View topic - New Article: Stillers-Chargers Postgame Analysis and Grades

[StillMill Profile]

Stillers-Chargers Postgame Analysis and Grades has been posted by Still Mill at Stillers.com.

[stiller4ever Profile]

Thanks Mill for another right on analysis. Being a Virginia guy I know you are very astute. Here's your comment that I think is most right on and scares me the most -

"Lastly, I was vastly disappointed in how this Stiller team, coming off a terrible loss, could allow the Chargers -- clearly a WARM weather team -- to travel all the way across country to play in Pittsburgh on a cold, snowy day, and the best we could do was slather our way to a weak-assed, flimsy 1-point win. Armed with the home field advantage and cold weather, this should have been an asswhipping, but instead we had to claw from behind and win on a last-second FG. I smell and feel the same 2nd half malaise as occurred last season, and nothing I’ve seen yet can convince me otherwise."

I too need some convincing. I was so upset I quit watching at one point in the 1st half (of course being a diehard fan, I couldn't stay away for long) but I do have an empty bottle of tums to show for it.

There are several players who really play with passion (Harrison, Ward, Polamalu to name a few), but we're getting to be like a commercial for the Marines - the few, the proud, the tenacious Steelers. The malaise needs to end immediately and it better start this Thursday - I know it's the Bungals but in case you haven't noticed, they've been playing fairly decent and would love to knock the Stillers off.

One last point, how can the NFL allow it's referees to just say "Gee, sorry, we missed that one - no problem we'll try to read the rulebook and open our eyes next time". Maybe a few "visits" from some Vegas interests would get their attention.

All in all 7-3 is good place, it's just amazing how we've got there.

[tourosteelersfan Profile]

SteelMill,

I have been visiting the site for a while but this is my first post. (I've also sent you a few emails.) I appreciate the thorough coverage and the close analysis of the different units.

I think you generally are too hard on LeBeau and I think you should acknowlege that Arians' playcalling has improved. For the longest time I was mystified by the refusal to throw to the running back and tight end but that seems to have changed recently, at least somewhat. Who do you blame for all of the penalties yesterday? Some - probably most - of that has to fall on the players. I do think you were right on the money about the predictable running plays and the Steelers should have kicked a field goal on 4th down in the first half. (The safety more or less made up for it, so going for it was a reasonable call; the called play was weak.)

It's reasonable to think the Steelers have a date with the Titans in the AFC championship game if Ben stays healthy. But too much seems to separate this very talented team from the top of the heap. What can be done to shore up the O line, improve the special teams play, and stay tough?

TouroSteelersFan

[McLovin Profile]

You don't disappoint Mill...crediting the field for stopping LT instead of LeBeau and the players is funny stuff...keep up that hard hitting analysis bro

[rifraff Profile]

I think it was the 1st quarter, 2nd in goal from about the 2. The play call is spread recievers with no backs and Ben under center? I cant understand why this is called,the outcome seems inevitable:
1. Chargers defense at this point is always blitzing the QB. They've been watching prior game tapes?
2. Duh, its a pass.
3. Hes under center, he's not close enough to the defenders?
Gee, its a sack and lose 4 yds.
Yep, no one would ever guess we would call that.

The OC at least kept calling the TE passes all day, which were working, unlike prior times were he wouldn't go back to working plays but seemed intent on variety?
I have this feeling its like he's always trying to fool em, boy they will never guess this is coming here? This takes precedence over the facts and game conditions at the time. Like last week vs Indy 3rd & 2 at our 10? yd line with 1:30 left, ahh maybe we should play the percentages and run here:
1. The QB has a sore arm, and his passes have been soft.
2. we can take more time off the clock
3. so they get a FG, big deal.
4. We can avert disaster on the small? chance its a interception?
Boy, did this call piss me off.

The chargers game ends we win, oh wait the refs want to get into the act some more? Ok, its aTD but u need to kick the extra point, time is expired. If allowed to finish that way why would you even consider kicking the extra? Couldnt they block that and run it back for TD and win, ha-ha, another small chance, like the Indy 1st half interception. I was thinking victory formation play? Can they run back blocked xtra points for TDs?

Does the HC get caught up in the excitement of the game where cooler heads shoudl prevail?

[Jeemie Profile]

Only comment- I believe Reed's kickoffs were short by design (most of them, at least) so as to avoid any long returns by Sproles.

[zapunto Profile]

StillMill,

You missed another obvious Tomlin boner:

1-10-SD 10 (1:04) 39-W.Parker up the middle to SD 8 for 2 yards (95-S.Phillips).
Timeout #3 by SD at 00:59.
2-8-SD 8 (:59) 39-W.Parker left guard to SD 4 for 4 yards (99-I.Olshansky).
3-4-SD 4 (:21) 39-W.Parker left tackle for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN NULLIFIED by Penalty. PENALTY on PIT-49-S.McHugh, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at SD 4 - No Play.
Timeout #1 by PIT at 00:15.
3-14-SD 14 (:15) (Field Goal formation) 3-Je.Reed 32 yard field goal is GOOD, Center-61-J.Retkofsky, Holder-5-P.Ernster.

With the ball on the 4 yard line, in the middle of the field, on 3rd down, and San Diego with no timeouts to ice the kicker, why run another offensive play??? With a greenhorn snapper, a shitty field, and the ball squarely in the middle of the field, the correct play would be to kick it on 3rd down, with the downside being that San Diego gets the ball back (which they did anyway). Fast Willie could have slipped and fumbled on the bad turf, or flat out gotten blasted on his bum shoulder and fumbled, or he could have been stuffed on the left hash, making the kick slightly more difficult from such a close range.

I didn't get that playcall. In fact, before the play was run, I started screaming at the TV in disbelief. Fast Willie did score on the play, but uh, McHugh was flagged for a hold, and Tomlin came to his senses and kicked the FG on 3rd down anyway.

[Jeemie Profile]

StillMill,

You missed another obvious Tomlin boner:

1-10-SD 10 (1:04) 39-W.Parker up the middle to SD 8 for 2 yards (95-S.Phillips).
Timeout #3 by SD at 00:59.
2-8-SD 8 (:59) 39-W.Parker left guard to SD 4 for 4 yards (99-I.Olshansky).
3-4-SD 4 (:21) 39-W.Parker left tackle for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN NULLIFIED by Penalty. PENALTY on PIT-49-S.McHugh, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at SD 4 - No Play.
Timeout #1 by PIT at 00:15.
3-14-SD 14 (:15) (Field Goal formation) 3-Je.Reed 32 yard field goal is GOOD, Center-61-J.Retkofsky, Holder-5-P.Ernster.

With the ball on the 4 yard line, in the middle of the field, on 3rd down, and San Diego with no timeouts to ice the kicker, why run another offensive play??? With a greenhorn snapper, a shitty field, and the ball squarely in the middle of the field, the correct play would be to kick it on 3rd down, with the downside being that San Diego gets the ball back (which they did anyway). Fast Willie could have slipped and fumbled on the bad turf, or flat out gotten blasted on his bum shoulder and fumbled, or he could have been stuffed on the left hash, making the kick slightly more difficult from such a close range.

I didn't get that playcall. In fact, before the play was run, I started screaming at the TV in disbelief. Fast Willie did score on the play, but uh, McHugh was flagged for a hold, and Tomlin came to his senses and kicked the FG on 3rd down anyway.

I could have gone either way on that one.

Know what you're saying though- but I think the fear was unwarranted. The new long-snapper hasn't botched a snap back to the FG kicker yet.

He DID kinda botch that snap to the punter, but that's a bit different (longer distance).

[dave8105 Profile]

I don't agree with this comment about Holmes:

"Holmes had 5 grabs but had a spotty game. On the deep stop near the end of the 1H, Holmes caught the ball at the 4, right near the sideline. The ball was snapped with 11 secs left, and the Stillers had ZERO timeouts. Rather than darting straight and DIRECTLY out of bounds, Holmes actually headed upfield just a bit, and was held up, IN BOUNDS. Ward had enough sense to help knock Holmes OOB to stop the clock, and Reed booted the FG as time expired at the half. This is a classic case of a football player not fully grasping the situation. Yardage here meant NOTHING; stopping the clock was everything, and Holmes nearly cost the Stillers a chippie FG."

Watch the replay again. I don't think he was actually trying to advance the ball upfield. It looks like Holmes catches it, then turns to go up and out. SD's guy just comes in and makes a great defensive play by stopping him from going out of bounds. Also, if you are watching that replay, check out Ward before he pushes them out of bounds. I looks like he was watching the clock, then when it got close enough to 0 he pushed the guys OOB. Watch it, its kind of funny.

[dukemcfister Profile]

I must say, I did not at all see some of the things you saw here. That was, by far, the worst 300+ yard performance I have ever seen by a Quarterback in a very, very long time. I will give Ben the kudos for the final drive, but he continues to make incessantly bonehead gaffes which prevent his team from putting points on the board. It was nice to see him take a bit of a more cautious approach to the game yesterday, but the problme does not lie in what Ben does as much as his timing for doing at. It is completely unacceptable for a QB to throw for that kind of yardage and have a HB put up over a buck as well, and not score A SINGLE TOUCHDOWN. A lot of the yardage Ben got was spent on regaining yards the OL lost with blunder after blunder. granted, Arians does not give Ben a snowball's chance in Iraq of being successful, but Big Ben continues to make ill-timed passes, passes that are not completed in key situations, and take the team out of field goal range with dumbhead sacks when he could make wiser decisions with the ball. Is some of this his WR's fault for dropping pases? Yes. Is some of this the line's fault for being about as strong as a piece of wet toilet paper? Yes. However, it is not an excuse. Ben needs to get those damn bolts in his head back in alignment and start being both more efficient and intelligent in his passing. He did do a bit of this yesterday, and he actually moved out of the pocket a little more than he has all year, so there were some signs of improvment in some areas.

As far as the special teams went, Skippy's kickoffs were a bit short, but the field and the weather cnoditions also had a bit to do with that. Objects in the air do not travle nearly as far in colder weather (especially with a moderate degree of wind here and there) as they do in warmer weather. He has never been known as having an iron leg on kickoffs in the first place, so, the fact that he was not booming kickoffs past the goalpost should not come as a surprise to anyone. The simple fact alone that he SAVED OUR ASSES by kicking 3 field goals in that shit farm of a field and in those crappy conditions, as well as the fact that SD's return team which is normally rather potent but was essentially held to little more than a few yards here and there says it all. The punt coverage was quite solid, but then again, the punts were not going all that far either.


Also, Lebeau's corps and game-planning yesterday was solid for the most part, and was a definite improvement over the past couple of weeks. The D was solid when it needed to be, had a solid effort from Smith and Keisel, and the LB's played a strong all around game. Farrior, I will agree, did not have a very good game, and got rolled like a drunk in a New York subway on a couple of plays that he feebly attempted to make. In criticizing the 17 play drive, I think while that is a rather shitty time to allow such a drive to take hold on the field, don't forget, they pay the other guys as well, and both Tomlinson and Rivers made a couple solid plays no that drive to extend it out as long as they did. I find it more impressive that the D allowed a 17 play drive and DID NOT ALLOW A TOUCHDOWN. That in itself is a win for the defensive team, as it is not often that a team sustains a drive of that many plays and doesn't bang it into the EZ. especially with no penalties being called all game on them by the stupid, biased zebras. It means the D forced them to pick away here and there, and came up with a strong stand at the end when a TD would have meant sure death for an Offense that couldn't stop the laundry from flyin' all day long. The simple fact that they held LT and Gates very much in check thoughout the entire game, and didn't allow Rivers to get off the snide says it all. Harrison is by far more beast than man, and Woodley's return was also a very welcome one. As far as Pola goes, the pick he made was just insane, and he the ONLY DB in football who would have made that play, and that is twice this year he has done that sort of thing.

[Leo Profile]

-- My 11 year old knew not to attempt that 51 yard FG under those conditions, on that field. Right call in that situation is to go for it, esp since Ernster is inept.

-- Rifraff - you can't return blocked PATs.

-- I didn't have any $ on the game, but it should have been 18-10. That was no fwd lateral.

[JimPgh1 Profile]

-- My 11 year old knew not to attempt that 51 yard FG under those conditions, on that field. Right call in that situation is to go for it, esp since Ernster is inept.

-- Rifraff - you can't return blocked PATs.

-- I didn't have any $ on the game, but it should have been 18-10. That was no fwd lateral.

Yeah, that FG try was retarded. VERY little chance of success & they give the Chargers the ball at their 41.
I agree with Mill on that...go for it. Even a punt was more acceptable than a FG try.

[anthonyc20 Profile]

the grades on arians and foote are too tough, but we all know mill has to have his little biases

[Field General Ben Profile]

Heinz Field Turf: F-
What a fucking travesty and embarrassment that field is. The Rooneys just don't GET IT. You could indirectly blame the shit-ass turf for a good part of the Giants loss as it caused our long-snapper to go down for the season resulting in Silverback overshooting our punter.

[StillSmitter Profile]

The field conditions sucked, and on top of that, the weather is going to be the same all week, the Steelers play Thursday night, and 4 WPIAL games are scheduled for Saturday. Then Pitt the following Friday. The field will be nothing but mud for the last two Steeler home games and any playoff games.

[Homer J Profile]

Hey Mill....

The Steelers defense is first against the run, first against the pass, gives up the fewest yards per play of any defense in the league. Yesterday, they kept the Chargers out of the end zone all day. The only touchdown was on a phantom, bullshit interference call by the worst team of refs we've seen in years.

WTF?

Goddam it Mill, if LeBeau were to leave Heinz Field at halftime...and go out and walk on water in the Allegheny Fucking River....you'd come back here on Monday and say, "you see? You see? I told you! Dick LeBeau can't swim."

[Guinness Profile]

Millie,

Your analysis is as unimaginitive and predictable as Bruce Arians play calling on the 1 yard line. Let me write your analysis for you for next week's game against Cincinnati to save you the time:

Player/coach analysis
Arians bad
LeBeau bad but lucky again
Woodley good
Farrior bad bordering on terrible
Foote bad
Harrison good

After I watch the game I will fill in the rest with a sprinkle of missed tackles etc. to prove my pre-determined conclusions and presto here is the StillMill analysis ready for publishing.

StillMill and Stillers.com " we can't see a forest but there are a lot of trees around here".

[Crosby4Life Profile Website]

Folks,
It's really not worth arguing with Mill. Everytime you disagree with his obviously biased opinions, he twists that disagreement in his fucked up, naive mind in a way that, to him, just emphasizes how much more he knows than we do.

Remember, in Mill's world, if the masses collectively disagree on something he wrote, then he's obviously right, since "the sheep" can't be smart enough to form a valid point.

I know, it's a fucked up mentality and one that is quite difficult for a normal, sane person to understand, but it's true.

He's like the stubborn, 80 year old man with alzheimer's. Let him alone to shovel the snow from his driveway in the middle of July and he'll do his own thing and let everyone else alone. But if you point out that what he's doing is wrong, he'll insist he's right and shovel that much longer out of spite.

Goddam it Mill, if LeBeau were to leave Heinz Field at halftime...and go out and walk on water in the Allegheny Fucking River....you'd come back here on Monday and say, "you see? You see? I told you! Dick LeBeau can't swim."

And that was just fantastic. Been a rough day. I needed that. You have my thanks.

[Wooderson Profile]

Mill - I agree with your analysis as usual, save the criticism of Tricky Dick and some of the other sentiments echoed above. I will say this: Dick is blessed with some crazy talented players. Johnson in Philly doesn't have nearly the talent, and look what he gets out of them. Dick is a solid DC, maybe pioneering at a particular time. But I haven't seen him out-scheme or fool anyone in a while. He is solid now, but doesn't deserve the ass-kissing he gets from the media.

Tomlin is scaring the crap out of me. All the penalties, sloppy play. The FG call enraged me. Utterly retarded. As you said, the longest at Heinz was a 50-yarder, and to call an attempt in those conditions was inexcusable. He has made similar poor calls in the past and has shown himself to be a marginal 'game coach' at best. He needs to spend less time bitching at the refs for 'bad' calls and get on his players for screwing up.

Furthermore, it is evident, seeing as the Chargers (west coast, etc, etc...) came into our field, and gave us all we could handle, especially after the Colts, a DOME team (playing in chilly weather) beat us, that our home field advantage, damaged by the Faguars last year, has yet to rebound.

Let's hope Tomlin gets it together. I just saw the line on the Bungals game: Stillers plus 10. We'll be lucky to win by a FG. I hope I'm wrong. Especially since the game is on NFL Network so I'll have to go out to watch the game. I don't want to be arrested for throwing things at the TV like I have at home the past couple weeks.

[dirtydave61 Profile]

Mill, I love the analysis as always, but I'll just agree to disagree week in and week out with your bias against Dick Lebeau. I'm convinced anything other than perfection on defense is a disappointment, which is fine - it is Stiller football after all.

The Chargers' 8-minute drive for the first half of the 4Q was utterly disgusting to watch, but the overall defensive performance was solid. Willie is a fast, cutting runner and he did fine, which leads me to accept that the D stopped LT, not the field. The best TE in the game was shut down. And Rivers, who had been putting up big numbers, looked horrible. Harrison and Troy came up with huge plays when the team needed them. I'd give the defense a B+.

The offense though ... ugh, words just can't describe it.