Stillers vs. Dolphins Pregame Analysis (Game #3, @ Miami)
The Stillers travel to Miami to face the Oh-fer Dolphins in
a game that pits two of the lousiest offenses in the conference.� This game also pits two teams saddled with glaring
problems.� The Stillers lost QB Mommy
Maddox for at least 6 weeks last week; realistically, by the time he scrapes
off the rust and gets his arm strength back, that period will more than likely
be 8 weeks, and with that, he may was well sit out the remainder of the
season.� Thus, the Stillers will go with
rookie Ben Roethlisberger at QB in just his 3rd week of his rookie
campaign.� �
The Dolphs have so many problems that Maddox's injury pales
in comparison.� The Dolphs got screwed
by Dicky Williams' retirement so late in the summer that they had little pickin's
other than scrap-heap pickups.� Their QB
situation is an absolute mess, with AJ Feeley and Jay Fiedler fighting to set
NFL records for ineptitude.� As if this weren't
enough to deal with, the Miamians have had to contend with not one, but two
hurricane storms, with yet another looming in the near distance.� And their head coach is basically in a lame
duck status.� Mix all of this together,
along with an 0-2 start, and you have the recipe for a team on the brink of
total implosion.�
Because of the anomaly of a team "led" by a greenhorned
rookie QB facing a team riddled with distractions and on the brink of
implosion, I won't go through the usual pre-game format typically seen here;
instead I'll deviate and home in on the keys for the Stillers.�
Offensive Keys:
- Get Staley involved more.� Billy Cowher and his team spent the entire
summer proclaiming their dogma about "a return to the running game".� So far, it ain't happened.� Duce Staley has run the ball with authority
and skill, but hasn't been exploited on a regular enough basis.� He gets a couple sporadic carries, then
nothing, then 1 or 2 cqarries, then nothing. �The Dolph defense has earned its laudatory comments, but its run
defense has shown some softness and must be tested this Sunday. �Furthermore, perhaps Staley's best attribute
is his ability to catch the ball and then get some RAC yardage thereafter.� But the Stonehenge Offense has treated him
like a leper, getting him the ball once each the past 2 games.� With a greenhorned QB facing a blitzing
defense, nothing could be easier than short, safe flares passes to a back like
Staley.�
- Integrate Burress.�
Whether intentionally or not, Plex has been written out of the gameplan
the first 2 games.� To his discredit, last
week's game opened with a quick out to Plex, but he promptly dropped it.� He was also thrown a deep post, but the ball
was a wee bit overthrown.� You don't
overthrow a 6'-6" WR; if anything, you underthrow him and allow him to go
up and out-jump the defender.� At any
rate, 1-2 grabs per game for a WR of Burress's stature is grossly
inadequate.� Ward is off to a fine start,
but on a team that gets very little from its #3 WR; nothing from its #4 WR; and
nothing from its TE, the Stillers must get more from Burress than a curl route
for 12 yards.� Plus, facing a blitzing
defense that figures to come pell-mell at Ben Roth, an easy and practical
option is to try fade passes to Plex.� These
are easy for the QB to release in 2-3 seconds, and Miami's top 4 CBs are 5-10,
5-11, 5-11, and 6-0.�� And starting CB Pat
Surtain is unsurtain, er, uncertain, to play this week.
- Let Roth get into the flow.� While there's no need to have Roth heave the
ball 45 times this Sunday, there's also no need to handcuff him so badly that
he's limited to only 10 throws during the afternoon.� Let Roth hit Staley on flare passes, and TEs on a few quick
pop-passes.� Let Roth loft some deep
lobs to Plex. Hit Ward or El (not Plex) on a WR screen.� ��
Key Matchup:�
Obviously, it's M. Smith vs. Jason Taylor.� Smitty needs to protect Roth's blind side.� Roth did impress me last week with his pocket
presence, but Taylor has the ability to swoop in on a QB and hammer and/or
strip him with ease.�
Defensive Keys:
- Accomplish the easy shutdown of the ground game.� Shutting down the Fin ground game should be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.� Gordon and Minor just aren't going to do much, and the base 3-4 should more than adequately shut down this paltry ground game.� Frankly, because of how meager this ground game is, I'd hold out Kendrell Bell, just to give him one more week to heal.� Jerry Olsavsky should be able to hobble out of retirement and start at ILB, and the Stillers should still dominate the Fin running game.�
- Harassment and risk.� Harass whichever bonehead QB is in the game�and take smart risks
to enhance turnover probability.� The
Stillers did little to harass Kyle Boller last week.� They left the middle of the field wide open with a gaping hole
for scrambles, and generally provided very little harassment.� Note that I said risk, not gamble.� Most folk use these words interchangeably,
but they have vastly different meanings.�
Gamble is a foolish, ill-planned venture; risk is a well-planned action
in which, although drawbacks could occur, benefits far outweigh the
drawbacks.� I haven't seen enough
risk-taking by this defense.� I don't
see receivers getting punished, and aside from Townsend's blitz & sack last
week, there's been little more than the 4-man rush.�
- Jamming.��
Booker and Chambers are ok complimentary receivers, but neither is a
dangerous deep threat.� That said, I'd
like to see this defense come up and jam the piss out of these receivers -- not
every play, but more often than not.�
Coaching comparison:
An ironic tale of two similarities:� Each coach has grossly underachieved in the
playoffs, and each has been on the hot seat.�
But that's where the similarities end.�
Wannstadt is on the hot seat, and will most likely be looking for work
come January.�� Meanwhile, Billy Cowher is
as comfy as a polar bear snacking on a bucket of fish while lounging on the ice
during a cool arctic day.� Cowhard can
go 1-15 this season and won't feel a single drop of heat, because Teflon Bill
will simply point to the Maddox injury as his excuse.�
* Synopsis: This game has the potential to be
a real snoozer, laden with lots of sloppy offense and subsequent punting.� If the defenses don't score points or at
least set up easy points (ie, INT return to the 15-yard line), this could
potentially be a 9-6 ballgame.� Factor
in the fact that yet another hurricane is on its way to southern Florida, and
perhaps the NFL should simply cancel this snoozer now and reschedule it.�