could use his skills well on the outside, with Porter using his skill set on the inside.� I pushed for Porter to remain mostly on the outside and Bell on the inside.� I say again that, except for some variations and wrinkles on occasion, the defense would be better served with Porter at OLB and Bell in the middle a majority of the time.� Just as I stated last spring, Bell's unbelievable ability to blast a center or guard off his feet and back into the QB's face, is something that cannot be replicated very easily, and with all due respect certainly not by Porter.� Porter's electric speed and quickness, as well as his prowess for pass coverage, is ideal for the outside spot, while Bell's sheer power and brute force are superb skills to have at the inside spot, especially when opposing guards & the center have no idea which alley Bell will choose on any given play.�

- Speaking of linebackers, has anyone even seen The Flopper, Jason GilDong�. other than ads for Burger Queen?�

- Bettis is hurt again�.gee, what a surprise.� If a person is having some nagging knee problems, and he/she is overweight, the first thing a doctor will tell them is simply, "Lose weight."� Seems simple enough, yet the Bloated BellyBack is incapable of, or uncaring of, or both, to shed any excess poundage that he's been lugging around for a good 4 years now.� The astute fan knows The Tubby Tailback weighs 280 pounds, but only Bettis, his coaching staff, and the local media are in denial as to the real truth of his excessive flab.�

- Speaking of The Doughboy's injury, it couldn't have come at a better time.� (As medical science has shown, the injury was inevitable, so it was not a question of "if", but "when".)� Bettis has rarely fared well against the Ravens, while Amos' good footspeed and quickness, and Fu's willingness to hit a hole with alacrity, give this offense a much better chance at pounding the ball on the ground versus the Ravens.

- Speaking of The Paper Tiger, Jason GilDong -- look for Jason The Gimcrack to get a couple of cheesy sacks versus the Ravens on Sunday.� The starting RT, Ethan Brooks, is not only a pile of shit in terms of talent and ability, but is also hobbled by both back and knee injuries, which kept him out of last week�s tilt.� The backup tackle, Damion Cook, is even more inept and oafish.� Jason, who hasn�t done jack shit this season, will probably get a couple cheesy sacks and a few easy solos, after which the local media will rush back to their offices and write numerous articles proclaiming �Jason Gildon is back�.� �

- Last spring, this writer was all in favor of retaining Kris Brown (at a moderate salary), as well as spending a 4th round-or-better pick on a placekicker.� My opinion was that competition breeds better focus and determination.� Additionally, I saw no reason why both Brown and a young kicker could not be retained, if, and only if, Brown was kicking well and the young kicker had a strong leg and the propensity to boom the ball deep on KOs.� Worst case, the youngster could be placed on the practice squad, an idea I've been all in favor of for years, yet is rarely enacted upon because teams are more in favor of keeping scrubeenie CBs, OGs, and other blocking dummies that have an infinitesimally tiny chance of ever contributing to an NFL victory.� The team is saddled with Pudd-pulling Peterson, whose kickoffs, PATs, and FGs have all sucked ass the entire season.� With a year under his belt at Heinz, Brown might have mastered the nuances by now.� Fans forget that Brown had solid seasons in '99 and '00.� And as mediocre as Brown was in '01, Peterson is an outright travesty.� With the rest of the league aggressively shuffling kickers, it's pathetic that the Stillers are content to sit around and do nothing on such a glaring weakness.� Norm Johnson used to enrage me with his shallow KOs, but the man was fairly deadly from inside 40 yards.� Peterson is neither -- his KOs blow chow and his placekicking is a wretched amalgamation of poor technique, poor approach angle, poor mechanics, and a candy leg.� Meanwhile, Brown is 4-5 from 40-49 yards, and perfect on his PATs.��

- Speaking of kicking, I'm fairly certain that the state of placekicking in college and pro football is at an all-time low.� I'm only 35 years old, so I can't comment on what kicking was like before the 70's (other than that is was almost exclusively of the straight-toe style), but the condition nowadays is absolutely wretched.� The booting of the pigskin in the NFL this year has been horrendous.� And it's not just in the NFL -- the NCAA has a plethora of kickers whom I wouldn't trust to kick a pop can off a barge & into the Ohio River.� Even a powerhouse NCAA program like Fla. St. has been victimized for years by shabby placekicks in crucial situations.� What I can't figure out is this: soccer is at an all-time high in this country.� There are youths today who were born in the 70's & 80's who have never played the traditional sports of baseball and football, yet have been playing organized soccer since they were 5 years old.� When I was a kid growing up in the 'Burgh, soccer leagues were virtually unheard of.� Now, soccer leagues dominate the landscape of suburban America.� Additionally, the NFL has sponsored the World League in Europe for over 10 years now, so the soccer-fanatical Europeans have gotten a first-hand view of the game of American football.� So, despite the soccer revolution in America; the European (and worldwide) awareness of U.S. football; and the fact that soccer is the world's most popular sport� somehow there aren't enough athletes with kicking skills able or willing -- while making more money in a few years than most of us will earn in a lifetime -- to perform the fairly basic task of booting a stationary football through a pair of uprights or at least kicking the ball off a tee on kickoffs.� Go figure�

- Stillers 19, Ravens 16�.