Lions @ Argos -- Game Blog -- Post Game Comments

[cromartie]

I said in the Game Day thread I thought Hawkins was a good addition, as did Matt Dunnigan, however I missed the first half... Was Hawkins that brutal? Hmmmm...

With the exception of that fumble I thought Hawkins had himself a good game. That long pass he caught in the 4th quarter was a key reception.

I wouldn't characterize what Hawkins had as a good game. He had six intended targets where he fumbled one and dropped two. The TD is nice and the late game catch was clutch but that stuff in the middle is what kills teams.

Some other observations:

It's tough to fault Jennings on the two INTs. On the first, he was running out of time, didn't have a clear throwing lane and was the equivalent of a punt.
On the second, he had Manny behind coverage and didn't see the defender cutting underneath. I can't blame him, I had the same view as he did and didn't see the defender either.

Leone was hooking balls in warm ups, so whatever his problem is is both mental and mechanical.

The Lions appeared to have walked into this game with a game plan that even attempting to run the ball was a futile effort. For the bulk of the first half they didn't even try. Once again, our offensive line was terrific in pass protection, but the Argos countered by only rushing four guys and dropping eight, and that made completions on anything other than deep outs or drag routes across three deep zone difficult.

It's worth noting that the Argos offense was based largely around those same drag routes but with a smattering of wheel routes when the Lions were only rushing three or four and dropping back as they're inclined to do.

You shouldn't win a game where you turn the ball over five times. The overall impression I'm left with is that this is a team with some talent whose schemes don't do said talent justice. Inside receivers don't exist. Running plays, though better designed than under his previous two predecessors, are either too cute by half or aren't a central component of taking the pressure off of a young QB.

The blindside halfback blitz was a very effective call against a QB who was rusty and lacking in field vision. We rushed six once the entire game, on the game clinching play.

This is a Conference Final talent level with semi playoff loss coaching, which has been my position all season. It's a one and done team with one and done schemes, and that's too bad, even if it's part of the rebirth/growth cycle of regime change in football.

[Blitz]

I said in the Game Day thread I thought Hawkins was a good addition, as did Matt Dunnigan, however I missed the first half... Was Hawkins that brutal? Hmmmm...

With the exception of that fumble I thought Hawkins had himself a good game. That long pass he caught in the 4th quarter was a key reception.

I wouldn't characterize what Hawkins had as a good game. He had six intended targets where he fumbled one and dropped two. The TD is nice and the late game catch was clutch but that stuff in the middle is what kills teams.

Some other observations:

It's tough to fault Jennings on the two INTs. On the first, he was running out of time, didn't have a clear throwing lane and was the equivalent of a punt.
On the second, he had Manny behind coverage and didn't see the defender cutting underneath. I can't blame him, I had the same view as he did and didn't see the defender either.

Leone was hooking balls in warm ups, so whatever his problem is is both mental and mechanical.

The Lions appeared to have walked into this game with a game plan that even attempting to run the ball was a futile effort. For the bulk of the first half they didn't even try. Once again, our offensive line was terrific in pass protection, but the Argos countered by only rushing four guys and dropping eight, and that made completions on anything other than deep outs or drag routes across three deep zone difficult.

It's worth noting that the Argos offense was based largely around those same drag routes but with a smattering of wheel routes when the Lions were only rushing three or four and dropping back as they're inclined to do.

You shouldn't win a game where you turn the ball over five times. The overall impression I'm left with is that this is a team with some talent whose schemes don't do said talent justice. Inside receivers don't exist. Running plays, though better designed than under his previous two predecessors, are either too cute by half or aren't a central component of taking the pressure off of a young QB.

The blindside halfback blitz was a very effective call against a QB who was rusty and lacking in field vision. We rushed six once the entire game, on the game clinching play.

This is a Conference Final talent level with semi playoff loss coaching, which has been my position all season. It's a one and done team with one and done schemes, and that's too bad, even if it's part of the rebirth/growth cycle of regime change in football.

A very impressive post cromartie. Appecriate your insights. Thanks!!!

This is a Conference Final talent level with semi playoff loss coaching, which has been my position all season

I couldn't agree more. I'm hoping that we can overcome the coaching on each side of the football, as well as our special teams coaching (which got ignored this week as we focused on the change of field goal kicker( and the punt and field goal blocking schemes got ignored.

I wrote about a couple of our running plays that are poorly designed in the thread Getting Ready for the playoffs. The 'cuteness' or some of our running plays, as you described them, is that the 'cuteness' worked the previous game but were easily shut down for losses against Toronto, who saw them on tape as well as were easily diagnosed before the snap of the football or with motion by the Toronto defense.