Stillers 30, Bungals 27 ...... Sep 27, 2026 …………Game # 3
Stillers - Bungals Postgame Analysis and Grades
The 1-1 Stillers hosted the 2-0 Bengals on a Sunday afternoon. The 2 teams traded punches in highlight-filled 1st half, which ended in a 17-17 tie. A TD grab by DK gave the Stillers a 24-20 lead at the end of the 3Q. A late Bos FG provided the lead, and Harmon’s strip of Burrow sealed the Win.
Grades:
QB: Rodgers got the start. Nice 1Q TD strikes to Roman and Ben Skow. Misfired on a scramble, mid 2Q, on a downfield pass to a wide open DK near the GL. INT late in the 1H wasn’t his fault at’all. I wasn’t pleased, however, with how rapidly Rodgers wasted all 3 timeouts in the 1H, long before halftime.
Overthrew an open Fryboy on a deep lob, 3d & 6, at :6:48 3Q. Off a scramble at 11:14 4Q, threw a bit of a lollipop to Fryboy and nearly got INT’d by Davis.
Overall, Rodgers was spotty…..some good, and too much bad. He was much better with pocket movement than the1st 2 games. Much of the passing success was scheme….both Wilson and Ben Skow scored on wide open plays where any mediocre pass would have sufficed. I need to see much better play, and frankly, I’m doubtful it’ll happen. B-
RB:
Warren – big RAC, opening play of game, for 30 yards. Big run on a toss sweep, 11:00 2Q, for 36 yards. Had an 87 yard scamper, mid 4Q, but a holding flag by DK brought it back. A few plays later, ran to daylight and would have run for a TD, but tripped on the shoddy turf and fell down at the Cinci 6 after 26 yards. Finished with 127 yards rushing and 49 yards on 3 grabs. Outstanding game. A+
Homer – ran a quickie-toss, 3Q, for no gain.
Lew Nichols – stopped for no gain, 4:30 4Q.
Dowdle – did not dress, due to injured foot.
FB: Heidenreich didn’t dress.
WR:
Metcalf – Grabbed a short pass, 1Q. Failed to adjust well on a deep lob later in the 1Q. Flagged for a silly, needless hold on a Warren run, 2Q. Grabbed a short, cake-easy TD pass, 2:43 3Q. Flagged for a hold, mid 4Q, which negated an 87 yard scamper by Warren. Grabbed a 14-yard in, next play, to move the chains. 3 grabs for 31 yards ain’t nearly enough, and combined with 2 costly holds, this was abysmal. D+
Pittman – returned after a 1 game injury absence. Moved the chains with a 3D grab, late 1Q. Flagged for a false start, 2Q.
Rom Wilson – grabbed 5 yard slant, 2d play o’ game. Then hauled in a 38-yard deep lob a few plays later for the opening TD, although he slightly bobbled the perfectly thrown pass as it arrived. Moved the chains on 3d & 11, late 1Q, on a 17 yard in-route. Allowed a perfect pass to CLANG off his hands, late 2Q, for a costly INT. Failed to haul down a 3rd down sideline lob on a combat catch, 11:00 4Q. Had 3 grabs for 60 and the costly INT. C+
Bernard – good grab on a low crosser, 5:55 3Q, good for 14 yards. This was his lone target. B
Skowronek – Grabbed a wide open 23-yard TD pass, late 1Q.
TE:
Pat FryBoy – big downfield block, opening play, helping to spring Warren for a 31-yard pass play. Converted a 3d & 1, late 2Q, on a QB sneak. Then had a nice RAC just before the 2MW. Had 2 grabs for 30. B-
Darnell – huge RAC off short pass, mid 4Q, good for 48 yards. Had 3 grabs for 67. Solid blocking. A
Tunyan – grabbed a short out for 2 yards, 4Q.
OL: Big changes made on the right side of the Oline. The new look today was Fautanu,, McCormick, Frazier, Brock Hoffman, and Maxwell Iheanachor. Overall, they had a solid game.
Faut and McCorm had a good combo block on the 36-yard run by Warren, 2Q. Faut was flagged for ineligible man downfield, late 4Q. McCorm got bullrushed by Dexter Lawrence for a sack, 2:21 4Q.
Overall, the run blocking was stellar and the pass pro was pretty darned good. A-
DL:
Heyward – 2d play of game by Cinci, Scam got mauled by a double team, allowing a HUGE hole for an easy cruise by the RB for 12 yards. Rolled the donut in the 1st half, with 0 solos, 0 A.
Had a bullrush on a 3d down play, mid 4Q, although Burrow foolishly & skittishly stepped RIGHT INTO Scam rather than remaining unfettered where he was. The result was a harassed incompletion.
Scam did dik in the 2nd half. Here was his lone “solo tackle”, which wasn’t a tackle at all --
12:29 - 3rd Qtr
J.Burrow scrambles up the middle to 50 for 8 yards (C.Heyward).
Burrow SLID. Scam happened to be the closest defender. For this, Scam got a cheezy slop solo. Once again, Scam was all hype, and no production whatsoever. D-
Benton – Rolled the donut with 0 solos, 0 assists, zero nuthin. Good thing Hextall Khan lavished him with that fatty contract a couple months ago. D
Harmon – Didn’t do much all game, but late in the game, with Cinci marching, he used a clever swim move to elude a blocker and poke the ball from the QB, ending the game. B
YaYa Black – stout at the POA, 3d & 2, early 4Q, for no gain.
Joseph-Day – recovered the late fumble.
Rubio – did not dress.
LB:
Queen – tackled the RB for a 4-yard loss on a swing pass, just after the 2MW 4Q. Lunged and busted up a short TE pass, 9:36 3Q. Was 10 times more active and effective than the 1st 2 games. Actually got involved. Of course, next game, he might disappear again. B
Pey Wilson – Busted up a short out, mid 4Q. Was getting walled off and mis-rading some ground plays, and finished with a DONUT with 0 solos, which is unacceptable. 6 As is nice, but 0 solos is poor. C-
Watt – had meager, minimal impact on this game. Also rolled the donut, with 0 solos, and 1 A. C
Highsmith – laughably didn’t even make it onto the stat sheet….! LMAO !! Did exactly nothing all day and got held off the stat sheet. Had an awful rep in the 1Q, which CBS showed the replay of…..Scam got bullied, and Big Alex – the biggest block acceptor in the NFL – easily got solo blocked, allowing a huge hole for a 12-yard run. Supposedly, this fraud had “5 pressures”, which were a complete joke thanks to hometown officiating. Didn’t pressure for fuq all game long. F-
Herbig – good solo run stop, late 3Q. This was his lone solo. B-
Sawyer – didn’t do much.
Cole Slowcomb – made a tackle…..after an EIGHT yard gain on a line plunge, 2Q. Why on earth was he on the field? C-
DB
Joey Porter Jr. - did not dress, due to contract hold-out or whatever ya want to call it.
Samuel Jr. – Got beaten by Chase on the 3-yard TD pass, 1Q. Good bust-up of a deep out to Chase, 5:00 2Q. Got boxed out by Higgins in the EZ for a bizarre TD grab on a high lollipop of a pass, late 2Q.
Got torched by Chase on 4th & 2 on a deep out/back shoulder, good for a 21 yard gain. An ugly dat all around for Asante. D
Brisker – played solidly. Good effort. B
DeShon Elliot – IR
Jenkins – active as well.
May have been guilty of a blown coverage on the Gisecki TD.
Jalen Ramsey - very active today, both in run support and pass defense. B
Jamel Dean – good coverage on Higgins on a 3d & 9, 3Q, to force the FG.
Everette – the rookie got tooled by Chase, 13 yards late 4Q. Why on earth was he even in coverage on the best WR in pro football ??
Spec teams:
Johnston – booted well. Luckily wasn’t injured on the punter-roughing penalty. B+
Boswell – Booted 44-yard FG, mid 2Q. Booted 2 other FGs in 2H. A
Kaden Wetbed – did very little in the return game. Starting to annoy me.
Spears-Jennings was flagged for a hold on a KO return, mid 1Q.
Sawyer made a good tackle on the opening KO of the 1H, nipping the runner at the 15.
OC: Angelichio managed to get this offense going after 2 games of drabness. The schemes to get Wilson and Skow wide open for those 2 TDs were obviously shrewd.
Was gifted the roughing-punter penalty that enabled the DK TD late in the 3Q.Then was gifted golden FP at the Cinci 14 after a muffed punt at 11:00 4Q. The muffed punt resulted in a PIT FG. So, 10 points gifted. Thus, I won’t fawn over this offense. Sure, they played vastly better, but much, much more improvement is needed. B
DC: Graham – After being handed a rare 1Q lead, Graham’s vaunted D proceeded to get carved and diced on the ensuing drive. Burrow was 7 for 7 on the march, and the Bengals drove 75 yards for a TD, easy as pie.
Burrow, 1H - 18 of 21, 152, 2 TD passes.
Coming off a timeout, the D got torched on a 4th & 2 deep lob to Gisecki, with ZERO safety coverage downfield. Complete garbage. Getting torched for 27 points, at home, isn’t a reason for rabid celebration. D+
HC: McCarthy righted the ship with a big win. We’ve all been waiting for this offense to show something other than the sheer garbage from the Mike Stoogelin era, and finally, today, we saw some nice tidbits. B+
Synopsis: Big win over a division foe. No time to rest, of course, as a road game in Cleve hearkens this Thurs. And, as ya know, for Cleve fans, this game is literally their Sup Bowl. Can’t afford a silly letdown.
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