Stillers-Chargers Postgame Analysis and Grades

Stillers 38, Chargers 28 ���. Oct 4, 2009 (Sunday Nite Football) ����Game #4��

 

Stillers-Chargers� Postgame Analysis and Grades

 

The Stillers stormed out to a 28-0 lead in the 3Q, and it seemed the only question was, �Which backups will get some mop-up work in this blowout?��� But then, true to form, the defense got shredded in the 4Q, and along with a spec teams fumble that was returned for a TD, this laugher turned into yet another 4Q nail biter.� The Stillers managed to hold on for dear life, and escaped with a 38-28 win.�

 

Grades:

 

QB:� Benji was nearly flawless, going 26 of 33 for 333 yards and 2 TDs.�� He was victimized by 4 drops; otherwise, he�d have gone 30 of 33, which would have been simply stupendous. �He was particularly sharp on designed boots.� He also displayed a velvet touch on the loft to Miller in the EZ for a TD.� His lone boner was holding the ball forever in the 2nd series, and getting stripped.� Luckily, he recovered, but this could have been a critical turnover there in the 1st quarter.���� A+

 

RB:� After being benched for all plays on offense last week, Mendy got the start due to Parker�s turf-toe injury.�� Mendy apparently �got the message�, as he ran like a man possessed, finishing with 165 yards on 29 carries and 2 TDs.�� Right from the get-go, Mendy ran with authority, constantly churning, burrowing, twisting, and plowing for extra yardage.� Mendy showed good decisiveness, seeing daylight and then hitting it like a thunderbolt.� He ripped off some nice chunks of yardage, including 14, 32, and 22 yards.� He hit the hole with authority on short yardage and other basic plunges, including a 2-yard plunge in the 1Q that injured the forearm of OLB Shaun Philips.�

 

To add icing on the cake, Mendy had 26 yards on 2 grabs, and he looked very, very fluid and smooth snaring flare passes out of the backfield.�� Lastly, Mendy blocked quite well in the blitz-pickup department.� In the 2Q, he blistered an inside-rushing linebacker so hard that he literally dumped the LB to the ground.��

 

Mr. Clutch, Mewelde Moore, had 3 clutch grabs, including a superb RAC for a TD in which he beat 3 defenders to the goal line, plus threw a perfect strike to Miller on a HB Option play that netted a TD.�

 

RedZone Redman dressed for this game, but did not play at all on offense.� Had LeBeau not pissed away the gargantuan lead, Redman would have likely gotten some work in mop-up relief.�

 

A+�

 

FB: Davis, just re-signed to the team due to Summers� season-ending back injury, got some PT.� He had the presence of mind, and hustle, to pounce on Miler�s fumble at the SD 2-yard line, avoiding what could have been a disastrous turnover.�� Backup center Doug Legursky lined up at FB on a goal-line plunge and threw a crushing block to pave the way for Mendy�s 1st TD.������� B+

 

WR:� Ward led the way with 8 grabs for 113 yards.� However, he had 2 drops in the 3Q, the 2nd of which was a foolish bobble that nearly was picked off.� He redeemed himself a short while later by bowling over a tackler on 3d & 7 and getting 18.��

 

Holmes had 4 grabs for 52.� He dropped a bubble screen in the 3Q.�

 

Wally Wallace was somewhat quiet after last week�s 102-yard effort, but he did managed 2 grabs for 47, including a clutch 35-yard haul-in along the sidelines on the games 1st drive.� He dropped a low, difficult opportunity in the 2Q.���

 

McDonald had a clutch grab on 3d 15 in the 3Q, but a holding call negated it.���� Limas Peed, who peed the bed as a toddler and still does, rightfully did not dress.�������� A-�

 

TE:� Miller had a very productive game, grabbing 8 passes for 70 yards and a TD.�� Very refreshing, after being written out of the offense last week by his idiot coordinator.�� Miller did have an ugly fumble at the SD 2, which could have been a disaster, but Davis pounced on the loose ball to save Miller from embarrassment.��

 

Spaeth, as usual, was non-existent in the passing game.�� He was never once even thrown a pass.� With the emergence of Mike Wallace, every play that Spaeth is in the field is taking reps, and productivity, away from Wally.� ����Miller: A-���� Spaeth:� Inc

 

OL: The much maligned O-line had a fairly dominant game tonite, opening up nice creases for the ground game and giving Ben plenty of time & room to throw.� The pass pro was superb throughout the evening.� There were a couple jailhouse blitzes in the 2Q that caused problems, but overall the line allowed Ben to pick apart Diego.� The run blocking was the best we�ve seen all season and perhaps in years.� Hartwig had a good block on Mendy�s 1-yard TD. �Colon had some strong run blocking.� Max Starks was just caving defenders on down-blocks.�

 

Chris Kemo finally earned his keep with a strong effort.�� He pulled both to his left and right and led the way on several long runs.� He also had good blocking on QB sneaks.� The 1 down note was Kemo stopping the clock and saving the Chargers a TO late in the game with an �injury�.�� He returned 1 play later.� This is a pet peeve of mine�..if you�re healthy enough to return at lightning speed 1 play later (about, oh, 85 seconds later), then chances are, you were healthy enough to limp or hobble off the field in the first place.��

 

Starks� holding flag negated McDonald�s grab on 3rd down.� Kemo allowed Castillo to buffalo by him, and was flagged for a hold late in the 4Q.� Willie The Colon committed a false start.� Essex was beaten on a late 3d & 19 that nearly produced a sack.�

 

Overall, a nice evening for the OL and hopefully something to build upon.��� A

 

DL:� SD rarely had the ball in the 1H, so the DL had a fairly easy evening.� They did bottle LT fairly well.� LT�s longest run of the game was a 5-yarder in the 2Q on a play in which Keisel failed to corral LT and the RB bounced it wide.��� The pocket push and harassment was, once again, negligible.���� Ziggy Hood dressed but played very sparingly.�� Of course, we don�t need a strong, pass-rushing DE on the field with a 3-TD lead.��� B-���

 

LB:� Some good, some bad.

 

The good was Jamie Harrison, who had a strong game in throttling the run and harassing the QB.� He had some good stops and wraps of LT and once on Sproles on plunges.� Harrison applied some pressure on Rivers, rushing once from an ILB spot and going around left end for a sack, and then late in the game, forcing a fumble with a big hit on the QB.� Harrison was beaten by Gates well downfield in coverage in the 4Q, although that was a schematic flaw.��

 

Timmons nearly had an INT with tight coverage on Gates late in the 2Q.�� But he had a poor flail at Gates after a short grab in the 1Q, failing to break down and coming after Gates in an upright, giraffe-like manner.� Timmons then completely lost Gates on the big TD in the 4Q, failing to cover and then, worse, failing to shove Gates OOB despite the big TE being inches away from the sideline.��

 

Tauno Farrior continues to display the rapidly downward arc on his career, with yet another grim, dismal performance.� The man was a complete non-factor the entire game.� Gates ate this defense alive with 9 catches for 124 and 2 TDs, and never was Farrior anywhere near busting up a pass.�

 

Jason Woodley had yet another humdrum game in which he did very, very, very little.� In fact, his ONE and ONLY solo tackle was on a plunge by Tomlinson in which the RB stuttered and then SLIPPED to the turf, and Big LaMarr happened to be standing nearby and tapped LT for a big �solo stop�.�� That�s it.�� SD ran 44 plays on offense, and all The WoodenDong could do was get a Dong Solo when the RB slipped to the turf.�� Puh-thetic.��

 

Arnie Harrison played on spec teams, but because Jason Woodley is so great, so dominant, and so menacing, and because Taunto Farrior is such an all-around dynamo, Arnie was never allowed to play on defense.��

 

Harrison:�� B+��� Timmons:� B-��� Farrior:�� D��� Woodley:�� C-�

 

DB:� lke had a pretty strong effort, providing good coverage and bust-ups on deep balls to the 6-5� Jackson.�� He did whiff on a deep out to Jackson in the 2Q.�� He blitzed in the 2Q and batted a pass.�� The downer was his lame, feminine tackle attempt of Gates at the end of Gates� 30-yard TD.�� Gates was along the sideline, and needed to be shoved OOB.� Instead, Ike meekly knelt down and gave Gates a love tap near the GL.��� Very weak.��

 

Gay was beaten on an early 3d & 11, but Chambers dropped the pass.� He had a good bustup in the EZ late in the 3Q.�

 

Ratliff saw a lot of PT.�� He took a poor angle on the RAC of Chambers� 4Q TD.�

 

Townsend was badly mismatched against Gates on a short TD pass, and was correctly flagged for a hold.�

 

Carter flashed up on an early screen play and stopped it for -1.��

 

Overall, it was okay, but still not up to snuff, particularly the final 20 minutes of the game.��� C+

 

Spec teams:� A ghastly evening from this crew, which helped to almost piss this game away.�� The KO coverage was shoddy on just about every KO.� Even the final KO resulted in a 42-yard return.�

 

Stefan Logan was stripped of a 3Q punt and Hester returned it for a key TD.� His 2nd effort was admirable, but with his size, there are times, such as that one, where he merely needs to get to the ground, or simply FC the ball in the 1st place.��

 

Ryan Mundy had a cake-easy onside KO booted to him, and he promptly coughed it back up as though it were a hand grenade, giving SD the ball, and life, in the 4Q.��

 

Warren had a high punt snap; luckily Sepulveda reached up and grabbed it, and then got off a good boot.�

 

There were some bright spots.�� Logan twice fielded punts inside the 10, and deftly got solid yardage to move the ball into manageable FP.� Logan also made a strong solo tackle of Sproles in KO coverage.� Was pretty cool to see two 5-6� guys battling it out !�� Logie also disrupted Cromartie�s KO return, in which Burnett made the stop.�

 

Hooker Reed finally made a clutch FG, booting a 46-yarder with less than 1 minute to seal the deal.��������� C-��

 

OC:� Arians had a rare productive evening, shredding the SD defense and dominating the TOP.� I liked the 1st play of the game -- a PAP boot, with a� deep out to Tonio for 15 yards.� It gets the offense moving early; it gets Tonio involved, and it puts a defense expecting a vanilla plunge back onto its heels.� Then, after SD made the game very nerve-wracking at 35-28, the 1st play was a PAP and another out to Tonio for 15 yards.� Again, instead of a vanilla plunge into the teeth of the defense, Arians, for once, took advantage of something.�� He�ll probably hump a goat next week, but at least for this week, Arians was acceptable.���� A

 

DC:� Once again, the vaunted defense got shredded apart like provolone cheese in the 4th quarter.�� It�s becoming a sick joke.���

 

NOTE to DULLARD DICK -- you do not, repeat, do not, have to play 2 ILBs when you�re up by 28 points in the 3Q and the opponent has scrapped the running game!!�� This guy is so obtuse and stupid, it�s beyond comprehension !!��� Why is Farrior in the game, on EVERY play, when we�re up by 28 in the 3Q �and then up by 21 in the 4Q??��� Tomlinson toted the ball only SEVEN times the entire game !!��� The Chargers had totally abandoned the running game !!��� Yet Dullard Dick, the bed-shitting simpleton that he is, insists on keeping Taunto in the game on every single snap, and the result is a constant riddling of the soft middle of the Stiller pass defense!!�� 3 weeks in a row this has happened, yet Dullard Dick, the supposed genius, is too fuking blind to see this!��

 

And then there�s Gates, who just tore apart the defense with 9 grabs for a buck 24.�� Dick puts his best pass rusher, who is also his 2nd slowest LB (just ahead of Farrior), on Gates in the 4Q??�� That�s stupidity at its worst!!��� What a dumfuk!��

 

Just look at the last 2 TD �drives� by Diego --� 90, and then 77 seconds.� If nothing else, Dick�s theory of the Softee Defense is supposed to force long, laborious marches.�� Instead, these were blitzkrieg TD drives scored at the speed of light, all with LeBeau standing there befuddled and confused.���

 

The horrendous shredding in the 4Q simply has to be addressed.�� It�s gotten to sickening proportions and it�s evident that Dick has no plans to personally fix it.����� D

 

HC:� Tomlin had the team fired up and intense for this game.�� His message obviously got through to Mendy, although I�d argue that the same message could have gotten through even if Mendy had been benched for a half instead of the entire game.�� I liked the gutsy call on 4th & inches, on his own 31 midway thru the 2Q, to go for it.�� Ben is unstoppable on the sneak at such a short distance, and it kept alive a key drive.�

 

I wasn�t pleased that Tommy didn�t insert the hands team when SD kicked off at 5:44 4Q.� This was stone stupid.� SD ended up recovering the KO and then scored 77 seconds later to make this a very tight ballgamne.� Force SD to kick off conventionally, and tell the returner to get to the 15 and fall down.�� Then the offense could have run 3 plays -- or more, with the way Ben and Mendy were on fire -- and chewed a good bit of clock.������ B+�

 

Synopsis:� A big win to get off the schneid and back in the win column.� It was needlessly tighter than it should have been, but perhaps that tightness will instill some fortitude in the team.� The 4th quarter woes on defense continue to be the Achilles heel and will be until the problem is addressed, even after Pola returns.� Next up, the Lions�..and let�s not forget that this Stillers team is very, very capable of pissing this game away if they don�t come ready to hunt bear.��

 

 

(Still Mill and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Stillers, no one else comes close�.)