Stillers
34, Ravens 31���. Dec. 29th, 2002 ����Game #16
Stillers-Ravens
Postgame Analysis and Grades
The� Stillers returned from Tampa and apparently
filled themselves with Santa's glad tidings.�
They fell into a 2nd-half slumber, giving up 17 unanswered points.� But the Ravens' cheerful generosity, which
aided the Stiller cause the entire day, came through and allowed the Stillers
to score a late TD, giving the Black n' Gold a 34-31 win over the mediocre
Ravens.��
Grades:
QB: Mommy Maddox was fairly lousy for
much of the day.� He had one INT
graciously removed from the books, when a cheesy, ticky-tack roughing flag
trumped a horrible INT.� Maddox,
undeterred, found a way to throw 2 other INTs (both in the 3Q), although the
one was the fault of Kreider.� He also
had a good chance to hit Plex on an EZ lob, but threw it Stewart-like, with
little loft and far too short of where it needed to be.� Maddox deserves a lot of credit for his
gritty work in the 4Q, though.� Gimpy
from the sore ankle, and never one to be fleet afoot, it was Maddox's feet that
were instrumental in the last two TD drives.�
The Mad-Ox ran for a career high 21 yards on a critical 3d & 10 at
the Balt. 41 to set up the 3rd TD, and he created time and space by scooting
laterally from pressure, which resulted in the game-winning TD pass to Randle
El.� Up until the last 2 drives, Mommy
looked poor, but his work in the last 2 drives was gritty and impressive.� Still, the team will need far better
quarterbacking if it has any hopes of advancing in the playoffs.� B-.�
RB:�
Amoz Zereoue and Chris Fu showed today that there is no need to employ a
fat, overweight, one-dimensional, 285-pound lardass at $4M per annum.� AZ scooted, spun, and squirmed for 104 yards
on 26 carries, which translates to a nice 4 yards a crack.� Fu was huge in relief, gaining 49 yards on
only 8 carries, including some big gainers on critical 3rd down plays.� Fu was especially impressive bouncing plays
wide, in which, unlike Fatboy Bettis, Fu was able to turn the corner for nice chunks
of yardage.� AZ had 3 grabs and Fu
1.� In all, this was a very good
"Bash and Dash" combo by Fu and Amoz.� A.�
FB: Kreider was tough and bulldozing in
helping to lead the way for the ground attack.�
He had a nice seal-block on Amoz' 4Q TD.� On a sour note, Kreider's foolish bobble allowed Trapp to INT a
3Q pass.� Also, on 1st & goal plunge
late in the 4Q, Kreider took too wide of an approach angle, and Ed Reed was
able to easily slice inside of Kreider and make the stuff for a 3-yard
loss.� Kreider has enough experience to
take a better angle than that, although, in his defense, he probably doesn't
receive much tutelage from this coaching staff.� B.
WR:�
Because of a lot of ground work by both offenses, the WR corps didn't
get a lot of work.� Plex had 3 grabs for
52 yards, and it seemed that he was getting open easy enough that he and Maddox
could have played pitch-and-catch most of the day.� On a down note, Plex dropped an easy ball on 4th & 1.� Ward made some clutch receptions in the 4Q
to help spur the offense.� He also had a
good RAC-and-reach for his 1Q TD.� On a
sour note, Ward got into a foolish scuffle of sorts at the end of an INT
return, and may have gouged at a Ravens player eye while atop the Raven.� Ward, for some time now, has been displaying
habits that remind me of Kenny "The Rat" Lineseman, a fairly gifted
winger for the Philly Flyers in the late 70's-early 80's who became one of the
most hated players in the NHL due to his antagonistic style and dirty work with
his stick and elbows.� Ward is good
enough to be above this juvenilish B.S.�
Ward was also flagged for a hold.�
El gave the team a good spark in the 4Q as the #3 WR, and also had a
nice RAC to turn a short 1Q reception into a 1st down on 3d & 11.� Mathis had 1 grab for 10 yards.� A.��
TE:�
Tuman was thrown 3 passes, 2 of which were off a bit, but caught one on
what was a pretty good grab.� His
blocking was okay at times, although he, along with Ward, was flagged for a
hold on a 1Q run.� Allred and Cushing
got some work on short-yardage plays.�
B.�
OL: The O-line played adequately,
giving the QB decent time and opening up some decent creases for the
backs.� Having said that, I was, at
times, disappointed with this crew.�
Baltimore's defense is a shadow of what it was in 2000, and I expected a
lil' better push on running plays and much better pass protection.� Much of the rushing yardage was created by a
mixture of good cutbacks and bounce-outs by the backs, as well as good leads by
the FB.� Maddox was sacked 4 times, and
was pressured on several other plays, despite a Baltimore defense that was not
blitzing pell-mell with 6 or 7 rushers each play.� Marvell Smith was particularly horrendous on the play before the
El TD, giving up ground far too quickly and easily, which caused the pressure
and flush, and then the sack of Maddox.�
Hartings was flagged for a hold late in the 2Q.� B-.�
DL:�
The line play left me wanting a bit.�
Balt. has a fairly weak O-line, yet they were able to pound the ball on
the ground quite effectively, with Jamal Lewis cruising for 86 yards on just 14
carries.� Hampton took himself out of
the play on the Ricard 6-yard TD run.�
This line had gotten fat & happy against the pathetic running games
of the past 4 opponents, and it showed today when they had to face a
world-class RB.� C.�
LB:�
Like the DL, the LB crew had gotten fat & happy, facing such
jokester RBs as Jonathan Wells and Dee Brown the past 4 games.� The run-stuffing today was entirely
inadequate, although, it should be noted, Farrior did not play, and KenBell
left the game near the end of the 3Q with what appears to be an aggravation of
his sprained ankle.� This left the ILB
combo in the hands, er feet, of Foote and Jones, which is asking a bit much for
2 undersized men to play on the inside.�
Porter faced all-world OT Jon Ogden and gave him a battle, and
contributed with some good run support and stuffing.� However, he was flagged for a cheesy roughing call late in the
game, which was essentially a "make up" by the refs for the cheesy
flag that erased the Maddox INT.� Still,
Porter should know better than to go helmet-to-helmet.� Jason Gildon created a big turnover on a
sack of Blake late in the 2Q, in which he looped around Chris Conrad's 1st
cousin, Ethan Brooks.� Jason also did a
hilarious FLOP on all 4's, for no reason or purpose whatsoever, right after
Lewis fumbled the ball near the goal-line.�
Despite TE Todd Heap's immense importance to the Raven passing game, Big
Jason didn't chuck Heap with anything more than a pinkie the entire
game, which allowed Heap to dart off the LOS and into his pattern totally
unfettered.� C+.���
DB:�
This crew took some beatings against what is a very weak passing
attack.� Balt. opened up the game in a
logical manner, getting a huge mismatch with Heap outside against Flowers, and
Heap left Flowers in a heap with a 42 yard gain on a deep lob.� Heap also tooled DeWayne on a TD, going up
and snaring the ball despite DW's contact that drew a PI flag.� Heap tooled the entire defense, gaining 146
yards on 7 grabs.� Rookie greenhorn WR
Randy Hymes, a converted QB, had 2 grabs for 76 yards.� Travis Taylor had 5 grabs.� Sure, Chad Scott was out, but, like their
brethren on the front 7, this secondary had gotten fat & happy against the
league's most pitiful passing offense's the past 3 games.� Blake and company, of course, aren't to be
confused with the '84 Dolphins -- the Ravens had the 25th ranked passing
offense -- yet the Stillers secondary was often befuddled, beaten and
embarrassed.� DW did have the
game-sealing INT on a horrible Blake lob in the EZ into double-coverage, and
Townsend made a nice pick, but that's about it for the bright spots.� Flowers had a sack on a blitz, but got
beaten a few times, plus totally pussed out at the end of Chester Taylor�s
20-yard catch-and-run. �Flowers, the big
talker, dove to the turf near Taylor's feet, instead of attempting a real
hit-and-stop of Taylor at the 2-yard line.�
Very poor.� Brent was steamrolled
by Captain Picard on the 6-yard TD run.�
Poteat had various struggles, although, in his defense, he's a 3rd year
man who's rotted on the bench so long and often that he developed a severe skin
rash from the bench rot.� In sum, if the
Ravens can pass for over 300 yards and nearly 13 yards per attempt with Jeff Blake
at QB and a starting WR duo of Travis Taylor and Randy Hymes, just imagine what
a legitimate NFL offensive attack is capable of doing.� C-.�
Spec teams:�
Some good, some bad.� On the plus
side, Jeff Reed continued his marksmanship, going 2-for-2.� Tom Rouen punted well, showing that, yes,
there is life after Josh Miller, and there actually are punters in the NFL who
are better than the God of Punting, Josh Miller.� Randle El looked really crisp and confident returning KOs,
especially on the first 2 of the 3Q.�
Unfortunately, due to pooch punting and very few punts by Balt, El
didn't get a chance to return a punt.�
Hank chipped in ok on KO returns.�
Don't fawn over the 4Q KO return fumble; it wasn't caused by a hit, but
rather a simple muff on a woefully short KO.�
Speaking of which, Reed's KOs were short and shallow on almost every KO,
which is grossly unacceptable.� The
coverage returned to its usual self, allowing a 54-yard KO return with girlish
tackling and hitting.� Kimo was, once
again, flagged for a foolish false start on a 43-yard FG try, which pushed Reed
back 5 yards.� Reed made the 48-yarder,
but considering this has happened 3 times this season with Kimo, it's high time
this dumbassed coaching staff make a correction or get someone else -- this
might be a bit radical, but perhaps an offensive lineman -- in Kimo's
place.� C.�
OC:�
Mularkey began the game with, of all things, a flea flicker, which was
such a sloppy abortion that one cannot help but wonder if Mularkey drew this
one up on the back of a popcorn box after pre-game warm-ups ended.� The mix of run and pass was pretty good, and
the use of Fu gave the offense a good spark.�
On a sour note, Mularkey's bizarre penchant for ignoring and avoiding
Plex reared its ugly head once again.�
Mularkey's offense was also aided by the incredible gratuity and
stupidity of the Ravens' defense, which gave the Stillers new life after about
4 or 5 "missed" 3rd down tries.�
C+.�
DC:�
Tiny Tim Lewis, like his troops in the trenches, had gotten fat &
happy the past 4 games, feasting against such weakling, talent-deprived
offenses as Houston, Carolina, and Tampa.�
Not that the Ravens were the 2nd coming of the 1980 Chargers, of course,
because they were the 27th ranked offense coming into this game.� Nevertheless, Jeff Blake and his non-descript
crew of WRs carved up the Stiller "D" to the tune of 336 yards
passing yards and 422 total yards, despite an enormous Stiller T.O.P. advantage
(36 minutes to 23).� The Ravens showed
playoff opponents some easy ways to pick on the Stillers, such as: �a.) get a good TE into easy mismatches on the
outside against the likes of Lee Flowers, who is the worst coverage-man among
the 4 starting DBs.� Getting that kind
of single coverage by the likes of Flowers on a good TE should make opposing
OCs salivate come playoff time.�
b.)� Even if the TE is lined up
at his usual spot next to the OT, he'll get a free pass to venture into his
pass pattern, thanks to a gross reluctance by the likes of Jason GilDong to
deliver a meaningful chuck as the TE breaks off the LOS.� c.)�
Take the freebie deep curls, deep outs, and deep seamers against the
soft part of the Stiller pass defensive scheme�
d.)� take deep stabs against a
secondary whose FS makes a play on the ball about as often as Fidel Castro
sings praises in support of America.�
This was Tiny Tim's final tune-up before the playoff, and he and his
defense fared poorly.� D+.�
HC:�
Cowher, supposedly the master motivator, had his team as motivated as a
class of 6th graders who received an assignment to write a 3,000 word essay on
the trends of art in European history.�
The team was lethargic, sloppy, and careless.� And opening the game with a sloppy-assed flea flicker??� I can just hear the snickers and guffaws
that must have erupted as Cowher and his staff unveiled the clever flea flicker
at practice last Thursday or Friday as the planned opening play.� That kind of pompous, haughty snickering is
exactly what laid the foundation for this slop fest, and will lay the
foundation for this team's upcoming exit in the playoffs.� The special teams returned to true Cowher
form today, and one can only expect more slop come playoff time against teams
with highly competent and effective spec teams.� Cowher finishes the season with 10 wins, but the 10th was far
from impressive.� C-.�
�Synopsis: �This game shouldn't
give anyone warm thoughts as the Stillers get set for a home playoff game in
round 1.� With quite a bit at stake, the
Stillers nevertheless slopped and slathered their way against a mediocre
opponent, and only Raven and referee generosity allowed them to win this
game.� The Stillers will get to face a
just-above mediocre Browns team at home next week, but if they win, will likely
have to go on the road, and regardless will face a sterner test in Round
2.� Warts that have existed since
September continue to fester, and, with injuries hobbling KenBell, James
Farrior, and Chad Scott, this team is on thin ice.� Stay tuned, as Stillers.com will bring you unparalleled pre-game
and post-game analysis of all Stiller playoff games. �