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Loose Slag from The Still Mill

October 11, 2001 by Still Mill

20010711_powerrunning

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!!

 

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