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

[WestCoastJoe]

Q1

4-2 D to start. Not enough pressure. Two out.

JJ to MA. Big and strong. Nice start. JJ to AH. Beauty. JJ dart to BB. Int.looked like a tip and wobbly ball.

RR fumble. 4-2 D again. No surprise. Two out.

Manny awesome. Big and strong again. JJ to Hawkins. TD. Awesome. Leone shanks the convert. BC 6-0.

Some still say it is too early to ackowledge what JJ brings. Some feel they saw it as early as TC. He is rare. And he is special.

Two out.

Trick to AH. Flag PI. Ha ha. Rod Smith is better than Rod Black. Challenge. JJ to LH. CR short of first. FG.

JJ moving the ball smoothly.

Tighter box for BC. First. Deep zone. RR starting to kill the soft zone. Blitz. Too late. Ray gettin' rhythm. Our soft zone got him going. Four man pressure. On their own. Chicken D. Chicken D.

JJ to LH. Drop.

[WestCoastJoe]

Q2

Trick kills our D.

Ray driving vs our zone. Not enough pressure. FG. 9-6.

That is Andrew Harris. Hawkins fumble.

We need pressure on RR. Sack by four. Menard. One of my faves.

JJ to LH. Awesome. CR drop. FG 12-6.

Ray to Owens big. RR starting to shred our D. 4-2 D not getting pressure. DB blitz gets some pressure. Blitz but completion. At least MW is using some blitz now. Blitz. Sack. There ya go, MW.

Missed FG. Iannuzzi great return. Great wheels. BC 12-6. AH grinding out yards with no hole. Tip. Two out.

No yards. Minter just misses sack. 4-2 D. RR to Elliott. Huge. Not enough pressure. TD. Can Ricky throw deep? Of course he can. Straight to the Hall of Fame. Playing safe attitude burns us. Tor 13 - 12 at the half.

Pick. Bad decision. Stop. FG attempt. Miss.

............

I thought we took the pedal off the metal. JJ got a bit tentative. Trying to play it safe?

[WestCoastJoe]

Three turnovers for BC.

We did not establish Andrew Harris.

Win and lose as a team. We have much growing to do.

Q3

JJ: "Be smart. Be focused. We'll be fine.". He is so calm.

AH. Flag. Killer. Punt. Nice return. We do not seem to be playing to win, as a team. Not enough belief.

Nice blitz. Third down. Punt.

We see pressure is effective vs Ray. We need to do it more.

No hole for AH. Argos key on AH. No attempt to fool them. IMO, without JJ our O would just totally suck tonight.

Our sack total rising. Is that good planning to wait so long in season to start some attacking?

4-3 D. Better vs run. Blitz. Good. Two out.

Offside. AH was ready to run. Stupid penalty on Black. Another stupid pen on Laing. AH fighting for yardage. TD to Burnham. Good. Leone misses again. At what point does team make a change? We need two kickers. And we are tight with the ratio.

Blitz. It helps. Pen on us. Stupid. RR moving them out. Both teams not at Cup level tonight. Blitz. Sack. Good. This was missing for most of year. Third and 17. Good D.

CR nice return. JJ fast on run. JJ to LH. Nice to see pens on TO. Another stupid pen. Three of them.
AH run for TD. Two pt conv.

Argos were brain dead on that drive. BC 26-15.

[WestCoastJoe]

Q4

Too far for LH. Two out. Good to see JT talking to JJ.

4-2, but we get good pressure. Blitz. Huge pressure. Sack. And where was this pressure all year? Go for it, MW. Go for it. Finally. Yes.

CR huge return. TD. Flag. Rennie Curren. Ouch. Hey, Chuckie. Chuckie. Chuck, Chuck, Chuckie, Good Bye. Bad mental prep amongst all the other sins.

We are just barely keeping the Argos in this game.

JJ to Manny. Nice. Penalty. Sloppy game. Mental prep lacks.

One thing, the Argos hit hard. Window was too tight. As I said, we are keeping the Argos in this game.

Oh my God. Leone. TD for Argos.

That is just brain dead. Chuck, Chuck, Chuckie, Good Bye. This is not so much on Chuck as it is on Wally. Shameful. Chuck should be farmed out. We are just not ready. And yet someone will defend the status quo. BC 27-22.

I am not even sure that Chuck can read tape. He certainly cannot prep the STs.

Helluva pass and catch JJ to Manny. Huge. AH fumble. Like I said, the Argos hit hard. And we do not really have a winning attitude. It will probably come, when Jeff Tedford cleans house a bit. How demoralizing is the ST unit "coached" by Chuck McMann? Tough on Chuck? Nah ... Ya gotta get the job done. Or get out of the game.

And now our D is messing up. Good pressure. Incomplete. Do we feel that we will win? Ray misses his corner route. Never seen him miss that. How about a fake FG? Good odds.

So on STs, CR has a TD called back by penalty. Leone has a punt blocked, with blocking mess up. 14 point swing. Wally's guy = Chuck McMann. A lifer. Good guy. Church goer, but way beyond his best before date.

JJ moving them. Awesome. Manny. No hole for Harris. Our O Line lacks. Foley makes a great play. That saves a chance for Argos. STs we take a procedure penalty. Hey, Chuckie.

This is not good. 256 left. RR will get the ball. 27-25.

From the goal line RR to Owens 30 yards. 3 man rush prevent.

3rd and 5. Fake punt?

152 left. Run. No hole for AH. 136 left. Were the Argos ready for AH? Keyed. JJ to LH. Awesome. Huge. Huge. Huge. JJ is just awesome. 131 left. No hole for AH. Predictability says Forde. Stopped. FG range. Can Chuckie's ST unit do it? 43" left.

Blocked. Incredible. Incredible. Like candy from a baby.

Is this one on STs? Oh yeah. Blitz. Pressure. Very good. Very good. Phillips int. Is it too late to retire Chuck right now? The worst STs I have ever seen. Although some defenders ask if the STs have been all that bad all year?

[WestCoastJoe]

Nice to see Jonathan Jennings and Ricky Ray meet at mid field at game end. Passing of the guard?

[WestCoastJoe]

Passing CP/AT YDS TD INT
J. JENNINGS 21/33 259 2 2


Receiving Rec YDS TD LG
L. HAWKINS 6 136 1 44
A. HARRIS 6 38 0 11
E. ARCENEAUX 5 71 0 25
B. BURNHAM 3 11 1 5
C. RAINEY 1 3 0 3


Rushing ATT YDS TD LG
A. HARRIS 10 12 1 10
J. JENNINGS 5 35 0 12
C. RAINEY 1 1 0 1


Fumbles NO LST REC YDS
L. HAWKINS 1 1 0 0
R. LEONE 1 1 0 0
A. HARRIS 1 1 0 0


Field Goals FG LG XP PTS

R. LEONE
2/3 28 0/2 6


Punting NO AVG NET LG
R. LEONE 5 52.2 225 70


Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
C. RAINEY 7 55 7.9 15 0


Kickoffs NO YDS LG SG
R. LEONE 5 322 72 0


Kick Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
C. RAINEY 5 115 23.0 46 0


Defence TKL SK INT FF
A. BIGHILL 9 0 0 0
T. LEE 6 0 0 0
J. JOHNSON 4 1 0 0
A. HOFFMAN-ELLIS 4 0 0 0
K. SMITH 3 1 0 0
Z. MINTER 3 1 0 0
A. BAZZIE 2 2 0 0
R. PHILLIPS 2 0 1 0
R. YELL 2 0 0 0
D. MENARD 1 1 0 0
S. GORE 1 0 0 0
M. BROOKS 1 0 0 0
S. CLARKE 1 0 0 0
E. ARCENEAUX 1 0 0 0
J. FOSTER 1 0 0 0
B. LOKOMBO 1 0 0 0
J. WESTERMAN 1 0 0 0
E. FRASER 1 0 0 0
B. BURNHAM 1 0 0 0

[WestCoastJoe]

Passing CP/AT YDS TD INT
R. RAY 26/38 227 1 1


Receiving Rec YDS TD LG
B. WHITAKER 7 34 0 18
A. COOMBS 5 35 0 14
C. OWENS 4 45 0 22
K. ELLIOTT 3 52 0 35
D. SPENCER 3 20 0 8
V. HAZELTON 3 17 0 7
P. BATES 1 24 1 24


Rushing ATT YDS TD LG
B. WHITAKER 7 22 0 14
R. RAY 2 5 0 4
D. SPENCER 1 25 0 25


Fumbles NO LST REC YDS
R. RAY 1 0 0 0
D. SMITH 0 0 1 0
T. HAWKINS 0 0 1 1
M. BLACK 0 0 1 0


Field Goals FG LG XP PTS

J. ROGERS
3/5 34 2/2 11


Punting NO AVG NET LG
J. ROGERS 9 38.0 287 52


Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
A. JEFFERSON 2 24 12.0 17 0
C. OWENS 1 12 12.0 12 0


Kickoffs NO YDS LG SG
J. ROGERS 5 319 69 0


Kick Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
D. SPENCER 5 81 16.2 23 0


Defence TKL SK INT FF
G. JONES 6 0 0 0
B. ISAAC 5 0 0 0
A. JEFFERSON 3 0 1 0
C. LAING 3 0 0 1
T. MILES 3 0 0 1
T. OKPALAUGO 2 1 0 0
D. WAUD 2 0 0 0
R. FOLEY 2 0 0 0
D. SMITH 2 0 0 0
A. OWUSU-ANSAH 1 0 1 0
T. HAWKINS 1 0 0 0
K. ELLIOTT 1 0 0 0
E. CUMMINGS 1 0 0 0
J. YURICHUK 1 0 0 0

[Alputt]

A nail biter but clenched victory from the jaws of scary near defeat... Thanks to some penalty help but I'll take it. Dare I say Go Edmonton? Playoff bound... *cross fingers*.

[Larry Key]

What a sloppy affair. We're lucky to come out with the win. What is wrong with Leone? Finally the Lion's go for a 2 pt. convert and made it with ease. Perhaps this is the way to go going forward as his erratic attempts have nearly scuttled us. We had the momentum in the first quarter until a sequence of plays nearly did us in. Hawkins scores a TD, Hawkins drops an easy 10 yard pass, Hawkins fumbles the ball.... all this before halftime. Oh, he also missed another 10 yarder early in the third killing the momentum. Pathetic.

And the running game. Can we please have Rainey in the back field? Andrew's body language said it all but mind you, whoever came up with those running plays should be shot. Buh bye Andrew, best of luck next year in a Bomber's uni. I guess the bottom line is we got the W but man, it was ugly.

[Alputt]

What a sloppy affair. We're lucky to come out with the win. What is wrong with Leone? Finally the Lion's go for a 2 pt. convert and made it with ease. Perhaps this is the way to go going forward as his erratic attempts have nearly scuttled us. We had the momentum in the first quarter until a sequence of plays nearly did us in. Hawkins scores a TD, Hawkins drops an easy 10 yard pass, Hawkins fumbles the ball.... all this before halftime. Oh, he also missed another 10 yarder early in the third killing the momentum. Pathetic.

And the running game. Can we please have Rainey in the back field? Andrew's body language said it all but mind you, whoever came up with those running plays should be shot. Buh bye Andrew, best of luck next year in a Bomber's uni. I guess the bottom line is we got the W but man, it was ugly.

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...

[PigSkin_53]

What a sloppy affair. We're lucky to come out with the win. What is wrong with Leone? Finally the Lion's go for a 2 pt. convert and made it with ease. Perhaps this is the way to go going forward as his erratic attempts have nearly scuttled us. We had the momentum in the first quarter until a sequence of plays nearly did us in. Hawkins scores a TD, Hawkins drops an easy 10 yard pass, Hawkins fumbles the ball.... all this before halftime. Oh, he also missed another 10 yarder early in the third killing the momentum. Pathetic.

And the running game. Can we please have Rainey in the back field? Andrew's body language said it all but mind you, whoever came up with those running plays should be shot. Buh bye Andrew, best of luck next year in a Bomber's uni. I guess the bottom line is we got the W but man, it was ugly.

You really can't have your kicker going south on you at this time of year, he is effectively our second and final line of offense. He most certainly cannot blow routine chip shot converts, without infecting the team with doubt and lost confidence.

It would seem that the pressure of the coming playoffs is effecting him adversely, and that means he cannot be back again next season, if he continued to flag on gimme points, and appears to be late on the kicks as well, with a blocked punt and a field goal tonight.

[CardiacKid]

What a sloppy affair. We're lucky to come out with the win. What is wrong with Leone? Finally the Lion's go for a 2 pt. convert and made it with ease. Perhaps this is the way to go going forward as his erratic attempts have nearly scuttled us. We had the momentum in the first quarter until a sequence of plays nearly did us in. Hawkins scores a TD, Hawkins drops an easy 10 yard pass, Hawkins fumbles the ball.... all this before halftime. Oh, he also missed another 10 yarder early in the third killing the momentum. Pathetic.

And the running game. Can we please have Rainey in the back field? Andrew's body language said it all but mind you, whoever came up with those running plays should be shot. Buh bye Andrew, best of luck next year in a Bomber's uni. I guess the bottom line is we got the W but man, it was ugly.

You really can't have your kicker going south on you at this time of year, he is effectively our second and final line of offense. He most certainly cannot blow routine chip shot converts, without infecting the team with doubt and lost confidence.

It would seem that the pressure of the coming playoffs is effecting him adversely, and that means he cannot be back again next season, if he continued to flag on gimme points, and appears to be late on the kicks as well, with a blocked punt and a field goal tonight.

The blocked kicks I don't think can be blamed on Leone (at least in this game) as it looks like Fraser blew his assignment on the punt. And the field goal at the end, the Argos overloaded the line of scrimmage to Leone's left and simply overpowered the Lions right in the path of the flight of the ball.

But the converts?!?! No idea as to what to fault there other than the obvious...Leone himself. Does he have no faith in his place kicking ability and lost the confidence he may have had earlier this year? Not enough preparation or coaching? Too much overthinking it and getting the yips? I think the Lions need to decide to make the 2 point convert the default choice and let Leone concentrate on his strengths...I would hate to let his entire game unravel because of his troubles with converts.

[B.C.FAN]

Starting with the positives:
1. The Lions are now one win or one Montreal loss from clinching a playof spot for the 19th straight season, which would be the longest active streak in the league and would tie Montreal for the second longest streak of all time.
2. The defence stepped up with a great game plan to pressure Ricky Ray and limit his effectiveness, especially in the second half when he was held to 46 yards passing and one game-clinching INT. Adam Bighill, Josh Johnson and Alex Hoffman-Ellis played a huge role in limiting the Argo yardage on short passes against the zone.
3. Six sacks. The Lions have gone from last in the league to the upper echelon in recent weeks, thanks to strong four-man pressure and some effective blitzing.
4. Lavelle Hawkins had a costly fumble in scoring territory but finished with 6 catches for 136 yards and a 44-yard TD.
5. The Lions somehow protected a fourth-quarter lead for the second straight week, improving their record to 5-6 when leading after three quarters.

And the negatives:
1. The Lions lost the turnover battle 5-1 officially (the blocked FGA crossed the line of scrimmage so it just counted as a missed field goal). I don't know when a team last lost the turnover battle that widely and won the game but I'm sure league statisticians are looking it up.
2. Two blocked kicks in a game, including a blocked punt for a TD for the third time in five weeks. When was the last time that happened? What's more shocking is that the Lions managed to win two of those games. Protecting the punter is not difficult. It's a matter of counting bodies and accounting for everyone. For the second time in five games, no one accounted for the man on the edge of the formation, and the Lions had only one upback on that side (Fraser this time), who took an inside man. Many punt teams have four men protecting the punter. They are able to pick up anyone who comes through the line unblocked.
3. Once in the first half the Lions ran misdirection in the backfield and handed off to Harris inside, who picked up 9 yards but the play was nullified by a holding penalty. The Lions seldom tried misdirection again, choosing to run the same zone read the everyone can see from a mile away (and that Jennings doesn't yet know how to run effectively because there are several times he should have kept the ball). Harris finished with 11 carries for 10 yards, including four carries for negative yardage. Rainey, Gore, Hawkins and Arceneaux can all be effective weapons as ball carriers. So can Murray-Lawrence, who has had little playing time since Rainey got here. It shouldn't be this hard to run the ball or set up the passing game with play action.
4. Jeff Tedford said he wanted Richie Leone to play himself out of his slump. It isn't working and Tedford isn't helping. The Lions are now a league-worst 27 of 38 (71%) on 1-point convert attempts and a league-best 6 of 7 (86%, tied with Winnipeg) on 2-point attempts. Figure it out. They have better odds of making 2 points and they get 2 points for making it. Yet even when the Argos took a 15-yard penalty on the Burnham TD, Tedford declined to take the penalty yardage on the convert attempt, which Leone missed for the second straight time in the game.

[CardiacKid]

I think Cortez must be trying to get his revenge on Tedford for firing him at Cal and trying to give him another heart-attack. Why else would he yet again go back to the "same old, same old"; his bread and butter of the predictable and conservative that contributed to this unnecessary nail biter.

Duane Ford called him out for the predictable play calling in a diplomatic fashion... Screw diplomacy! Cortez needs some medication or a kick in the ass to get over this obsession he has with playing not to lose.

[TheLionKing]

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.