Post by TheShadow on Dec 8, 2003 19:21:08 GMT -5
www.oaklandtribune.com
Offense has tough time converting on third down
By Bill Soliday, STAFF WRITER
PITTSBURGH -- Rick Mirer was not the reborn version of Rick Mirer on Sunday, the one who had put together four quality starts.
Harrassed, sacked, injured, sick and decidedly off-target, he took a bigger dose of lumps than he had in a month of Sundays in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers' secret was a steady diet of pressure and press coverage.
They intercepted him twice, sacked him four times, forced him to fumble and, in the end, gave him the first sprained ankle of his career.
The injury occurred in the second quarter with the Raiders leading 7-3. Kimo von Oelhoffen fell on Mirer, his body landing on Mirer's heel.
"Something popped," Mirer said. 'You feel something move around in there and don't know what it is. Every step it got a little better, but it never felt good the rest of the day.'"
At the time, Mirer was 1-for-4 for 4 yards passing, but it wasn't a big deal with the Raiders in a running mode. Mirer went to the sidelines for treatment and but didn't miss a down.
Should Mirer have stayed in the game or given way to Rob Johnson, who has yet to take a snap as a Raider and precious few -- less than 10 percent -- in practice?
"I wanted to try to go," Mirer said. "I felt something pop, and I was afraid it was broken. But then walking, I found out it was still there.
"It's a pretty good sprain. I just said to them that until I can't defend myself, I will go. Unless I can't get out of trouble or make plays, I will try to give it all I've got."
Mirer discovered all he had wasn't much.
"I couldn't land on my foot to throw and that's hard," he said. "You're putting a lot of weight on that front foot. When you land on it to come over the top, when it's not under you it is kind of tricky."
Coach Bill Callahan said, "We were concerned about his health, but he was capable of still playing, so we kept him in.
"He was a little immobile, but we tried to keep him in the pocket and throw pretty quick. We tried to stay within the boundaries of keeping him in the pocket and not putting him on the move or making him vulnerable."
The outcome was not pretty. Mirer finished 10-for-25 passing for a mere 68 yards. Four sacks, three by von Oelhoffen, decreased his net to 39 yards in 29 attempts.
His quarterback rating for the game was a flimsy 14.6.
"I was playing on one leg," Mirer said. "I couldn't run. It slowed me down a lot."
So did the Steelers defense. When it wasn't applying pressure with the rush, it had Mirer's receivers in a vice. Rarely were any of his passes uncontested.
"Those guys had us figured out pretty good," Mirer said. "It felt like most every throw was tight. There weren't a lot of little layups, just a few here and there. They were jumping everything. It's kind of spooky when they are doing that."
Mirer figured his best hope was to get a deep throw on them.
"We took a shot or two, but you have to hit them," Mirer said.
They never did. Only one completion -- a 16-yard strike to Jerry Rice -- was even in double figures.
"Any time you get more than two scores down in this league it is difficult," said Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown. "Now you are going to get a lot of junk coverages, stuff you don't normally see. Then it becomes very difficult for the defensive line and for Rick. Now he has to read stuff on the run."
Callahan said the game plan did not include a lot of throwing. When it became a necessity, all bets were off.
"The rhythm of the game was out of sync for us, because of the third downs we didn't capitalize on," he said.
Said Mirer, "We were pretty bad on third down today. It's nice to get yourself out of a bind once in a while."
Once was the sum total they were able to get out of. Oakland converted one of 12 third downs. Their average third-down requirement was 7 yards for a first down. The only one they made was a third-and-2 (on a run) in the first quarter.
Mirer thinks he will be able to play next week against Baltimore.
"But I don't know, I never had a bad ankle," he said. "I just want to get home."
Offense has tough time converting on third down
By Bill Soliday, STAFF WRITER
PITTSBURGH -- Rick Mirer was not the reborn version of Rick Mirer on Sunday, the one who had put together four quality starts.
Harrassed, sacked, injured, sick and decidedly off-target, he took a bigger dose of lumps than he had in a month of Sundays in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers' secret was a steady diet of pressure and press coverage.
They intercepted him twice, sacked him four times, forced him to fumble and, in the end, gave him the first sprained ankle of his career.
The injury occurred in the second quarter with the Raiders leading 7-3. Kimo von Oelhoffen fell on Mirer, his body landing on Mirer's heel.
"Something popped," Mirer said. 'You feel something move around in there and don't know what it is. Every step it got a little better, but it never felt good the rest of the day.'"
At the time, Mirer was 1-for-4 for 4 yards passing, but it wasn't a big deal with the Raiders in a running mode. Mirer went to the sidelines for treatment and but didn't miss a down.
Should Mirer have stayed in the game or given way to Rob Johnson, who has yet to take a snap as a Raider and precious few -- less than 10 percent -- in practice?
"I wanted to try to go," Mirer said. "I felt something pop, and I was afraid it was broken. But then walking, I found out it was still there.
"It's a pretty good sprain. I just said to them that until I can't defend myself, I will go. Unless I can't get out of trouble or make plays, I will try to give it all I've got."
Mirer discovered all he had wasn't much.
"I couldn't land on my foot to throw and that's hard," he said. "You're putting a lot of weight on that front foot. When you land on it to come over the top, when it's not under you it is kind of tricky."
Coach Bill Callahan said, "We were concerned about his health, but he was capable of still playing, so we kept him in.
"He was a little immobile, but we tried to keep him in the pocket and throw pretty quick. We tried to stay within the boundaries of keeping him in the pocket and not putting him on the move or making him vulnerable."
The outcome was not pretty. Mirer finished 10-for-25 passing for a mere 68 yards. Four sacks, three by von Oelhoffen, decreased his net to 39 yards in 29 attempts.
His quarterback rating for the game was a flimsy 14.6.
"I was playing on one leg," Mirer said. "I couldn't run. It slowed me down a lot."
So did the Steelers defense. When it wasn't applying pressure with the rush, it had Mirer's receivers in a vice. Rarely were any of his passes uncontested.
"Those guys had us figured out pretty good," Mirer said. "It felt like most every throw was tight. There weren't a lot of little layups, just a few here and there. They were jumping everything. It's kind of spooky when they are doing that."
Mirer figured his best hope was to get a deep throw on them.
"We took a shot or two, but you have to hit them," Mirer said.
They never did. Only one completion -- a 16-yard strike to Jerry Rice -- was even in double figures.
"Any time you get more than two scores down in this league it is difficult," said Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown. "Now you are going to get a lot of junk coverages, stuff you don't normally see. Then it becomes very difficult for the defensive line and for Rick. Now he has to read stuff on the run."
Callahan said the game plan did not include a lot of throwing. When it became a necessity, all bets were off.
"The rhythm of the game was out of sync for us, because of the third downs we didn't capitalize on," he said.
Said Mirer, "We were pretty bad on third down today. It's nice to get yourself out of a bind once in a while."
Once was the sum total they were able to get out of. Oakland converted one of 12 third downs. Their average third-down requirement was 7 yards for a first down. The only one they made was a third-and-2 (on a run) in the first quarter.
Mirer thinks he will be able to play next week against Baltimore.
"But I don't know, I never had a bad ankle," he said. "I just want to get home."