Stillers 28, Dolphins 15...... Dec 15, 2025 …………Game # 14
Stillers - Dolphins Postgame Analysis and Grades
The 7-6 Stillers hosted the 6-7 Fish on MNF, amid bitter-cold weather at the Ketchup Bottle. (17 degrees). Stillers had a thin 7-3 lead at the half. The Stillers poured it on in a dominant 3Q, and cruised to a laugher of a 28-15 win. Due to the late nite nature of this tilt, this’ll be a bit shorter than usual.
Grades:
QB: Rodgers got the start. Very solid overall outing. Took a couple of needless sacks, but that aside, had his best game as a Stiller. 23 of 27 ain’t shabby. A
RB:
Warren – played despite a recent illness. Got rumbled over in pass pro on 3d & 11, last play of 1Q, for a sack. Ran tough, although for only about 2.6 yards per carry. B
Kaleb J. – got a couple of plunges in garbage time.
Gainwell – failed to pick up the 1st down, 1st series, on a dumpoff where it looked like he had plenty of room to do so. Big gain of 38 yards, 3Q. Had a strong game, with 13 rushes for 80, and 7 grabs for 46. Is pretty much taking over the RB1 duties. A
FB: Conn Heyward failed to get a yard on a tush push QB sneak, 2nd series. He did make it on the ensuing 4th down. Scored a TD on a 1-yard keeper near the end of the 1H.
WR:
Metcalf – Quiet 1H, but had the big catch and run for a TD in the 3Q. Had 3 grabs for 55. B+
Austin – dropped a low but catchable pass on 3d &3, 1Q. Had zero catches again to cement his ineptitude. D
Wilson – Thankfully did not dress.
Skowronek – not used in the passing game.
Thielen – grabbed a short curl, 2Q.
MVS – grabbed a TD, 3Q, off a PAP for a 19 yard TD grab. Only grab of the game.
TE:
Pat FryBoy – finally was used, and grabbed 3 passes for 35 yards. B+
Jonnu Smith – grabbed a ONE yard pass, first play of game. Flagged for a hold, which negated a 20-yard run by Warren. Busted a tackle after a 1-yard grab, 2Q, and gained about 10. Had a nifty 14-yard TD run. By far his best game as a Stiller, although the flag hampers his grade. B-
Darnell – dropped a short pass, 3Q. Had 3 grabs for 25. B
Con Heyward – played TE sparingly.
OL: Overall, the line (Cook, Seumalo, Frazier, McCormick, Fautanu) had a solid game. The one sack was Warren’s fault, and at least 1 sack was the fault of Rodgers for failing to dump the ball to an open man. Good pass pro and run blocking, albeit against a soft front 7. A-
DL:
Heyward – 0 solos, 1 A at the half Got a solo stop on Achane, 1st play of 2H by MIA, for no gain. Got a slop solo on a slot screen, late 3Q, when the ballcarrier got bottled up and Scam lumbered over for a slop solo. Got a Dong Sack when a rookie OG got roller-skated backwards at light speed. Had 2 solos and 2 As in a hardly-dominant effort. C+
Benton – One solo all game long. Need to see more. C-
YaYa Black – was literally held off the stat sheet. Complete donut roller. C
Harmon – again sat out due to a knee.
LB:
Queen – slashed in untouched and unblocked on 3d & 2 and dropped the RB for a 2-yard loss, 2Q. Had 9 solos and was more active than usual. B+
Pey Wilson – Had 2 meager solos in a quiet effort. C+
Watt – sat out due to the needling/lung procedure.
Highsmith – Got fooled 1st play of game, bootleg, 20 yard pass. Whiffed on tackle, next play, Queen made stop for -1 on a RB dumpoff.
Got savagely mauled on a run up LT 13:15 2Q…. did his pansie-azzed spin-o-rama and got a slop solo…..after a FIVE yard gain. Had 2 solos, 0 A at the half. Dropped an easy INT, late 3Q. Finished with a meager 2 solos and 0 assists in a sorry effort. D
Herbig – started in place of Watt. Fought off block and stopped RB on carry, 5 yards, 1st series. Good effort. Applied pressure next play, inc pass on 3d down. Injured a ham in the 2H. Inc
Malik Harrison – good run stop, 2H.
DB
Joey Porter Jr. - was rarely tested.
Jalen Ramsey - blitzed untouched and got a Dong sack, 3Q.
Pierre – did not dress due to injury.
Samuel Jr. – started for Pierre. Dong INT, Samuel ! 2d series - pass was thrown about 4 yards too short and had far too much loft, and he got the Dong INT.
Echols – chipped in some.
Dugger – played adequately.
Spec teams:
Waitman – booted pretty well. Had 1 touchback that didn’t please me, but overall, pretty good. A-
Boswell – no FG tries. Botched a KO that was far short of the landing zone.
OC: Art Smith finally had a legit, 3-good quarters of football, in the 2d, 3d, and 4th quarters. The 1st Qtr was ragged, but after that, this was King Arthur’s best day as a Steeler OC. Most of his clever wrinkles paid off, for once. So, too, did his mad love affair with Jonnu Smith. A
DC: Austin had the outrageous luxury of facing a QB who owns a horrendous record of ineptitude in cold weather. Tua was miserable and rotten the entire game, which, at the NFL level, makes the DC’s job easier than spitting on a sidewalk while waiting for the bus to arrive. B
HC: Mike Asslin staved off the rightful Fire Tomlin chants for at least 1 home game. I won’t crow or fawn too much about a win over a team that is totally hapless and helpless in cold weather. B+
Synopsis: A needed win over a hot-weather foe that had little chance in the 17-degree weather at kickoff. Up next, a visit to a solid Lions team, and then a trap game at Clev, in which their team and fans treat the game as their Super Bowl.
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