Calgary @ BC - Game Journal and Post Game Comments

[TheLionKing]

Pleasantly surprised by Washington's decision to go after Calgary instead of dropping back and defend. Hope to see more of this .

[pennw]

Nice way to kick off the season . I for one was not surprised by our D's performance , as they already were very good late last season. Much of that was just a continuation of what we already had . Many have been down on Mark Washington , but IMO he is a much better DC than he is given credit for . Much of what we see BC doing is no different than what some of the other top defences do . Chris Jones rushed 3 probably just as often as BC last year . Interesting comment by Suitor in the Hamilton game when John Chick dropped into coverage and made a pick - that was one reason Jones let Chick go , Jones felt Chick was not good enough to drop back in pass coverage . So really no surprise to see our D do what it did .

Interesting read over on the CFLhorseman forum , in their game thread , the lack of respect they show for BC . Very obviously they pay no attention to what other Teams do by their commentary through out their thread. The tone there is that it was all basically a fluke win for BC , only their own team's miscues and such accounted for BC's win . No credit whatsoever for our D's performance . Dumb comments like " Esks would have scored at least 40 points on BC" "any other team in the league would have beat BC in this game " "Jennings is not a good scrambler ", just poor play and miscues led to the result, etc . What a bunch of sore losers is all I can say and you guys got not class and are ignorant about anything other than your own team , hope we lay some more L's on your team . And BC is in First place , you guys are tied for last and make make Riderfns look like a class act .

[South Pender]

Great summaries, as usual, B.C.FAN and Blitz. It was an interesting game with an encouraging outcome. I agree with Qman about the inability of our receivers to create separation deep, but I was pleased to see Jennings throwing the deep balls. A deep pass really does have several benefits, with the possibility of a catch or a defensive PI call, and it conditions the defense in ways that make the medium-range game more effective (and even an interception deep is not much different from a punt). With Jennings' arm strength, it's a shame we don't have a true burner in the receiving corps, but it's early days, and there's time for our receivers to work on the deep routes. Frankly, I'd like to see more deep passes from our offense.

[WestCoastJoe]

Our O Line is huge, as we know. All well over 300 pounds. Calgary D Line 240, 246, 277, 303. They got worn down by the big bodies of our O Line.

One could really see it on the final drive. JJ24 had huge holes to run through.

Very satisfying game. Came back from the dead.

Everyone acknowledges the smarts of Dave D. But sometimes experience and resolve take the day over cleverness. Dave D had lots of tricks ready for the old fox Wally on his return to coaching. ST punt blocks. Trickery on the goal line. Pass to a lineman. But Wally's guys had resolve. Mark W"s guys had resolve. Khari"s guys had resolve. As did all of the Lions, including the STs and the O Line.

Well done, Guys.

(Posted from a tablet. Beware of typos, et cetera.)

[pennw]

Our O Line is huge, as we know. All well over 300 pounds. Calgary D Line 240, 246, 277, 303. They got worn down by the big bodies of our O Line.

One could really see it on the final drive. JJ24 had huge holes to run through.

(Posted from a tablet. Beware of typos, et cetera.)

That would be the girth Dan Dorazio speaks of paying offJoe .
Does your tablet insert stuff you never asked for , into your texts too ?

[WestCoastJoe]

Our O Line is huge, as we know. All well over 300 pounds. Calgary D Line 240, 246, 277, 303. They got worn down by the big bodies of our O Line.

One could really see it on the final drive. JJ24 had huge holes to run through.

(Posted from a tablet. Beware of typos, et cetera.)

That would be the girth Dan Dorazio speaks of paying offJoe .
Does your tablet insert stuff you never asked for , into your texts too ?

LOL. Yup, pennw, Dan D loves the girth. The Girth Guys.

Tiny keyboard on this tablet. Hard to hit the keys. Hard to read. Sometimes aim for thumbs up, get thumbs down.

[Qman]

DD said today the way our front 4 lined up screwed up all their blocking angles and they couldn't run the ball. it was different from anything BC ran last year.

So, great work MW.

[Qman]

That first half was painful to watch. All I could think was "This feels like a preseaon game!" Maybe the CFL & CFLPA need to sit down and figure out a way to get a 3rd tune-up game on the schedule so everyone's better prepared to open the season. The only group that looked ready to play was the D who brought their A game and then some.

But kudos all around for the second half turnaround. It was as if somebody went into the locker room at half time and told them preseason was over, time to get your butts in gear. (Brings to mind the "Lollygaggers" scene in Bull Durham or Strother Martin's "You're blowing it" rant in Slapshot)

I'm old enough to remember when the CFL was 4 pre-season games and 16 regular season games. They switched to the current format because pre-season games don't make money. The reason that TSN only televises a few pre-season games is because it is difficult to get advertisers to step up and pay enough to cover production costs.

Since players receive a daily stipend plus room and board but no salary during TC, don't expect the CFLPA to agree to any changes that don't also include full pay.

So the first game or 2 of the CFL season are often sloppy and mistake ridden. Learn to live with it.

Quite likely coaches and GMs would love a 3rd ex-game but fact is that's impossible to schedule in a 9 team league. One team would have to play a 4th game to ensure the other 8 play 3. Conversely the only way to avoid somebody playing more than 3 is to have one team play only 2. And of course there's the question of how many games in total. Since the East teams went from 14 games to 16 there's always been 20 total; 16+4 then 18+2. Just as it's impossible to balance a 3 game exhibition schedule it's also impossible to balance a 17 game schedule. So you wind up with 21 games total for 8 teams and 22 games total for 1. Logistics aside the financial aspect is a huge factor. Exhibition games don't draw ratings and they don't draw fans at the stadium. Nobody wants an extra ex-game added to their ST package. South of the border lots of discussion seems to surround the NFL's 4 game exhibition schedule and that it should be reduced because it's an a ripoff for the fans to pay regular season prices for exhibition games.

I have said in the past that 4 of western teams should have TC in somewhere central (lets say Red Deer).
Then they could hold team v team scrimmages as an alternative to a "3rd preseason game".

I think the product would be better game 1. Although i thought the game was pretty good yesterday for a "Game 1"

[DanoT]

Nice way to kick off the season . I for one was not surprised by our D's performance , as they already were very good late last season. Much of that was just a continuation of what we already had . Many have been down on Mark Washington , but IMO he is a much better DC than he is given credit for . Much of what we see BC doing is no different than what some of the other top defences do . Chris Jones rushed 3 probably just as often as BC last year . Interesting comment by Suitor in the Hamilton game when John Chick dropped into coverage and made a pick - that was one reason Jones let Chick go , Jones felt Chick was not good enough to drop back in pass coverage . So really no surprise to see our D do what it did .

Interesting read over on the CFLhorseman forum , in their game thread , the lack of respect they show for BC . Very obviously they pay no attention to what other Teams do by their commentary through out their thread. The tone there is that it was all basically a fluke win for BC , only their own team's miscues and such accounted for BC's win . No credit whatsoever for our D's performance . Dumb comments like " Esks would have scored at least 40 points on BC" "any other team in the league would have beat BC in this game " "Jennings is not a good scrambler ", just poor play and miscues led to the result, etc . What a bunch of sore losers is all I can say and you guys got not class and are ignorant about anything other than your own team , hope we lay some more L's on your team . And BC is in First place , you guys are tied for last and make make Riderfns look like a class act .

There is another interesting read over at eskfans.com where they are having a melt down over the officiating. They might have a case for some of it as I am not sure how the Redblacks got the FG team on the field without time running out. I am aware that the game clock can run down and then the game isn't over until the play clock runs out. The question is: When did they start the play clock?

[CardiacKid]

That first half was painful to watch. All I could think was "This feels like a preseaon game!" Maybe the CFL & CFLPA need to sit down and figure out a way to get a 3rd tune-up game on the schedule so everyone's better prepared to open the season. The only group that looked ready to play was the D who brought their A game and then some.

But kudos all around for the second half turnaround. It was as if somebody went into the locker room at half time and told them preseason was over, time to get your butts in gear. (Brings to mind the "Lollygaggers" scene in Bull Durham or Strother Martin's "You're blowing it" rant in Slapshot)

I'm old enough to remember when the CFL was 4 pre-season games and 16 regular season games. They switched to the current format because pre-season games don't make money. The reason that TSN only televises a few pre-season games is because it is difficult to get advertisers to step up and pay enough to cover production costs.

Since players receive a daily stipend plus room and board but no salary during TC, don't expect the CFLPA to agree to any changes that don't also include full pay.

So the first game or 2 of the CFL season are often sloppy and mistake ridden. Learn to live with it.

I am torn when it comes to the question of the preseason and does it offer enough playing time to minimize the sloppy play and mistakes we see in the first few weeks. I realize that right now there is little to be done as we have an odd number of teams; there is no way to equitably play more than 2 games per team.
But when a franchise is established in the Maritimes, I hope there is a meaningful discussion around the possibility of expanding the preseason. Yes there are downsides to it but I think anything that has the potential to improve the quality of the game needs to at least be part of the discussion. Not saying it is good or bad, just a part of the process of self examination.

That being said, I was pretty impressed with the quality of tackling on display last night. Usually that is one of most glaring facets of the game that is weak at the start of the season. But I felt the defense rushed to the ball in mass all night long and in particular, the open field tackles were solid.

[Hambone]

There is another interesting read over at eskfans.com where they are having a melt down over the officiating. They might have a case for some of it as I am not sure how the Redblacks got the FG team on the field without time running out. I am aware that the game clock can run down and then the game isn't over until the play clock runs out. The question is: When did they start the play clock?

From what TSN's panel showed post-game the time clock didn't start. The referee doesn't signal the clocks to start until after the umpire has spotted the ball for scrimmage and retreated back into his position. TSN showed it like they would detail a play highlight both the umpire and Proulx. Proulx still had his arm up in the air waiting to signal play in when the REDBLACKS started to bring in the FG unit. As far as Climie and Stegall were concerned Ottawa started making the change in time.

[dpoe]

Watching the replay of the last-second field goal in the EDM v OTT game, the Head Linesman did not have the "gates" up (arms extended to each side to signal no further substitutions). This would mean that the teams were still legally able to make substitutions:

"Article 4 –
CFL OFFICIAL PLAYING RULES
25
A team that permits more than 12 players to participate in its huddle or formation
before the ball is snapped shall be subject to a penalty for illegal substitution.
The Head Linesman (HL) and Line Judge (LJ) shall monitor the team bench on
their sides of the field and, when the ball becomes dead, shall observe that
Sideline for possible substitutions. If Team A substitutes players, the Referee
shall give Team B the opportunity to also substitute players prior to starting the
Play Clock. When Team A breaks their huddle the HL and LJ shall turn away
from the Sidelines and raise their arms to shoulder level (raise the “gates”). If
Team A does not huddle, once the Referee signals the Umpire to leave the
football, the “gates” will go up. Further substitution by Team A shall not be
permitted once the “gates” are raised. Team B shall be permitted in all situations
including after the “gates” have gone up, to substitute up to the snap of the ball.
When, on a kicking play, Team A has only 11 players on the field and the “gates”
have gone up, a player may enter the field and participate in the play without
being penalized for Illegal Substitution, if he is able to enter the “Close Line Play
Area” and then assume a position, inside or outside this area, prior to the snap.
PENALTY: L10"

Seems to me that there was nothing wrong with the substitution by Ottawa.

[dat]

At the game last night. Pretty good energy from the crowd. On the negative side the three blocked punts were ridiculous. I thought here we go again like special teams fiasco last year. Looks like Benson missed a block on at least one of them. However unlike last year they didn't fold with the defence holding them in the game and the offence getting untracked in the second half. Thumbs up to Brooks, Biggie and Bazzie making big plays and of course Chris Rainey, Jennings and Jeremiah Johnson. Nice to see the Lions O line open holes and run out the clock at the end of the game. Good character win and a good job by Wally and coaches for keeping them engaged. I'm confident they'll get the blocking issues on punts sorted out. It's not always pretty but they got the W. Good job guys. Speaking of consistent posters on this forum I haven't seen a post from Mexico Lions Fan for awhile ?

DAT

[DanoT]

At the game last night. Pretty good energy from the crowd. On the negative side the three blocked punts were ridiculous. I thought here we go again like special teams fiasco last year. Looks like Benson missed a block on at least one of them. However unlike last year they didn't fold with the defence holding them in the game and the offence getting untracked in the second half. Thumbs up to Brooks, Biggie and Bazzie making big plays and of course Chris Rainey, Jennings and Jeremiah Johnson. Nice to see the Lions O line open holes and run out the clock at the end of the game. Good character win and a good job by Wally and coaches for keeping them engaged. I'm confident they'll get the blocking issues on punts sorted out. It's not always pretty but they got the W. Good job guys. Speaking of consistent posters on this forum I haven't seen a post from Mexico Lions Fan for awhile ?

DAT

Mexico Lion Fan announced last Dec. 2015, shortly after Tedford left the team, that he would no longer be posting here. Wally's return to behind the bench might also have had something to do with it, i don't remember the details.

[WestCoastJoe]

Yes. As noted by a few of us on here, our D threw some wrinkles at the Calgary O.

Full credit to Mark W. More blitzes, with better design and disguise. More fake blitzes and presnap motion. Mitchell was not comfortable.

Mark W, with Wally's approval of course, opened up the D playbook and philosophy.

Very promising. Exciting football. We have have the horses.
........

This poster would love to see the return of MexicoLionFan. Passionate and knowledgeable. Players and coaches are passionate of necessity for survival. Many fans are equally passionate. For myself, I am mellowing a bit with age. Wins and losses do not matter as much. It actually is about how you play the game. And the CFL game is beautiful.