Loose Slag from The Still Mill (Oct. 11th, �01)...
Some
loose slag from my tape scrub...
-
Stewart is still meekly hesitating far too much.� The EZ lob to Plex, the deep post to Ward, and the seamer to Plex
that was thrown way behind and late, were prime examples of a scared QB who is
hesitant to make a throw that involves any more risk that a 2-yard curl or a
6-yard crosser.� Each of these patterns
was initially open, but Stewart�s penchant for scared hesitation ruined the
window of opportunity.�� On top of that,
his penchant for throwing off his back foot has not even remotely been
eradicated.� I say again -� this team
cannot languish with an inept, scared QB much longer.��
- I was
really stunned with how little risk Cinci coach D. LeBeau took in trying to
stack the line against the run.� Rarely
ever the entire day did Cinci put more than 6 men at the LOS.�� Don�t expect this occur each week.� At some point in time -� perhaps as early as
the Chefs game -� teams are, just as has occurred midway thru the past 3
seasons, going to realize that the 15-cent passing offense cannot burn an
aggressive defense that puts 8 men along the LOS.�
-
Forget the �bobbled snap by Stewart� in the ill-fated 4th-&-goal plunge
that was stuffed early in the game.�
Here�s what really happened, and you�ll only read this here at
Stillers.com:� At the snap, Mark
Breuner, the God of Blocking who was lined up to the left of LT Wayne Gandy,
literally got blasted backwards and crumpled onto his rear.�� As if that weren�t bad enough, FB Jon
Witman popped out of his stance as upright and erect as a giraffe, and tip-toed
into the line with all the speed of a glacier.�
You throw these 2 factors into a goal-line plunge, and you�ve got a
fiasco on your hands.�� CBS showed only
1 replay of this plunge, and it was from an on-field angle taken from the far
RIGHT of the formation, so unless you taped this game, you�d probably never
know what really occurred.�
- It
was a nice gesture for the refs to stop the game after Bettis got his 10,000th
yard.�� What I didn�t understand, is why
they didn�t do a similar gesture 3 plays later, when Jerame Tuman, lined up at
FB, threw his first-ever block in the National Football League.
-� Nice gains by Amos Zereoue on toss
sweeps.� He gained 17 yards on one in
the 3rd quarter, and gained 25 on another in the 4th quarter that was called
back on a holding call on Shaw, which really had nothing to do with the actual
gain.�� Fortunately, Jerome Bettis,
who�d averaged 1 yard on 6 toss sweeps in our 2 previous games, ran none versus
the Bungals.
- Upon
second thought, maybe the refs will stop the game when Tuman catches his first
ever NFL pass...
- The
low pass that Bettis caught, and gained 6 yards on, actually hit the grass and
should have been ruled incomplete.��
Since it was such a meager gain, the Bengals didn�t contest it.�� The pass was lower than it should have
been, but Bettis, hampered by that girth, had obvious difficulty bending over
to retrieve it.�
- Nice
lead block by Chris Fu on Amoz�s 7-yard run in the 4th quarter.�� The best all-around FB on this team is none
other than the man with the longest name.�
-
Cowher, on Stew�s underthrown fade pass to Buress in the EZ: �Don�t underthrow
a 6-5� guy.� That�s all I told
Kordell.�� That�s great coaching, isn�t
it?��� Answer:� No.��
- Per
the PG:� Cowher noted that former No. 1
pick Troy Edwards was not especially involved in the Bengals game.� �I didn�t get the ball in Troy�s hands but
he is very good with the screen,� said Cowher.�
First off, not throwing even one pass to the guy is beyond �not
especially involved�.� It�s more like
�not involved at all�.�� 2nd, I think
we�ve run enough screens to outfit every door and window in Allegheny
County.�� Maybe Cowher gets a percentage
of every screen that he produces.�
- Finally,
one last reminder -� my esteemed colleague, Trenches, & I will be at the
Stillers-Chefs game on Oct. 14th. We�ll be with a large gathering of
Stiller fans in parking area G30 outside of Arrowhead, from 9 AM to
11:45 AM that morning. We here at Stillers.com are buying the keg
of beer for this �don�t-miss� tailgate party. Hope to see many of you
there!!