Ti-Cats 52 - Lions 22 Post Game Stats and Comments

[WestCoastJoe]

Passing CP/AT YDS TD INT
T. LULAY 13/20 139 1 2
J. BECK 7/12 95 1 0

Receiving Rec YDS TD LG
C. TAYLOR 6 58 0 26
E. ARCENEAUX 4 84 0 50
A. HARRIS 4 21 0 8
A. COLLIE 2 29 2 22
A. LEONARD 2 19 0 12
M. IANNUZZI 1 18 0 18
S. MURRAY-LAWRENCE 1 5 0 5


Rushing ATT YDS TD LG
A. HARRIS 8 36 0 9
K. ANTOLIN 4 14 0 5
S. MURRAY-LAWRENCE 3 9 0 4
J. BECK 1 24 0 24
T. LULAY 1 3 0 3


Fumbles NO LST REC YDS
A. HARRIS 2 2 0 0


Field Goals FG LG XP PTS

R. LEONE
2/2 51 1/2 7


Punting NO AVG NET LG
R. LEONE 10 50.7 372 78


Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
M. IANNUZZI 3 39 13.0 21 0
K. ANTOLIN 2 13 6.5 7 0


Kickoffs NO YDS LG SG
R. LEONE 3 191 69 0


Kick Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
K. ANTOLIN 5 107 21.4 24 0
M. IANNUZZI 2 22 11.0 22 0
S. MURRAY-LAWRENCE 1 16 16.0 16 0
J. WESTERMAN 1 13 13.0 13 0


Defence TKL SK INT FF
A. BIGHILL 6 0 0 0
R. YELL 4 0 0 0
A. BAZZIE 3 0 0 0
S. ELIMIMIAN 3 0 0 0
J. JOHNSON 3 0 0 0
C. ROH 2 1 0 0
M. BROOKS 2 0 0 0
C. PARKS 2 0 0 0
A. HOFFMAN-ELLIS 2 0 0 0
B. LOKOMBO 1 1 0 0
J. WESTERMAN 1 0 0 0
T. DRAHEIM 1 0 0 0
E. FRASER 1 0 0 0
T. LEE 1 0 0 0
J. ARAKGI 1 0 0 0
A. LEONARD 1 0 0 0
R. PHILLIPS 1 0 0 0

[WestCoastJoe]

Passing CP/AT YDS TD INT
Z. COLLAROS 19/23 290 4 0
J. MATHEWS 3/5 42 0 0


Receiving Rec YDS TD LG
L. TASKER 6 100 2 43
R. HOLLEY 4 43 0 24
T. UNDERWOOD 3 70 1 58
B. BANKS 3 49 1 44
T. TOLIVER 3 40 0 25
T. SINKFIELD 3 30 0 11


Rushing ATT YDS TD LG
R. HOLLEY 7 29 0 17
T. SINKFIELD 3 23 0 20
B. BANKS 1 7 0 7
Z. COLLAROS 1 4 0 4
J. MATHEWS 1 1 0 1


Fumbles NO LST REC YDS
Z. COLLAROS 1 0 0 0
E. NORWOOD 0 0 1 1
D. WASHINGTON 0 0 1 0


Field Goals FG LG XP PTS

J. MEDLOCK
1/2 42 6/7 9


Punting NO AVG NET LG
H. O'NEILL 7 45.3 265 52


Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
B. BANKS 6 121 20.2 96 1
T. SINKFIELD 2 14 7.0 9 0


Kickoffs NO YDS LG SG
J. MEDLOCK 9 549 72 0


Kick Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
T. SINKFIELD 1 28 28.0 28 0
B. BANKS 1 26 26.0 26 0


Defence TKL SK INT FF
S. LAWRENCE 7 1 0 0
T. REED 7 0 0 0
E. NORWOOD 4 1 0 1
B. HALL 4 1 0 0
D. WASHINGTON 4 0 0 0
C. STEPHEN 2 0 1 0
E. HARRIS 2 0 1 0
J. HICKMAN 1 1 0 0
D. MURRAY 1 0 0 0
E. DAVIS 1 0 0 0
B. LANDRY 1 0 0 0
D. CALDWELL 1 0 0 0
F. PLESIUS 1 0 0 0
M. DALY 1 0 0 0
T. LAURENT 0 0 0 1

[KnowItAll]

Beck is not the future.

Lions need to develop another Reilly, or even K jones.

If other teams can find willy, collaros, harris, cote, Mitchell, and even franklin and Mathews as better backups than beck, then lions in a no win game should have put the next guy in.

[WestCoastJoe]

I missed the game. Lucky me.

I can't imagine starting to blog it live, and then at some point deciding how futile it would be. Don't really like to give up stuff I start in good faith.

Living in the dream world. Hello, Wally. He must have thought after the downslide with the thinly credentialed Benevides, that he had pulled Aces in the hole with Jeff Tedford. And maybe he did. But Tedford did not clean house. The Boss still has some of his pets on board. And this ain't an easy league to rack up wins. There is a lot of rot in the organization. Starting with attitudes. Fight for the ball? Nah ... fagedaboudit.

Defence? Rag on the defence here? Nah ... It is what it is. Anybody still like it? Still got hope for it? (Our guys are learning the CFL game, we hear, but not as an excuse, mind you. None of the other teams face that challenge, one might think.)

Wally did not want to give up the reins, unless it was to a student, a protégé, who would do things the Wally way. Do it the Wally way: that is all the credentials needed. Some dose of reality hit last year in the playoff slaughter by Montreal. But the rot is in there.

I think Tedford can be a good coach in this league. But he ain't coaching against dummies. What kind of credentials does Kent Austin have? It would take a lot of space to document them. Fully state of the art in all respects. Xs and Os mastery. Judgment of talent. Motivation. Buy in by the players.

Will try to look at some tape later ... It is only a game. No need to look for that high cliff.

12 penalties on us. 7 on the Cats.

Passing defence? We gave up 322 yards on 22 of 28.

[FEAR_THE_ROAR]

I am so disgusted with this team, and the lack of adaptability in every area.

Let's start with the O,

O-line is just awful, it seriously looks like none of them have ever played that position before. Looks like we just grabbed a bunch of DL and put them there. No communication, no intensity, no skill. Lulay is clearly not the QB he was, and does deserve his share of the blame for some throws and lack of going through his progressions. However, you can't fault him on half of the bad plays he makes because the pressure is so quick and consistent. I feel so bad for Andrew Harris, truly one of the best players in the CFL and he is getting layed out on every play. We can't run the ball, so we are forced to keep him in there and pass block and he just takes a beating. Yes I understand 2 fumbles today proved costly, but we never see him fumble so I have no doubt that it won't happen again. WR's- oh boy where to begin, Leonard was just terrible every time he was on the field. Hasn't really been a contributing factor besides that one good game he had. WASTE OF A PLAYER ON THE FIELD. Does manny even play for the Lions anymore??? how can you have a good WR and only target him a few times a game?? He's the guy we need to get the ball too, and we don't ?!?! Shawn Gore = useless, in every way plain and simple CT, does make plays for us no question, but we force it to him so much. His attitude is not good, I think he is letting his emotions get the best of him at times. Collie, If you look at the stat line you'd think he had a great game, well I disagree. He has zero clue how to block and defender on a run play, he doesn't fight for balls whatsoever. His second td came against the backups at the very end of the game. Congratulations you padded your stats against the back ups, but when you're playing against the starters, he's not so productive.

Lets sum up the D in one word......soft

0 pressure from the DL
Db's clearly are over matched against every team, doesn't matter who it is.
team 100 literally can't do anymore, we ask so much for them and I think it's starting to weigh on them

our DC is putting us in such bad position, that our D is playing catch up as soon as the ball is snapped.

Speaking of bad position, Let's talk specials...

I don't understand why Antolin is back returning kicks or punts??? He is not a good returner whatsoever he would run into his blocks on kick return. I was actually surprised that Tedford made a small change during the game and put Iannuzzi back there (I think he didn't do to bad with 40 yds on 3 returns)

We can't say oh it was just one game don't worry about it, we can't beat anyone!!! 2 of our wins came against the winless riders and we could have easily lost both of those games. Literally every other team in this league is on the rise and we are going in the complete opposite direction.

[sj-roc]

Says a lot about how demoralising this game was just from the lack of traffic so far on this thread. This is post #6 and the game ended over an hour ago. Any other game before this, even a loss, we're usually onto at least page two by this point, especially for a road game where STHs would add to the site traffic.

[Toppy Vann]

TSN Team 1040 Radio is working in that we're getting more post game including the Broadcast summary from the TV and just heard Kent Austin in Ticat TV talking about the staff and players and how they coach and what they demand of the players. I like how Austin speaks and he clearly came into the CFL HC role ready to lead his own ship even better than being an OC for some other guy where he couldn't influence the overall like he has in Sask ( 1 year) and now in Hamilton.

Burns and the Moj have gotten better than ever and they were good.

I like the level of local insights that is not just all BS like local US announcers can be at times.

[TheLionKing]

I think fans are shell shocked and frustrated to be expressing their opinions.

[B.C.FAN]

Says a lot about how demoralising this game was just from the lack of traffic so far on this thread. This is post #6 and the game ended over an hour ago. Any other game before this, even a loss, we're usually onto at least page two by this point, especially for a road game where STHs would add to the site traffic.

I was watching the other game (felt like deja vu, 31 points by Calgary in the first half) but here are some thoughts.

The key to the game was to match Hamilton's intensity because they attack the ball, force opponents to make mistakes, and capitalize on them. That's what happened tonight. I mentioned in the game thread that the Lions had five bad plays in the first half that led to 31 Hamilton points:
- 10 points off 2 Harris fumbles (the Lions' first lost fumbles of the year).
- 14 points off two big pass plays, one of them the result of two broken tackles in the flat and the other the result of a blown assignment).
- 7 points off a blown coverage assignment on the punt team that allowed Brandon Banks an easy path to the wide side of the field for a 96-yard TD.

The breakdowns continued in the second half.
- 13 points off 2 Lulay interceptions, including a tipped ball on the first play of the second half and a pick-six later in the third quarter.
- 7 points off a drive that featured a 43-yard pass play to Tasker.

That adds up to 23 Hamilton points off turnovers, 21 points off big pass plays and 7 points off a special teams breakdown. Their final point came on a 49-yard punt single after taking possession in B.C. territory.

All teams will make plays. Hamilton makes a lot of them, with more turnovers and defensive touchdowns than anyone else. My biggest concern isn't that the Lions gave up those plays. It's that they don't have playmakers who can answer back. Normally Andrew Harris and Emmanuel Arceneaux are their only playmakers. Tonight Harris didn't have it in him. Arceneaux made a 50-yard catch to set up the Lions' first touchdown late in the first half. That's it. The Ticats took away Lulay's first read all night, and when he made throws they were generally for short gains. Taylor fought hard for the ball and yards after the catch, picking up 58 yards on six catches, but they were mostly of the short variety. Collie scored on the only two passes he caught but he looked bad on one that was intercepted. The Lions need a playmaking returner and at least one more playmaking receiver if they're going to be competitive with the top teams in the league.

[maxlion]

I still have some hopes for this team with Tedford, and give props to Wally for cleaning house, or part of the house anyways, over the off season. But I really can't find anything positive about the defense. DBs can't cover. No pressure up front. Is it the players or the system? Does Washington deserve any benefit of the doubt? I'd love to see a midseason change in DC if anyone is available. This team needs a shake up.

[TheLionKing]

How good is the Hamilton defence ? They have scored 8 touchdowns this season

[ballhawk]

Having viewed much of the Lions training camp it was obvious that some positions were not open to competition. It was like an old boys club. There were players who without question were going to keep their positions because they had earned them. There were others, some new who had not earned them but were untouchable. It did not matter what their competitors did on the field, the decisions were predetermined whether they were Tedford or Wally favourites. The Lions do not play like a team but as a group of individuals, some have been pampered and entitled to believe no one can touch them. The same ones go out play after play, line up the same way, repeat the same routes with the same poor results and virtually do not get replaced. There is no incentive to have to fight hard because there is no one on the practice roster who will be allowed to take their place. It is not a mystery why this team lacks chemistry, it is every man for himself, some more favoured then others, some handed positions without earning them.

[TheLionKing]

I still have some hopes for this team with Tedford, and give props to Wally for cleaning house, or part of the house anyways, over the off season. But I really can't find anything positive about the defense. DBs can't cover. No pressure up front. Is it the players or the system? Does Washington deserve any benefit of the doubt? I'd love to see a midseason change in DC if anyone is available. This team needs a shake up.

I too have faith in Jeff Tedford and like what he's trying to do. The Lions are a young team and there will be growing pains. Tonight was one of those nights. I like how he is trying to instill a new attitude on this team but it's going to take time. Rome was not built overnight. I think he needs to complete the house cleaning by ridding of Mark Washington and Chuck McMann both carryovers from the Buono/Benevides' era. Having lived through the Jim Champion, Larry Donovan, Adam Rita, Joe Paopao and Lary Kuharich years I am prepared to give Tedford a couple of years to right the ship.

[B.C.FAN]

I still have some hopes for this team with Tedford, and give props to Wally for cleaning house, or part of the house anyways, over the off season. But I really can't find anything positive about the defense. DBs can't cover. No pressure up front. Is it the players or the system? Does Washington deserve any benefit of the doubt? I'd love to see a midseason change in DC if anyone is available. This team needs a shake up.

I too have faith in Jeff Tedford and like what he's trying to do. The Lions are a young team and there will be growing pains. Tonight was one of those nights. I like how he is trying to instill a new attitude on this team but it's going to take time. Rome was not built overnight. I think he needs to complete the house cleaning by ridding of Mark Washington and Chuck McMann both carryovers from the Buono/Benevides' era. Having lived through the Jim Champion, Larry Donovan, Adam Rita, Joe Paopao and Lary Kuharich years I am prepared to give Tedford a couple of years to right the ship.

I am too but I expected more from the offence, with Tedford bringing new concepts to the CFL and Cortez bringing his experience and a more vertical pasing game. I don't know whether it's scheme or personnel but the passing game just isn't working.

[Sir Purrcival]

I had to laugh at one point in the 4th Q. when they showed game stats. We were losing 51 - 12. We had 9 1st downs, Hamilton had 10! It is hard to watch a game like this but the result was deserved. We were outclassed in every phase of the game and it is likely that we are going to have more games like this. I'm guessing that Sol is gone for at least a game by the look of things.

This is the team that I was expecting this year. They had me thinking I had misjudged them for a bit but I'm right back to square one with "it is going to be a long season". We are in deep trouble at QB, defensive secondary, defensive line and receiver. I pretty much agree with everything that has been said in this thread. Personally, I think Washington needs to go. His defense is just poor and it can't all be about the personnel on the field. We are going to have to find another QB somewhere who we can groom to take the place of Travis. He maybe be our #1 for the rest of the season but I do think the clock is now ticking on him. If anything he seems to be regressing rather than progressing.

The D for Hamilton appears to be everything ours is not. Strong front 4, smart secondary, good ball hawking skills, lots of energy. I'll take one please!

The receivers do not appear to be even in the same league as most other receivers for other teams. Arsenault is not even near the same plane as an SJ Green, Adarious Bowman, Weston Dressler to name a few and he is supposed to be our go to guy. Collie has been mostly a bust and Gore is basically another forgotten player who rarely sees the ball. Taylor is ok and Leonard is basically a rookie who is in there because of injuries.

Our secondary sucks. Even stops are usually 6-7 yards downfield. Most of the time I expect to see opposition receivers with 3-4 yards of separation and hoping beyond hope that their QB throws poorly. That seems to be the only way we can stop plays on a regular basis.

It is what it is but a few more efforts like this and BC Place will be a ghost town except for STH. Losing is bad enough but when you see a professional team that is playing more like a pickup squad compared to the competition, selling that kind of product is tough.