Doncos
31, Stillers 19 ��. Sep 9, 2012 ����Game # 1
Stillers-Doncos Postgame Analysis and Grades
The
Stillers went in at halftime, up 10-7.�
They bolstered the lead to 13-7, but then allowed Denver to go up 14-13
in literally 36 seconds.� Ben brought the
team back and grabbed the lead again, only for The Swiss Cheese Defense to
again get torched like a Mafia-owned restaurant that was losing money.�� Denver tacked on a FG to take a 6-point lead,
and Ben threw a pick-6 to seal the defeat.�
�
Due
to the late-nite nature of this game, this summary
will be a bit shorter and more terse than usual.
Grades:
QB:�
Ben
- On a 3rd & long late in the 1Q, imitated Neil O�Donnell, moving with all
the speed of a glacier and getting sacked.��
A really sorry-assed, feeble attempt to avoid a
rusher, a play that Ben has made about 800 times in his career.���
Ben
wasted a TO on 3d & G at the 3, in the 2Q.��
He had plenty of time, but then went thru a circus-clown gyration of
signals and barking, and lo and behold, the clock was down to 0:01�� Duh !!�� A bonehead play by
a veteran QB.�� This actually should have
been a DOG flag.�� Then, on the actual 3d
& goal play, Ben had Miller WIDE open in the EZ, but threw this little Tino Sunseri-like lollipop that
was only 7 feet off the ground, and it was easily batted by a DB to bust up the
play.�� An entirely
puke-licking pass by Ben on this play.��
This absolutely has to be 6 points on this play.� I see enough of Sunseri
during Pitt games; I surely don�t need to see it during Stiller
games.�
Wasted a down via spike, 0:36 2Q, on a 1st down at the
Denver 4.� �WHY ???��� Either call
the timeout, or run a plunge, or a keeper, or a fade.�� The down is more valuable that the
5-10 seconds you lose by running an actual play.�� It became moot when Miller grabbed a TD pass
on 2nd down, but it was still stone stupid.�
Clutch
pass to Miller, 3d & 18 late in the 3Q, 23 yards.�� Ben sealed the defeat with an pick-6 just before the 2MW.� �A wretched pass that was thrown to the INSIDE of the WR (Sanders)
on an out pass.��� All in all, the
missed TD pass and the late pick-6 were extreme game-killers, and the overall
production wasn�t good enough.��� C+� ��
RB:�
Redman
- Nice effort on dumpoff, 2Q, eluded 3 tacklers and gained 7 out of
nothing.� Then had a good read and superb
power run on the ensuing 3d & 3, gaining 5.�
Red finished with a mediocre 20 yards on 11 carries, although all too
often, the blocking was atrocious.�� Red
was a bit dancy at times, which didn�t enthrall
me.��
Dwyer
-� Good run and
effort on his 1st carry, early in the 2Q.�
Dropped a short out pass late in the 2Q.�� Good power run in 3Q, and trucked the safety
on a 7-yard gain.� Superb 2d and 3rd
effort on short pass late in the 3Q.�� Very nice.�� He soon
followed with a superb effort on an inside handoff, then turning it wide,
stiff-arming a DB, and vaulting into the EZ.��
It was reversed by replay, but still� nice 9-yard run.� Dwy had 43 yards on
9 rushes and enables the Stillers to not needlessly rush Mendy back too
quickly.��
Rainey - extremely tentative, 1st carry, toss sweep
right, lost 2 yards.� Very meek, very poor.��
His first catch was a screen pass amid a forest of players, which gained
minus-1.�� He finally gained yardage on a
designed cut-back toss sweep that went from right to left, for 7 yards, although
even that run was gimpy and tentative.�� ��
��
Baron
Batch - Carried on a plunge for no yardage in the 2Q.� �No
idea why he got any PT at all.�� Is this
youth soccer, by which every player has to play...?�
Socrates
Mendenhall: �Surprise (sic)�.did not dress.� Good thing he
was taken off PUP (sic).�� �������B-
FB:
Johnson
- Grabbed a pass for 12 yards in the 2Q. ��Blocking was merely average.�� �B-
WR:�
Wally
- Mister Holdout wiped out a chunk of a nice, 15-yard run by Dwyer with a
stupid-assed holding flag, early in the 2Q.��
Perhaps had the sorry bastard played in camp, he�d have practiced how to
legally block.� He had 4 grabs for 37
yards.�� Quick -- sign this guy to a $72M
contract !!
Brown
- Good effort, short screen on 3d & 2 in 2Q; put his head down and burrowed
for the 1st down & more.�� Clutch grab, 3d & 11, got 23 yards in 2Q.� Clutch 19-yard catch and run -- and got
drilled -- late in the 4Q.�� Led the way with 4 grabs for 74 yards.��
Sanders
- Had 2 grabs in the 1H, and then a clutch grab on 3d & 12, 1st series,
3Q.� He dropped a seamer
late in the 3Q, but then got drilled helmet to helmet and the flag was
correctly thrown.� Failed to get OOB late
in the 1H on a a catch that
was about 2 feet from the sideline chalk.���
Had 4 grabs for 55.��
Cotch - Wasn�t seen in the 1H.� Was targeted on a crosser late in the 3Q, but
Ben threw it 14 feet over his head.�� Had 0 grabs.���� �
Overall,
they were often blanketed and didn�t produce enough.�� B-
TE:��
Miller
- Flagged for a bullshit holding call, 1st series.� Horrendous call.�� Nice, clever move on short TD grab, late
2Q.��� Good overall game in the pass-receiving
department.
Pope
-� pitiful,
dildo-inhaling blocking attempt on V. Miller, Redman lost 5 yards, 1Q.��� �����Miller:�
A��� Pope:� C-�
OL:
Starks:
Got tooled to the inside in the 3Q, creating pressure that forced a TA.� Overall, played adequately.���
Gilbert
- got hurt, 2:56 2Q.�� Replaced
by Mike Adams, who quickly earned an illegal formation penalty a few plays
later when he lined up too deep at RT.���� Adams got whipped to the inside on a quick
plunge on 2d & 1 at the Denver 2 to open the 4Q.�� I just cannot fathom how a lineman can move
this slow at the snap on a simple plunge play.�� Adams then did an �olay�
and whiffed on Miller on an outside rush, which caused a sack of Ben late in
the game.�� Very, very
pitiful.���
Colon
- Returned to his old self by committing 2 false starts within a matter of
about 65 seconds of game time.� Played
ok, but hardly the all-world blocker that the Stiller coaching staff keeps
claiming he is.��
Foster
- Had some sort of eye problem, so Leggo replaced him
to start the 2H.� Leggo
weakly allowed fast pressure on a 3rd & 3 at 6:20 3Q, forcing a TA.�� He then got run roughshod to the inside on a
sack late in the 3Q.�� Very
poor.�� This guy hasn�t improved a
lick and sadly, seems to have regressed.��
Pouncey - Played solidly.�� Didn�t enable the running
game to dominate the middle, however.�
Overall,
there were too many pressures (and this, well before the late-game avalanche)
and the run blocking wasn�t nearly good enough.�� C
DL:�
Keisel - Total non-factor.� Did nothing.��
Hood - good stuff, late in 1Q.� That aside, did very little.��
Hampton - started to lazily take SIDES of the center
(rather than playing 2-gap) on the long TD march in the 2Q, and was getting
easily shoved aside.�� Did next to
nothing and had no business even putting on a uniform for this particular
game.�� ���
Heyward - good fight thru block and stop of run,
4Q.�� Overall, made too
little of an impact.��
McClendon - lazily jog-walked off the field on a 3rd
& 7 late in the 1Q, which should have been a 12-man flag penalty on the
Stiller defense.�� Very
lazy, and very unacceptable.� Any
coach worth his salt would ensure McClendon does not start next week.�� ��������
The way the D-line got gashed by the run in the 4Q
was patently unacceptable.�� D-
LB:�
Foote
- Actually played more than acceptably.���
Had a Dong Sack in the 1Q, and then had easy sack in 2Q, but failed to
pull down Manning and allowed the QB to throw it away.�� Had some decent run stuffs, but was also
victimized in the 4Q as the Doncos ran the ball at
will.��� He had a FF in the 1Q, an
extreme rarity for this defense, although this was a fluke FF in which Foote
blindly flailed and McGehee simply coughed up the
ball for a soft, needless fumble that surely must have enraged Coach Fox. ���
Carter
- played the TD run by Moreno pitifully, getting sucked inside and failing to
ward off a blocking-WR.�� Sad n� sorry.�� Finished
the game with 1 solo, which is simply unacceptable.��
Timmons
- he made 2 consecutive stops midway thru the 4Q, pretty much the first
productive things he�d done all game.�� He
actually got out-run by Manning on a scramble in the 1H in laughable
fashion.�� He was credited with 5 solos,
the quietest 5 solos in NFL history.�� My
patience with this guy�s colossal under-production has just about run out.���
Woodley
- True to his nature, was a complete ghost the entire game.�� Did nothing and impacted nothing.� Absolutely NOTHING.� Finished with 1 solo and 2 feeble-assed
assists despite rarely every leaving the field. ��Never provided heat or
harassment on the QB.�� But
wait...he recovered a fumble....!���� A total non factor.�
For $61M, what a deal !!��
Worilds
- gimpy and out of shape as he was, he actually dressed and played.�� Did very little.� Had a Dong Sack when he
came off the edge untouched, but otherwise did nothing and looks as pudgy and
slow as a backup FB.��
Harrison
- did not dress.� ������Foote:� A-�����
All others:� D-
DB:�
Pola
- �Played okay,
but had little impact.�� Took an entirely stupid inside angle on the 71-yard catch and run TD
by Thomas. �There�s help to the
INSIDE, so you have to take the OUTSIDE angle.��
The horrendous angles taken by Pitt�s defense must be rubbing off.���
Ike - A complete dud.�� Gave up some key receptions, and whiffed
feebly, with his dick in the dirt, on a RAC by Thomas in the 4Q.��
Lewis
- bust up of crosser in 4Q.� Was flagged for PI on a very key 3d & 7 late in the game.�� Lewis was foolishly grabbing and pawing all
over the WR like a drunkard groping at a stripper at a show club, and earned a
flag for his effort.� Very
poor.���� Lewis ended up pawing just
legally enough to bust up a soon-later 3rd & goal pass to force a FG
attempt.��
Mundy
- gave a weak-assed, half-hearted effort on the Thomas 71-yard TD in the
3Q.�� Despite being extremely well
rested, never gave any effort at all to disengage from the WR and at least try
an ankle-nip tackle stab.�� He was then
beaten on a short TD at 9:00 4Q, showing athleticism and skills befirtting the riders of a short school bus.�� Not satisfied, on the 2-point play, Mundy
had SOLO, ISOLATED coverage on McGahee, who was
mostly just standing in the flats.�� McGahee ran a curl at the GL, and Mundy -- as clumsy as he
is stupid -- completely failed to read and bust up the pass.��� A turd of epic
proportions.�� Should
literally be cut on Monday morning.��
Of course, in respect to this turd, ask yourself this:
��� a.)�
which coach has coached, tutored, and mentored him during his previous 3
(THREE) years with the Stillers ?
�� �b.)�
which coach has seen to it to keep him on the roster?��
The
answer to both questions is the senile old fool himself, Richard �Dick�
LeBeau.��
Cortez Allen - Beaten on an up route off a pick in the
4Q, good for 20-some yards.�� For
all the fawning over this guy, I wasn�t terribly impressed.��
Clark
- did not dress, due to sickle cell. �����
A sorry, wretched performance by this secondary. ��D
Spec
teams:�
Butler
punted in his first NFL game and landed a superb pooch punt at the Donco 1 late in the 1Q, with Van Dkye
downing the ball.�� Already, Butler has
far surpassed Shitpulveda and Krapinos.� ��Suisham booted 2 FGs.�
Good
punt return by Tonio Brown, last play of 1Q.��
Curt Brown had a good tackle on punt coverage in the 4Q.�
Rainey
stupidly tried to carry out a late KO from literally -10 deep in his EZ.�� Fortunately, his foot was on the back-line chalk
and it was ruled a TB.� This is a sign of
simply wretched coaching; Rainey should have been instructed, AT ALL COSTS, to
take a knee in order to conserve scarce time, as there was only 3:00 remaining
and the Stillers down by 6.�� A return
from -10 would be lucky to get to, let�s say, the 25-yard line.� And it would waste 6 or 7 seconds.�� I go ape shit every time I see this kind of
needless stupidity.�� ���B
OC:� Haley showed early on that he�s adamant about
running the ball.�� Even on a 2d & 15
in the 1Q, Haley called for a line plunge.���
First downs became easily predictable for the Donco
defense, as Haley was running on 1st down time and time and time again,�
Wasted
TO, 2Q, on a 3d & 2.�� Haley, taking
a page from Paul Chryst�s playbook, took too long to
get the playcall in, and by the time the offense ambled to the LOS, the
playclock had nearly expired.��
I
wasn�t all that pleased that time and time and time again, the Doncos were velcroed to Steeler
receivers.� There�s too much talent at
receiver for this to happen all game long, and it tells me the offense was �a.) predictable �and b.) never
once taking advantage of over-aggressiveness by the secondary.
It�ll
take a few more games before we get a complete take on whether Haley is on
track, or not.����� B
DC:�
Dick LeBeau, who turned 75 today, showed how
age, atrophy, senility, and Alzheimers have all crept
in to make him an outrageous coaching liability.�� The Stiller O handed Dick leads of 3-0, 10-7, 13-7 and
19-14, but like a toddler in a tantrum, Dick kept slapping away those leads and
pissing them away into deficits.�� Unbelievably,
despite facing Peyton Womaning, Dick -- supposedly
the Supreme Lord & Deity of Defensive Coaching -- was totally unprepared
& befuddled for the No Huddle (NH).��
He failed to get his players off the field late in the 1Q, with the refs
missing the flag that should have been thrown for too-many-men.�� Manning had seen enough, and on the next
series, Manning went NH and marched 80 yards in 12 plays for a cake-easy TD
drive.�
Thanks to the clock-chewing efforts of the
Stiller Offense, Dick had the luxury of Manning snapping the ball just once --
a kneeldown -- from 5:16 2Q to 6:05 3Q, a span of 57
minutes of real time and almost a quarter�s worth of time in football
minutes.�� Undaunted, Dick promptly
allowed Manning to score in 2 plays to seize both the lead and the momentum.� The TD was a 71-yard catch and run, in which
Dick decided to call the same blitz for the THIRD time, and VACATED the entire
right side of the field so that Thomas could run UNTOUCHED for the long
TD.�� Pitiful.� Those 36 seconds were the entire TOP for the
Doncos in the 3Q.��
The Stillers again took the lead with a TD early
in the 4Q, only for The Supreme Lord to allow Manning to again march 80 yards
in 10 plays for an easy TD.� On the
2-pointer, Dick managed to generate ZERO pressure, allowing Manning -- the
slowest QB on the planet -- to scramble around and then easily fling a pass to
a safety valve RB for the successful 2-pointer.��������
Here
were Indy�s scores --
12-play,
80 yard TD march
2
play, 80 yard TD drive, with a 71-yard score
10-play,
80 yard TD march
12-play,
55-yard FG march
Had
Ben not converted 3rd down after 3rd down after 3rd down, the Broncs would have scored 40-plus points, EASY.�� Facing a rusty QB, LeBeau was as helpless as
his forefathers were in WW-1.�
Everyone
knows you pressure Manning up the gut, with pressure in his face and hits that
rattle & frustrate him. What did LeBeau do ? ?� NOTHING. �No pressure. No heat. No harassment. And no brains.
And the no huddle offense that Manning LOVES to run....? �LeBeau was totally and thoroughly unprepared
for it. �A defensive
coaching effort totally devoid of preparation, adjustments, & the slightest
bit of intelligence.
Once
Manning went no huddle, the Denver offense was NEVER STOPPED from scoring, be
it the 3 TDs, or a FG.�� Not
once (aside from the kneel-down at the end of the 1st half).��� 35 minutes TOP,
and it was all pissed away with defensive incompetency and ineptitude.�� ��F-�
HC:�
I utterly despised Two-Point Tomlin�s
decision to go for 2 when the Stillers scored a TD early in the 4Q to go up,
19-14.�� There are over 14 minutes left
in the game.� You have absolutely no idea
how the scoring will play out.� There is
absolutely no need, and no sense, to go for 2 this early in the 4Q.� NONE.�� When Ben�s pass got deflected and fell
incomplete, the Stillers� 5-point lead was obviously surmountable by 2
FGs.�� This, of course, was quickly
surmounted by a Donco TD.��
Then, the indecisive fool took forever to
throw his challenge flag at 9:34 4Q, on a brainless challenge that cost the
Stillers a TO as well as a down, as Denver had failed to convert on a 1D
plunge.�
The decision to dress only 7 O-linemen has to
be among the most asinine ever.�� Here
you have Willie The Colon, who gets injured every
other game, and Max Starks, another brittle greybeard.� Plus Pouncey, who
seems to get injured every 3rd game or so.���
And you dress only 7 O-linemen....?�����
Dumb.��� Just
dumb.�� �Had Coach Fox had any sense, he would have
sent in a seldom-used reserve to pick a fight with any Steeler O-lineman on a
meaningless play like a PAT, and when both players got ejected, Fox would have
been feasting on an offense forced to use either a long snapper or a TE as a
lineman.�� �
Isn�t defense supposed to be Momlin�s forte??��
Why then, does he stand ossified, and clueless, as his defense gets
picked and shredded apart?��� The bloom
is fading off Momlin�s rose, and fast. ��The 2008 season was a long eternity ago.� ��D-�
Synopsis:� A laughable loss in a game that was there for
the taking.�� You had a QB who hadn�t
played in a year, on a team that he�d never played with, ever before, in a
meaningful NFL game.�� Yet the defense
stood around, with thumbs inserted into various orifices and did nothing, as
they got picked and shredded apart.�� The
preparation sucked, as did the in-game adjustments.�� Next week, the Stillers face the suddenly
potent NY Jest (sic).��
(Still
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