Leos/Redblacks Keys to the Game

[Blitz]

Our 5-4 Leos take on the 1-8 Ottawa Redblacks in a Friday night battle of West and East last place teams. The new Ottawa franchise has not gotten off to the start they hoped for and our Leos, who were expected to be playing in this year's Grey Cup are coming off a bye week and need to play very well, in this second half of the season, if they want a chance to get there.

Travis Lulay gets his first start of the season. Coming off shoulder surgery in the off-season Lulay has seen limited action in our last two games with a couple of series in our game against Toronto and some serious reps on our final three series against the Riders.

This is a purrfect game for Lulay to step into the starting quarterback spot. We're playing away so there is less pressure, the Redblacks are struggling, and the running attack should be back, a difference maker for any quarterback.

Here are my keys to the game. They are briefer than usual so there is no excuse for B.C. Fan not to elaborate in his post. Looking forward to all Lionbackers Keys to the Game.

Here are mine:

RUN THE FOOTBALL DOWN THE REDBLACK''S THROATS

The formula is simple. As has has been mentioned in previous posts, when we run the football more than 20 times a game our record is 31-2 over the past three seasons. Running the football successfully is way more important for Leo success than who is playing quarterback. Running the football often and successfully is the real difference maker and not who is throwing the football.

There are no excuses this time for giving Stefan Logan one carry, after coming off a 145 yard rushing game, as we did against the Riders. Nor is there an excuse for using Logan as a pass blocker in the backfield as often as we did against the Riders. Harris is 4th in league rushing, while missing a game and Logan is 6th. Harris needs to have some holes opened up for him this game. His stat of 8 carries for 11 yards last week was a throw back to mid-last season and needs correcting. Harris is second in yards from scrimmage and Logan is 8th. Thunder and Lighning are the bread and butter of our offence. Ottawa has also given up the most rushing yards this season, the most average yards per game, and the highest average yards per carry at 5.9 yards. The game plan is there.

Running the football often and successfully should set up Lulay for play action and short second down conversions. Misdirection play action, giving Lulay a run/pass option and time to throw, as well as throw vertically, is the second recipe for success and he has some excellent receivers to thorw to in Arseneault (4th in receiving), Taylor (7th) and Harris (11th). Getting Logan in space in the passing game, as well as keeping Ottawa honest by throwing to our outside receivers on occasion would make our passing game more dangerous. Ottawa is also tied for last in quarterback sacks so Lulay should have more than the usual miniscule time we usually give our quarterback position to throw the football.

We need the run for offensive success, to set up the pass, and to allow Lulay to get up to game speed and develop rhythm.

STOP THE RUN

Ottawa is last in the CFL in net rushing and has the lowest average yards per game rushing at 72. 3 yds per outing. There is also no excuse for our defense not to shut down Ottawa's running game. However, Ottawa's Walker is 3rd in CFL rushing and has a respectable 4.7 yard per gain average so we can't go to sleep. But sleeping, in terms of the run game, is something we have done too much this season or at least strategize effectively to stop other team's running attacks. Certainly we have the personnel and talent to do so.

We're presently 6th against in total yards rushing, 7th in average yards given up rushing per game (117 yds per game) and dead last in terms of average yd rushing per game and 8th in terms of average yds. per carry against (5.8 yds per carry). Ottawa, a new franchise is last at 5.9 yds. per carry to show how bad we've been this season with our run defense.

If we can stop the run, we will be more than ok. Not only have we given up the least passing yards this season but opposition teams have only completed 58.3% of their passes against us, while often having second and short passing opportunities.

Ottawa has only one receiver in the Top 10 (Henry) and Burris has only complted 58.7 % of his passes this season for a weak quarterback efficiency average of 79.3. Therefore, if we stop the Ottawa run, which has been largely ineffective, our defense should be able to dominate their offence.

WRAP

Run the football successfully, shut down the run, dominate the line of scrimmage and success should be more than ours. Benny can practice chest bumps with Wally in the privacy of his office after the game to celebrate. We need to get on a roll and this is a game in which we can open our offence up and get back to being an all-around excellent defense.

Go Leos go!!

[notahomer]

Running the ball is a big part of our offence and stopping the run is a big part of our defence? Makes sense to me. Certainly would be happy to see a BC rusher make some big yards on the ground.

I hope that Tim Brown is going to have another SOLID game returning kicks too!

Are we the last team to play the Redblacks? Not sure, doesn't really matter.

[TheLionKing]

Lions need to get off to a quick start and keep the pedal to the metal. They need to score touchdowns and not settle for field goals. Force the RedBlacks into a one dimensional game. The longer they are in the game, the more confidence they will gain. Time to quit talking about being an aggressive team and be one. Bring pressure, make Ottawa defend the length and width of the football field.

[WestCoastJoe]

* Harris/Logan ... Logan/Harris. Make the run game work.

* Pass protection. Better give Lulay time in the pocket. He is not a quick strike QB. And Ottawa will be spying him. Will we have a good pass pro game plan?

* Pressure Burris. Will we do this?

Will we do these things? Although these things seem obvious ... We are not quite ready in our coaching attitude to attack the QB. Although we show stretches where we go with the ground game, it seems once other teams adjust a bit, we get bogged down, no holes, and the ground game turns to mud. Altough pass pro and a game plan to provide it are essential, we are still very vulnerable to a dedicated pass rushing defence.

Big test for Cory Brandon at left tackle.

Good tone in practice, however, is it possible we will take the RedBlacks too lightly?

If we roll over Ottawa, as is possible, we might be setting up for a good run to the playoffs. Key game. As are they all from here on in.

[notahomer]

Yup, the BC Lions are the last team to get to play the Redblacks. In fact both Calgary and Edm. have already played their home&homes with Ottawa. We play them again, here, on October 11 and that will be the Redblacks LAST game of the season (barring playoffs ) against a western team.

I know the Lions won't take this one lightly. Its a road game and they know every other western team has already beat the Redblacks, at least once.....

[B.C.FAN]

Here are my keys to the game. They are briefer than usual so there is no excuse for B.C. Fan not to elaborate in his post.

Blitz, no matter how hard I try my posts will always be shorter than yours.

Now, my keys to the game.

1. Get Lulay established as a passer.
This is the most important game of the season. We will see whether Travis Lulay can re-establish himself as the team's offensive leader, stand up to pressure and contact, make quick decisions with the ball and move the team through the air. Running the football successfully is always a key to the Lions winning games. Passing successfully with Lulay at QB is a key to winning in the playoffs. In his last start prior to shoulder surgery, in the playoffs last November in Regina, he completed 20 of 26 passes (76.9%) with a QB rating of 100. If he can get back to that level on his surgically repaired shoulder, the Lions will be a force to reckon with in the second half of the season. The game plan should include lots of power formations and max protection at the outset to keep Lulay upright behind a reshuffled offensive line. Add some quick-release wide-receiver screens and slants to stretch the field horizontally. Test the Ottawa secondary (and Lulay's arm) deep with posts to the slotbacks and hitch-and-gos to the wideouts. If Lulay can establish Poblah and Iannuzzi as dependable targets at wide receiver, the offence will be much farhter ahead than it has been in the first half of the season and defences will have to take players out of the box, opening more opportunities for the running game. Lulay, of course, is most dangerous when he's a threat to both pass or run. The Lions rank last in the league this year in QB rushing yards. A few successful scrambles or designed QB rushes can keep a defence off balance. How well Lulay can pass and run the ball on Friday will show how far the Lions can go in the playoffs.

2. Protect the ball
I didn't mention the turnover battle as a key to the Lions' last game against Saskatchewan, and it wasn't a factor. Neither team committed a turnover. The key to that game was winning the physical battles on the line of scrimmage and the Riders did that, outrushing the Lions 228 yards to 56. With two teams of uneven strength, the 5-4 Lions and 1-8 RedBlacks, turnovers can be a great equalizer. Surprisingly, for an expansion team with a losing record, the RedBlacks are a respectable minus-1 in turnover ratio through the first nine games. The Lion turnover ratio is zero. The difference between the clubs is that the Lions have scored 44 points off opponent turnovers and given up 44 points on their own turnovers, for a net of zero. The RedBlacks have scored a league-low 24 points off opponent turnovers but have given up 52 points off turnovers, for a net deficit of 28 points. If the Lions give up any points off turnovers, it would give the RedBlacks a huge emotional lift.

3. Rattle Henry Burris
Henry Burris was the CFL's leading passer with Hamilton in 2012 and 2013, averaging over 5,000 yards a season, but he has struggled this year in Ottawa. He ranks fifth in the league and is on pace for just under 4,000 yards. At 39, age could be catching up to him. More likely, his problem this year is having a receiving corps that can't catch his passes. Ottawa began the season with four B.C. castoffs as starting receivers. The best of those, Kierrie Johnson, was injured in Ottawa's fourth game. The RedBlacks seem to have found an excellent replacement in ex-Bomber Wallace Miles, who had 7 catches for 101 yards and a TD last week in only his second game in Ottawa. With Marcus Henry having a solid season in the slot and Matt Carter and Dobson Collins contribuing regularly, the Ottawa offence has enough weapons to do some damage. The key for the Lions is to keep Burris from establishing any rhythm. Whether the Lions get four-man pressure, bring the blitz or drop eight or nine players into coverage doesn't matter. Just don't let things come easy for Burris and don't let him buy enough time to go deep. When he's rattled, he's ineffective. The RedBlacks rank near the bottom of the league in rushing, passing and scoring. Don't give them anything easy and don't let them get a lead. They're winless when trailing after the first quarter.

Wrap
This can be a trap game. The RedBlacks are not as bad as their 1-8 record indicates. They lost by two points to Edmonton and by eight points to Winnipeg. At home, if a few things go in their favour, they can be dangerous. The Lions need to play hard and play smart.

[Blitz]

Thanks B.C. Fan and I loved that you 'wrapped' your post too...

Looks like its going to be Ernest Jackson that's out of the lineup and Kito Poblah, with 3 catches this season, who will get the start (gotta make Wally's trade look good) and that Haidara may get some reps. With our Canadian receiver depth and the need to play an import at left tackle and also keep Brown on the roster replacing an import at receiver like Jackson is a sensible move. My choices would be Haidara and Adekolu.

Of course, instead of just making it a roster juggling move our Leos had to make Ernest Jackson be a scapegoat by pointing out to the Province that Jackson didn’t run upfield directly after catching a pass in the second half against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, costing the Lions valuable momentum"> Huh..?

Jordan Matechuk may be out for a long time and the reason our Leos signed Mike Benson as a long snapper. Chin has practiced at the postiion but it looks like he will not get the opportunity.

Interesting that our Leos chose not to start Ramsey at left tackle even though he is healthy and Cory Brandon gets to step in right away.

According to the Province, Eliminian is still unable to practice from the hamstring injury he suffered against Regina. But good news is that Josh Johnson returns at nickel back.

[TheLionKing]

Of course, instead of just making it a roster juggling move our Leos had to make Ernest Jackson be a scapegoat by pointing out to the Province that Jackson didn’t run upfield directly after catching a pass in the second half against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, costing the Lions valuable momentum"> Huh..?

Speaking of costing the Lions' valuable momentum, how about the offence inability to score touchdowns, maintain sustained drives ?

[South Pender]

RUN THE FOOTBALL DOWN THE REDBLACK''S THROATS

Right. It's time for our Lions to show some smashmouth. Is the O-line up to this?

[leo4life]

Thats up to Dorazio/Benny/Jones

[BC 1988]

Yup, the BC Lions are the last team to get to play the Redblacks. In fact both Calgary and Edm. have already played their home&homes with Ottawa. We play them again, here, on October 11 and that will be the Redblacks LAST game of the season (barring playoffs ) against a western team.

I know the Lions won't take this one lightly. Its a road game and they know every other western team has already beat the Redblacks, at least once.....

That explains how EDM and CGY have pumped up their records, feasting on Ottawa. The biggest test for the Lions will be 2 more games against the Stamps.

[BC 1988]

Benny can practice chest bumps with Wally in the privacy of his office after the game to celebrate.

LOL!!

Ottawa no 2 and 3 QB's are Danny O’Brien (a few career snaps) and Alex Carder (no snaps), since Thomas DeMarco was lost for the season 2 weeks ago.

All we have to do is keep Burris off his game. He never has responded well to being under pressure.

[notahomer]

Ex-Lion Joey Elliot is now taking snaps in practice for the Redblacks on their scout team....(courtesy Lowell Ullrich @ Province)

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/footb ... story.html

[BC 1988]

Ex-Lion Joey Elliot is now taking snaps in practice for the Redblacks on their scout team....(courtesy Lowell Ullrich @ Province)

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/footb ... story.html

That adds an interesting element to the game. Elliot is bearing a grudge at his handling by BC. It might become more of a factor in the rematch here next month.

[DanoT]

Ex-Lion Joey Elliot is now taking snaps in practice for the Redblacks on their scout team....(courtesy Lowell Ullrich @ Province)

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/footb ... story.html

That adds an interesting element to the game. Elliot is bearing a grudge at his handling by BC. It might become more of a factor in the rematch here next month.

I don't know why Elliot would have a grudge against the Lions as he is the one who was a no show at the QB mini camp last April. Had he shown up the Lions would probably not have traded for Glenn and Elliot would have ended up starting 9 games for the Lions.