Stillers 28, Doncos 10 ���. Nov 9, 2009 ����Game # 8
Stillers-Doncos Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers sputtered and wheezed in the thin mountain air, and after Ben was stripped
of the football and returned for a Denver TD, the Doncos had the lead and the ol� mo in the 3Q.�
But Ben righted the offense; the D stiffened; and the Stillers went on
to whupp the Doncos, 28-10.
Grades:
QB:�
Benji started off timid and scattershot.�� On the 1st series, he threw a pitiful out
pass to Ward.� On the next play, he
refused to throw the ball after EONS of time, and was sacked.� He then took a 1st down sack on the 2nd
series.�� Starting off the 3Q, he was
stripped for the Denver go-ahead TD, but to his credit he gathered himself, and
the O, and the O ripped off a string of good possessions, mostly aided by the
no-huddle that had little or no influence from Bruce Arians.�� The long strike to Tonio was well thrown, as
was the 1st TD pass to Hines.� His INT,
on 1st down no less, was utterly reprehensible in the 3Q of a tight game, and
he badly overthrew Wally on a fly pattern in the 4Q.�� He finished 21 of 29 with 3 TDs; overall, a
solid evening.��� B+
RB:�
Mendy ran the ball well; with authority; in the 1H.�� Problem was, he had
only 6 touches, which gained 4, 6, 3, 4, 4, and 3 yards.�� This obviously wasn�t good enough for the
idiot employed as the Off Coordinator, so he was only permitted 6 carries in
the 1H.� He resumed good production in
the 3Q, and thankfully he was allowed to run the ball more than just a few
token carries.� Mendy finished with 22
rushes, 155 yards, including 130 in the 2nd half.�� He showed good vision and bolted thru some
holes like lightning on several occasions, bringing a gleam from my eye.�� Parker dressed and was on the field for 1 or
2 plays, max, but did not touch the ball.��
Moore was reliable in relief in the 4Q, toting the ball several times to
help chew the clock.�� In another oddity
that has occurred 3-4 times this season, Moore, the �pass catching RB� caught
no passes.� At this point, I suppose it�s
no longer an oddity, and something should be done to get this ultra-reliable
catcher and RAC runner integrated into the offense.����� A+
FB: Davis dressed, but hurt his leg in
the 1Q.�� Johnson played at FB on a
handful of plays.��� Inc
WR:�
Tonio had a big nite with 6 grabs for 93
yards, and zero drops.�� Hines also had a
big nite, with 7 grabs for 44 and 2 TD, including a
spectacular vault over a diving Chump
Bailey en route to a 3-yard TD.� Wally
had 4 grabs for 69, including a clutch, sliding grab of a low pass on 3d &
6 in the 3Q.� ��A�
TE:�
Miller had 3 grabs for 18.�� He
did drop a tough, high seamer in the 4Q.�
His blocking at the POA was decent, at times.�� But he had a barfy
block attempt of Dawkins -- a man he outsizes by 5
inches and 45 pounds -- on a Mendy run in the 4Q, which resulted in a 6-yard
loss.� Not to be outdone, Johnson had a vomity block attempt on a Mendy run later in the 4Q,
causing a 3-yard loss.��� B-
OL: The line played a solid overall
game.� Mendy had room to run the entire
1H; he just wasn�t used much.�� The pass
blocking was pretty good; the sacks were mostly the case of Benji clutching
onto the ball.� The one obvious boner was
made by Piss Kemoeatu, who allowed a DL to swim right
by him for the strip that gave Denver its lone TD.�� A very poor, weak-assed
attempt by Kemo.��� The Kemoan Somoan also had a shoddy
block on 3d & 8 late in the 2Q, which caused immediate pressure on the QB.� Kemo did pull well -- as is his forte -- on
several counters that gained good yardage.��
Hartwig had a good block to lead Mendy�s late
long run.�� Essex committed his weekly
false start, although The Colon, who had a decent game, surprisingly didn�t have
a false start.��� A-
DL:�
Dressing just 5 DL, the DL held stout the entire game.�� Denver was never able to muster a ground
game.� Keisel was a man possessed, nabbing
Orton twice in the backfield on athletic, persistent plays.� On the one sack, he simply wheeled the
O-lineman all the way back to the QB.��
He also had a bat in the 4Q.� For
whatever reason, Keisel always seems to be at his best in Denver (hearken back
to the Jan. 2006 AFCC, if you will).��
Eason started at DE and played okay.��
Fat Casey was seen huffing & puffing after just 3 plays at the start
of the game, pooped and tuckered out over on the sidelines.�� Very uninspiring.�� Hoke showed good athleticism and hustle by
chucking Moreno out of the backfield on the play that Carter picked for the
TD.� Hood saw the most work he�d seen all
season, although not a huge amount of snaps.����
A-
LB:�
Fox (subbing for the injured Timmons, who did not dress) and Harrison
led the way with 6 solos.� Harrison was a
manster (half man, half monster) all nite long, stuffing the run and harassing the passer.�� Fox filled in admirably.�� He beat a RB�s chop block and forced a
hurried throw-away in the 4Q.� He also
had a stuff of Moreno for -1 in the 2Q.�
He did whiff on Buckhalter earlier in the 2Q, which allowed a 7-yard
gain.��
Taunto
Farrior knifed in to stop Moreno for -2 in the 2Q.� He feebly whiffed on a Buckhalter run out of
the Wildcat in the 1Q, allowing a 5-yard gainer.�
Woodley had
an acceptable evening, finishing with 4 solos, some stuffs, and some
pressure.� Bear in mind, of course, that
he was feasting on a greenhorn tackle, Palumbus, who
was making his 1st NFL start.�� Wood had
a rare, but good stuff of a ground play in the 1st series for a 3-yard
loss.� He did have a whiff of Buck on a
wide run late in the 2Q, good for 6 yards.�����
A-
DB:�
Pola and Ike stepped up with big games to shut down the somewhat
impotent Donco passing attack.�� Ike
wrapped and tackled well, and he mostly shut down the orange-footed Brandon
Marshall when tasked to cover him.� Ike
had a good, immediate stop of Marshall on a 3d & 7slant in the 3Q, forcing
a punt.� (This perhaps could have been
flagged for facemasking, as Ike may have had the back
lip of the helmet, which is a penalty.)��
Pola knifed in and blistered Buckhalter on a plunge in the 3Q.� The next play, Pola picked off an errant pass
that set up the TD that essentially put this game away.� Pola also had a good stop for -1 on a screen
late in the 2Q.�
Carter started
for Clark due to Clark�s sickle cell problem, and played solidly.�� He astutely read the QB and Moreno slipping
out of the backfield for a mid-valve dump, and snared the INT and raced in for
a huge TD.�� He also had a Dong INT off a
bad pass late in the game.
Mundy had
some coverage and tackle problems, but in the 3Q, on a key 3d & 5, he made
a strong stop[ of Stokely
for 4 yards, forcing a punt.�
Gay was
picked on incessantly in the 1H, but played a lil�
better in the 2H.� Still, he was a bit too
soft and a bit too much like Deion Figures for my
tastes.
Townsend,
who is usually trusty and reliable, whiffed badly on a 3d & 10 curl to Marshall, who then romped forward for 15 yards.�
Overall, a solid nite by the secondary, albeit
against a pop-gun passer like Orton who refused to throw the ball downfield.���
B+
Spec
teams:� An okay game by this Achilles heel; at least
nothing hideous happened to put 6 points on the board for the other team.� Fox had a good stop on the opening KO.� Logie had a solid
PR for 14 yards in the 3Q. Moore had a big PR in the 4Q, but it was called back
on a tickytack block in the back by Lewis.� Limas Sweed was flagged for holding on a
punt.� We have no idea why Sweed, the
limp, weak-assed faggott that he is, was even on the punt return team as a
BLOCKER.�� On the same play, Burnett ran
into the punter.���
The spec
teams were helped out immensely by the punting of Denver�s Bitch Berger, who
had a totally ass-wrenching effort.� Just
like he did last season for the Stillers, he punted like total vomit.� Allow me to rant on the abject stupidity of
NFL GMs, who supposedly �know their business better than anyone.��� Counting Div. 2 and 3 schools, there must be
50 punters who graduate ever year from the NCAA.� Add in the hundreds of soccer and rugby
players who are capable of putting a foot to the pig bladder, and you have well
over 500 qualified people who could be brought in for a tryout.� Yet, just like Colbert last season, the Donco
GM took the LAZY, easy way out, by calling in a retread simply because �he can
handle the pressure of punting in front of a big crowd.��� Right.�� Like a guy punting on the campus of U. of
Texas or Michigan wouldn�t have had to adapt to punting in front of
100,000-plus people plus the millions on national TV.� Denver got what it deserved, and their GM
should be run out of town on a rail for such a feeble, lazy effort.����� B
OC:�
Arians didn�t do much.�� The 1st
half was replete with little success, and the O� ran only 18 plays the entire 1H, which
is woefully inadequate.� The 2H success
was generated when Ben went no huddle, meaning Arians, the idiot, had nothing
to do with that success.�� The refusal to
give the rock more to Mendenhall in the 1H baffles the mind.�� Denver was actually playing vanilla, rarely
ever putting 8 men in the box, and we were opening up nice fissures.� 6 carries for 26 yards in a good rate in the
NFL, but Arians runs the ball only as a �check the block� obligation, not
because he�s actually interested in doing it.����� C
DC:�
Dick was carved up in the 1st series for the methodical FG march, and
had problems the entire 1H getting off the field.� Some may wonder why Tomlin didn�t call a TO
near the end of the 1H.� The reason was
simple -- he was terrified of Dick�s defense getting gashed, so he figured the
safest route was to run out the clock.���
B+�
HC:� The start was
sluggish, but the team held in there and showed good resiliency.�� The tackling was fairly strong, which is an
aspect I place a lot of emphasis on.�
Mendenhall continues to excel after his benching several weeks ago.���
Tomlin is
starting to annoy me with his Bellichick-like secrecy
and coy game-playing regarding injuries. Case in point
-- the entire saga with Ryan Clark and this game at Denver�s altitude.
Tomlin played cat n' mouse up until kickoff, which I think was entirely
needless and senseless.� He�s the big emphasizer about
distractions.� To me, this kind of
foolhardy gamesmanship is, in and of itself, a needless distraction.���� B+
Synopsis:�
A good road win, coming off a bye week where rust can be a factor.�� Now, it�s a huge showdown for the AFC North,
with Cinci visiting Pgh. this weekend.� A Cinci win all but gives them the division
crown, unless they were to falter badly in Dec.�� This amounts to a must-win game for the
Stillers, who could easily over-take the Bungles with a win on Sunday and
continued strong play down the stretch.�
(Still Mill and
Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Stillers, no
one else comes close�.)