The Stewart Fallacy�
De-bunking the "Stewart had a bad game" myth
Indeed, it truly is in vogue in the Burgh to be riding Kordell Stewart. So many people have jumped on the Maddox Bandwagon, the U.S. Navy may have to call in an aircraft carrier just to move it. But is this an accurate leap of faith?
Sure, Touchdown Tommy led an impressive drive at the end of the game to even get the Stillers into overtime. Lest everyone get carried away, let�s not forget that the two starting cornerbacks for the Brownies were on the bench � hurt. The defense Tommy threw against was a "prevent"�we all know what a prevent does � it prevents you from winning. The Brownies left our receivers so wide open, even Still Trivia could have completed the passes. I don�t want to take too much away from Tommy � the man came in cold, and did what needed to be done. He works with Mathis a great deal in practice, since both are second-teamers, so it should come as no surprise that Maddox�s first two passes were completions to Mathis. Maddox also had the advantage of running the spread formation, with 4 or 5 wideouts, and no stone-handed stumblebums like Mark Bruener or Jerame 2-Man to clog up the works. No, Tommy was given the full arsenal � men who could actually catch.
The pass to Burress for the TD was badly thrown behind Burress. Funny thing about spreading the field � you can get away with bad passes because of a little thing (or a big thing) called "space". Burress had the room to reach back and get the poorly thrown pass. In a regular defense, there may have been men both in front of, and behind, the receiver. No space. Bad throws can be disastrous, as we have seen many times with Kordell.
But this time, we went to overtime, and got to see exactly what happens when Tommy Maddox makes a bad throw. On the first play, no yet. In this case, it wasn�t so much that the throw was inaccurate, it was the fact that it didn�t get there quickly enough�alas, the story of Tommy Maddox, circa 1994 to present. The man has a weak arm. Yes, he can run the offense. Yes, he can run the 2-minute drill. Yes, he can shred the prevent defense. But put him straight-up, base offense against base defense, and you have a common denominator of his entire career � INTERCEPTIONS. You could look it up. Quarterbacks in the NFL are expected to make the out-pattern throw to the sideline, with quickness and zip. If they cannot, corners in the NFL will "bait" them into a costly INT that will most likely get returned for a touchdown. Maddox proved early and often that he could NOT make that throw. Hence, he was cut. Not from one team, but three. Additionally, a quarterback in the NFL must be able to make the medium-range throw over the middle with enough zest that a free safety cannot "poach" the pass. Maddox proved early and often that he could NOT make that throw. Hence, he was cut.
But, enough about Maddox. As far as Trap is concerned, they can play Todd Peterson at quarterback, so long as the team wins. Trap is all about wins. Victories. W�s.
Which brings us to Stewart.
"Stewart blows". "Stewart sucks". "He was horrible". These are all the familiar choruses we have heard the past two days. (not to mention, the past six years!)
Let�s take an objective look at what transpired yesterday:
Kordell Stewart was 15-25. Completion rate of 60%. Perfectly acceptable for an NFL quarterback. One INT. The one INT came on his last throw. He was 15-24 up to that point, with NO interceptions. More than perfectly acceptable for an NFL quarterback�in fact, better than most all of them playing in yesterday�s games. Point of reference: Tom Brady had two INT�s. Kerry Collins had two INT�s. Jay Fiedler had four INT�s.
His passing was decent�not great, but decent. He made some excellent zings down the middle that could only be made on passes with mustard on them. His pass to Bruener was a tad high, but very catchable. Bruener short-armed the ball; a ball that many legitimate tight ends catch every week. Plex also had a Stewart pass that he caught by the sideline, but couldn�t get his size 17 � canoes inbounds. Again, not Stewart�s fault.
What about the added dimension Stewart brings to the table that not many QB�s do? Running the ball? Stewart was only the Stillers leading rusher. Granted, thirty yards isn�t a lot, but it was six more than the bloated tub of lard commonly known as The Bus, and done with half as many carries. More importantly, Kordell was not sacked. NOT getting sacked is worth a LOT in close ballgame. In fact, there were not more than a few QB�s yesterday who avoided getting sacked at all.
Finally, we need to look at the gameplan that Stewart was saddled with by his suddenly mentally-challenged coordinator, Mike Mularkey.
First series, Mularkey started the game with the ever-surprising Jerome Bettis run. Bus pushed his flab forward for 2 yards. Stewart threw an incompletion, and then completed a ball to Ward short of the sticks on third down.
Next series, Mularkey starts the drive with the ever-surprising Jerome Bettis run up the middle. Not to be outdone, Mularkey decided to surprise the defense with a Jerome Bettis run up the middle. On third down, he brought Randle El around end for an 8-yard gain. On first down, Mularkey called a pass play to the ever-dangerous Mark Bruener behind the line of scrimmage. Mularkey knew, and was taking advantage of, the yards-after-catch abilities that Bruener is known around the league for. He lost two yards. Kordell then threw to Plex for 10 yards. On third and two from the Brownie 36, Mularkey decided to switch things up a little bit, this time sending Amos Zeroue on a line plunge. He gained one yard, in keeping with the Cowherd turtle philosophy. Bill suddenly realized that this was some 20 yards outside of Todd Peterson�s range, so he decides to go for the one yard on 4th down. Wayne Gandy saw to it that Kordell was not even going to get a chance to run his quarterback sneak that is requisite everytime a Cowherd team has a fourth down. The penalty forced the Stillers to punt.
Next series, Kordell starts things out right with a nine yard run on a draw. Mularkey wants to trick the Brownie defense on 2nd and one. He figures the Stillers will take a stab downfield, which most teams do on 2nd and one, so he sends Jerome Bettis up the middle. He gets the first down, and likes it so much, he runs Bettis up the middle on the next play. On 2nd and 7, Kordell completes a nine yard pass to Plex for the first down. Mularkey doesn�t want Stewart to get into too good of a rhythm, so he runs Bettis up the middle. Bus gets one yard. Kordell then throws to Hines Ward for 12. First down. The Stillers are once again in familiar territory � 1st and ten on the Brownie 36. Time to turtle. But wait! Mularkey hands off to Randle El, but he is stuffed. Drat. Mularkey is pissed! He sneds Jerome Bettis up the middle for no gain. 3rd and 10. Mularkey has no choice but to pass � they are 20 yards out of Peterson�s range again! Kordell drills a ball across the middle that Hines Ward makes a spectacular catch up high on. 1st down at the seven. Mularkey must be careful here. He is in Todd Peterson�s range. The field goal is a must. Damn the touchdowns � field goals are what it�s all about in the NFL!!!! Kordell runs a draw (what else?!?!?!) and gains two. Jerome Bettis up the middle to the one yardline. Then, the most egregious mistake by Kordell � a fumbled snap. I carefully looked at the tape of this, and it appears that the snap went into Kordell�s lower hand, instead of smacking his upper hand. NONETHELESS, there is no excuse for any quarterback to pull out from under center without the ball�NONE!
After the field goal, the Stillers got one more chance in the first half, and Mularkey reached into his bag of tricks and gave us more of the same�the same vomit, that is�
Kordell rushed for nine yards. Jerome Bettis rushed up the middle for zero. Kordell Stewart got the first down on the sneak for one yard. Kordell completed a 16-yarder to Plex. Jerome Bettis rushed up the middle for negative one. Kordell threw two incompletions, and we kicked the field goal.
In the third quarter, Mularkey decided to make some adjustments. I have taken the liberty to show them in bold letters.
Kordell completed his first pass of the third quarter to Hines for 8 yards. Jerome Bettis went up the middle for one yard. After a ten yard penalty made it 3rd and 11, instead of 3rd and 1, Kordell threw incomplete. Punt.
Kordell started the next drive with a completion to Hines for 15 yards. Jerome Bettis then rushed to the left side for negative one yards. Stewart completed a pass to Hines for two yards. Kordell threw incomplete on third down.
The next drive is where Kordell had his troubles. He threw to Bruner over the middle, and the man of stone hands short-armed the high pass. It went downhill from there. Kordell completed a pass to El for 5 yards, but then threw an incompletion. Fortunately, Cleveland was called for holding, an automatic 1st down. Mularkey finally had seen enough of the 285-lb. beached whale, and replaced him with Fu. It paid off immediately. Fu ran hard up the middle for 7. After an incompletion to El, Kordell hit Hines for 8. Fu rushed up the middle for one yard. Kordell threw incomplete on both 2nd and 3rd down. Then Josh Miller�s punt is blocked.
For the uneducated who balmed the line for the punt block, I have two observations. The snap was not great, and it caused Josh to shift a half-step to the left. When he caught the ball, he did not immediately begin his approach to kick --- NO, he took a slow shuffle step to re-set his feet, and then started his approach to kick. Mistake one. After taking a dreadfully long time to do all this, it was obvious to Ray Charles, Jose Feliciano, and Ronnie Milsap that the defender was about 4 feet away. YOU DO NOT EVEN TRY TO PUNT under these circumstances. Josh is a MORON. M-O-R-O-N. Tuck the ball in and run for your life, Josh, you idiotic imbecile.
Kordell got one more drive in the fourth quarter. He had not played all that bad up until this time. The fumble was atrocious, but the rest of his play was acceptable�not great, but acceptable. He single-handedly kept some drives alive with timely runs and throws. It was obvious that Mularkey�s ill-conceived up the middle gameplan was an abortion, and the Brownies had determined that they were not going to lose the game up the gut. Not that Mularkey cared.
On his last drive, at the beginning of the 4th quarter, Kordell at least had the albatross that is The Double-Decker Bus, removed from the game to attend a ribfest, or some other dining extravaganza. Fu was the man. Fu ran up the middle for 6 on first down. Fu ran over the right side for 5 more. Kordell rushed up the middle for 3, then again for 6. He completed the 3rd down pass to El to pick up the first down � barely. Fu then picked up one yard on first down. Kordell completed a nice pass to Hines for 17 yards. First down. He threw to Plex for 6 more. The Stillers were now on the Brownie 28, and Stewart had just completed his last three passes on this drive. And then��..the dreadful INT. Stewart was dead-set on throwing to his pacifier, Hines ward. Clearly, he never saw Robert Griffith, even though Stevie Wonder saw him. Equally as clear, Kordell did not see Plex running free on a 5-yard crossing pattern. WHY Plex wasn�t going deep, and Hines wasn�t running the crossing pattern is yet another Mularkey Mystery. It had no effect on the hideous INT, though.
And that is IT. Stewart�s entire game analyzed. It was CLEARLY and ONJECTIVELY not anywhere NEAR as bad as some would say, and definitely not anywhere near as bad as the slop and shit Mulakrey shoveled onto the field dressed as a gameplan.
Kordell should not have fumbled, and he should not have thrown the INT. Otherwise, he had a pretty decent game, all things considered.
I, for one, would have NO PROBLEM AT ALL, with a two-headed quarterbacking system the rest of the way. SO WHAT if one is good one game, and bad the next!!! They are interchangeable! They each have good points and bad, they each can win, and can lose. Keep the defenses off-guard, and force them to prepare for BOTH. It certainly couldn�t hurt, since the defenses have nothing to prepare for Mularkey!
Trap