Dick Exposed....By His Own Players...
It�s rare indeed to obtain solid, quality sports
analysis from the local
The Trib Review did,
however, have a superb article in the Tuesday edition, titled �Harris: LeBeau
made right call: listening to players�.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/
The thesis of the article was
flawed, but the exposure of Dick LeBeau was spot on.�
Below are excerpts from the article.� I�ve used underlines and bold to add emphasis
where it made sense to do so, as well as short comments in parentheses:
Players play and coaches coach, but
Steelers defensive captain James Farrior and his teammates had seen enough
Sunday night.
No more sitting back and taking it.
Enough with Baltimore Ravens
quarterback Joe Flacco picking the secondary clean like a leftover
Thanksgiving turkey. If the Steelers were going to win the AFC North, someone
was going to have to take a bullet for the rest of the team.
Someone was going to have to tell defensive
coordinator Dick LeBeau to call more blitzes.��
(Gee, no kidding?)
Who better than Farrior? He's one of
four co-captains and old enough (35) not to care what people think.
It wasn't easy for a popular veteran
like Farrior to make suggestions to his coach, especially during a game. To
Farrior, though, the alternative of losing
was too unflattering to consider.
"We definitely felt we could get
some good pressure. �We just had to get the right
calls in,'' Farrior said in the afterglow of the Steelers' gritty
13-10 win.
"That's what our guys were preaching on the sideline to the coaches. If we were gonna go down, we were gonna go down blitzing. �We
definitely didn't want to sit back. Coach LeBeau �listened to
us.''� (finally)
In the first half, Flacco had his way
with the Steelers. He navigated the longest scoring drive of his NFL career --
92 yards. �He completed passes of 61 and
67 yards and was 9 of 14 for 179 yards and a touchdown with a 131.5 passer
rating.
Other than a first-quarter sack by
defensive end Ziggy Hood, Flacco was rarely
under duress. He was on his way to another score and a career game when
momentum shifted.
On third-and-15 from the Steelers 32 in
the second quarter, cornerback Ike Taylor caught
In the second half, the tables turned.
The Steelers had their way with Flacco, who was 8 of 19 for 87 yards with a
65.8 passer rating, mainly due to a better pass rush making it difficult for
him to step into his throws.
With LeBeau dealing out blitzes like a
blackjack dealer shuffles cards, the Steelers overwhelmed Flacco with pressure.
"When you dial up the blitz, it's
usually hit or miss,''
That's a gamble outside linebacker
James Harrison wants to take more often.
"I'm of
the feeling if you're gonna kill me, kill me at what
I like to do and that's blitz,''
said
"In
earlier weeks, we were dropping in coverage (instead of blitzing). (Gee, no kidding.) At the
end of the
Flacco threw the decisive 18-yard
touchdown pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh with 34 seconds
left in the Ravens' 17-14 win over the Steelers on Oct. 3. The Steelers didn't
blitz on the play, and Flacco was free to throw without pressure.
Two months later, the Steelers defense
didn't repeat that mistake when Flacco faced second-and-5 at the
Trailing 10-6, the Steelers' defense
needed to make a big play or lose any realistic chance of winning the division.
Strong safety Troy Polamalu delivered,
sacking Flacco from the blind side and forcing a fumble that led to the
Steelers' winning touchdown.
"We felt like we could disrupt,
get in Flacco's face, if they gave us an opportunity,'' said Farrior, who recorded a
team-high seven tackles and sacked Flacco in the fourth quarter.
"We don't question Coach LeBeau
and the decisions he makes. (But we should) Sometimes we just try
to throw something out there and maybe (just maybe) he'll
listen. Everybody has their own idea --what we should be doing, but he's the
guy.'' (No, he's the daft simpleton who clearly is past his prime
as an NFL coordinator.)� ��
----------------------------------------------------------------------
There you have it.�� �We just had to get the right calls in.� ��Damning evidence indeed.�� The earlier loss to the Ravens.� The loss to the Saints.�� The embarrassing ass-whipping issued by the
Pats.�� All games in which Dick played
soft, cutesy defense and gave the opposing QB eons of time to stand, totally
unfettered and unhurried, in the pocket.�
You�ll hear all sorts of babble in defense of Dick.�� �He blitzed Pola in the 1Q, and we gave up a
61-yard bomb.��� Actually, this play had
2 grisly, asinine tactical mistakes by The Great Dick.��
���� �- First off, he did blitz Pola, but instead of
from the OUTSIDE -- where he�s got SPACE to maneuver -- he blitzed him right up
the GUT,
right next to the NT.�� The congestion,
even on a favorable play, is ugly, and the blitz pickup by any half-mediocre RB
is as easy as pie.�� You�ll note the
game-changing strip by Pola came on a blitz from the OUTSIDE, not up the gut
where there is more traffic than the Ft. Pitt Tunnel during rush hour.�
�
��� �- 2nd, he placed slow-footed Ryan Clark -- the
absolute slowest, worst coverage man of any starting free safety in the entire
NFL -- up in PRESS coverage in the face of a slot receiver.�� Stone stupid.�
To be sure, there were other foolish, imbecilic tactical
blunders by The Great Dick.� �He often sat the most athletic LB on the team,
Larry Timmons, who has been having a MARVELOUS all-around season. �Taking your best, fastest, all-around LB off
the field is essentially sabotage, no matter how it might be rationalized or
justified.�
Dick also had the clever idea, on 3d down & 9, to take
hobbling DE Yancey Keisel and have him cover a TE on a downfield seam
route.��� It�s never a bright idea to
have a DE cover a TE down the field.�� It�s
an even stupider, drunken-comatose idea to have a DE that missed the past 5
games to a balky hamstring try to cover the TE downfield.� Just abject stupidity at
its worst.���
Then there�s the babble about, �Dick held the Raven offense
to 10 points.���� Gee, strike up the
band!!��� Quick -- Hold a parade in his
honor!�� Dick held the Ravens to 10
points!��
After
the Ravens were held to 20 points or fewer for the sixth time this season, wide receiver Derrick Mason vented his frustration,
saying the offense plays like "the Bad News Bears" at
times. Mason publicly and openly RIDICULED the entire Balt. offense after the
game.
Further,
although many experts expected the Ravens to develop into a top-10 offense
after wide receivers Anquan Boldin,
T.J. Houshmandzadeh
and Donte' Stallworth were
added to boost the growth of quarterback Joe Jacco, it
simply has not happened.��� With four games left in the regular
season, the Ravens are a middle-of-the-road attack, ranking 14th in yards per game (341.7) and 17th in scoring (21.7).�� There are 32
teams in the NFL; the Ravens are 17th in scoring.� Not impressive in the least, and it speaks to
just how average Joe Jacco truly is.�
Then, you factor in the fact that
superstar TE Todd Heap pulled his hammy on the game�s FIRST play, and never
returned.�� Then, longtime Steeler-killer
Mason got nicked up and missed a good chunk of playing time.�� Finally, L�ron
McClain -- an elite FB -- was injured and did not dress.�� That�s 2 starters that missed the entire
game and a third who hobbled his way amidst missing a chunk of playing
time.��
And, in
reading the Balt. newspapers, NOT ONE single coach
or player cited, "Well, that's a pretty good defense over
there....." No one downplayed the weak
offensive output by claiming the Steeler defense was the brunt cause of
it.�� Instead, they saw a QB literally SHORT
HOP a routine, SIMPLE �2-yard pass to a WIDE OPEN receiver on
4th down and 2, to end the game.��
The point here is that, while
Sorry, folks.
It's not like Dick limited the '84 Dolphins to 10 points.��� It�s not like Dick held the �94 San Fran 49ers
to 10 points.�� This was Joe Jacco, one of the most average QBs
in all of pro football.�� And it�s not
like Balt�s offense benefited from golden FP and a
host of turnovers.�� The Steeler offense
had only 1 turnover, which gave the Ravens the ball on the 2 yard line....their
own 2-yard line.�� It truly was no
big deal and no Herculean effort.��
Dick got exposed, not
only on national TV, but by his own players after the game.�� Rather sad when players have to beg
and
plead with the coordinator to make the correct tactical decision.�� Sometimes, the truth hurts.�� Perhaps Dick will realize all of this after a
long nap.�� Perhaps, like Dave Wannstedt, Dick will soon realize it�s time to step
down.��
(Still Mill
and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the