It was another big win for our Leos in what was a defensive battel for most of the game until our Leos broke it open in the fourth quarter. Big plays were a key aspect in our victory over the Argos. Here are some post game thoughts.
DEFENSE
Our defense played an outstanding game, as we made Ricky Ray look like a very ordinary quarterback, holding him down to less than 200 yards passing. The Argos offence and Ricky Ray had been on a roll lately, in part due to a more balanced offensive attack and in part due to a defense that was getting good pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
Before this game I wrote, that in order to shut down Ricky Ray and the Argos offence we needed to 1) contain their running game and 2 ) get pressure on Ricky Ray from our front four not risk blitzing Ray to often or with too many defenders and play tight pass coverage.
Credit to Mark Washington for playing the right defensive game plan against the Argos but it would not have been successful without great pressure from our defensive line and they really came through. Taylor and Mitchell got excellent penetration inside, a real key to the pocket passing style of Ricky Ray. It made a huge difference for Alex Bazzie who often beat one on one pass blocking and had a huge game. Bazzie lived in the Argos backfield most of the game and he had four tackles for losses. It was by far our best pass rush game of the season so far - our defensive line played very inspired football and is was motivating to see Khalif Mitchell play his best game of the season.
Sol E. had another excellent game at middle linebacker and Bighill covered recievers like a defensive back, taking away some of the underneath stuff that Ray loves to go to. I often think we should blitz Bighill more but in this game we needed him the role that he did and he did a great job.
We also saw the future as Ronnie Yell played short side corner with aggressiveness and abandon while Lee, at wide side corner had an outstanding game as well. His play on a hitch screen, fighting off an offensive lineman and making a tough tackle was impressive as was his coverage of a well thrown corner pattern - a Ray speciality.
Torri Williams picked up a rough play penalty on an out of bounds hit and also got nailed for an iffy call on a roughing the quarterback but he also had a fumble recovery. Williams was pined in the fourth quarter and he needs to play with more self-discipline but I like his aggressive play - he just needs to tone it down.
Our defense really kept us in this game for three quarters against a very well coached and well led Argo offence. Ronny Yell's Pick 6, on a very athletic play, sealed the deal for our victory.
OFEENCE
Going into this game, I believed the key was for our offence to run the football, even with Harris out and we did. Logan ran for 132 yards and was also our leading receiver in terms of number of receptions with 5 cathches for 49 yards. Logan wasn't that far off 200 yards of offence - he had 24 offensive touches for 194 yards and was the key to our offence in this game - impressive. That's depth as well as talent at the tailback position.
Kevin Glenn, playing with an obvious injury, showed his mental toughness and came through most when it counted in the fourth quarter. Courtney Taylor had a huge catch and run play in the game, as did Arsenault in the fourth quarter, converting a skinny post into a huge go ahead touchdown.
A lot has been posted about the timing of Lulay's first entries into a game this season. However, what concerned me more than the timing of his insertions into the game was his natural tendency to not want to throw the football if his primary receiver is covered. There is the 'Good Lulay' and the 'Not So Good Lulay'. The Not So Good Lulay has a huge tendency to hold the football for a split second if his primary receiver is covered and then bail out of the pocker rather than stepping up into the pocket and making a throw. He also has a tendency to leave the pocket even when there is time to stay in there and make a throw.
Obviously, he has a lot of rust and it is unfair to expect a lot at this stage and he needs more reps. However, it has always taken a lot of time to get Lulay to hang in the pocket a split second longer and to be willing to throw to his secondary receivers. If he doesn't find his primary receiver open he turns into a runner. When he overcomes this tendency, he is a quarterback who is excellent at using all of his recievers and he is also a quarterback who can use his legs very effectively to break down a defense by running or throwing on the run. However, I think its going to take a lot of reps before Lulay can settle into the Good Lulay.
I was pleased that Khari Jones stuck with the running game. It helped wear down the Argos defense and most importantly, our Leos win when he commit to run the football. Here is the recipe - our record is 30-2 since 2011 when we run the football more than 20 times in a game.
However our passing attack still struggled too often and the reasons are obvious. First of all we ran the six receiver set/empty backfield too often and got the hell blitzed out of us again whenever we used it and it was ineffective again. The only positive out of the six receiver set was that we used Logan on a succerssful crossing pattern out of it, which was at least a small improvement. Once again we were too slotback and tailback oriented in the passing game and didn't use our outside receivers in Gore, Jackson, and Iannuzzi. We are going to have to diversity our passing attack if we want our passing game to be dangerous.
The non-call on the interference challenge on Iannuzzi was brutal. Either the replay officials at CFL Head Office need to go to an optometrist or its blatant bias. The defender held Iannuzzi for 15 yards and ripped his jersey off his shoulder pads - not impressed plus we also picked up the chop block call. It could have been a key turning point and luckily wasn't.
Finally, there was nothing more frustrating that listening to the number of times the telecast crew mentioned the Argos had played on Tuesday. It was like they wanted to excuse the Argos if they lost or make them into heroes if they won. Our Leos never get that kind of excuse making when we have to play a game after a short week or travel East. But if an Eastern team comes West, all we ever hear from the telecast crew about how tough for an Eastern team to deal with the time zone change but rarely mention it when its a Western team dealing with a time zone change travelling East.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Tim Brown had a heck of a football game. He had 13 touches in the game for 249 yards - quite a performance - his early 69 yard return, in which he was sprung by a key block by Lee was a key play in the first half and his 70 yard return in the fourth quarter was a turning point.
Brown made a case, when Harris returns, that we should be using all three of Harris, Logan, and Brown in our lineup.
Finally, Paul McCallun continues to defy age - his field goal kicking is so solid - while Lui Passaglia was an excellent punter and a very good field goal kicker I think McCallum is the best field goal kicker we have ever had in a Lions uniform - he is so dependable and accurate.
WRAP
This game reflected our talent and more importantly our tremendous depth. Our new Leos this season continue to impress. Great to see Kevin Glenn move into 8th place all time in passing yards in the CFL and he joins some very elite company at the quarterback position.
Its the Riders next and there are obviously things our team still needs to work on but it was a game with some big, exciting plays - time to savor a Leos victory for a day or two.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)