LeBeau Exposed….Once again

LeBeau Exposed�.Once again

In a week where a grandfatherly old coach has been exposed for dereliction of duty, as well as his blatant failure to pay attention to details and poor lack of leadership, it should come as no surprise that a similar grandfatherly old coach, in the same state no less, is being exposed as well.� �

Richard �Dick� LeBeau was badly outclassed, outdueled, and just flat-out humiliated in the 23-20 loss to the PoeBirds on Sunday.�

How bad was it?� �At the end of each half, his softee defense couldn�t have stopped a junior varsity team from marching up and down the field like the Grambling Band.��� With 1:00 remaining in the 1H, the Ravens casually marched 32 yards on 5 plays, with only 1 timeout, and kicked a huge FG as the half ended. �

Then, at the end of the game, Balt took over at its own EIGHT yard line with only 2:24 left.��� Supposedly �the #1 defense in the league�, they got RIDDLED and SHREDDED by Joe �Mr. Average� Flacco.�� Balt actually scored a TD with 20 secs left, but Smith DROPPED the pass.��� But Balt came right back and scorched Dick�s softee defense -- which never applied any real pressure on Flacco the entire drive -- for the easy game-winning TD.���� NINETY TWO yard, GAME WINNING� TD march allowed by THE Supreme Almighty Lord and Deity of Defensive Football, Dick LeBeau.�� Mister Ninety Two, they now call him. �

It�s a FOUR point game, 3rd & 10, with 14 seconds remaining, and Dick had NO ONE covering the END ZONE.�� His best ball-hawk of a DB, Troy Pola, was lined up in no man�s land at the 19-yard line (just 7 yards downfield) and roved around that yard-line while the game winning pass was caught 25 yards away, in the END ZONE, of all places.�� What was Dick trying to defend�.a QB draw by Flacco ?�� Or a line plunge by a fullback??� �

The Stiller defense allowed 14 (fourteen) 3rd down conversions, the most since 1971, which was 41 years ago.�� How long ago was that?�� Joe Paterno was in his 6th season at PSU.�� Those 14 3rd down conversions were the most in Raven team history, ever.� �

Of course, you still have the dimwits out there, full of brim and fury, who staunchly support Dick, and cite all kinds of meaningless factoids about Dick.�� As if those factoids have a shred of influence on the here and now.� As if those factoids mean jack shit as the opposing offense is marching in blitzkrieg fashion for the game-winning TD while Dick stands around as hapless and helpless as a French general.� �

As you can see, It wasn't a single, lone player getting beat ONCE.�� The entire defense, which starts ZERO rookies and rarely has ANY rookies on the field, got shredded, carved, and ravaged by an average passing attack on 3rd downs.�

It was a SYSTEMIC FAILURE of both the 3rd down defense and late-half defense (both halves, mind you), and that SYSTEMIC FAILURE absolutely must be blamed on a defensive coordinator who presided over the fiasco.

The blown 4Q lead was nothing new for Dick.�� Since his 2nd tenure as DC began in 2004, Dick has overseen the urination of 21 (twenty one) 4th quarter leads.�� (Remember, a blown 4Q lead does not necessarily mean a loss, such as the Sup Bowl 2 years ago.) ��This also doesn�t factor in the enormous luck Dick has had, such as last season, when the Bills WR dropped a WIDE open TD in the EZ in OT; Houshmanzadeh dropped an EASY TD late in the 4Q of the div playoff game; and TE Dustin Keller dropped an easy 3-yard TD pass in the EZ in the 4Q of the AFC title game.��

He�s supposed to be this grandmaster and Almighty Deity of defensive football, yet when the game gets tight in the waning moments, he chokes and gags away leads much the same way a porn star chokes and gags on set.� �

Of course, the Pittsburgh media glossed right over this debacle.� Despite a totally jack-assed scheme that would be considered foolhardy if used by grade-schoolers playing street football, LeBeau came under no scrutiny, no questions, no fire.�� The Trib Review even went so far as to publish this pablum in today�s edition:� �LeBeau's defensive schemes test rookie QBs���� Gee, isn�t Dick so great !�� All hail, Dick LeBeau !��� He�s able to bottle rookie QBs!!�� Hip hip hooray !��� �

In some respects, it�s sad.�� You have an old, near-senile coach, well past social security age, who should be on a rocking chair, enjoying retirement.�� Instead, he�s too stubborn to retire, and his boss is too callow and chickenshit to send him off to retirement.� �

Your guess as to if that refers to Joe Paterno or Dick LeBeau.�� Then again, their similarities are immense.� Neither can do any wrong in the eyes of their worshipping fans.�� Neither is culpable or responsible for anything that ever goes wrong.�� And both men clearly have done wrong.��

Paterno ignorantly failed to recognize and address the sodomy of little boys.�� Dick ignorantly has failed to recognize and address the sodomy of his vaunted defense.�� To be sure, Paterno�s error is by far the more heinous, but neither is excusable nor acceptable.�� Paterno at least had the gumption to announce his retirement,�� We would all be better off if Dick followed suit and did the same. �

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