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When: Sun. 11/6
4:15 pm ET
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Televised: Sun. 11/6
4:15 pm ET (DirecTV Sunday Ticket Ch. TBD)
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Satellite Radio: Sun. 11/6
4:15 pm ET (SIRIUS Radio - Ch. TBD)
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Setup
Overview
Steelers' Last Game
Meet the
Steelers
Cardinals Roster
Steelers vs. Cardinals Matchups
Setup:
The Rams rolled over the Saints (who had
just mauled the Colts by something like 67 to 7) for their first
win of the season by a score of 31 to 21. The Cards played hard
vs. the Ravens, but blew a 24 - 6 halftime lead and reverted to
traditional form and wound up losing 30 - 27 via a Raven FG
on the final play of the game. Both teams are 1 & 6.
Overview
I'm working with (& may refer to) Pro Football Focus (PFF)
rating numbers. Any
postitive rating of more than +1.0 is pretty good. Anything less
than a minus-1.0 rating is not-so-hot. Anything in between
can be considered closer to "average."
Rams
Last Game
Rams blew open a "pitchers dual" in the
closing 1½-minutes of the first half, opened up a 17 - 0 lead and
(unlike the Cardinals) never looked back.; putting a 31 - 21
pasting on the boys from N'awlins. From the standpoint of an
outsider reading the play by play, it looked as if neither offense
looked especially snappy and that the Ram defense rose to the
occasion to pure and simple stymie Drew Brees and the normally
potent NO offense.
Game summary:
First Quarter
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Rams won the toss. Feeley in for Bradford.
Touchback on the KO. StL managed to move to its own 46 before
three straight Feely incompletions forced them to punt. Saints
downed the punt on their own 15 but got little accomplished
and punted from their own 43. Fair caught at the Ram 20.
Feeley was sacked on the first play of the series, went 3 &
out and punted from their own 16. Saints managed to move from
their own 42 to the Ram 31 where Kasay failed to convert a
49-yard FG attempt. Rams took over on their own 39 but went
nowhere and punted fromthe NO 46. Punt was returned to
the NO 16. The Saints moved to their own 22 in four plays as
the quarter ended. 1st Quarter Score: Rams 0 -
Saints 0.
Second Quarter
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Morstead punted from his own 26. Out of
bounds at the Ram 12. Feeley put together a 14 play drive
capped by Brown's 38 yard FG. Key plays
on the drive were runs for +10 and +15 by Jackson and a
+17-yard Feeley to Salas completion. Rams 3 -
Saints 0.
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Sproles returned the KO to his own 23.
NO's drive stalled at their own 48. Their punt (plus a Ram
roughing penalty boxed in STL at their own 7. A couple of Ram
penalties kept them inside the 20 and they were forced to
punt. 2:05 left til halftime. NO took over on their own 25.
Brees managed to move his team out to the NO 30, but Morhead's
punt was blocked. Rams took over on the NO 15, and scored two
plays later on a Jackson 3-yard run. Rams 10 -
Saints 0.
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1:10 left. Sproles returned the KO to the
NO 12. On the first play of the series, Brees threw an
interception. Rams took over at the NO 38 with 0:58 lThree
consecutive NO penalties (one of them declined) helped move
the ball to the Saint 8-yard line where - with 0:20 still on
the clock - Feeley hit Lloyd for an 8-yard score.
Rams 17 -
Saints 0.
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Saints ran out the clock.
First Half Score: Rams 17 -
Saints 0.
Third Quarter
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NO returned the 2nd half KO to its own 15.
They made it to their own 27 before being forced to punt. Rams
answered with an 11-play drive capped by a 3-yard TD run by
Steven Jackson. High points: A 32-yard scamper by Jackson and
a couple of productive end-around runs by Gibson and Salas.
Rams 24 -
Saints 0.
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NO returned the kickoff to its own
17. The Rams held them to practically nada (again) and they
made it to their own 36 before punting. Punt was downed on the
Ram 6. On the fourth play of the series, Feeley was sacked,
fumbled and the Saints took it in for a TD. Rams
24 -
Saints 7.
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Touchback on the
KO. Rams made it to the 22 in two plays as the quarter
ended. 3rd Quarter
Score: Rams 24 -
Saints 7.
Fourth Quarter
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Two plays later, the Rams punted from
their own 24. Saints got the ball back at their own 32, and
Brees used 11 plays and 4:32 of clock time to move his team
down the field for a TD on a 3-yard run by Thomas.
Rams 24 -
Saints 14.
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10:00 left. touchback on the KO. StL was
plagued by 4 penaltieson their next possession used 3:24
before punting from its own 46. Saints took over on their own
33, but the Rams forced them into a 3 & out. Rams took over
with 6:05 on the clock. They used 7 plays (including 3 NO time
outs) to drain 2:54 off the clock before punting. NO took over
at their own 20 with 3:01 left. On the first play from
scrimmage, D Stewart intercepted Brees pass and took it
27-yards to the house. Rams 31 -
Saints 14.
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Touchback on the KO. 2:53 left to play.
Brees used all but 0:10 of it to march his team down to the
StL 8-yard line in 14 plays. On the 15th play, he hit Moore
for an 8-yard TD to close the StL lead to 10-points.
Rams 31 -
Saints 21
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0:06 left. Onside kick recovered by StL.
Knee. Final Score: Rams 31 -
Saints 21
Meet
the Rams
On
Quarterbacks
Flacco, Joe 5 QB 6-6 238 26 4
Delaware
Taylor, Tyrod 2 QB 6-1 217 22
Rookie Virginia Tech
Evaluation
Flacco's a big physical kid with a cannon-arm who can
no longer be considered a rookie. I really liked Taylor a lot
prior to the draft. Last Game: Flacco had a "bad hair day", with a
big Minus Rating overall and as a passerr.
Running Backs
Rice, Ray 27 RB 5-8 212 24 4
Rutgers
Williams, Ricky 34 RB 5-10 230 34 11
Texas
Allen, Anthony 35 RB 6-0 229 23 Rookie Georgia Tech
Leach, Vonta 44 FB 6-0 255 29 8 East Carolina
Evaluation
Rice is built like a
fire plug and is, plain & simple, effective both inside and
outside. Williams is the former Dolphin that Mike Ditka once
traded his entire NO draft class for back in the day. Leach is a
premier blocking FB. Last Game: Rice had a big Minus rating
overall and a minus-rating as a runner and pass blocker.
Wide Receivers
Evans, Lee 83 WR
5-10 209 30 8 Wisconsin
Reed, David 16 WR 6-0 190 24 2 Utah
Doss, Tandon 17 WR 6-2 200 22 Rookie
Indiana
Boldin, Anquan 81 WR 6-1 217 31 9 Florida State
Smith, Torrey 82 WR 6-0 205 22 Rookie Maryland
Williams, LaQuan
15 WR 6-0 201 23 Rookie Maryland
Evaluation
Evans joins Boldin to give Baltimore a solid
starting QB tandem. Rest of the unit is pretty young and green.
Last Game: Evans didn't play. No plus or minus ratings for Boldin
or Torrey Smith. Williams was rated minus overall.
Tight
Ends
Dickson,
Ed 84 TE 6-4 250 24 2 Oregon
Pitta, Dennis 88 TE 6-4 245 26 2
Brigham Young
Wilson, Kris 87 TE 6-2 245 30 8 Pittsburgh
Evaluation
Like the WR corps, this unit is relatively
young. It also lacks the star power it had when Heap was here.
Last Game: No pluses or minuses for Dickson. Pitta was rated minus
as a run blocker.
Offensive Line
McKinnie, Bryant 78 LT 6-8 345 32
10 Miami (FL)
Reid, Jah 76 OT 6-7 324 23 Rookie
Central Florida
Grubbs, Ben 66 LG 6-3 310 27 5 Auburn
Gurode, Andre 65 G/C 6-4 334 32 10 Colorado
Birk, Matt 77 C 6-4 310 35 14
Harvard
Yanda, Marshal 73 RG/T 6-3 315 27 5 Iowa
Mattison, Bryan 72 G/T 6-3 310 27 2 Iowa
Oher, Michael 74 RT 6-4 313 25 3
Mississippi
Evaluation
:
As solid an O-line unit you'll find
anywhere (at least on "paper"). The addition of former Vikings
Birk at center and McKinnie at LT seem to be paying off. They had an equally bad day opening holes for Ray Rice
and will be fired up to redeem themselves. Last Game: McKinney
received a plus-rating as a pass blocker but a minus-rating as a
run blocker. Gurode subbed for Grubbs and was minus overall and as
a pass blocker. Birk received a positive rating for his pass
blocking. Yanda had no plus or minus ratings. Oher rated positive
as a pass blocker but negative for penalties. This unit had
a poor day last Sunday protecting Flacco and will be out to prove
something.
Defensive Line
Ngata, Haloti
92 DT 6-4 350 27 6 Oregon
Jones, Arthur 97 DT 6-3 313 25 2 Syracuse
Cody, Terrence 62 NT 6-4 349 23 2
Alabama
McKinney, Brandon 91 DT 6-2 350 28 6 Michigan
State
Redding, Cory 93 DE 6-4 292 30 9 Texas
McPhee, Pernell
90 DE 6-3 280 22 Rookie Mississippi State
McClellan, Albert 50
DE 6-2 255 25 1 Marshall
Evaluation
:
Ngata is the guy you don't want to run anywhere near. Cody and
Redding are solid 3-4 linemen. Note how Harbaugh and his defensive
staff consider most if not all the defensive linemen as "tackles."
Last Game: Neither Cody or Redding had positive or negative
ratings. Ngata was minus overall but positive vs. the run. Jones
was minus overall but had a plus-rating vs. the run. B McKinney
was the mirror image of Jones (Positive overall rating/negative
vs. the run). Suggs is listed as a DE by PFF.
Linebacker
Suggs, Terrell 55 RUSH 6-3 260 29 9
Arizona State
Kruger, Paul
99 RUSH 6-4 268 25 3 Utah
McClain, Jameel 53 WILL 6-1 250 26
4 Syracuse
Ellerbe, Dannell 59 WILL 6-1 243
25 3 Georgia
Burgess, Prescott 54 WILL 6-3 253 27 4 Michigan
Lewis, Ray 52 MIKE 6-1 250 36 16
Miami
Ayanbadejo, Brendon 51 MIKE 6-1 225
35 9 UCLA
Johnson, Jarret 95 SAM 6-3 265 30 9 Alabama
Kindle, Sergio 94 SAM 6-3 250 24 1 Texas
Evaluation
The heart of this football team. Ray Lewis is a warrior icon.
Suggs (whom the Cards passed up durinjg the draft 9 years ago) is
a sack machine. McClain had a sack last week. Kindle is a highly
regarded rookie who has yet to make his mark. Note the use of
RUSH, WILL, MIKE and SAM linebacker terminology for their 3-4.
Last Game: Suggs had a huge day - big overall positive rating and
pluses for both his run defense and pass rush. Johnson had no plus
or minus ratings. Lewis had positive overall and run defense
ratings. McClain was rated negative in pass coverage.
Secondary
Webb,
Lardarius 21 LCB 5-10 182 26 3 Nicholls State
Smith,
Jimmy 22 CB 6-2 205 23 Rookie Colorado
Brown, Chykie 23 CB 5-11 191 24 Rookie
Texas
Pollard, Bernard 31 SS 6-1 224 26 6 Purdue
Zbikowski, Tom 28 S
5-11 215 26 4 Notre Dame
Reed, Ed 20 FS 5-11 200 33 10 Miami
Nakamura, Haruki 43 S
5-10 200 25 4 Cincinnati
Williams, Cary 29 RCB 6-1 182 26 3 Washburn
Carr, Chris 25 CB 5-10 182 28 7 Boise State
Gorrer, Danny 36 DB 6-0 185 25 2 Texas A&M
McCann, Bryan 37 CB 5-10 186 24 2 Southern Methodist
Evaluation:
Reed joins Ray Lewis (& Ngata and possibly Suggs) as the lynchpins
of the Raven defense. They are relatively young and unsung at the
corners. Pollard is solid at SS. Last Game: Webb, Gorrer & Reed
had no negative or positive ratings. Williams was rated positive
overall. Pollard was rated "positive" overall and in pass
coverage.
Special Teams
Cundiff, Billy 7 K 6-1 212 31 7
Drake
Koch, Sam 4 P/H 6-1 216 29 6
Nebraska
Cox, Morgan 46 LS 6-4 226 25 2 Tennessee
McCann, Bryan 37 KR/CB 5-10 186 24 2
Southern Methodist
Webb, Lardarius 21 PR/LCB 5-10 182 26 3
Nicholls State
Evaluation:
Cundiff missed one last week. Cox had an insane net punting
average somewhere around 45.6 vs. Jacksonville. Don't know much
about McCann and Webb as returners yet.
Coaches
John Harbaugh Head Coach
Cam Cameron Offensive Coordinator
Chuck Pagano Defensive Coordinator
Jerry
Rosburg Special Teams Coordinator/Ass't HC
Evaluation:
Harbaugh and Cameron have track records of success on their
resumes, Dunno anything about Pagano (except that he has a lot of
defensive toys to play with). Their special teams guy is also the
ass't head coach which tells you something.
Cardinal Roster
Overall
Card offense is ranked by PFF: #20
in overall offense; #21 in passing; #20 in rushing; dead-last in
pass blocking, #12 in run blocking and #16 in penalties. Our
defense is ranked #25 overall; #26 vs. the run, #15 rushing the
passer, #18 in pass coverage, #28 in penalties and #20 in special
teams play
QB - 4 Kolb, 19 Skelton, 02 Bartel
Kolb has regressed since training camp.
He barely completed 50% of his passes vs. the Steelers, missed
open receivers (one that should have been a gimme TD) and threw a
pick on his second passing attempt. (Note -
When you're up against a centerfielder like Palomalu, the last
thing you want to do is throw "wild & high over the middle"
where the ball is likely to be tipped back to the safety). That's
how Kolb started off vs. Pittsburgh). Cardinal coaches are making
a big thing about Kolb's need to improve his footwork. Granted,
there wasn't much time for the coaches to work with him during the
off-season, but when you trade away a Pro Bowl corner and a #2 for
a starting QB, should "footwork" be an issue at this stage of his
career and by nearly midway thru the season? Last Game: Kolb had a
minus-rating for causing penalties.
Skelton has
a world of athletic talent and just needs more work, but his
development has been hampered by a high ankle sprain. Surprise of
preseason was Bartel (who proved extremely accurate and
shares Kolb's poise in the pocket.
Some concern about Bartel's tendency to lose
concentration and make one or two major miscues per game that
costs his team points or field position.
RB - 26, Wells,
36
Stephens-Howling (KR/PR),
29 C Taylor, 46 A. Smith
Wells seemed to be emerging as the dominant
big breakaway back everyone expected him to be, but was injured vs. Pittsburgh and
is questionable for
Sunday. The slack will have to be taken up by 3rd down brealkaway
back Stephens-Howling (aka "The Howler") and backups RB
Alfonso Smith and Chester Taylor. Last Game:
Beanie had a minus-rating overall. His
three backups had no minus or plus ratings.
FB - 35 Sherman
A rookie who was good enough to win a roster
battle over Mau'ia. Main role figures to be as lead blocker, but
Kolb and Bartel like to spread the ball around, and they did
complete 2 passes to him vs. the Gints. Last Game: Had
plus-ratings overall and as a run blocker.
WR -
85 Doucet , 12
Roberts, 17 Stuckey,
WR -11 Fitzgerald, 14 S Williams,
89 Sampson
It's looking more and more like
Doucet emerging as #2 to join Fitz, but overall production is
lower than it should be (possibly due to problems experienced by
Kolb as the result of our O-line's ability to protect him.
Amazing how production at one position is influenced by
production at other positions). We have to get more from our
passing attack if we're to turn things around. Last Game: Fitz had
plus ratings overall and as a receiver. Roberts had minus ratings
overall and as a receiver. Doucet and Sampson had no positive or
negative ratings.
TE - 86
Heap,
87 King,
84 Housler, 81
Dray
Totally revamped position. Heap is one of
the best all-around TE's in football. Former Panther King
was brought in primarily for his run blocking ibut has been
effective as a receiver. His only apparent deficiency is as a pass
blocker. Housler has sub 4.6 speed, great hands
and can stretch the field. He's being given more and more
responsibility as the season progresses, but Kolb has got to hit
him when he's open. Cards liked Dray enough to cut Spach
and still go with 4 TE's on their Final 53 roster.
Last Game: Heap didn't play. Housler had no plus or minus ratings.
King started and had minus-ratings overall and as a run blocker
(which was supposed to be his strength).
LT- 75 L Brown, 73 Bridges
LG-
71 Colledge,
OC- 63Sendlein
RG-
70 Hadnot (C), 76
Lutui
RT
72 Keith,
74 Batiste
This unit
continues to kill us. Our tackles (Brown and Keith but also
Bridges) have been ranked near the bottom of the list as pass
blockers (and not so hot as run blockers). Of our five starting
linemen, only Hadnot has been consistently productive. Last Game:
A few surprises - Levi had plus-ratings overall and as a pass
blocker. But Colledge had negative ratings overall and as a
pass blocker. Sendlein had no positive or minus-ratings. Hadnot
(our most productive lineman to this point) had big minus-ratings
overall and as a run blocker and pass blocker. Keith had a
plus-rating overall and as a pass blocker.
DE - 93 Campbell,
98
Eason
NT -
92 D Williams, 79 Carter
DT - 90 Dockett,
91 Holliday
Our front 3 is solid.,
but tend to wear down when forced to be in for too many snaps.
Williams' strength is primarily as a run-stopper, but he tires
quickly and only plays 1/3 to 1/4 the snaps played by Campbell and
Dockett . Holliday
has been a godsend as a backup and Carter's shown promise,
but when in NT rotation, both Carter and Eason lack the necessary sand in their pants
to consistently stop the insiderun. Campbell leads the team in tackles.
Docket has few negatives but his main strength is as a pass rusher.
Both Calais and DDock have good pass coverage ratings; mainly
because of their skill at batting down passes. Last Game: Dockett
had a plus-rating overall. Williams, Eason, Holiday and Carter had
no positive or negative ratings. Campbell had big positive ratings
overall and as a pass rusher. Campbell had 4 sacks/hits/pressures.
Dockett had 2.
WLB - 55 Porter,
50 Schofield
ILB
51
Lenon,
52 Bradley
ILB-
558 D Washington,
56 Walker,
SLB
-
53
Haggans, 94 Acho
This unit has been playing fairly well
overall but occasionally loses concentration and will occasionally get gashed
badly. If you believe PFF's ratings, this unit was the main
culprit contributing to our defeat last week (not that there
wasn't plenty of accountability to spread around in other places). Haggans put us in a hole a couple of times early in the
Steeler game. Washington continues to impress in all aspects of
the position. Bradley has been
much more invisible than we initially had expected. Acho had his
first sack last week. Buzz is that we
will see more and
more of Schofield (& possibly Acho) and less of Porter (who
has tended
to wear down late in games). Last Game: Haggans had a minus-rating
vs. the run; Lenon had a flat-out bad day: Big minus rating
overall plus minus ratings for run defense, pass rush and pass
coverage. Washington had a minus rating overall plus a big minus
rating for pass coverage, but he also had a positive rating vs.
the run. Porter had minus ratings overall and as a pass
rusher.Acho, Bradley, Walker and Schofield had no positive or
negative ratings. Haggans had 4 sacks/hits/pressures. Acho had 2.
RCB -
21 Peterson,
31
Marshall
LCB-
20 Jefferson,
27 Adams,
32 Lindsay
SS- 24 Wilson,
41 Abdullah,
40
Tillman
FS- 25 Rhodes,
49
Rash Johnson,
37 Celestine
A-Dub (possibly due to his nagging injury) is not playing up to consistently high
standards. He'll flash on one play and be late to the ball on
another. Rhodes is out due to injury. Our corners are
developing (though a bit slower than we had hoped) but still get
taken to school far too often.
A couple of interesting things that
might reflect more badly on our defensive coaches than on the
players on the field: Recognizing that Steeler speedy WR Mike
Wallace was a constant home run threat, Wiz put Peterson on him
and pretty much shut him out. But on two occasions, we inexibly put Marshall one on one vs. Wallace. Bad career move
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Wallace torched us for 95-yards on one play and had a long gainer
on the other. Apparently, Roethlisberger picked up the mismatch during
presnap and audibled to Wallace both times. Makes you wonder: Were
the coaches aware of the mismatch? If so, why did they do it? And,
if they did, why didn't we at least disguise the play better? Last
Week: Peterson had minus ratings overall and for being penalized.
A-Dub had a positive pass coverage rating. This week it was
Jefferson's turn to catch a lot of the heat - he had big minus
ratings overall and for pass coverage. Adams had a minus overall
rating and a negative rating for being penalized. Marshall
(despite surrendering the 95-yarder) only picked up a minus rating
overall. Rashad Johnson had no negative or positive ratings.
K-04
Feely
P- 09 Zastudil
H -
09
Zastudil
LS-
82 Leach
KR -
37Stephens-Howling, 20 Jefferson
PR -
21
Peterson
The usually solid Feely
has been a bit inconsistent. Zastudil (who had mediocre numbers a
s apunter) has been in and out due to injury. Peterson and the
Howler are both serious home run threats.
Rams vs. Cardinals Matchups
I'm no
Ram Passing Attack
vs. Cardinal
Pass Defense
Flac
Ram Running Attack vs.
Cardinal Run Defense
The
Cardinal Passing Attack
vs.
Ram Pass Defense
Coac
Cardinal Running Attack
vs.
Ram Run Defense
The
Special Teams
Cu
Coaching
Rave
Final Word
This
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