Stillers-Colts Preseason Postgame Comments
Final
scores in preseason mean nothing, and beyond that, escaping with decent health
is paramount.� That said,
a very uninspiring effort against a weak-assed Colts team.���
(Not
every position or player will be commented upon.)
QB:� Ben had a quiet evening.��� He threw a hideous, lollipop INT on the 1st
series on a simple out pass.���� Batch
played ok, and Jarrod Johnson, albeit against subpar defensive players, looked
fairly adequate and if nothing else, will use this
game tape to get signed by another team if the Stillers cut him.�
RB:� Dwyer handled a bulk of the load with Redman
nursing a groin and Mendy inexplicably activated from the PUP list while weeks,
if not months, away from being able to contribute.� Dwyer ran ok and looks to be poised to win a
spot, and will likely share the burden with Redman while Mendy heals.���
Rainey
coughed up the ball on an end around early on, getting drilled in the head and
fumbling.� He came back and did show some
nice skills and athleticism.�� Barron
Batch also got some work, and it�s plausible Batch and
Rainey will be fighting for a spot.� ��Ford ran with authority and could catch on
with another club.� �
FB: Will Johnson started
at FB and played every bit as good as David Johnson, if not better.��� Call off the suicide watch, please, for
those fretting over the loss of David Johnson.
WR:� Brown looks ready to start, with a superb RAC
on a short pass that went for a 57-yard TD in the 1Q.��� But beyond that it�s muddled.��� David Gilreath
showed some good skills, hands, and production In the
2H and could stick.��
TE:� Just like the Arians offense.....rarely used
until garbage time in the 2H.��� ��Miller caught no passes in his nearly 2
quarters of work, which is patently unacceptable.��
OL:� Lots of flux and slop.���� DeCastro certainly
looks like he belongs.�� Adams continues
to struggle, and his main weakness is defending the �2nd move� to the inside.�� �He
blocks the initial rush acceptably, but when the rusher cuts or spins off to
the inside, Adams is totally fooled and flat-footed.�� This happened last week and it happened literally
about 7 times tonite.�
Gilbert was flagged for a false start.��
�#68� was whistled for a hold, bringing up grim memories of Piss Kemo.�� For a split second, I wanted to blurt out, �I
thought we got rid of that pile of shit....?!��� Alas, it was rookie OT Kelvin Beacham.�
DL:� Not much to report at first glance.�� McClendon did play perfectly well enough,
which raises the question as to why Tomlin and Colbert rushed to remove Fat
Hampton off the PUP list.�� (He now will
count on the active roster even if he can�t play on Sundays, which will be a
bitch as we venture to Denver already short a starting FS and playing in altitude.)��
LB:� Harrison did not dress, due to the recent
knee scope.�
Picking
up where he left off from last season was none other than The Big He-Man, Big
LaMarr Woodley.��� Playing most of the 1H,
Big LaMarr had 1 (one) solo, that on a play in which he was totally untouched
and unblocked and managed a Dong Sack.���
Stop the presses....!�� LaMarr got
a Dong Sack !!��
�Quick -- run out and lavish Big
LaMarr with a contract extension for this sack !!� ��
Sadly,
it was Big LaMarr as usual. �On a run up
RT in the 2Q, Big LaMarr was SOLO blocked by a rookie TE, Coby Fleener, and gave a half-assed effort, never once fighting
off the block.�� Don Brown rambled by for
a 21-yard gainer.�� 2 plays later, on a
GL play up RT, Big LaMarr was again SOLO blocked, this time by a different rookie TE, Dwayne Allen, and
gave a horse-shit, half-assed effort that ended with a weak-assed, 1-arm flail
as the RB ambled into the EZ.�� ��An OLB with his size and supposed strength
has got to forklift or disengage from SOLO blocking TEs and either shut down
the hole or make the stick.�� Period.�� Dancing and
jousting doesn�t get the job done.��
On
a 3d & 2 at 6:39 2Q, the Colts ran up RG and Big LaMarr was bullied
backward and then pancaked onto his back.�� �Linebacking is much, much more than
pressuring the QB on UNBLOCKED opportunities.� It�s about setting the edge,
fighting off blockers, and making the stick.....all of which are completely
foreign concepts to Big LaMarr.�� �A complete, lazy pile of
manure.��
Ryan
Baker had a big hit on a GL plunge in the 2H.�
�Foote had a headshot on Collie,
knocking Collie from the game, which means Foote can expect a donation request
letter from Adolf Goodell by Wed.��
DB:� lke had the pick-6
in the 1H, albeit it was a shit throw on an out-pass
by a rookie QB after Luck had telegraphed the pass for 5 seconds.��� Ike actually bobbled the ball (surprise!),
but at least gathered it in.� Not much to
fawn over, though, as this INT was hardly any better than either of Larry Brown�s
in Super Bowl 30.�� See me after Ike covers
Demarius Thomas again in the season opener.��
Spec
teams:� Butler pooched a shitty
punt into the EZ, which enraged me, which takes a lot in a dull preseason
game.�� Ivy blocked a punt with 1-hand on
a nice effort from the outside.��
Poised
to boot a chipshot FG to win the game late in
regulation, the Stiller �line� allowed 3 rushers to
vault over-top the line and get a hand on the kick, which just barely cleared
the crossbar.� �You see this happen at the high school level,
but very odd to see this at the NFL level.�
Momlin needs to correct this, and
quickly.��
OC:� I wasn�t overly impressed by the Haley
Offense, although, of course, it�s early.��
For all the talk about having safety valves to dump off to when the QB� is under duress,
it rarely ever occurred in the 1H when most starters or key reserves were in
the game.�� It�s early and there is
plenty of time before the regular season, plus there is still a lot of flux in
the OL and Wally remains unsigned.�
DC:� Dick picked up where he left off in the
playoffs, getting shredded and picked apart, this time by a rookie
greenhorn.��� And I�m not referring to
the meaningless garbage time in the 2H, when there are at least 9 d-side players
on the field who are rookies or 5th stringers.��
I�m talking about the vast majority of the 1H in which nearly every
player was a starter or key reserve, yet Dick got continually carved apart like
an October pumpkin.�� �This, by an offense missing starting WR Austin
Collie, who was knocked out of the game in the 1Q by a headshot by Larry
Foote.�� The shredding of Dick�s vaunted
defense was to the tune of two (2) 10-play, 80-yard TD marches, along with a
5-play, 31-yard drive that enabled the Dolts to boot a FG as the half
expired.�� Not impressive, no matter what
lowly standard the Lebeau Apologists Legion Association
(LALA) might stop down to.��
In the 1st series, Dick introduced a new, brilliant
(sic) scheme -- on 3d & 5, he had his ILBs rush and used slow-footed LaMarr
Woodley to drop into the middle and provide TE coverage.�� Given Woodley bootfooted-ism and complete
inability to defend the pass, this is just about as asinine as installing a
screen door on a submarine.�� Imagine the
laughter by TEs around the league such as Gronkowski and
Graham as they watched this completely assaholic
scheme.���
It got worse, of course.�� �3d
& 6 -- easy blitz pickup and easy out pass for 11 yards.�� 3d & 6 -- easy
conversion, late 1Q.���� 3d & 6 �in the 2Q -- pass
to an uncovered, WIDE open receiver (Hilton) in the deep middle of the field,
who juggled the cake-easy pass and then popped the ball 9 feet into the air,
which enabled Allen to get a Dong INT.���
Rather than a 20-yard gain to the Stiller 20, Dick got lucky with a Dong
turnover.�� How exactly, with ZERO
rookies on the field, does a veteran defense allow a WR to go UNCOVERED on this
kind of play ??��
It got downright comedic later in the
2Q.�� On a 3rd & goal play, the
defense was so confused, with a man running off the field just before the snap,
that it had to burn a timeout .�� That�s pitiful and embarrassing enough,��� But, following the TIMEOUT, the defense was
flagged for 12 (TWELVE) men on the field.���
How exactly does a Def. Coordinator send in TOO MANY MEN after a timeout ??��� �How ??!��� Apparently, when the DC
is a senile, dullardly old fossil.� ���
Synopsis:� The good news is that the team emerged
relatively unscathed on the injury front, which is first and foremost a
priority in the pre-season.�� The lone
important pre-season game -- the 3rd one -- harkens, and this will be the final
chance for the 1st team and key reserves to get a complete half or half-plus of
work before getting perhaps a series or 2 in the pre-season finale.��
(Still
Mill and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the
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