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

[StillMill Profile]

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

[SojuMaster Profile]

PUKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VOMIT!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG, this was, simply put, the worst game in the history of the Stillers.

While in the basics of the article I agree with, I think you were grading on a curve. I thought overall there should been a WHOLE lot more F's on that pathetic performance.

As much as the coaching staff easily deserves the F's ... most of the team looked like they were just calling in the game instead of playing. "Oh yea, this is the brownies, we are 1238-0 in the last forever against these guys, who needs to show up and actually PLAY the game." Then we end up with a dog fight with them (no pun intended) and we had no ability or motivation to even pick ourselves up off the ground and play to win. Utter crap.

The way the Stillers have been playing the last few weeks, It seems that they are going through a de-evolution back to pre-training camp form. PUKE!!!!

If the season was to restart today, we be fighting for that 0-16 record. VOMIT!!!

[palbubba Profile]

Leaders lead and talkers talk, "redemption Sunday","unleash hell", "pattern of behavior", all talk. Tomlin said that without change the pattern of behavior would continue, then did not show the leadership it takes to make the changes. I personally have lost respect for Tomlin who has proven he is a talker not a leader. I don't understand the bashing of Dick Lebau, while the defense didn't play well he didn't miss one tackle and anytime you hold your opponent to 13 points in the NFL you should win. Bruce Airhead is another story, how he ever got the job is baffling, how he has kept it is beyond comprhension. The absolute worst play caller in any league above pee-wee football.

[ballhair Profile]

"Shitlesberger played like absolute vomit the entire evening. The worst problem was his skittish, cowardly tentativeness, in which he incessantly kept holding and clutching onto the ball like a toddler with a pacifier."

I for one couldn't agree more. I put this loss and most of our loses on big ben and the offense.
It wasn't like the browns scored 35 points. The defense only gave up 13 points. The 100 million dollar man could not put any points up. This year has shown that big ben is somewhat of a fraud.
When you think back the last three years or so, this has been his MO. Score some points, keep it close and let the defense do the rest. Once the defense is average, ben doesn't have what it takes to carry a team. That game last night was one of the most disgusting and inept attempts of
steeler football I have witnessed in years. Talent means nothing if you don't have heart. Those stars on the steelers are still getting their millions. Merry fuking xmas.

[SojuMaster Profile]

Leaders lead and talkers talk, "redemption Sunday","unleash hell", "pattern of behavior", all talk. Tomlin said that without change the pattern of behavior would continue, then did not show the leadership it takes to make the changes. I personally have lost respect for Tomlin who has proven he is a talker not a leader. I don't understand the bashing of Dick Lebau, while the defense didn't play well he didn't miss one tackle and anytime you hold your opponent to 13 points in the NFL you should win. Bruce Airhead is another story, how he ever got the job is baffling, how he has kept it is beyond comprhension. The absolute worst play caller in any league above pee-wee football.

Until this last game, I do agree with your assessment of Dick. The brownies had ONE (I say again) ONE good player on their WHOLE team. Josh Cribbs. You can not make ANY defensive schemes to stop ONE player?

It is pathetic that we stopped playing football after Week 9. It seemed that when we lost to the chiefs that we have not been able to right ourselves and instead of doing what was working in the past, we decided to change how we run a game.

No-Huddle, where has it gone? ... It has left our playbook after our last win and we have not gone back to it since we have been losing because heaven forbid we do something that was actually working for us when we were winning.

I think we need to start checking the bank accounts of the coaching staff, I would not be surprised to see a few million dollars were wired from Vegas. That is the ONLY thing that can explain the collective mental collapse of the whole staff.

[napnewman Profile]

I can't even comment on how pitiful the Steelers have looked the past 5 weeks. I do want to give props to Sepulveda for a nice wrap up tackle. Maybe he should be coaching tackling technique for the defense.

[r1stillerman Profile]

Very good write up Mill, but I also think you must have graded on curve the entire team should have been given F-. What a dismal performance.

I am sick of seeing Ben hold on to the ball and take needless sacks. There are 50 ways to get rid of the ball without taking a penalty. He will never be considered an elite QB until he performers the basic fundamentals every play of every game. He is becoming a liability not an asset, it seems he has not progressed since his rookie year. Yeah he has good games but his basic bone head play or two or three are in every game. I am tired of screaming throw the fucking ball Ben. Case in point the last pass he threw 4th and what ever was pitched into double coverage which he failed to recognize and it appeared he could have run the much needed 1st down but instead the ball came very close to an interception. When he does run with the ball he continuously goes down head first, every QB knows to slide feet first to protect the head.

In the Denver game I thought I finally saw him take the leadership role but since that game he has regressed into Arians’ bitch. Something happened to this team after the Denver game because they went into the tank and it seems that is the way it is going to remain for the balance of season.

Tomlin has become the complete fool of the division. He walks around the sidelines like a deer in the headlights, not a clue. My guess we are stuck with this guy for at least two more years, being he was promoted under the Rooney rule and all. What a mistake to take him over Wiz.

Please somebody bitch slap Arians and get rid of this asshole.

[SteelTank Profile]

What I find incredible was the pathetic, uninspired, lack of urgency when we got the ball back with 6:16 left. It was clear that the coaching staff had no plans at all to try to get two more possesions. Why not go no huddle then and not waste a huge amount: These plays took far too much off the clock with the entire season in the balance:

1st-10, PIT21 6:16 B. Roethlisberger incomplete pass to the left
2nd-10, PIT21 6:09 B. Roethlisberger passed to H. Miller to the right for 11 yard gain
1st-10, PIT32 5:39 R. Mendenhall rushed to the left for 3 yard gain
2nd-7, PIT35 4:51 B. Roethlisberger passed to M. Wallace to the right for 6 yard gain
3rd-1, PIT41 4:18 R. Mendenhall rushed to the right for 5 yard gain
1st-10, PIT46 3:38 B. Roethlisberger incomplete pass to the right

Finally, the bleeding of the clock stops at 3:30, but by this time, the Steelers had clearly decided that this would be their last possession of the game or at least regulation. Clock management was an afterthought along with urgency.

[jaybaileys Profile]

You could have saved yourself a bunch of time and wrote F for the whole team!

[steelersteelman Profile]

I'm 40 years old. I have watched every Steeler game since I was 8 years old. This by far was the worst lost in the history of the black n gold. Are you freaking kidding me. I understand having The dumbest fuk in the world as our OC is going to make it hard to win, but how in the hell can these" world champion" athletes come out against their rivals and play with NO PASSION? Pussies!!! I agree with you on Keisel...he was the only one i saw lastnight that was playing the game hard. So we have to ask ourselves, why the lack of individual effort in the last 5 weeks? Have the guys no desire to play for Tomlin? Are they content with their past Superbowl wins? Who knows....I still blame dumbass Bruce for the magority of the collapse. It is going to be very interesting to see how Tomlin reacts to this huge downslide. Can he not see the obvious.....Farrior has to go....Ike needs his ass kicked...Bruce needs to go back to stocking groceries shelves(he will screw that up too). Dick needs to retire while he still has some credibility. Our offense line needs to take some Testosterone this coming summer so they can grow a pair. Has Mike got the guts to make drastic moves? Obviously he didn't when it came to benching players like he said he was going to. It is obvious that the players didn't respond at all to his "unleash hell" speech...What an embarassment that is!!! Last summer I thought long and hard about getting the Steeler emblem Tatooed on my back...this was my first one. Big decision! I thought long on hard understanding there will be shitty years for the Steelers. That there was going to be bad times. I never predicted times this shitty... I called my friend in Detroit lastnight and asked if he would be so kind to mail me his paper bag with the two holes cut out of it....When it gets here, first I will puke(again) in it and then I will put it on my head.....something I never thought i would do....I have always been proud of the Burgh even through the crappy years,,,,BUT this here is the worst of the worst. Mill, if you have time I would like to hear what you prediction are for the offseason. I don't want to watch the final 3 games , but it is almost like driving by the wreck on the highway....seeing a putred mess is kind of intriging to see. God bless the BURGH. Go Penguins!!!

[Tonydesal Profile]

Win, lose, or draw, I'm a Steeler fan. I'm going to watch every snap of every game, even though it'll piss me off to no end and most likely take years off my life. The only thing that proves is that I have 100% more heart than anyone who wore Black and Gold on that field last night.

I blame Tomlin. It starts with him. Morale, attitude, leadership. It all starts with the HC. Last night, his reaction to the last Steeler pass says it all; with his hands in his pockets, he made a gesture like "darn it!". What a TRUE HC should have done was to jump up and down screaming "mother fucker!" At least that's what I was doing.

And thanks for the post game re-cap of why we lost Tomlin. Asshole. I watched the game. I saw you DO NOTHING to win it. Is anyone else sick of his post game interviews where he basically tells the reporters how we got our asses handed to us, as if they missed the game, offering no information as to why he let it go, what he plans on doing to fix it? It's in the body language. He never makes eye contact during that entire pitiful interview. Why? It's like the dog you just scolded for shitting on the carpet, he knows he fucked up.

[fortbuck Profile]

StillMill once again proves why he is the most entertaining writer on the Internet.

Here is one of the most classic lines I have ever read:

"The Stillers ventured to Clev to embark on their “December unleashing of hell” that came up empty last week. Instead, they went out and slopped and wallowed in pigshit the entire evening as a gutless, spineless purveyor of chickenshit football that collectively played like assgrinding pillowbiters."

Still Mill you could have added an F across the board and stopped right there. That assessment pretty much encapsulated the Steelers' effort last night on the blustery shores of Lake Erie.

I was at the game last night. The sad think is most Steelers fans I met actually had a "bad feeling" before the game and anticipated it might be a loss.

Pittsburgh is a ruderless ship right now, but the Steelers have the pedigree to regroup and come back strong next season.

The Browns are an awful team right now; one of the worst versions in the topsy-turvy history of their franchise.

Yet, they were better than the Steelers last night.

It's mind boggling. (This dude should be waving a white flag and not a Terrible Towel.)

[ballhair Profile]

Win, lose, or draw, I'm a Steeler fan. I'm going to watch every snap of every game, even though it'll piss me off to no end and most likely take years off my life. The only thing that proves is that I have 100% more heart than anyone who wore Black and Gold on that field last night.

I blame Tomlin. It starts with him. Morale, attitude, leadership. It all starts with the HC. Last night, his reaction to the last Steeler pass says it all; with his hands in his pockets, he made a gesture like "darn it!". What a TRUE HC should have done was to jump up and down screaming "mother fucker!" At least that's what I was doing.

And thanks for the post game re-cap of why we lost Tomlin. Asshole. I watched the game. I saw you DO NOTHING to win it. Is anyone else sick of his post game interviews where he basically tells the reporters how we got our asses handed to us, as if they missed the game, offering no information as to why he let it go, what he plans on doing to fix it? It's in the body language. He never makes eye contact during that entire pitiful interview. Why? It's like the dog you just scolded for shitting on the carpet, he knows he fucked up.

That is why he doesn't tell the reporters "why he let it go", He doesn't have a clue on what went wrong.

[SteelFanRob Profile]

Wow, several of you stole my thunder! Deer in the taillights is exactly what MT reminds me of. Leaders lead, talkers talk. MT is a talker but has yet to prove he's a leader. Great stuff, guys! I'm proud that there are loyal fans who can see things for what they really are rather than live in the fantasy land of always having to be positive no matter what. Can anyone tell me what has been positive about the last 5 games? What is the silver lining of losing to KC, OAK, and CLEV?

Again, we should calm down and not talk about firing MT yet. After all, it's just one bad season. Cowher endured 3 in a row. But I really don't think MT is much of a leader. He has no idea what's wrong or how to fix it. A good coach can inherit a veteran, winning team, sit back, go along for the ride, and take the credit for winning a title. A great coach is measured by how they deal with adversity. MT has failed miserably in this regard.

It's become painfully clear that most of the coaches and some of the so-called leaders of this gutless team have to go. It begins with Arians. LeBeau may want to consider exiting gracefully before he's asked to leave. Ditto for J. Farrior.

Let me suggest a name for OC: Mark Whipple. Ben loves him. He's creative. If Cowher comes back to coaching I guarantee you Whipple will be his OC wherever.

Time to think about the draft. Here's a list of needs: DBs, ILB (for Farrior), NG (for Hampton), OL, TE (for everyone except Heath), WR (for Sweed, to push Wallace, to eventually replace whoever takes Hines' place, to give Ben another target).

Season's over folks. Time to root against the teams you hate (for me that's NE, home-town Fins, rest of AFC North).

[ddemao Profile]

SteelTank - I agree 100%, the Steelers showed absolutely no urgency during the final drive, running the play clock down to almost zero on each play. I, too, was screaming snap the f***ing ball!

There is plenty of blame to go around and it begins with Mike Tomlin. There is a saying in Texas, "All hat, no cattle". Or, as Still Mill likes to say, "Action talks, bulls**t walks", and Tomlin has been talking the talk but not walking the walk. How can it be that exactly the same team that won the SB last year has lost to the worst three teams in the NFL this year? He won the Super Bowl last year so firing him is out of the question. But, I am sick of his post game BS. He won the SB with Cowher's team that he inherited and this SB hangover is worse than the 2005 team's.

Bruce Arians - please find the door and keep on walking. Go to Buffalo, San Francisco, back to Cleveland, I don't care just get out of Pittsburgh. Has this man ever heard of a SCREEN PASS or a DRAW PLAY? The empty backfield on 3rd and short is driving me crazy. Why don't you just tell the defense what you plan to do? This offense is so anemic it couldn't put up any points on Robert Morris.

Big Ben - drop back to pass and THROW THE F***ING BALL! Did Ben throw one deep ball last night? If so, I didn't see it. I'm starting to believe that Ben likes to cuddle with the defense, otherwise why would he continuously hang on to the ball and take these ridiculous sacks! I hate to point out one particular play but on that last 4th down Limas Sweed was wide open past the first down sticks on the right side and Ben chose to throw into double coverage over the middle. Last year I said that Ben was the best QB in the NFL and I still think he can be, but he somehow has to get over his love affair with pump faking and clutching the ball and just let it fly!

All in all this team is just going through the motions and living off of last year's glory. The only guys that have been playing consistently hard are Holmes, Mendenhall and very few others. The defensive effort is pitiful. No pass rush to speak of and the secondary plays like they're afraid they'll get dirty. The linebacking crew appears that it's trying to avoid breaking a sweat.

For those of proud to be called Steeler fans this 2009 team is a gross embarrassment.

[rifraff Profile]

WOW, Super bowl hangover no, its a blackout, fall flat on ur face. Mill nails it the OC is a moron who cant adjust to game or weather. It seems to me that the O. formation basically tells the Def run or pass 80% of the time also his offense schemas dont seem appropriate for cold weather teams, which is a major neagtive! I would like to have some articles on what the fuk happened, what can be done to fix it and dont give me BS its all coaching, players are coasting from last years win. Arians goes, Dick retires, def back coach has to go?, special teams coach too, Farrior and yes trade Taylor, he cant catch and took the year off, screw em. Thats my start but I think it needs more! Unleash hell in the offseason!

[mountain65 Profile]

The Steelers are the laughing stock of the NFL right now. People can say that other teams, such as the Rams are, but the Rams are not the defending Super Bowl champs. The teams with shitty records were expected to be bad, but when you lose to 3 teams with 1, 2, and 3 wins apiece you are the joke.
Someone tell Hines Ward to grow a set of balls and quit bawling all the time. Everytime the Steelers loose an important game he's on the sideline crying.

[SojuMaster Profile]

My Report Card: (This did go a bit longer then I intended.)

Reason for edit: Corrected for spelling and grammor errors

Keisel, Carter, Timmons - A - Despite the rest of the defense playing like dogshit; They played a good solid game, maintained their discipline on maintaining their assignments and reacting appropriately.

Sepulveda - A - (42.8 Average, 60 Long) It would have been a higher average if he was not forced into trying to pin the brownies deep because 3 of the 8 punts were results of drives sputtering out in brownies territory. Also had a tackle and he did not look like your normal bumbling idiot like most punters do.

The Artic Blast - B+ - The weather did a better job in stopping the brownies offense then our own players did. If this was in typical mid-30's weather with little to no wind, we would have been humiliated even worse.

Mendenhall - B - At first I would have given him a lower grade; but not his fault that the offensive line didn’t do shit for him nor his fault that Bruce Asswipe decided to dial up passing plays in obvious run situations. He showed some good moves and was able to gain some additional yards that Parker could not accomplish or is able to do so anymore. So given that handicap; he did very well.

Miller - D+ Target 7 Times; Caught 5. Dropped a possible TD pass at the brownies 2 at the end of the 1st Half; dropped a easy pass on our final drive on 2nd and 19.

Holmes - D- Targeted 11 Times; Caught 6. The obvious favorite target for Big Ben as of late, he needs to step up and catch the ball. We pay him to do one thing; catch the ball. His "expanded" role as a punt returner was terrible but given the weather conditions; it was challenging.

Everyone Else: F

Dishonorable Mentions: (F- or worse)

Big Ben. We pay you to throw the ball, not to be a tackle dummy for the brownies. I guess Ben got so used to people tackling him high; that he does not know how to step out of the grasp of a DB or DL when they are laying on the ground and playing ankle bitters. 7 Sacks is pathetic.

Bruce Asswipe. "Let me see what I have out there, 6 players on the line and the brownies have 7 defensive players on the line and they are rushing. That means .... hmmm ... let me think .... that I obviously have enough players to cover the brownies because Ben can obviously find a target and throw to said target in .45 seconds before the unblocked defender is handing Ben a "welcome to cleveland" greeting card. At least this works on my version of Madden Football I have on my Apple II. Maybe I should upgrade to Madden '94 and get a new playbook"

(Hint Bruce: When you have an empty back field, there is a blind woman outside the stadium that is able to see that it is a pass. Hint 2: When Mike Wallace comes in from the sideline, that same blind woman can see it will be a pass play. IF I CAN SEE THIS OBVIOUS SHIT; SO CAN THE PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM THAT YOU ARE PLAYING AGAINST!!!!) Oh BTW, Bruce, I hope you play poker, if you do, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come to my house and play against me, because if you are as readable and unoriginal as an OC as you are in poker, I can retire from the money I would take from you.

Dick LaBeau. I still like the guy (Let the flames begin) and to say the guy has completely lost everything because of a BAD losing streak is unfair; BUT his inability to even dialup a play to stop ONE player is inexcusable and unforgivable. It might not be HIS fault that players are missing tackles and DB's looking over the right shoulder when the pass and receiver are on their left but to simply miss obvious indicators of what is going to be ran and can not get your players the right schemes to play is pretty bad.

Paker. He only got 3 touches but failed to capitalize on his rare touches to regain some reputation back that he can do something more then run blindly into the line.

Offensive Line. Starks and Kemoeatu constantly failed to notice/care/adjust/whatever to the overloading of defensive players on their side. I lost track/did not care/depressed/drunk/whatever on how many sacks and rushes came from the left side and left gaps. It is still an EPIC FAIL on the whole line.

Tomlin. "We will release hell ..." FAIL! (Unless you meant to say "We will make Stiller Fans go 'Oh what the Hell was that'")
"We will make changes ..." FAIL! (Unless you meant to say "I will make the Stillers change the vomit bags after the raiders game so they can get the needed ones for the brownies game")
During Deion Sanders interview on NFL Network: "This is our playoffs" FAIL! (Unless you meant ... oh never mind)

Leadership is the art of influencing people to want to accomplish the mission. As a leader you take the credit for all actions of everyone in your command, good, bad or indifferent. When you open your mouth to the press and promise all these things, people listen and hold YOU accountable. You failed to deliver. You have a serious crisis on your hands and you have three more weeks to salvage SOMETHING from this season besides a better draft pick next year. Maybe start with taking the play calling abilities away from Bruce Asswipe and hand them over to Ben. THAT would be a change EVERYONE can live with. MAYBE go back with the plays that DID work, like No-huddle. MAYBE put Dixon in for a game instead of Big Ben and wake up Big Ben that he is not (A) a superhero and (B) needs to learn to swallow his ego and throw a ball or two away and not worry about his precious passer rating and pass completion percentage.

There was very few bright spots and they were far and few between; The overall rating is: F

[bdambro Profile]

There's nothing to say after that. The only silver lining is that we're one step closer to Arians getting fired... which still probably won't happen...

[LenSherwood Profile]

It is hard to really tell what is going on when you are watching a game on television because the camera only really follows the ball. But when the view panned to the whole field, there really weren't any open receivers on the plays where you got the whole view. Big Ben would have had to force it into coverage and when he tries that it usually results in touchdowns for the defense. So that means that the Browns had figured out the Steelers offense completely--wasn't like they were kicking the Steeler's offense's asses with their brilliant talent. Their defensive scheme did it. And that is Arian's fault for not adjusting. The Browns were covering every receiver as well in the fourth quarter as the first. Can anyone tell me if that last pass play was the same play that Baltimore picked off in overtime--it sure looked like an attempt to throw into the coverage scheme--only the Brownie linebacker dropped the ball where the Raven caught it.