Stillers-Browns Postgame Analysis and Grades

Stillers 31, Clev 0� ���. Dec 28, 2008 ����Game #16

 

Stillers-Browns Postgame Analysis and Grades

 

The Stillers closed out their regular season by thrashing the hapless Brownies at Heinz Field, 31-0.� Given the nature of the rather meaningless game and the plethora of backups who played, this will be a shorter report than usual.�

 

Grades:

 

QB:� Ben had a spotty half of play before sustaining a concussion late in the 2Q and being carted off the field.� His erratic play included:

 

����������� - Poor screen pass on the 1st series.� No one throws a poorer screen pass, after doing a worse selling job, than does Gentle Ben.

����������� - The long out n� up pass to Ward actually pushed Ward OOB after the catch; a better pass, just a few inches to the inside of the field, allows Ward to catch the ball and continue running.� �

����������� - Utterly hideous INT on a 1st down play at the Clev 20 in the 1Q.� He was tentative, as usual, while Miller broke out of his cut and was WIDE open, and then he tried this gimpy, moronic, off-balance toss that was well behind Miller and easily picked off.� An all-around boneheaded play by the QB.

����������� - Poor pass to Nate that was hauled in via a great catch for a TD (a flag negated this play)

����������� - On the play prior to the injury, Clev rushed a DB directly in front of Ben�s face.� Ben saw the rusher, then tentatively did NOTHING, and then stood still and hung onto the ball.� Finally, with the DB grasping him, Ben managed to throw the ball away.��

 

Ben was injured when Steeler-killer Willie McGinest (how soon until this sunuvagun retires?) landed on Ben�s upper body with another Brownie hitting him down low, and the back of Ben�s head hit the turf.�

 

Byron came on in relief and played solidly.� His first play, on a 3d & 8, netted 9 yards on a pass to Miller.� Byron capped the drive with a clumsy but effective scramble for the TD.�

 

The biggest worry now isn�t Ben�s health, as he�ll recover just fine.� The biggest worry is Ben�s play in the next game (divisional playoffs), as Ben has a long history of playing like utter vomit in the first game back after injury.���� Ben:� C���� Byron:� A-

 

RB:� Parker came out of his doldrums with a superb effort, gashing the Browns for 116 Yards on 23 carries.� He ripped off his longest run of the year, a 34-yard TD run in which he slashed off-tackle, then sprinted up the sideline and outran the defense.� Willie also gave a nice stiff-arm to McGinest on a wide run in the 3Q, sending the big DE sprawling onto his ass.� Perhaps these 2 plays are a sign that Parker is indeed back.�� Parker, of course, was not permitted to participate in the passing game.� Moore chipped in with 4 rushes for 23, plus 1 grab for 10.� The downer was the totally pussyfied pass block Moore tried on McGinest in the 2Q, which enabled McGinest to harass the QB into a throw-away.� Russell had some good short-yardage plunges, including a 3-yard TD run.� �A

 

FB: For reasons unknown to anybody on the planet, McHugh got the vast majority of work at FB when the offense used that set.� He did have a rare, solid lead on Parker�s 8-yard run on 3d & 1 on the 1st series.� Davis was finally allowed to play FB and had a nice lead block on Russ�s TD run.� ���B+

 

WR:� Ward eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark with a 6-grab, 70 yard effort.� He had a great RAC in the 4Q to set up Russell�s TD plunge.� Tonio had a nice pluck on a 3D slant to convert the 1st down in the 3Q.� He made a poor adjustment on a deep slant in the 2Q.� Nate had a superb catch for a 1Q TD, but a flag on Colon negated the play.� Nate had a good grab of a curl on 3d & 13, gaining 13 and the 1st down.� �Sweed played a good bit and did nothing, aside from getting flagged for a silly block to the back near the end of a line plunge, and also a hold on Parker�s long run in the 4Q.�� Sweed: C-�� All others:� A-

 

TE:� Miller grabbed 5 balls for 50 yards, but overall he had a poor game that really makes me wonder about the long-term viability of this cowardly homo.� His blocking was absolutely wretched throughout the entire game.� He had a pitifully weak-assed block at the edge on Parker�s no-gain run in the 1Q, plus Miller was called for holding as well.� �Later in the 1Q, Miller�s poor block allowed his man to create backfield pressure, and Parker was nailed for -3.� In the 2Q, Miller got eaten alive by McGinest on a ground play, which caused a 3-yard loss and another holding call on Miller. �Heath dropped a shovel pass midway thru the 2Q.� On the 3d & 13 completion to Nate, Miller was weak again in pass pro, which caused Byron to get hit as he threw.� Just prior to that, either Miller or Speath (TV angle made it difficult to determine the number) whiffed and allowed his man to crush Moore for a 3-yard loss.�� In all, it was some of the sorriest TE blocking since Speath�s horrid day a few weeks ago.� Unacceptable.���� D

 

OL: Overall, the line played adequately.� Kemo, who has been a vast disappointment this season, had a couple good blocks on pulls.� He pulled and sealed on Park�s long TD run.� He spotted Byron scrambling and ambled over and took out the DB on Byron�s TD run late in the 2Q.� He had a good pull and scoop on Russell�s TD plunge.� As I�ve stated several times this year -- placed on the move, Kemo often gets a solid block.� Asked to scrap in simple, shot-area blocking, Kemo is just as likely to miss.� Very puzzling.� Kemo also had a false start.� Stapleton had some struggles.� He had a weak block on Parker�s 1-yd. run in the 1Q.� He was beaten badly and allowed pressure on the 3d & 13 midway thru the 3Q.� Colon�s hold negated Nate�s TD.� �The line will face much better front 7s come playoff time and they�ll have to step it up a bit.��� B

 

DL:� A fairly mediocre effort.� In a game where everyone knew Clev would run the ball to keep the pressure off a QB who�d just been signed 3 weeks ago, the line repeatedly got gashed by Lewis, who finished with 94 yards on 23 carries.� Hampton was once again a big zero, doing nothing while being SOLO blocked by Hank Fraley a majority of the time.� �Keisel, who pulled his pudd all day last week, at least awoke and had a decent game.� He stopped Cribbs on a run, and also had a bat.� Aaron Smith had a solid game.� Roye saw a lot of PT after being deactivated for much of the season.�� �B-

 

LB:� Harrison rightfully sat this game out.� The overall LB play was mediocre as well.� Farrior had a couple good stuffs, including a good stick on Lewis on the 1st play for 3 yards, and a good stop of a screen pass late in the 2Q.��� The blunders were plenty, of course --

�����������

����������� - Along with Foote, walled offon Lewi�s gut run for 9 in the 1Q

����������� - walled off on Lew�s gut run of 13 from the Clev 5 in the 2Q

����������� - totally tooled on the deep in to Rucker that Pola stripped (but was ruled inc.), which would have been an 18-yard gain on 2d & 19.�

 

The play that portends trouble in the playoffs, was the 3d & 7 draw play on the 1st play of the 2Q.� Woodley was sealed; Farrior was walled off; and Timmons flailed as Lewis gained 11 yards.��� Not good.�

 

Woodley had a good spin move and pressure in the 3Q, but then whiffed on the sack.�� Timmons allowed Lewis clean access to the corner for 11 yards in the 4Q.� Fox saw a lot of PT in the 2H.� Woodley put a crushing block on Carter�s INT return for a TD.� �����B

 

DB:� Hard to evaluate this crew in facing a QB just signed off the scrap heap 3 weeks ago, and a receiving corps decimated by injury.� McFadden had a good read and string on a 3d & 2 scramble and stopped the QB short of the sticks.� He also had a good blitz pressure in the 3Q that created Carter�s 1st INT.� Pola whiffed on Lewi�s 13-yard run from the Clev 5 in the 2Q, but had a good strip of Rucker that was ruled inc.� Tony Smith was finally allowed to play safety, and had some good, hard hits at the end of scrums.� He also showed superb athleticism on his TD return that was called back for an inc. pass.� Ty Carter had a couple Dong INTs and returned the 2nd one for a TD.�� ���Inc

 

Spec teams:� So-so.� Cribbs was held in check on returns, with good stops by Russell (2 ea.), Madison, and Fox (2 ea.).�

 

Berger mostly punted poorly, booming 1 punt after another into the EZ.� His lone good punt came off a lucky bounce and roll, in the 2Q.� Holmes muffed a punt but recovered in the 4Q.������ B-

 

OC:� Arians kept alive his streak of not scoring a 1Q TD since the Indy game on Nov. 9th.� I�m quite positive that he�ll be able to keep this streak alive in the divisional playoff game in 2 weeks.��

 

We have no idea why Arians is in love with McHugh playing FB over Davis.� At 6-5�, McHugh is too tall to play FB and get LOW, with leverage, as a lead blocker.� This is just another Arians playtoy fetish that, while cute and clever, serves no purpose.�

 

We now see that the incessant spikes by Ben were caused by the idiocy of Bruce Arians.� Late in the 2Q, after a 2nd & 15 pass to Davis set up a 3d & 1, Byron called TO #2 at 1:04, which was acceptable.� This was a fairly long play and the 1st down conversion was critical in order to get a TD in a 7-0 game.� So, after the TO, Russell runs a plunge for 7 yards and the 1st down, setting up shop at the Clev 8.� What does Leftwich do?� He fuking spikes the ball, wasting a precious down.� There is absolutely no reason that TWO plays could not have been called during that timeout, with the 1st play the plunge and the 2nd play being ANY pass play.� Remember, there was still one TO remaining, plus, at the time of the spike, there were 42 seconds remaining, which is an eternity.�� Time was not an issue, nor was distance; the only challenge was cracking the goal line with THREE attempts, rather than 2, before settling for a FG.�� We�ve seen enough of this needless, assaholic, junior-varsity spiking.�

�

The only good thing we saw all day was the speed-draw to Parker early in the 3Q, which gained 10 yards.�� Hooray !!� Where the hell has this play been all season, as opposed to the Whaleshit draw that takes 5 seconds to develop??���

 

We�ll state again here -- the biggest hurdle to the Sup Bowl is not an AFC opponent, bur rather the chief saboteur, Bruce Arians.���� C+

 

DC:� Dick finished the regular season by feasting on a bumbling, inept offense that started a QB just signed 3 weeks ago off the scrap heap, along with an injury decimated WR corps (no Edwards, no Soldier, no Jurevicius).�� The Clev offense, in fact, set an NFL record for consecutive quarters without a TD (now at 24).� �I�m quite sure Dick will feel awfully proud about all of this.�

 

McFadden�s blitz in the 3Q, in which he came in cleanly on the QB and forced an INT, was precisely what was missing from last week�s vanilla defense.�� Let�s hope, and pray, that Dick realizes this come playoff time.�� ���Inc

 

HC:� Tomlin finished his 2nd season as HC with a 12-4 record against the toughest schedule in the past 30 years, yet isn�t even being mentioned for the Coach of the Year award.� Unreal.� Tommy has done a good job of keeping the team fresh, focused, and cohesive down the stretch.�� ���A

 

Synopsis:� It�s always nice to beat on the hapless Stains of Cleveland.� Now, we get to enjoy a bye week and then we�ll host an AFC Div. playoff on Jan. 11th.� Enjoy the bye week rest, Stiller fans, and then get fired up for playoff football!!

 

 

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