Stillers 18, Falcons 10 ...... Sep 8, 2024 …………Game # 1
Stillers-Falcons Postgame Analysis and Grades
The Stillers opened up on the road to face the mediocre Falcons. ATL led by a point at the half, but the Stillers roared back (well, not really roared) with a few more FGs and eked out an 8 point win.
Grades:
QB: Fields got the start, due to Russ’s calf. Solid 3-play march to get into FG range, late 2Q, with a nice strike to Pickens for 41.
Took a sack, early 3Q. Seemed like he ran right into the tackler. Fields helped eat up some yards and move the chains with his legs in the 2H. In total, he was 17 of 23 for 156 yards, with the offense scoring zero TDs. Add in the fact that not a single completion occurred INSIDE THE HASHES, and it was an ordinary QB performance, at best. He’ll need to be better. B-
RB:
Harris – dropped a very catchable pass, 1st series. Not a great pass, but catchable. Big run, early 4Q, for 20 yards. Had a few decent runs, along with a myriad mediocre ones. Had 20 rushes for 70, which is hardly impressive, but puts him well on pace for that ever-impressive “1,000 yard season”. C+
Warren – May have still been hampered by the leg injury. Played sparingly
Cord Patterson – used as a change of pace back, with 4 carries for 13. Not impressive at’all. C
FB: never used.
WR:
Pickens – Grabbed a pass on an oddball play, late 1Q, for a 5 yard loss. Lost 9 yards on an end around, early 2Q. Good grab on deep lob, 2Q, for 36 tards, but was flagged for ticky-tack but assessable OPI flag. Hauled in a deep lob, 3Q. Blocked like a complete pansie on the 3d & 2 flare pass to Jefferson. Had 6 grabs for 85. B-
Van Jeff – flagged for false start, 2Q. Grabbed a flare on 3d & 2, 4Q, and was dropped easy as pie for a measly 1 yard gain. He finished with game with (hold yer laughter) 1 grab for 1 yard. Ladies & gentleman – your 2024 #2 WR. D
Austin – blocked like a complete pansie on the 3d & 2 flare pass to Jefferson. Had 1 grab for 7 yards. D
TE:
Pat FryBoy – Had 4 grabs for 27 yards…..8 yards per grab. Gee, how impressive! Quick – lavish this fellow with a fatty 4-year extension ! C+
Darnell – Had 1 grab for 5. Blocked a fair amount.
Pruitt – grabbed a 9 yard pass, 3Q.
OL: Overall, the line (Moore, Anderson, Frazier, Daniels, Jones ) had an adequate game.
Daniels got abused, early 3Q, for a sack. Anderson committed a false start, 3Q. It wasn’t the hideous performance I was expecting. B
DL:
Heyward – Got an assist on a humdrum running play, 2Q. Had a rare, solid solo on a ground play right after the 2MW, 1H. Finished with 3 solos and 1 assists, along with ZERO pass pressure. Quick – give this fellow a fatty 3-yearn extension, and fast !! C+
Ogunjobi – Had 1 solo.
Adams – Blew by an interior lineman for a sack.
Lowdermilk – dressed, but did nothing.
Leal – Played some, including ROLB.
Benton – was surprisingly quiet. Had 1 solo.
LB:
Pat Queen – a very drab, ordinary debut. For all the fawning about how dominant Big Patrick was going to be, he finished with 2 solos,ry, very little. C-
Landon Roberts – thought he chipped in on a tackle in the 1H, but wasn’t credited. That aside, he was fairly mouse-quiet, and was held off the stat sheet. D
Watt – fagged for offsides, late 2Q, negating a sack. Iffy flag by the ref. Stripped the ball from the QB on a sack, mid 3Q, but an illegal hands flag on Donte Jackson wiped it out. Also recovered a fumble on a botched snap. Was a terror for much of the game. A
Highsmith – 2nd & 3, second play of game – ATL ran right at Big Alex, who meekly went low and whiffed, with the RB cruising by for 3 yards and the 1st down. Flagged for a blatant offsides, 1st series. Got walled off the next play on an off tackle run, good for 13 yards. Far too slow in coverage on Robinson, 2d series, which resulted in an easy 9-yard catch & run. 2nd & 3 at ATL 35, 2Q – Queen blew up a ground play, and Big Alex got an assist on a routine play.
3Q, 4th & 1 – Big Alex got BURIED, with his dik in the dirt, allowing an easy run around end for TEN NE yards. This, is lewzing football by a complete lewzer. At 7:45 3Q, Big Alex got credit for a cheezy Assist, in which he flailed at the RB legs and the real stop was made by Lary Ogun, after a SEVEN yard gain, no less. On the next play, Big Alex got another slop assist, on a play in which Watt made 94% of the actual tackle. On the final play of the 3Q, ATL ran a toss sweep, and Big Alex got sealed off like a ziplock baggie, allowing Robinson to cruise around end for a five yard gainer. Sure enough, you’ll hear fables about how big and vaunted Alex is, although plays like this show exactly the opposite.
Midway thru the 4Q, Big Alex came in, UNBLOCKED, and tipped a swing pass by Cousins. Quick – lavish this man with another 6 years of extension !! What a dominant, he-man play ! lmao On the next series, ATL ran a toss sweep left. Big Alex got suckered inside, and then meekly just WAVED at the ballcarrier as he cruised past for THIRTEEN yards. Sure enough, Alex managed to jump onto the stack for a slop assist, but not after he’d embarrassed himself with such weakling wave.
In all, Big Alex had ONE solo and 4 weak-azzed slop assists. ZERO pressure on the QB all game long. All this, for $17M per year (he got restructured this past offseason, but you get the drift.) D
Herbig – good run stop for a measly 2 yard gain, 3Q.
Peyton Wilson – fought off block and made the tackle on a 3d & goal pass play, 1st series. Prob saved a TD. Good run stop, late 2Q. Showed considerable moxie, football savvy, and grit (pretty much the opposite of Alex Bumsmith, come to think of it.) B
DB
Dante Jackson – dropped a cake-easy INT, 1st series. Flagged correctly for illegal hands, which wiped out a sack by Watt in the 3Q. Got a Dong INT late in the game when Cousins just threw a lollipop that could have been picked off by 2 defenders. B
Joey Porter Jr. - got nicked up, late 3Q/early 4Q. Fortunately, he came back. Was rarely challenged. B+
Kazee – Had a pass defensed.
Elliot – snared an INT, 2nd series. Imagine Terrell Edmunds doing this….??! Amazin’. Busted up a sideline pass, mid 2Q. Should he emerge week by week, this will allow Minkah to play more of a FS. B+
Minkah – good solo tackle on a run, 9:00 2Q. Led the D in solo tackles, which is nice, but also a bit disconcerting. A
Bishop – made an okay stop on a 3d & long dumpoff, 3Q.
Spec teams:
Cam Johnston – punted only twice, and on the 2nd, had a man fall into his plant leg. It looked ugly, and he’s likely done for the season. Knowing the Steelers, it is mandatory that any punter they sign is a former Steeler punter. Big Mike Tomlin prefers a punter who "knows the system", rather than a punter who can actually punt. B
Boswell – Dude nailed 6 of 6 FGs, including 3 in the 50’s, and also “pinch punted” when Cam got injured and a flag forced a re-punt. A++
Austin – decent punt return, mid 2Q. Solid punt return, 3Q. Might actually have some value being on the roster, since he does so little at WR. B+
OC: Arthur Smith oversaw a fairly dull, drab offense. I despised the 3d & 6 line plunge by Cordy P, 1st series. A chickenshoit playcall. Sure, they booted a 57-yard FG on the next play, but it screamed settling, turtling, and mediocrity, especially when a 57 yard FG is far from a sure thing. Very next play, on the 2d series, Smith ordered a goofy pass to Pickins some five yards BEHIND the LOS, which lost 5 yards. The reason Bos booted 6 FGs was that those 6 drives bogged down, with no legit WR2 or WR3 on the roster. And, not a single completion occurred between the hash marks…..every completion was outside the hashes. Ball hawking defenses with film to study will make this unsustainable. B-
DC: Austin had the luxury of facing Kirk Cousins, a vastly over-paid yet under-performing QB who often manages to pad the stat sheet, yet does very, very little to actually win ballgames. Ya saw that today. I wouldn’t crow too loudly about “shutting down” Kirk Cousins. B
HC: Mike Asslin eked out a rare season-opening win. The offense was slop, and the defense was aided by a bumbling, dysfunctional ATL offense. B
Synopsis: A road win to start the season. Next, another road game in Denver, which has rarely been a good city for the Stillers to play in.
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