Diesel's wrap up

Here are the key plays from yesterday�s Stillers-Titans game.

1. The safety by Rocky Boiman was an early momentum changer. The Stillers were up 10-0 and all that Tennesee could do to answer on their next possession was pin the Stillers deep on a punt. Well, that was enough when Oliver Ross was beaten badly and Tommy should have stepped up enough to avoid the safety. That play changed the momentum and after the ensuing punt it only took McNair three plays to make it a 10-9 game.

2. The INT at the end of the first half was a killer. Samari Rolle picked off a short slant and returned the INT to the 1 yard line. Burress got off of the line of scrimmage late but Tommy needs to look before he makes that throw. In the Stiller offense, many times Maddox is making very quick reads and throwing to a spot. On a fifteen yard curl, if the receiver slips and you throw the pick at least one of the offensive players has a shot at making the tackle. In a four wide set, if you throw a pick on a short slant route, the defender usually has clear sailing to the end zone. The problem is the Stillers were throwing these slants when Tennesee was playing press coverage. Mike Mularkey should have called more deep passes, the dink and dunk does not work when the secondary is not respecting the deep threat. As a result of this play, the Titans get a one yard TD pass and go into the locker with a lead. This is after the Stillers had just over a 2.5-1 TOP advantage and 13 first downs to Tennessee�s 4. They also nearly doubled Tennessee�s total yardage in the first half. What was equally disheartening is how the Stillers shut down the Titans on the previous possession and got the ball back with just over a minute left and 2 time-outs. Looking to build on their lead and gain momentum going into halftime, the Stillers threw a costly pick and gave all the momentum back to Tennessee.

3. The missed FG early in the 3^rd quarter took all of the steam out of the B&G. This was almost as big as the 2 INT�s. As a fan watching the game, it sucked the energy right out of you when they put together a drive like that only to get nothing. The Titans got the ball at the beginning of the 2^nd half and did little. The Stillers put together a nice drive after the Titans punt but once again stalled in the red zone. When Tank Williams tipped the ball and it hit the goal post, it seemed like no matter how badly the Steelers outplayed the Titans they were going to find a way to lose. The Titans capitalized on the momentum and went right down the field and scored a TD. Notice how both of the Titans TD drives came off the heels of a big play by their defense or ST�s. You can make that three TD drives if you count the one yard TD after the Samari Rolle INT.

4. The last play was the nail in the coffin early in the 4^th quarter. The Stillers offense got the ball at the Tennessee 41 with about 13:50 left only trailing by ten. Tank Williams gets to Maddox on a bootleg and is hanging on his leg when Tommy tries to throw the ball away. Well, instead of throwing the ball about two feet in front of him he tries to throw it at the reciever�s feet with Rocky Boiman trailing behind him. Boiman scoops bends down to scoop up the easy pick and takes it to the house. This was the nail in the coffin and everything else was basically garbage time.

In conclusion:

The Stillers lost a game where they dominated in every statistical category save two, red zone efficiency and turnovers. Those two stats were a killer. Both of the turnovers led to Titan TD�s. In addition, every one of the 30 points scored by the Titans immediately followed a goof by the Stillers� defense or ST�s. 16 points were scored directly by the Titan �D�. (I�ll give Samari Rolle the one yard TD drive) The other two TD drives came immediately after the Titans gained momentum off of a safety and a blocked FG. The bottom line was the Titans took advantage of every opportunity that they were given. The Stillers did not even come close, scoring one TD and two FG�s in four meaningful drives in the red zone. (The last trip to the red zone was garbage time)

The Stillers also ran the ball well in the first quarter and then could not in the second half. The Titans were playing with 8 men in the box and playing a lot of press coverage. The Stillers needed to beat the Titans deep to open up the run and the short passing game more. Well, Plex did beat the Titans deep in the 3^rd quarter but the Titans did not pay when Tank Williams partially blocked the FG. The Stillers mostly abandoned the run once Tennessee went up by 10, and a one-dimensional attack was ineffective the rest of the game. The defense played OK, limiting the Titans to 198 yards of total offense. Still, McNair was 15 of 16 and each time the Titans got momentum the Stiller �D� could not suck it up and take the momentum back. Many times in the first half the Titans �D� could have packed it in but they kept fighting and basically won the game. The Stiller �D� looked deflated against a completely one-dimensional team on both of the Titans TD drives. Remember, the Titans rushed for 22 yards on 40 tries and got less out of their running game. So, the Stillers can not use the excuse that the lack of a running game cost them the game. Actually the running game provided the only successful trip into the red zone.

The one person who was abused more than any on those 2 TD drives was Chad Scott. The coaching staff needs to take a long look at replacing him with either Deshea Townsend or Ivan Taylor. Taylor may seem like a gamble but he could do no worse than Scott right now. Hopefully, the Stillers will give Pola and Taylor more PT and not allow them to ride the pine and stunt their development. As for coaching, Mularkey was too cute in his play calling, especially that fake handoff fake reverse that got Tommy crunched by Kevin Carter and led to another Stiller punt. As always, Jeff Fisher showed that he can get more with less than Bill Cowher. Fisher�s team suffered multiple injuries and was completely outplayed in the first half, yet his team persevered and came out with a dominating 30-13 win. Coach Cowher has allowed his team to come out deflated after big plays went against them in two different games this year. All one needs to do to realize the Stillers are being out-coached is see how Dick Vermeil and Jeff Fisher�s teams reacted to being down 10-0. Then look at how Cowher�s teams reacted when something did not go their way.