Jackers 31, Stillers 25� ��. Feb 6, 2011 ����Super Bowl 45
Stillers-Jackers Postgame
Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers bumbled their way about the entire 1st half, committing equal amounts
of foolish penalties, stupid-assed mistakes, and boneheaded turnovers, enabling
the Jackers to go in at half with a 21-10 lead.��
The
Stillers stormed back to make it 21-17; then the defense allowed yet another GB
TD.� The Stillers struck again for a TD
and a 2-pointer to make it a 3-point game, but the defense -- true to its soft,
cheesy nature -- allowed a long, clock-chewing 70-yard march for a late FG to
ice the game.�� The Stillers had 1 last
gasp, but with only 1 timeout, got only one 1st down.��
My pre-game analysis broke
down the game in full detail, and regrettably, nearly everything I�d pointed out came to roost
and haunt the Stillers in this grim loss.�
Grades:
QB:�
Ben had a fairly miserable, awful evening.��� There�s no sense sugarcoating it.� �He
sucked ass, going 25 of 40 for 263 and 2 TDs.��
The pick 6 wasn�t his fault, as his arm was hit as he threw, but the
other INT was his.�� He was scattershot,
high, and long for far too long in this game.��
The misery
began right from the 1st series, with an awful misfire on 3d & 10 that was
close to no one.� On the next series, his
incomplete seamer to Miller was extremely high and only catchable via a circus
catch of extraordinary proportions.�� Ben
threw a deep lob to Wally down the sideline in the 2Q, but it was too flat and
too far to the inside.��
There was
also a high, shitty out pass to Wally on 3d & 2 late in the 3Q.�
Without
question, the worst of his passes was the total misfire on the WIDE open
flag to Wally in the 3Q, which should have been an easy 6 points.�� On this PAP, Wally was wide open and Ben had
ACRES of room in the pocket and plenty of time, yet Ben threw the ball well
over Wally, and really into no-man�s land instead of toward the flag.�� Instead of a TD that would have put the
Stillers up by 4, the drive bogged down and Suisham missed the 52-yard FG.��
There were
some good scrambles, and a decent TD passes to Wally and Ward, but far, far too
little overall.�� C-�
RB:�
Mendy ripped off some solid runs, but he�ll long be remembered - much
like Neil O�Dummel -- for a ghastly 4th quarter turnover, this on a fumble at
the Packer 40.� He rushed only 14 times,
for 63 yards and 1 TD.� I blame most of
the fumble on Johnson -- not Mendy --- although he was running far too upright,
which I�ve railed upon at least 17 times this season.��
Redman
ripped off a couple nice runs, including a 16-yarder on 3d & short.�
�
As happened
most of the season -- and another
thing I�d railed on in my pre-game analysis -- the RBs were almost entirely
non-existent in the passing game, with Mendy catching the lone pass for 7
yards.���� B-��
FB:�
Johnson had a couple good lead blocks on Mendy�s productive runs,
including the 15-yarder by Mendy in the 1Q.����
But Johnson will long be remembered for 2 horrific, assaholic blunders
-- the no-brained false start on 2d & 1 that aborted the 2nd drive; and the
faggot-fuck blocking attempt in which he knifed thru 2 defenders --
blocking NEITHER -- on the play that Mendy fumbled.��� If Johnson gets his hat on a defender like he�s supposed to, it�s likely Mendy
isn�t blistered and no fumble occurs.�����
D+���
WR:�
A fairly average showing by the WR corps, especially with Woodson out,
as well as Shields.�� Wally led the way
with 9 grabs for 89 and 1 TD, but failed to corral the last gasp 4th down pass
that ended the game.�� He also allowed a
high, but catchable, pass on 3d & 2 to go thru his hands in the 3Q.��
Ward was
quiet and ignored most of the 1st half, before finally being utilized in the
late 2Q drive.�� Ward snared 3 passes to
help ignite that drive, including the TD with less than a� minute remaining in the half.�
Sanders got
injured in the 2Q when he grabbed a 3rd down pass well ahead of the sticks, and
then foolishly ran backwards and got tackled rudely, injuring a leg.� Very fortunately, he was given forward
progress, but was lost of the game when he limped off 2 plays later.��
Taking
Sanders� placed was Randle El, who came out of nowhere and had a productive
effort.� He made a superb grab just about
the turf on a low throw on 3d &6 in the 2Q.�
He also made a good grab and added on a ton of RAC on a 37-yard pass
play late in the 2Q, which ended up being the longest pass play of the day for
PIT.��� El also had a good run to the
pylon, eluding a tackler, for the key 2-point conversion in the 4Q.�� ����B
TE:�
I�d explicitly warned in my pre-game analysis --� �TE Heath Miller
must get involved in the passing game as a pass-catcher, not as a sidecar
blocker. Quick pop passes and taking advantage of the Packers sub-par
ability to cover the TE should be a staple this Sunday.�� Sure enough, he spent VAST amounts of time as
a SIDECAR blocker, and finished with� a
paltry 2 grabs for 12 yards, 1 of which was a catch for MINUS-3 yards.�� Spaeth had 1 grab for 9.��� Miller�s blocking was solid, and he got
fucked by a phantom, bogus holding call in the 2Q that negated Mendy�s 7-yard
run.����� B
OL: Overall, the line played
adequately.�� They opened up some
fissures in the ground game, and gave Ben some good, ample time on many a pass
play.��
Leading the
way in barfing and vomiting was Piss Kemoeatu, who had wretched game.� In the 1Q, he got wheeled back like a gurney
on a pass play from the Steeler 7, and worse, allowed the rusher (Howard Green)
to knife through and hit Ben�s arm as he threw.�
This turned a deep ball into a quail that was picked off and returned
for a TD.� In the 2Q, Kemo was flagged
for an illegal� block that negated a
4-yard WR screen.��
Foster --
not Adams -- committed a blatant tackle-type holding penalty in the 4Q.� The idiot Aikman was claiming it was
Legursky
played center in place of the injured Pouncey and did okay.� Hardly great, but adequate.�� The overall line play was solid, as they
ripped open plenty of holes for the ground game to average 5.5 yards per carry,
and most often gave Ben plenty of time.��
They allowed only 1 sack, that on an incessant clutch job by Ben in the
4Q that resulted in a 2-yard loss.������
Kemo:� C-������� All others:� B+�
DL:�
The line played ok, but hardly great.���
They batted no passes, and their pocket push was non-existent.�� Although not entirely their fault, they
allowed Starks a healthy 4.7 yards/carry, which is unacceptable.�� Keisel applied some pressure on a looping
stunt in the 1Q, and Hood got a coverage sack in the 4Q.���� Again, not really inspiring or
impressive.��� C+
�
LB:�
This crew did far, far too little.��
Timmons led the way with 3 solos.��
(Don�t laugh; that�s the correct number of tackles that led the LB
corps.)��� Timmy had a nice flash-up on a
wide run in the 3Q, resulting in a 3 yard loss.�� He also applied the pressure and the flush
that enabled Hood to get his sack.����
Taunto
Farrior, whom the local media has been crowing about all season about �being
FASTER than he EVER was� looked as slow as a donkey crawling thru a swamp of
manure and mud.�� In the 1Q, he was
entirely too slow and feeble on the lil� dumpoff to
������ Then The Winged God of LB Pass Coverage failed
to get a simple JAM on
James
Harrison was shut down and made very, very little impact.�� He persistently fought for a sack in the 3Q
on a 3d & 7, but that was it.�� He
was stout against the run.�
Big LaMarr
shot his wad the 1st 2 plays of the game, busting up a short pass on the first
play and then stopping a run on the next.��
That was about it.�� When the
Packers had success on the ground, it was always at or around Big
LaMarr, who failed to set the edge and instead was often looping into no
man�s land.� This was never more evident
than on the 3rd & inches running play in the 1Q, in which Big LaMarr
loop-rushed, allowing a huge hole up RT for Starks -- who fully appeared to be
stopped for NO GAIN -- to bounce up RT for 8 yards.� 6 plays later, the Packers scored a TD.�� �On
Starks� 2nd-longest run of the day -- a 12-yarder around right end just before
the TD pass late in the 2Q -- Big LaMarr literally got pancaked onto his ass,
allowing the easy gain around end.�� Very
piss poor.�
��������� As for his vaunted pass rush, only
rarely did he abuse rookie RT Brain Baluga, which, as I�d pointed out in my
pre-game, was an enormously favorable mismatch.�� In the 1Q, Woodley has pressure but missed
the sack, enabling Rodgers to dump the ball off for a healthy 14-yard gain.��
Timmons:� B����
Harrison, Woodley:� C-���� Farrior:�
D+�
DB:�
As happened against EVERY decent QB they faced, the secondary got
riddled and abused.��
Ike Taylor
led the way with a strong game.� That is,
until the fateful, 4Q 3d & 10 when the lead was a measly 3 points and
plenty of time (6 minutes) was left on the clock.� Ike was beaten on a seamer by
McFadden
has his usual struggles.� He was burned
badly by Nelson on a simple go route on 3d & 7 in the 1st series, but
Nelson dropped the ball (he actually formed a hoop with his arms and allowed the ball to go right through.)�� Fadden was also way too soft on Nelson on an
easy 18-yard completion in the 3Q.��
Gay, of
course, had his struggles as well.�� He
got totally tooled by Nelson down the sideline in the 1Q, but still could have
broken up the pass.� Instead, he failed to
read and react to Nelson�s eyes and body language, and reacted with a
bat-attempt far too late.��
Touchdown.�� Gay was also lazy and
beaten badly by Jones on a clearing route across the field on a 3d & 5
early in the 3Q, but Jones dropped the ball.�
This play would have gained 45+ yards, if not a TD, as Jones was left
WIDE open with acres of open room.� Gay
was torched on a back-shoulder pass to Jones late in the game, good for 21
yards.�� About the only productive thing
Gay did all game was to wrest the ball away from Swain on a 3d 7 10 play late
in the 3Q.�
Ryan Clark
-- surprise! -- was too slow on the TD pass to
Leading the
way in futility and standing around was none other than Troy Pola, who
completed a 3-game post-season by doing absolutely NOTHING the entire
time.�� Perhaps he was injured.��� All�s I know is that the guy, once again,
provided no more impact than if the defense had simply inserted a team trainer
in his place.�
���� Pola failed to bust up or dislodge the 2Q
TD pass to
Ike:� A-������
Clark, Pola, McFadden, and Gay:�
D������
Spec
teams:� Surprisingly, the spec teams didn�t totally
sabotage the Stillers tonite.� Brown did
a superb job on KO returns.�� Suisham had
some deep
There were
some poor boners, though.�� Mundy was
flagged for a block in the back on a guy who was about 23 feet from Tonio Brown
and had ZERO chance to make the tackle.��
Correct call; dumbshit play by Mundy.��
On� the very next play, Ben threw
from his own EZ and was hit as he threw, and the pick 6 gave the Jackers a
freebie 7 points.� Late in the game,
trailing by 6, Fox was flagged for an assaholic dead-ball personal foul flag on
the KO return, moving the start of the possession from the 26 to the 13.�
Suisham,
for no apparent reason, was called upon to boot a 52-yard FG, which he duck-hooked no
less than 36 feet wide of the left
upright.� Very poor.� As noted, his
Kapinos had
a dogshit pooch punt in the 1Q, booming it into the EZ for a TB.� �He did
get off a rare, good punt late in the 3Q, good for 54 yards.�� He�s another fellow who shouldn�t even be
invited to camp.����������
Fox:� D-�����
Mundy:�� C-��� Brown:�
A������ All others:� B
OC:�
Arians, as usual, arrived at this game with no game-plan and no plan of
attack.�� It was a holistic, half-assed,
grab-bag effort of epic proportions.�
For no
apparent reason, the Stillers ran the o-step hitch or bubble screen at least 6
times tonite.� We�ll never know why.��� The game began with a 0-step pass to Ward,
and it continued, ad nauseum, throughout the game.��
I�d railed
in my pre-game about the stupidity of keeping Miller in to PASS BLOCK
incessantly as a sidecar.�� Sure enough,
that�s precisely what Arians did.�
Miller finished the game
with 2
grabs for 12 yards, 1 of which was a catch for MINUS-3 yards.���
Arians got
a GIFT late in the 2Q, when both Sheilds and Woodson got injured.�� Here you have a starting CB and starting
safety, both out for the 2H, yet Arians had very lukewarm success, getting only
2 scores in the 2H.�� There was also an
asinine wasted timeout on 3rd & 1 -- which has happened at least 8 times
this season -- midway thru the 3Q.�� It�s
Arians� asinine indecision that leads to these kind of wasted timeouts.�� When you have an OC who has no clue as to
HOW he wants to attack, this is precisely what happens.�
Perhaps
worst was the goatfuck on the game�s final drive, in which this offense was
entirely incapable of running 2 successive plays without a host of confusion
and sloppy time-wasting.��
Arians did
manage to cobble some productivity behind an O-line missing 3 starters (
DC:�
I�d warned and
written DOZENS of times about what a PAPER TIGER this defense was, yet
few were willing to listen.�� Dick,
facing an elite QB, once again got carved and picked apart like a
carcass beneath a pack of vultures.��
This defense was putrid; this defense was sickening; this
defense was an embarrassment.�� The
idiots out there will attempt to sugar-coat this loss as �3 turnovers GAVE away
21 points.��� Clearly, they did not.��� Aside from the pick 6, the 1 TO gave the
ball to GB at their 47; the other at the GB 45.��� This is hardly �gimme� field position.� On BOTH occurrences, the defense had plenty
of opportunity to either force a punt, or a FG, but instead got carved and
picked apart on long marches for TOUCHDOWNS.��
That�s a shit defense, period.� I�ve
re-read the NFL rulebook, and defenses are, in fact, PERMITTED to stop opposing
offenses after a turnover 50+-yards from the goal line.��
Allow me to
RECAP the 4th quarter for you --
GB had the ball only twice. On the first, they marched 55 yards, carving up
Dick something fierce, for a TOUCHDOWN.���
On the 2nd, they marched 70 (SEVENTY) yards, chewing up 5-1/2 minutes of
clock and tacking on a chippie FG to make the lead 6 points.
ANY kind of defensive stop in that 4th quarter likely WINS the game. WINS THE GAME. Alas, the Paper Tiger
Defense was entirely incapable of doing so, in no thanks at all to the supreme
almighty deity of defense, Dick Lebeau.
Troy Aikman claims Dick had Leftwich and Batch throw the seam route hundreds of
times in practice to prepare for the inevitable FAVORITE pass play of the
Jackers,� Who, praytell, did Dick have
running the patterns?��� Frank Summers
?��� Matt Spaeth?���� Tyler Grisham ?����� Not once did this defense stop the seam
route, as they got carved repeatedly, and never adjusted.�� The great supreme almighty lord deity of
defensive football had TWO WEEKS to prepare for the GB attack, and this
steaming pile of shit was the best he could come up with ??�
Supposedly Dick is �the clever mastermind of disguising
overages and blitzes�.�� Oh, really?��� WHEN, praytell, did THAT occur in this riddling??���� Turnovers?�� NONE.���
Forced fumbles?�� NONE.��� Interceptions?�� NONE.����
Hard shots on the QB?� Damn
few.�� Real pressure and harassment on
the QB?�� Darn little.�
For the game, Rodgers went 24 of 39 for 304 yards, 3
TDs,� and 0 INTs.� It would have been much, much uglier had the
Packers not dropped at least 6 passes during the game.�� Nelson dropped a deep sideline route on the
1st series that would have either gained 40 yards, or a TD.��� On a 3Q 3d & 5, Jones dropped a simple
crossing pattern that would have gone for MILES of yardage, or a TD, as he was
WIDE open.��
There was also a foolish boneheaded wasted timeout by the
defense on a 3d & 8 late in the 3Q.��
For such a veteran defense that starts ZERO rookies, this is
unacceptable.�� That timeout would have
been huge on the final drive of the game.�
I�d quite clearly pointed out this concern in my pre-game
--- �No Gay on
Nelson.�� Will Gay is somewhat adequate
against average-sized receivers, but turns into a frightened pansie against
bigger receivers and TEs.�� We don�t need
Gay to embarrass himself, and his team, by getting torched by Nelson.��� Sure enough, Dick puts Gay on Nelson, and
voila --� 29-yard TD !!��� Any number of other DBs could have covered
Nelson.��
�
For weeks now,
I have repeatedly pointed out the grave and severe deficiencies of the supreme
almighty lord of defense, Dick LeBeau, and sure enough those problems came home
to roost.�� 24 points allowed, including
TEN in the 4th quarter on the only 2 times GB had the ball in that
quarter.��� A STOP on either of those
drives, and the Steelers likely WIN THE GAME against a Packer defense decimated
by injury.��
The 3rd
& 10 on the final Packer drive was the KILLER.�� There was SIX minutes remaining in a 3-point
game.� A stop here, on the GB 25 or 30,
forces a PUNT and gives Ben the ball back with FIVE minutes and eons of time
against an injury-decimated defense.��
Instead, Dick does nothing out of the vanilla,
Dick has
now proudly given up 14 and now 10 points in the 4th quarter of the past 2
Super Bowls he's been in.�� But he's just
such a defensive genius and mastermind.���
Quick --
strike up the band and sing songs of praise for the supreme defensive
coordinator in the land !!
It�s easy to PAD STATS and look good facing Josh Freeman and
Jimmy Claussen.�� It�s quite another when
facing a LEGITIMATE, competent QB.�� You
saw what happened tonite, with Dick getting carved up and picked apart in
ruthless fashion.�� What an abject, over-rated farce.��� F��
HC:� All the
per-game experts talked about the �25 PIT players with SB experience�, but it
was the Stillers who came out timid, stupid, careless, and bumbling.�� 4 penalties sabotaged the 1st quarter
alone.� The 1st half was a wretched
display of slop, lethargy, and shoddy play.���
The carelessness continued throughout, with dumb-assed penalties (such
as the late pers foul on Fox) and weak-assed defensive effort in the 4th
quarter when the game could have very easily been WON.����
����� I�m still
enraged with the decision to send in Suisham to attempt a 52-yard FG in the
3Q.��� This guy doesn�t have a strong
history of FGs that long, and his 1st FG barely squeaked thru the
uprights.�� Yes, Kapinos sucks at pooch
punting, but worst case, you put the Packers on their own 20, not their own 43.��� And if Krapinos gets off any kind of
half-mediocre punt, the Packers start at their own 10.��� Maybe a fluky bounce pins the Pack inside
their own 5.��
������ Overall, the
team came out flat and careless, and defensively had a shit game plan that,
worse, was never adjusted as the game wore on.��
Tomlin�s area of expertise is supposed to be defense, and he stood by
and watched his defense get mercilessly ravaged.���� C-��
Synopsis:�
Plenty of imbeciles, blinded by meaningless, gaudy stats, were perched
high and mighty and full of fury, only to now look complete dumbfucks after the
LeBeau carve-job and this hideous, disgraceful loss.�� My pre-game outlook was regrettably spot-on,
and the rabid weakness of this team was fully exploited.�� A nice season, to be sure, but there are no
moral victories in reaching the Super Bowl and then shitting the bed.��
We�ll work on our players & coaches grades, and see how the negotiations go
for the new NFL CBA.�� Stay tuned.��� We here at Stillers.com continue to lead;
others continue to follow.�
�
(Still Mill and Stillers.com -- when
it comes to the analysis of the