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We have to find a way to integrate our wideouts into the game. The Riders will be going double time to stop Harris and Logan. We have to take them off their expectations. Play action? Screens? Along with a vigorous, dedicated ground game. Mostly power. Some zone is OK. But simplicity is the key for our O Line. -- WCJ
No kidding WCJ - opposition defenses realize that they have to stop Harris/Logan and that will be a primary focus for the Riders -easier said than done though - and we have to keep utilizing them in the best ways possible and make adjustments to how they are being defended.
As for B.C. Fan...I intentionally left out winning the turnover battle because you always mention it ..and surprised me by not - poor scouting on my part, very good planning on your part and making 'adjustments' to not be predictable.
Kidding aside, I now watch the turnover ratio almost religiously and we have made good strides in recent games in this department - probably a key to our winning trend.
"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)
Good news...Brown will be on the active roster on Sunday against the Riders...it required a lot of pressure on Benevedes to do so...but who cares...Brown deserves the opportunity... and Harris will come back in and Poblah will be out along with his 3 catches for 16 yards..
In a Province article Benevedes has 'scoffed at his critics'....eg: the TSN crew..... for his timing of Lulay entering our offence last game.... with his main comment being....“I’m sure they’ll get a whistle one day,” he said. “I’m doing it the way I see fit and in the end I don’t care what people say.”
"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)
Blitz wrote:As for B.C. Fan...I intentionally left out winning the turnover battle because you always mention it ..and surprised me by not - poor scouting on my part, very good planning on your part and making 'adjustments' to not be predictable.
I realized I was becoming too predictable. Besides, you usually leave me with nothing original to say.
Blitz wrote:Good news...Brown will be on the active roster on Sunday against the Riders...it required a lot of pressure on Benevedes to do so...but who cares...Brown deserves the opportunity... and Harris will come back in and Poblah will be out along with his 3 catches for 16 yards..
In a Province article Benevedes has 'scoffed at his critics'....eg: the TSN crew..... for his timing of Lulay entering our offence last game.... with his main comment being....“I’m sure they’ll get a whistle one day,” he said. “I’m doing it the way I see fit and in the end I don’t care what people say.”
Seems contradictory to me, afterall our complaining about his chest to chest bumps with players, they seem to have disappeared. Sounds like he cares what people think to me.
Blitz wrote:
In a Province article Benevedes has 'scoffed at his critics'....eg: the TSN crew..... for his timing of Lulay entering our offence last game.... with his main comment being....“I’m sure they’ll get a whistle one day,” he said. “I’m doing it the way I see fit and in the end I don’t care what people say.”
I hope the offence is as unpredictable this Sunday as his handling of the Lulay situation.
Blitz wrote:Good news...Brown will be on the active roster on Sunday against the Riders...it required a lot of pressure on Benevedes to do so...but who cares...Brown deserves the opportunity... and Harris will come back in and Poblah will be out along with his 3 catches for 16 yards..
In a Province article Benevedes has 'scoffed at his critics'....eg: the TSN crew..... for his timing of Lulay entering our offence last game.... with his main comment being....“I’m sure they’ll get a whistle one day,” he said. “I’m doing it the way I see fit and in the end I don’t care what people say.”
Seems contradictory to me, afterall our complaining about his chest to chest bumps with players, they seem to have disappeared. Sounds like he cares what people think to me.
Well, he certainly cared enough to announce to the team that Brown would play on Sunday....because it was a popular to say so in front of his players...without of course, mentioning the player he would replace.
Another dum quote by Benevedes and not a wise one....reflecting his ego. He should have said something like everyone has a right to their opinion but I have to do what I believe is best for the team rather than I don't care what people say.
As for Benevedes comment that 'one day they will get the whistle...Dunigan has coached in the CFL and played quarterback in the CFL as well ...which is not something Benny has ever done...nor were the TSN commentators who said something out of sync with what fans thought as well and Benevedes needs to consider the fans as well when he makes comments.
"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)
Blitz wrote:Good news...Brown will be on the active roster on Sunday against the Riders...it required a lot of pressure on Benevedes to do so...but who cares...Brown deserves the opportunity... and Harris will come back in and Poblah will be out along with his 3 catches for 16 yards..
In a Province article Benevedes has 'scoffed at his critics'....eg: the TSN crew..... for his timing of Lulay entering our offence last game.... with his main comment being....“I’m sure they’ll get a whistle one day,” he said. “I’m doing it the way I see fit and in the end I don’t care what people say.”
Seems contradictory to me, afterall our complaining about his chest to chest bumps with players, they seem to have disappeared. Sounds like he cares what people think to me.
Well, he certainly cared enough to announce to the team that Brown would play on Sunday....because it was a popular to say so in front of his players...without of course, mentioning the player he would replace.
Another dum quote by Benevedes and not a wise one....reflecting his ego. He should have said something like everyone has a right to their opinion but I have to do what I believe is best for the team rather than I don't care what people say.
As for Benevedes comment that 'one day they will get the whistle...Dunigan has coached in the CFL and played quarterback in the CFL as well ...which is not something Benny has ever done...nor were the TSN commentators who said something out of sync with what fans thought as well and Benevedes needs to consider the fans as well when he makes comments.
Dunigan had the whistle and should have got another shot. He just held too many jobs and even Wally left that idiot franchise as it was then.
Benny was gift wrapped a winning team and there was very little in his body of work and how he did it to justify his rise to HC. Others like Milanovich, Chamblin, Jones, O'Shea, Campbell actually went through open search processes to get their gigs and all Benny did was be annointed like a member of the Royal family.
How anyone can bench Brown is absolutely shocking but represents that arrogance you see in the Lions at times.
"Ability without character will lose." - Marv Levy
In Bene's defense (feeling a bit nauseous) It was ratio issues that were causing him to toy with leaving Brown out. That he has found a way to get him in is a good thing.
As to his other comment however. While I agree that coaching via the mob is not the way to do it, he is silly to make the comment that the opinion of the fans don't matter. If he was 7-1 maybe it wouldn't matter but the fact is that this team has just crawled above 500 in the last 2 weeks and is currently sitting in last in the division (albeit a highly competitive one). If the playoffs were to start today, we would be out. It wasn't just the fans that had some negative things to say about his handling of the Lulay thing. People who have been involved with the game for their entire lives were questioning it too.
The man seems to be not too quick and from a PR standpoint, comments like that certainly aren't going to win him many supporters. I am of the belief that fans do matter. We aren't completely out to lunch in this neck of the woods. There are some very smart and savvy folks who have an inkling of what they are talking about when they look at the Bene show with some trepidation. Compared to a lot of coaches in this league, he seems rather a poor second choice. I can think of at least 4 I would probably rather have. That isn't a good percentage (Milanovich, Oshea, Austin or Huff).
So carry on for now Bene. If you win, the mob will be silenced. If you blow it, all the other silly things you have done or said like the above will be magnified. In the end, your actions will affect you more than the rest of us.
Tell me how long must a fan be strong? Ans. Always.
Of course he will try to feel above or beyond the comments of TV guys or fans. But he is whistling in the dark. We have seen his sideline behaviour change. Why change it if he feels he can and will do things the way he wants?
He is not wise in the ways of PR talk. How comments are received. Who gets offended? What is implied?
He is in a very vulnerable position when one considers his relative lack of deep resume. Both as a player, and as an assistant coach. Plus he is the protégé of a legend, chosen by his mentor, despite the mediocre resume. So I would think his best approach is humility.
Instread his comments are a kind of hubris ...
"excessive pride or self-confidence" ... not warranted
They are also a kind of free fall or all in type of comment. Hang the consequences. Well he might regret dissing the TV guys.
Benny is in a dicey spot re Glenn/Lulay. The downside -- Glenn gets ticked off looking in the rearview mirror. Glenn has his confidence harmed. The team is uncertain about its QB. Lulay gets thrown to the wolves. Et cetera ... And yet, Lulay needs reps. It is dicey.
..........
We have righted the ship, for the time being. We are still in very tough. Not the time to be pounding one's chest. No playoffs wins as of yet under Benny. Even making the playoffs this year is going to be a huge struggle.
Benny is our guy. He is Wally's chosen successor. He is in the spotlight. Of course his comments get scrutinized. His demeanour gets scrutinized.
As long as we win, everything is pretty much OK. If we don't win, Ouch. If we don't make the playoffs, Ouch.
It seems the players like Benny. Our D is playing well, although it is not an attack type defence. Our O is at times very good with the run game. At fewer times, very good with the passing game.
We will see. And every game is a playoff battle at this time.
Just IMO ...
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.
Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.
Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
I agree very much with what you said Joe on MB...the less he speaks, the more I can stand him...
Blitz, great preview, now we can just sit back and watch...at home versus an average Rider's team, as BCFAN said, we just need to make sure we win the turnover battle...stick to the things that get us wins, like effectively running the football, and playing aggressive defence...for the Lions it all comes down to coaching as the players are performing well each week.
"Condemnation Without Investigation is the height of ignorance."
Of course he will try to feel above or beyond the comments of TV guys or fans. But he is whistling in the dark. We have seen his sideline behaviour change. Why change it if he feels he can and will do things the way he wants?
He is not wise in the ways of PR talk. How comments are received. Who gets offended? What is implied?
He is in a very vulnerable position when one considers his relative lack of deep resume. Both as a player, and as an assistant coach. Plus he is the protégé of a legend, chosen by his mentor, despite the mediocre resume. So I would think his best approach is humility.
Instread his comments are a kind of hubris ...
"excessive pride or self-confidence" ... not warranted
They are also a kind of free fall or all in type of comment. Hang the consequences. Well he might regret dissing the TV guys.
Benny is in a dicey spot re Glenn/Lulay. The downside -- Glenn gets ticked off looking in the rearview mirror. Glenn has his confidence harmed. The team is uncertain about its QB. Lulay gets thrown to the wolves. Et cetera ... And yet, Lulay needs reps. It is dicey.
..........
We have righted the ship, for the time being. We are still in very tough. Not the time to be pounding one's chest. No playoffs wins as of yet under Benny. Even making the playoffs this year is going to be a huge struggle.
Benny is our guy. He is Wally's chosen successor. He is in the spotlight. Of course his comments get scrutinized. His demeanour gets scrutinized.
As long as we win, everything is pretty much OK. If we don't win, Ouch. If we don't make the playoffs, Ouch.
It seems the players like Benny. Our D is playing well, although it is not an attack type defence. Our O is at times very good with the run game. At fewer times, very good with the passing game.
We will see. And every game is a playoff battle at this time.
Just IMO ...
Great post WCJ....says it all on this topic.
It will be interesting to see whether Benevedes uses Lulay the same way this game or not. We've won 3 in a row and Glenn is averaging 325 yards per game in his last 3 games.
Our Leos have a plan with regard to who will be our starter at the end of this season....my guess is that will be Lulay, as long as he can play well enough....but the process of getting to that point, while still trying to win games (and we will need to) is going to be intriguing...and important ...for a lot of reasons.
"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)
MexicoLionFan wrote:I agree very much with what you said Joe on MB...the less he speaks, the more I can stand him...
Blitz, great preview, now we can just sit back and watch...at home versus an average Rider's team, as BCFAN said, we just need to make sure we win the turnover battle...stick to the things that get us wins, like effectively running the football, and playing aggressive defence...for the Lions it all comes down to coaching as the players are performing well each week.
I think Benny started out as HC saying all the right things to the media and only as time went on has the message been mixed and unclear and even verging on the arrogant - which he did none of when he took over the GC winning team from Wally. I think Benny is showing the strains of HC now and it's coming out in the media messaging.
I think WCJ is right BUT that first year I was feeling good about his media presence as I try to listen to the messages that he's conveying to his team as that always turns up in the media statements.
That is until he made the dumb 'plug and play' comments that blew up badly in his face as his team proved him wrong.
Now I'm fully seeing it as WCJ sees it -including resume comments!
"Ability without character will lose." - Marv Levy
Here are Beamish's Themes to the Game and Players to Watch
THREE THEMES
BUCKET BRIGADE
Since being videotaped taking the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, Lions GM Wally Buono has been constantly reminded of a well-chronicled near-dousing following the 2004 West Division final. The late Richard Harris, then the team’s defensive line coach, had a sixth sense that something was wrong when intervened at the last moment to stop his players from icing down the head coach with the traditional Gatorade shower. Unbeknownst to Harris, or any other Lion, Buono had heart bypass surgery scheduled at the end of the season. “I asked him, ‘Richard, why did you to it?’” Buono recalled. “He had an intuition. The only person who knew about it was my wife.” Buono is no latecomer to the ALS fight. He lost two former Alouettes teammates -- Larry Uteck and Tony Proudfoot -- to the disease and received a national award from the ALS Society of Canada for his volunteer work two years ago.
FEELING THE PUSH
Placekicker Chris Milo got the message this week that the Roughriders are concerned about his field goal accuracy. After missing on just six attempts all last season, Milo already has equaled that number after seven games in 2014, the reason why journeyman CFL kicker Justin Palardy has been added to Saskatchewan’s practice roster. The Lions have no such issues. Paul McCallum is kicking up a storm, his 94.4 per cent conversion rate (on 18 field goal attempts) leading the CFL. His current streak stands at 16 straight. Though still bothered by a shoulder tear sustained in a motor scooter accident, Lions’ punter/kickoff specialist Ricky Schmitt is giving the ball a ride. He averaged 45.2 yards on 10 punts last Sunday against Toronto and out-distanced the Argos’ Swayze Waters by an average 5.5 yards on kickoffs. “Every time I don’t have to make a tackle, my shoulder gets a little better,” Schmitt says.
MISSING WESTON
In his last two appearances against the Lions in 2013 -- an Oct. 19 regular-season contest and the Nov. 10 West Division semi-final, both in Regina -- ex-Roughrider Weston Dressler had nine catches for 150 yards and three touchdowns. Now in the camp of the Kansas City Chiefs, attempting to make an NFL roster at the age of 29, the two-time CFL all-star receiver is sorely missed by a passing attack which ranks last in the league in completions (110) and No. 8 in yards (1,443). Saskatchewan is ahead of only the offensively-challenged Montreal Alouettes as an air force. “Dressler was the guy who made their offence complex,” said Lions halfback Ryan Phillips. “He gave them the option of doing a lot of things. When you take a guy like that away, he’s not easy to replace. It’s maybe made their offence a little more stagnant, more predictable.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
DARIAN DURANT, Riders
After turning 32 this week, Durant has reached a stage in his career when he is no longer considered a developing quarterback. Now a man in full, he is 18-8 as a starter over his past two seasons, which includes a Grey Cup victory against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. A year ago, he was on a marvelous run, having thrown 17 touchdown passes without an interception. While Durant’s numbers this season are not comparable (seven TDs, five picks), he still creates a heap of worry in the Lions’ defence. “Darian, to me, is the hardest quarterback in the league to tackle,” states Ryan Phillips.
B.C.
ANDREW HARRIS, Lions
Though he missed last Sunday’s 33-17 win over the Toronto Argonauts to rest a sore ankle, Harris remained the league leader in yards from scrimmage into Week 9. He’s now eager to add to that total. “My ankle feels good,” he said. “There wasn’t one moment this week (practice) where I winced or I felt awkward.” Starting in place of Harris, Stefan Logan ran for 145 yards against the Argos as the featured tailback. But the Lions could choose to employ three backs on Sunday -- Harris, Logan and Tim Brown -- depending on the situation. “It’s a pretty good idea,” head coach Mike Benevides winked.
"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)
