Stillers 11, Chargers 10���. Nov 16, 2008 ����Game
#10
Stillers-Chargers Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers hosted the warm weather Chargers amidst snowy, chilly conditions, and
slopped their way to a rather uninspiring 11-10 win.� 3 FGs by Jeff Reed and a safety by Jamie
Harrison accounted for the lone Stiller points in a bizarre final score of
11-10.�
Grades:
QB:�
Ben came back after 2 shoddy games and was terrific, going 31-41 for 308
yards.� He wasn�t flawless, of
course.� 2 deep balls were underthrown,
caused by hesitation and weak tosses.� He
took a foolish sack on 2 & G at the 4 in the 1Q.� At the spot on the field, all a QB needs to
do is fling the ball through the goal posts and live for another down, rather
than taking a foolish 4-yard loss and risk a strip or fumble.� He missed a wide open Holmes on a deep out on
3D in the 3Q, which forced a FG.�
�� On the good side, he was crisp with most
passes and threw no INTs.� He hit Holmes
with a good strike with seconds remaining in the 1H, which set up a FG.� He threaded the needle while on the move to
his left on the final drive, which netted 7 on a huge 3rd & 6.� This probably was the offensive play of the
game.��� A-
RB:�
Parker returned and looked healthy as a horse, gashing the SD defense
for 115 yards on 25 carries.� He was
particularly effective on the final drive, rushing for 10, 4, 6, 5, 2, and 4
yards.� He did miss a blitz pickup in the
1Q, which led to a sack.� Russell came
out of nowhere to give the team a huge boost on short yardage, twice converting
3rd & 1�s with 6 and then 4 yards.��
FB:
WR:�
Ward led the way with a stupendous effort, snaring 11 passes for 124
yards.� He had a great RAC off a short
curl in the 1Q, good for 30 yards.� His grab
on the late 3d & 6 amidst SD defenders was a true gem.�� The downer was the 3 penalties he was
assessed; 1 hold on a run in the 2Q; an illeg. block after a catch in the 3Q;
and another hold on a run in the 4Q.�
Holmes had
5 grabs but had a spotty game.� On the
deep stop near the end of the 1H, Holmes caught the ball at the 4, right near
the sideline.� The ball was snapped with
11 secs left, and the Stillers had ZERO timeouts.� Rather than darting straight and DIRECTLY out
of bounds, Holmes actually headed upfield just a bit, and was held up, IN
BOUNDS.� Ward had enough sense to help
knock Holmes OOB to stop the clock, and Reed booted the FG as time expired at
the half.� This is a classic case of a
football player not fully grasping the situation.� Yardage here meant NOTHING; stopping the
clock was everything, and Holmes nearly cost the Stillers a chippie FG.� He was also flagged for a false start late in
the 3Q.� And, he had incredibly lazy,
careless footwork on an out pass in the 3Q, in which he lazily allowed his one
foot to come down OOB and the play was correctly ruled incomplete.� By NFL standards, this was a routine play and
it was a careless mistake by Holmes.��
Nate had 2
grabs for 14 yards.� He had a good RAC on
3d & goal at the 8 and nearly scored in the 1Q.� He was not thrown a deep ball.� He dropped a short pass early in the 3Q, and
dropped a low in later in the quarter.��
No other receivers
factored into the game at all.�����
Ward:� A������ Holmes and Nate:� C+
TE:�
Miller sat due to the injured ankle.�
Spaeth had a big game, grabbing 6 balls for 55 yards.� Gee, maybe this guy might be allowed to continue
to participate in the passing offense once Miller returns.� He also had 2 good blocks on a WR
screen in the 2Q. McHugh caught a pop pass -- an unknown play in the Stiller
playbook -- and rumbled for a 15-yard gain.�
He committed a blatant hold that negated Parker�s late TD run.���� B+�
OL: The line play was, overall,
okay.� Ben was sacked 4 times, but one
was due to Parker�s missed block, and 2 were due to Ben�s foolish indecision
and refusal to throw the ball away.� The
struggles on short-yardage continued, although not entirely the O-line�s fault
when every
short-yardage play in recent memory, until Russell�s conversion in the 3Q, has
been run to the LEFT.� On the ill-fated
4D plunge, Starks got stood up badly and blasted, and Kemo did little.� I�ve realized over time this season that Kemo
is actually -- as he showed tonite -- acceptable out in space and while on the
move, but struggles like a lil� bitch in close quarters off the snap of the
ball.�� The line gave Ben plenty of time
in the 2H and opened up some nice seams for Parker and Russell.� The line was flagged twice, once for
DL:�
The D-line held Tomlinson to a meager 57 yards on 18 carries. �Much of that was due to the shitty field
surface, but the line held tough.� Smith
was pretty solid all game long, stuffing LT for 1 yard in the 1Q and blowing up
a wide LT run for a 3-yard loss helped by Woodley.� Keisel and Hampton (solo blocked) did nothing
on the LT TD plunge.� Keisel was pretty
active and had 6 solos.� Eason was blown
out on LT�s 9-yard run in the 4.�
Kirschke had a good stop of Sproles in the 4Q.��� Smith was flagged for a dumbassed offsides
flag in the 1Q.�� B+
LB:�
Another game of the have and have nots.��
The have�s, Harrison and Woodley, were monsters.�
Woodley�s
return to the lineup was huge.� He busted
up a curl on 3rd & 17 in the 2Q.� He
stuffed LT for a 3-yard loss.� Woodie
hurdled LT and forced a TA in the 3Q.� He
had several other pressures that made Rivers jittery back in the pocket.� He slipped in the 1Q in coverage, which allowed
Manu to snare a short pass and gain 17 yards.�
After
giving up not 1, but 2 TD passes in last week�s loss, you�d have thought
Farrior had sunk to an all time low.�
Maybe not.� Farrior has an utterly
wretched game.�� For a man who never once
left the field, playing at ILB, he had a grand total of 2 (TWO) solo
stops.� He continually was getting
buried, or walled off, as easy as pie.�
On the 2d series, he was BURIED, and LT had his longest run of the game
for 12 yards.� He got BURIED on LT�s TD
run.� He was BURIED on LT�s screen pass
late in the 2Q, which went for 14 yards.�
To add salt into the wound, Taunto was also flagged for an illegal block
on Pola�s INT return, ruining golden FP.��
Quick -- perhaps Colbert can sign Farrior to another extension�!��
Foote also
had a typically weak game.� He was easily
walled off on a 6-yard run by LT at 12:18 4Q.�
He did have an untouched run blitz in the 3Q and dropped LT for -1.�
Timmons
played sparingly but had as many solos as the great, vaunted Taunto Farrior.��������
DB:�
lke led the way in the depleted CB corps with a strong effort, shadowing
V. Jackson and shutting down his side of the field and busting up a couple
passes.� He had good coverage on a deep
ball early in the 4Q on an inc pass.� He
also had a bust-up at the GL that helped force a FG in the 4Q.� Ike was also issued a total-bullshit PI flag
in the 1Q.� He had perfect inside
position and the ball was clearly uncatchable. �Total bullshit.�
Pola had a
couple big plays.� He a an incredible,
unreal, 1-handed INT just above the turf in the 1Q; one of the greatest INTs
I�ve ever witnessed.� He also read and
snuffed the lateral on the game�s final play, and scooped up the ball for a
TD.� The NFL, of course, totally botched
the ruling on this play (ruling an illegal lateral when none were illegal), and
they took Pola�s TD off the board.�� Pola
also had a good drop of LT on a wide run in the 2Q.� On the down side, he had a couple of whiffs,
which, oddly enough, weren�t shown on the Nike commercial that he and Tomlinson
made this summer.� He whiffed poorly on
LT�s 12-yard run in the 1Q.� He whiffed
on a WR screen, which should have been 1 yard but instead got 8.�
Gay played
ok.� He sniffed out a 0-step hitch and
crisply dropped the WR for 1 yard.� Gay
has solid tackling technique.� Ryan Clark
did little, but at least he wasn�t tooled deep.�
Newly acquired Fernando Bryant saw some PT.� He was tooled badly on a deep out for 11
yards in the 4Q.� He rebounded with solid
coverage on a 3D pass in the EZ in the 4Q.���
�
������� A-
Spec
teams:� A wretched, miserable, pile o� shit game for
the spec teams.� Not sure where to begin,
but let me attempt.�
Paul
Spermster punted like total vomit.� He
booted one punt in the 2Q for 30 yards.�
After a high snap, he had another poor punt late in the 2Q for 32
yards.� He tried a pooch, coffin-corner
type punt early in the 4Q, but the ball landed at least 17 yards OOB and was
marked for a 20-yard punt.�� If Berger is
healthy -- or perhaps even if he is not -- he should be called for a
tryout.� Hell, at this point, any soccer
player within 300 miles should be invited to an open tryout.� This is patently absurd.�
The
plethora of penalties on spec teams was almost comical.�� Timmons was flagged, albeit on a total
bullshit penalty, for an illegal block on the free� kick in the 2Q.� Timmons clearly blocked the man from the
SIDE, not the back.� Tony Smith
tackled a punt returner who�d signaled for a FC, good for a 15 yard flag.� Fox was ineligibly DF on a punt.� Spaeth held on a KO return.� (Why the gangly, tall Spaeth is even on the
KO return team is a question for future discussion.)���
Reed booted
3 FGs, although he baldy duckhooked a 51-yard FG.� In fairness, given the snow, cold, and
horrible footing on the field, it was clearly a bit too far of an attempt.�� Reed�s
Russell was
one of the few bright spots.� He dropped
a 4Q KO, but rumbled through tackles and returned the ball 27 yards to the
32.� The return was negated by Spaeth�s
hold.� He also had good 2nd effort on a
KO return in the 1Q.� Good thing this buy
was buried behind
OC:�
The starting QB was a sterling 31-41 for 308 yards; the starting RB had
115 yards on 25 carries, the offense had the ball for 36:31 TOP, and there were
no turnovers, yet all the Bruce Arians Offense could muster was 9 points off 3
FGs.� The win will probably cause most
yinzers to forget the embarrassing debacle known as Bruce Arians, but we here
at Stillers.com will not.�
This guy�s
fascination with exclusively going LEFT on short-yardage plunges reached an
epic high, with 2 more left-side plunges stuffed in the 1H.� We�ll never know why Arians has such a fetish
with the left side, what with Starks an average run blocker, at best, and Kemo
having problems all season long in close-quarters brawling.� In the 3Q, Arians finally pulled his head out
of his ass on a 3rd & 1, and went RIGHT, which netted 6 yards.� Hooray !!���
Arians finally converts in short-yardage!�� Hold a parade !��
Dating back
to the Colts game, the offense, led by the brilliant leadership of Bruce
Arians, has now scored 12 (twelve) points off 4 FGs in the last 6 quarters of
play.� The grab-bagism and failure to
exploit & seize the initiative while keeping the defense off balance, all
the while moving with a lumbering, plodding place more befitting a postal
delivery operation, came to a full boil today with no end in sight.� The Arians offense is what it is -- potent
enough to create a few sparks, but never synchronized enough to present a
persistent, consistent attack that can score points with confidence and
authority.�
At this
rate, the Stillers are quickly emulating the 2000 Ravens, with barely an
offensive punch to complement a solid defense.����� D�
DC:�
Dick had the luxury of facing LT in cold weather with a field so shitty
and sloppy that cutbacks and jukes were mostly out of the question.�� On top of that, the offense�s TOP was a
whopping 36:31, while SD�s was a paltry 23:29.��
It�s rather easy to be a DC when the opposing offense rarely gets onto
the field.� This guy�s luck is utterly
incredible.��
The 3D
defense was soft and cheesy.�� Very
disappointing.�� The epitome came on the
1st drive of the 3Q.� On a 3rd & 9,
Dick blindly rushes just about everybody, and NOBODY is accounting for LT, who
just happens to be THE most dangerous man on the football field.�� Tomlinson caught a short screen, and then
literally had an
The 4Q 3D
defense was frightening.� 3rd & 10 --
easy 11 yards.� Then 3rd & 10, Dick
calls for the Velcro Blitz, with blitzers elbow-to-elbow, and Rivers, with ALL
DAY in the pocket, easily completes a deep out for 17 yards to the PIT 6.��
What will be forgotten in this win was that Stillers could
have WON the game without the last-second FG, had the defense held on.� Instead, Dick�s defense allowed a laborious,
time-consuming, 17-play march for a FG that put SD ahead.� Games are won and lost in the 4Q, and the
past 2 games Dick�s defense has softly given up a 4Q lead with soft
defense.�
C��
HC:� Tomlin is
scaring me more than any Jason Vorhees movie.��
Really.�� This win reminds me all
too much of the weak, uninspired win against Clev and the weak, uninspired loss
against the lowly Jets last season.� The
overt lack of focus and discipline, as evidenced by 14 penalties and a rash of
mental boners, is reprehensible.�
The decision to attempt a 51-yard FG
in the 1Q on 4th & 5 was unbelievably stupid.�� There has NEVER been a FG converted from
that distance in Heinz Field.� Worse, the
weather and shitty field conditions, with snow, wind, and cold, made any
FG beyond 35 yards an iffy proposition, much less from 51.�� Here, a punt would have been acceptable, but
better would have simply been to go for it.��
Going for a completely impossible 51-yard� FG in these conditions was every bit as
asinine, if not more so, than the Raiders� attempt from 75 yards earlier this
season.� Frankly, the 75-yarder, which
occurred in balmy weather, had a much better chance of success.�
We�ll never know, either, why Tomlin refused to challenge
the spot on Nate�s 3rd & G reception that was ruled down inches from a
TD.� Nate looked awfully close to being
in for the score.� The challenge here
does 2 things: it gives you a legit shot at a TD with a possibility of a replay
reversal, plus it allows your offense to gather itself for a key 4th & goal
plunge, which, if you may recall, hasn�t exactly been� a strong suit for this offense lately.�
Lastly, I was vastly disappointed in how this Stiller team,
coming off a terrible loss, could allow the Chargers -- clearly a WARM weather
team -- to travel all the way across country to play in Pittsburgh on a cold,
snowy day, and the best we could do was slather our way to a weak-assed, flimsy
1-point win.�� Armed with the home field
advantage and cold weather, this should have been an asswhipping, but instead
we had to claw from behind and win on a last-second FG.�� I smell and feel the same 2nd half malaise
as occurred last season, and nothing I�ve seen yet can convince me
otherwise.�� C
Synopsis:�
We�ll take the �W�, which, along with the Raven�s loss, puts us in sole
possession of 1st place.� Still, it was
nothing to be proud of, and this team is going to have to play much better,
more focused, more disciplined football if it has any interest in a deep
playoff foray.�� Next up, the Bungals
this Thur. nite.�
(Still Mill
and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the