Stillers
35, Bengals 7 ��. Dec. 4, 2011 ����Game #12�
Stillers-Bengals Postgame Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers clawed with the Bungals to a 0-0 score at the end of 1Q, and this started
to have the stench of last week�s KC game.��
But the offense exploded in the 2Q to the tune of 28 points, and the 2nd
half was basically little more than mop-up time in a 35-7 blowout.��
Grades:
QB:� Ben had an okay day at the office.�� He wasn�t put into much of a pressure
situation due to the blowout, and was aided by big plays from his skill
players.� He had a good cut-block on
Brown�s reverse, 10 yards in 2Q.��� �On the other hand, there was the WR
bubble-screen pass, early 3Q, deep in PIT territory, that Ben threw right
into Howard.�� Stupid
pass, not unlike the Suggs INT versus Balt last month.�� Why would you even throw this pass when the
defender is RIGHT IN THE PATH of the pass ??? �
Batch
entered the game in mop-up at 10:14 4Q.��
�������B �
RB:� Mendy had a goood
3-yard TD plunge�.he actually ran LOW to the ground, a 1st in his NFL
career.�� Good read and cut-back on toss
sweep for TD run in the 2Q to make it 14-0.��
Nice cutback run, eluded defender at LOS, gained 13 yards from his own 7.�� Mendy had
16 rushes for 60 yards.��
Redman
chipped in very, very nicely, with 8 rushes for 51.�� Nice power run out of 2-FB formation, churned and plowed and got 7 yards on 2d &
5.��� 1st play 2Q,
another good plowing, churning run, this time for 9 yards.�� Good blitz pickup of Maualuga
on completion to Miller.� Spun from pile
at the LOS, then juked 2 defenders en route to a
27-yard run in the 3Q.��
Moore:� Gained 13 fairly uncontested yards on 3d
& 23 late in the 1H.�� ������A-
FB:� Used only a little.�� The 2-FB set, with Red at RB, was rather
neat to see.�� Inc.
WR:� �Wally
dropped a deep crosser, hit hard by Pac Man and dropped the ball.�� Tough, but should have been held onto.�� Drew a long PI flag in the
2Q on deep post.�� Grabbed easy 12-yard TD in the 2Q to make it 21-0.�� Spectacular RAC on a
19-yard TD catch and run, where he eluded 5 tacklers en route to paydirt.��
Brown
dropped a slant, 3d & 11 1st drive.�� Great RAC after short crosser, good jets, 45
yards, on last play of 1Q.�� �Brilliant pluck on a 3d
& long seamer late in the 3Q, good for 23 yards.�� Brown received a legal, devastating hit by
Nelson on a deepish lob down the s-line in the
4Q.�� He instantly writhed in pain near
the Stiller bench, but appeared to be okay and soon
returned back to the game.�� Overall, I
just cannot overstate how impressed I continue to be with this young
receiver.��
Ward:� Fairly active today, with 5 grabs for 30
yards.� Most were on quick pop
passes.�� He went over the 12K yard mark
in career receiving yards.�
Sanders
had only 1 catch, but it was a clutch grab, 3d & 3, late 2Q to move the
sticks and retain the ball.�� �He committed a false start in the 2Q.� �Cotch played but had no catches.����� A
TE:�� Miller allowed crosser to go off his hands,
and nearly INT�d, late in the 3Q.� �Had 2 grabs for 12 yards.��
Saunders:� Nice grab on flag, 14 yards, late 1Q !��� By next
season, this guy should be an immense threat with his athletic and receiving
abilities.��
Johnson
had a decent grab on the 1st play of the 4Q, gaining 9 yards.� ���
The
TE blocking in the run game was decent.����
B+
OL:��� Starks allowed Michael Johnson to dip right
under -- untouched, no less -- for a fast sack late in the 2Q.�� Very ass-clumsy and poor.��
Leggo:� good
pull and block of Maualuga on Mendy�s
15-yard run.��
Pouncey returned to the lineup after the stomach
virus and played solidly.��� ���
Foster:�� Tweaked his ankle in the 3Q and never
returned.� He was replaced by Essex, who
was flagged for a hold on a running play in the 3Q.�����
Gil:� played okay at RT.���
Overall, a decent job of run blocking and giving Ben some
time.� �����B+�
DL:��� Keisel led the way with an active
game.�� Big stuff, 1st
play of 2nd series, 1 yard.�� Chipped in on stop, next play.�� Good pressure up an open lane,
got a near safety, late 2Q.���
Hood:
Good reaction and haul-down of scrambling Dalton on 3rd down, held him to 1
yard, 2Q.���
Hampton
waddled about and chipped in a little bit.��
��Heyward saw some PT.���������� B+
LB:����� Harrison led the way with 5 solos and an
assist.�� He got sucked inside, end
around by Green, for �14 yards.� Blindside sack, late 2Q, in which he totally
abused Gresham.�� Rushed to the inside
and sacked Dalton in the 3Q.�� Harry then
buried Dalton on an untouched Dong Sack late in the 3Q, with Dalton never
returning to action.�� ��
Farrior:
�Stuff of plunge, 1st play o� game!�� �Beaten
by Gresham on curl, 2nd & 6, got 7.�� Weak play on 14-yard Benson run, 1Q.��
Timmons:� Good athletic play to trip up a screen pass,
late 2Q.� Had 5 solos and 2 As.��
Woodley aimlessly titty-fought
on long run by Benson of 14 yards, 1Q.��
Never disengaged.�� 2 plays later, Worilds replaced Big LaMarr
and made the tackle on a similar play for a meager 1-yard gain.� Good stop of Benson on plunge, 1st play of 3Q
(nullified by Pola�s offside.)� ���Woodley never returned, due to an
aggravation of his hamstring.�� ��The Stillers are now 3-1 without the $61M
Man, Big LaMarr, in the lineup.�� ���A- �
DB:�� Ike had an up and down game.�� Wearing cleats with short spikes, he slipped
all over the place on the shit turf at Heinz Cow Pasture.��� He was beaten by Green, with no help at all
from Clark, 43-yard pass play, 2nd play of game.���� Good seal of Green on EZ lob, inc.�� Good hand-jam
on this play.��� Bust-up of short pass to
Green, punched ball outa hands, early 2Q.� Lost track of Green on
11-yard TD pass, 4:06 2Q.�� Good
job of eluding convoy of blockers to make stop on TE screen in the 3Q.�� Got INT on ill advised Gradko pass into triple coverage in the 4Q.��
Gay
surprisingly wasn�t picked on all that often.��
�
Pola
jarred ball loose from Gresham for an incompletion late in the 2Q.� Nearly a FF.�� �Flagged
for an offsides, 1st play of 3Q.�� Had 3 solos, and fully appeared to be fine
after last week�s concussion.�
Clark,
as noted above,, provided absolutely zero deep help on
the 43-yard completion to Green early in the game.��� Unable to break up pass to Gresham, perfect
position but total failure to high-point the ball.�� 20 yards.��� Dropped cake-easy INT on
pass off Gresham�s hands early in the 3Q.� ������������B�
Spec
teams:� A rare, big day for the spec teams.���� In fact, can someone hit me with a 2-by-4 ....I
must be in a weird dream where competence and big plays rule the day for the
PIT spec teams.��
First, a couple of less than stellar plays.�� Sanders - weak, tiptoed KOR to begin the
game, GL to the 17.� Very
soft and weak.�� Sloppy punt
cover, 14 yard return, early 1Q.�
But
the good far outweighed the bad.�� Curtis
Brown had yet another good day on coverage teams.��� He had another good, crisp solo stop in KO cover,
early 2Q.�� Then, late in the 2Q, he
fought off a block, got onto his feet after slipping on the shitty turf, and
made a key stop on the 13.�� Curt �had yet another
tackle on coverage, this on punt coverage, in the 4Q.��
Cam
Heyward blocked an early FG attempt, helping to set the tone and demoralize the
Bungals.�� I honestly can�t recall the
last FG block by a Stiller.
FF
by Steve Sylvester on KO after Mendy�s 2nd TD, which
was recovered by Sanders !!��� Worilds made a stop in KO coverage in the
2Q.�� Moore had a good solo stop in KO
cover, late 2Q.�
Tonio
Brown had a huge, 60-yard punt return for a TD, late 2Q !!�� Made it 28-7.�� Nearly a block in back
penalty by Curt Brown on this play.�
Good seal by McFadden.�� Last Stiller
punt return for a TD was by Tonio Holmes.... in 2006�!���
Kapinos: Solid day of punting.�� 59-yd punt, but poor hang time, returned 14 yards,
early 1Q.��� Shit 39-yard punt, with no hangtime whatsoever, later in the 1Q.�� Good 57-yard punt late in the 2Q.��
Suisham:� Way off to the right on a 50-yard FG try,
although the FG unit was flagged for an illegal shift that would have obviously
nullified a made FG.��� This FG attempt,
though, was every bit as bad as if the team had done one of those halftime
events where a lucky fan -- more often than not a clumsy, bootfooted sap who would
have trouble kicking a basketball out of his own driveway -- gets a chance at
booting a FG.���� The kick ended up being
wide right by, oh, about 32 feet.�� A really sad, sorry effort.
Overall, a rare, splendid day for the spec teams.�� Someone wake me up....I must be
dreaming.���� A+��
OC:�� Arians was the benefactor of some nice spec
teams work, as well as the FF on the Cinci KO return.�� Also, Maualuga was
injured, 2nd play of 2Q.��
One
thing I didn�t like was the 0 receptions by the RBs.��� All 3 of the RBs are good RAC runners and
designed flares and RB screens have a useful purpose.��� Of course, that assumes that this offensive
scheme has a purpose, which of course it doesn�t.���
Wally
scored on a WR screen, 1 of about 9 such plays that Arians ran during the
game.�� This will now embolden Arians to
call this oft-shitty play at least 12 times per game.���� ����B�
DC:�� Dick, as usual, once
again got enormously lucky.��� He again
got to face a rookie QB.�� Beyond
that, on a 3d & goal at the 4 on the game�s very first drive, Cinci scored
a cake-easy TD, only to have it nullified by a tiny false-start on the other
side of the field.�� This forced a FG
try, which was good, but a DOG flag forced a re-kick.� Cam Heyward blocked the re-kick, which
enabled Dick to unbelievably go from allowing 7 points to 3 to zero.�� With luck like that, the man should rush out
and buy at least a dozen lottery tickets.��
Dick was then handed a comfy 21-0 lead, aided
largely by a turnover by the spec teams, not the defense.� ��Then Cinci�s starting RT Andre Smith was injured, mid 2Q.�����
Dalton was given massive amounts of time and
room for an easy 11-yard TD pass, 4:06 2Q, which made it 21-7.��� This capped a cake-easy, 10-play, 80 yard
march.������� Dick could have thrown dirt
in the grave on Cinci on this drive, but instead went soft, stumbling, and
stupid.��
Gradkowski
came in at QB, stone cold, at 12:50 4Q, with the score 35-7.�� More shooting of fish in the barrel, and
padding the stats, for Dick.��������
B�� ���
HC:� Tommy apparently got the team�s attention
after the half-assed effort in the weak win over KC.��
Why the timeout after a 1st down sack of Ben at
3:39 2Q ??�� ��A really odd, puzzling timeout, although, coming
from a man who struggles like a banshee in game management, this shouldn�t be viewed
as too odd or puzzling.�� �B+
Synopsis:� A nice, relaxing blowout after far too many nail-biters
against weak competition.�� It was good
to see the team step on the gas pedal and put an opponent on its back and
flatten him for the KO.�� There�s no time
to rest, as the Stillers host the hated Browns on Thur
nite.�� �Let us hope the Stillers do not take the lowly
Browns too lightly, as this team has shown a penchant for doing this
season.��
(Still
Mill and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the