Stillers-Bears Postgame Analysis and Grades

Bears 17, Stillers 14, ����. Sep. 20, �2009 ����Game #2

 

Stillers-Bears Postgame Analysis and Grades

 

The Stillers slopped n� slathered their way all afternoon long, and pissed away what should have been a rather easy win with a incredibly overall shoddy performance en route to a 17-14 come from ahead loss.� Stupid penalties, missed FGs, a dropped TD pass, softee coverage, and softee defense all combined to conspire for the loss.�

 

 

Grades:

 

QB:� Ben misfired deep on his 2nd pass, but then was on fire in the opening drive, marching the offense 92 yards for a TD.�� Things cooled off after that.� He misfired way high on 3d & 10 midway in the 2Q.� He had the 2Q INT, although he was hit as he threw, which caused the INT.� In the 3Q, he held the ball waaay too long and was sacked.� Probably his worst play of the game was the 3d & 8 on the Chico 11 midway in the 4Q.� A blitz created pressure up the gut, and Ben quietly took a 9-yard sack, resulting in a much longer FG that was just wide left.� In this situation, with the Stillers up by 7 and just about salting the game away, it�s OKAY to simply fling the ball through the goalposts and line up for the 28-yard FG, rather than taking a gargantuan loss on a sack.� Ben should have had a game-winning TD pass to his credit with 3:29 remaining, but Holmes dropped the ball.���� B

 

RB:� Parker started and had a far better day than last week�s woeful output, although it wasn�t a huge day.� He finished with a modest 47 yards on 14 carries.� He showed a lot more churn and drive than last week, and ripped off runs of 11, 13, and 6 yards.� ��

 

Mendenhall saw some PT and had 3 rushes for 39 yards, the biggie coming on a 39-yard jaunt that set up the 3Q TD.� He also had a strange, but effective, RAC on a short dumpoff.� Mendy fell as he caught the ball in the flats, and looked doomed for a 1-yard loss.� He popped up, though, and reversed field and managed to gain 13 yards out of nothing.�

 

Moore had 2 carries for 13 (1 good run was for 15 yards), and 3 grabs for 15, and again a clutch RAC for a 1D.� �����Parker:� B�� �Mendy: B+�� Moore:� A-�

 

FB: Summers played some and did little.�� He had a shoddy block on a toss sweep early on that netted minus-2 yards.� He was simply collapsed like a pop can on a lead block in the 2nd series.�� C

 

WR:� Holmes supposedly wants to be considered an elite receiver, but regressed badly today with an overall substandard performance. �He had 5 grabs for 83 yards, but the stat sheet doesn�t show the drops and boners.� He dropped an out midway thru the 2Q.� He dropped another out on a rollout play at 11:41 3Q.� He slipped off his cut and had a pass clang off his hands on an in-route with 5 min. left in the game.� And, of course, he dropped a TD pass in the end zone on a challenging, but hardly difficult, over-the-shoulder catch on a 3d & 2 at 3:29 4Q.� Very piss poor.�

 

Ward led the team with 6 grabs for 57 yards.� He dropped a bubble screen pass on a ball that was sailing high and wide; a much tougher catch, actually, than Holmes� dropped TD.�

 

Wallace had 2 grabs for 13 yards, but made 2 mistakes that won�t show up on any stat sheets.� On the INT in which Ben was hit as he threw, Wallace was slow to look for the ball and even slower to react, and never was a factor was far as trying to bust up the pick.�� Less glaring to the casual observer, but enormously critical, was his RAC work late in the 4Q.� Wally ran a crisp out, leaving the DB slipping DOWN to the turf.� Wally caught a well-thrown pass, and at that point, I�m thinking 6 points.� Instead, Wally did this slow-assed, elongated loop to the turn upfield, which took about 4 seconds, therby giving the fallen DB plenty of time to get up, dust himself off, and then make the stop 2 yards short of the sticks.�� The next play, on 3rd & 2, was the Holmes dropped TD pass.�� If Wally doesn�t dance and act like he�s walking on eggshells, it�s at least a 1st down and possibly 6 points.�

 

Limas Peed, who peed the bed as a toddler and apparently still does, did not dress.� Sean McDonald was no factor whatsoever.� ���Holmes:� C��� Ward:� B+�� Wallace:� B-���� McDonald: Inc

 

TE:� A week after having the big 8-catch game, Miller had a paltry 3 grabs, for 27 yards.�� Depressing that this guy was demoted back to valve-dump status.�� He helped spring some good runs with solid blocking.�� Spaeth did little, but he did catch the Bears by surprise with his 1-yard TD catch on 4th & 1.�� David Johnson played in some 3-TE sets and did very, very little.� ����Miller:� B+��� Spaeth:� B-��� Johnson:�� B-�

 

OL: The line played okay, although facing a defense missing Urlacher, you expected more consistent ground production.� There were some nice runs, although there were also a plethora of negative and zero yard rushing plays.� Starks lazily allowed his man to get inside and hit Ben as he threw, which caused the lone INT.� Essex was too slow on his pull on the last play of the 1Q, resulting in a 5-yard loss by Parker.� �Hartwig, who was blocking NOBODY, was sluggish and feeble in reacting to an inside blitz, and the blitzer got to Ben for the 9-yard sack that preceded the 1st missed FG.� Willie The Colon lazily allowed his man (Harris) to slash inside and haul down Moore on the OTHER side of the line for a 2-yard loss at 3:39 4Q.�� A really lazy, pitiful play.�� I get sick to my stomach watching such a lazy, assholic, asshumping kind of effort on a play in which all The Colon had to do was simply shield his man for about 1/2 second.�� Kemo was called for a hold on Ben�s INT.�� The Colon committed his weekly false start.��

 

There were some good plays.� Essex, Colon, and Kemo combined on a crips 11-yard run by Parker on the 2d series.� Colon and Kemo had good blocks on Mendy�s 39-yard jaunt.� For the most part, the Stillers had far better success running to the right, which means some praise should go to Essex and The Colon.��

 

Both sacks were the result of Benji sitting and holding the ball far longer than the situation dictated.���������� B�

 

DL:� The line played okay, although the seemed to sag and tire in the 4Q.� �The pocket push was totally nonexistent and they did nothing to get into Gay Buttler�s throwing lanes or push the pocket.� Kirschke had a nice hustle play on a screen to Forte in the 2Q.� Fat Casey had a rare hustle play, making the stop 7 yards downfield on a bubble screen in the 4Q. �Rookie Ziggy Hood saw a lil� bit more PT and had an assist (a half-sack).�� ��B-� �

 

LB:� A really mediocre evening from the crew that should be leading the way.��

 

Harrison had 6 solos, plus a FF that was recovered by the Bears on that final drive.�� However, he took a stupid, needless, no-brained personal foul penalty by hitting the QB late -- and on the knees, no less -- on a 1st down at the Bears own THREE yard line, giving them room and life that culminated in a 97-yard TD drive.�� He created a flush of Buttler by beating Pace in the 3Q.� He also had a good string of a running play early in the 4Q.�

 

Farrior led the team with 7 solos, but was exposed numerous times and once again shows blatant, obvious signs of slowing down and regressing badly.�� He weakly failed to fill the hole on Peterson�s 15-yard run up guard in the 2Q.� He feebly whiffed on a sack in the 2Q, on a 3d & 3 in which Timmons was flagged for a tickytack hold.�� Supposedly The Winged God of LB Coverage, he was late on the TD pass in the 2Q.� He whiffed on another sack on a 3d & 3 in the 4Q, which was completed for a 13-yard gain.� Farrior slipped and was clumsy on the 3d & 4 curl to Hester late in the 4Q, which netted 5 yards.�� Very, very piss poor.��

 

Fox started in place of Timmons, although Timmons saw a lot of PT.�� Fox totally lost the TE in the 4Q, and the WIDE open TE hauled in the pass for a 29 yard catch.� Timmons tipped a pass off a blitz in the 3Q on 3d & 5, and also had a good bustup on 3d & 3 in the 1Q.�� He was flagged for a very cheap, tickytack �holding� call on 3d & 3 in the 2Q, which aided the long Chico TD drive.��

 

Rabidly entering into the lore of Jason Gildong was none other than LaMarr Woodley, who, for the 2nd week in a row, stood around and did almost NOTHING the entire game.� Despite never leaving the field on the 56 plays the Bears ran from scrimmage, Woodley (hold your laughter) finished with ZERO solos and 1 assist.�� He rarely ever put pressure or harassment on the QB.�� Only once, in fact, he did, when he bullrushed the RT and pressured Buttler on the 1st Bear play of the 3Q.� Otherwise, he was a big, fat, ZERO, doing nothing.�� Woodley was clumsy and then� was sealed on Hester�s reversal of field after a bubble screen to the left; Woodley feebly lost contain and allowed Hester to get wide (luckily the secondary stopped this play for 2 yards.)��

 

Harrison:� B+����� Farrior:�� C����� Fox:��� B-��� Timmons:��� B���� Woodley:�� D��

 

DB:� A really sorry, woeful effort by the secondary against such an average QB.��

 

Ike was soft, timid, and weak the entire game, including being beaten deep in the 3Q but the QB chose to throw to the out.� Gay was as well, so much so that Townsend had to be inserted at time to alleviate the burnings.� Gay was torched on a deep out on 3d & 9 in the 2Q, but the pass was too high.� Gay had a pitiful read on a short out to Knox later in the 2Q, good for 16 yards.�

 

Clark was beaten in the EZ by Olsen in the 2Q, but Olsen slipped and fell.��

 

Carter made a good stick and stop of Buttler on a 2d & G scramble for a 1-yard loss.� But on the next play, he softly gave up a TD pass.�� Late in the 4Q, Carter was picked on again and gave up the tying TD.�

 

Facing such an average QB who�d been victimized last week to the tune of 4 INTs, the secondary allowed Buttler to riddle them by going 27 of 38, with at least 3 dropped passes.�� Very, very poor.���� ����Gay, Carter, and Ike:� D+ ������Townsend:� B����� Clark:� B-�

 

Spec teams:� Stupid, careless penalties on 3 different put returns helped bog down the effort.� Ike was flagged for a �personal foul� on the 1st punt.� Bailey and then Ike were flagged for illegal blocks on returns that, oddly, had ZERO amount of room for Logan to run.�

 

Logan had little room to run; he did turn up a nice 19-yard punt return midway 3Q.� Logan fumbled the final KO return, although with only 9 seconds left, it meant little.� Logan also made a good stop on KO coverage on the opening KO.�

 

Sepulveda punted well and Bailey and Frazier led the way in coverage.��

 

The goat of the evening was none other than Jeff Reed, who hooked 2 FGs wide left in the 4Q to help snatch defeat from victory.�� You�d think the nimrod would have ADJUSTED after his 1st miss on the wet turf, but no, he did nothing to adjust and hooked the 2nd one exactly as he hooked the first, with a slipping plant foot too close to the ball.��� What a shitbag.��

 

Reed:� F����� Rest of ST:�� B

 

OC:� Arians continued his grab-bag quest with another sporadic offensive performance.� It appears 13 or 14 points is the max Arians can produce this season.� With the rain coming on strong during the 2Q, Arians totally disregarded it and kept calling for 1 pass after another.�� Urlacher was out, as well as a starting D-lineman, yet Arians never once committed to TAKE ADVANTAGE of these key missing links.��

 

We saw the return of the typical WASTED timeout after Mendy�s long run, which quite apparently was caused by the next playcall taking too long to get to the huddle.�

 

The scheme I despised the most was after the Holmes slant set up shop with a 1st down at the Chico 13, late in the 4Q.� Arians, for no reason whatsoever, pulls his TWO most reliable PLAYMAKERS, Ward and Holmes, off the field and goes with this Neanderthal 3-TE set, which serves no purpose on the 13-yard line.� Worse, Arians calls a PASS out of this formation.� Surprise, no one is open !!��� Ben dumps the ball to Parker for a piddly 3-yard gain.�� This is fuking lunacy at its worst.�� Way back at the 13-yard line -- well outside of plunging distance -- Arians inserts Matt Speath and David Johnson and SITS DOWN his 2 Super Bowl MVPs, Hines Ward and Tonio Holmes.�� What a tool.�� ���C-�

 

DC:� Dick, ONCE AGAIN, managed to choke away a 4th quarter LEAD, something he�s done with rabid regularity the past 10 games dating back to last season.�� Dick also managed to make Gay Buttler, the pissboy who threw 4 INTs last week, look like Dan Fouts, allowing Buttler to CARVE up Dicks� vaunted defense with a 27 for 38 passing effort that saw a few dropped passes to boot.�� You�ll see no mention of ANY of this in the Pittsburgh newspapers, of course, because, after all, Dick is the patron saint of defensive football.�

 

The way the defense got carved up on the long, 97-yard march was sickening.� There was ZERO pressure on the QB and Buttler was just picking Dick�s defense apart, like shooting fish in a barrel.�� Not only was there ZERO pressure, but receivers were continually WIDE open in their patterns.�

 

Then there was the easy 9-play TD match in the 4Q to tie the game, in which Dick�s defense offered no more resistance than a French Scout troop.�� And the winning FG march, which Dick softly allowed the Bears to crisply march 41 yards in 7 plays.� �

 

We�ll never know, because of the chickenshit Pittsburgh media, why Ryan Mundy wasn�t used more at safety, what with Carter being victimized AND injured (bad leg) throughout the evening.�

 

Dick had 10 (TEN) days to prepare for the Bears, and this was the best he could offer??��� Very, very little pass pressure.� Receivers roaming WIDE open all over the field.� �A mediocre QB just picking apart the defense like a skeleton drill.�� 10 points given up in the 4Q when the Stillers were up by 7.��� Very, very pitiful.��� As I�ve stated long before, it�s high time Dick retires.�� There isn�t a more over-rated, more over blown, more over hyped coordinator in the entire league.��� D.

 

HC:� Tomlin allowed the team to lay an egg after the opening TD.� You could almost see the entire team let off the gas after the rare early TD. �With 10 days to prepare against a team missing a superstar like Urlacher plus a starting lineman, it was sorry how the offense played fiddle-faddle with the Bears for much of the evening.� It was equally sorry how the defense got shredded and carved by such a pedestrian offense.� The rash of 7 penalties -- most of which were assaholic , careless flags -- was unacceptable for a club laden with veterans.�� I was extremely puzzled by the decision to SQUIB kick after Ben�s TD run in the 3Q.� The Bears had been flagged for offsides on the PAT, meaning the KO would occur from the 35 rather than the 30.�� Rather than having Reed boot it deep for a touchback, Tomlin ordered a squib kick, which was returned by the dangerous Knox for 37 yards, although a hold negated the return.��

 

Overall, Tomlin did a poor job of preparation, in-game adjustments, and keeping the gas on the pedal after the early lead.����� C�

 

Synopsis:� A grisly, ugly, unforgivable loss.�� Armed with a 14-7 lead in the 4Q, the offense stalled on 2 deep drives; the kicker missed 2 chippie FGs; and the defense, which was soft and cheesy all afternoon, allowed both a long, tying TD drive as well as a FG drive for the winning points.�� A rash of foolish, careless mistakes, ranging from moronic penalties to a dropped TD pass to foolish sack-takes to reprehensibly soft coverage under the shadows of our own goal posts, led to the defeat.�� �It�s challenging enough to gain a playoff bye in the NFL without pissing away what should have been a sure win.�� We can only hope this grisly, unacceptable loss will be a wake-up call for the players and coaching staff, and quickly.� �

 

 

(Still Mill and Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Stillers, no one else comes close�.)