The Manny, Bernie, and Shawn Show

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Blitz
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Our Leos are the first team in the Western Division to have three receivers each hit the 600 yd. mark in receiving yards this season. Bryan Burnham, Manny Arseneaux, and Shawn Gore are having excellent seasons receiving passes from Jonathan Jennings.

Arceneaux, Burnham and Gore are all on pace to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau in 2016. If that happens, they will be the first trio of receivers to do so in a Leos’ uniform since Geroy Simon, Jason Clermont, and Ryan Thelwell did it back in 2005.

Meanwhile, in Edmonton, Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker have over 1,100 receiving yards each and they have seven more games to play.

In the East, Ottawa has four receivers with over 600 receiving yards in Chris Williams, Greg Ellingson, Ernest Jackson, and Brad Sinopoli.

But back to our Leos receiving trio. Burnham is averaging 18.0 yards per catch in 2016 and he is tied for the league lead with 10 catches of at least 30 yards. Shawn Gore, moved to boundary wide out, is on pace to have his best season ever as a Leo. Manny is the favorite target of Jennings due to his combination of 'size, speed, and strength'.

Contributions to our passing attack have also come from Nick Moore, (4 starts - 205 yds.) before he was injured (Boldewijn - 6 starts - 185 yds.), Marco Iannuzzi (11 starts - 204 yds.) Chris Rainey (145 yds.), Anthony Allen -5 starts - 86 yds.) and Jeremiah Johnson (6 starts - 54 yds.)

When looking at success rates, in terms of throwing to our receivers (based on targets vs. receptions)

Manny Arseneaux - 60 receptions -61%
Bryan Burnham - 47 receptions -74%
Shawn Gore - 48 receptions - 74%
Marco Iannuzzi - 16 receptions - 49%
Nick Moore - 15 receptions -60%
Boldewijn - 18 receptions - 60%
Chris Rainey - 15 receptions - 70%
Anthony Allen - 14 receptions- 88%
J. Johnson - 6 receptions - 86%

Those stats provide information regarding our passing attack and where improvements need to be made, whether we may be targeting a receiver too often or no enough, the type of pass patterns they are running, or receiving personnel.

For example, we have the worst success rate throwing to Marco Iannuzzi.

Perhaps we should throw to Arseneaux a little less and Burnham and Gore a little more.

We should throw to our tailback a little more often, because we have been successful doing so - we have not used our tailback very often in our passing attack.

Our Leos offence is 4th in the CFL in points scored (28.9 pts. per game), 4th in net offence (381.8 yds. per game), 2nd in number of 1st downs made, 1st in rushing, rushing attempts, and average yds. per rush (5.3 yds.), 8th in terms of passing completion rate, 2nd in terms of time of possession, 4th in terms of lowest number of interceptions, 8th in field goal percentage, 1st in lowest number of penalites, 2nd in offensive touchdowns, and 4th in terms of giving up quarterback sacks.

Our Leos have the second best record in the CFL. On offence, though we are not the second best offence in the league. Our time of possession on offence, our rushing attack, our penalty rate, and offensive touchdowns scored are strengths on offence, We really need to improve on our passing percentage and field goal percentage.
A real strength of our offence has been converting second downs. We are second best in the CFL. But no offence in the CFL has faced the number of second downs of over 7 yds. or more than our Leos. Over 41% of the time, we are looking at second and 7 or longer.
Jennings has an impressive rate of throwing the football on second and long but he faces too many of them and no matter how good he is, second and 7 results in a much lower rate of success than second and 6 or less.

The one area of our offence that needs improved play calling is on first down.

Hopefully the personnel changes to our offensive line will help in this area. With Steward and Antonio Johnson blocking last game our offence was greatly improved.

Congrats to Burnham, Arseneaux, and Gore for their successful seasons so far and to Jennings for being such a big part of that success.

Brian Helberg

Move over Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez because there is a new squad in town, and the only things these explosive pass-catchers shake off are would-be tacklers.

Emmanuel Arceneaux, Bryan Burnham and Shawn Gore all exited the BC Lions’ lopsided victory on Friday night against the Montreal Alouettes with over 600 yards receiving this season. In doing so, the Lions became the first team in the Western Division to have three different receivers eclipse the 600-yard mark in 2016.

“It’s really just going out and making a play when my number is dialed,” said Arceneaux. “It’s just making the most of my opportunities and carrying out my role.” Manny also heaped praise on his fellow receivers suggesting that the “entire receiving core is producing and making plays” this season.Arceneaux is having another fantastic season with the Leos, recording 60 receptions for 792 yards and five touchdowns. Jonathon Jennings looks Manny’s way early and often, as he leads the Leos with 97 targets in 2016. Arceneaux is on pace to snag 98 passes this season for 1,296 yards.

Success is nothing new for the 28-year-old slotback, as he has been wreaking havoc on opposing defenses ever since his rookie season in 2009. After starring on the field and in the classroom for the Alcorn State Braves, Manny made a quick transition to the Canadian game. Arceneaux combined to catch 130 passes for 1,972 yards and 12 touchdowns during his first two seasons in BC.

Those numbers were enough for Arceneaux to earn an opportunity down south. After playing two seasons in the National Football League, ‘The Manny Show’ returned to the CFL and the BC Lions in 2013. Last year was arguably his best, as Arceneaux was named a CFL All-Star after catching 76 passes for 1,151 yards while crossing the goal line 9 times.

The Alexandria, LA product plays hard on every snap and his effort has not gone unnoticed by his teammates. “Manny is a guy that leads by example,” Burnham said of his mentor. Bryan stressed Arceneaux’s commitment, saying that “[Manny] is the first guy in the locker room and the last guy to leave”. Gore was quick to point out Arceneaux’s cerebral approach to the game, describing him as “intelligent” and “full of wisdom”.

Manny’s combination of size, speed and strength make him one of the more versatile threats in the game. He can beat defenders deep with his legs, or muscle his way out of a tackle to pick up extra yards on a key second down. Arceneaux is a force on the field and his presence makes everyone around him better.

Burnham, affectionately referred to as ‘Bernie’ by his teammates, is the youngest member of this talented threesome. He has compiled the fifth most receiving yards in the CFL this season and appears to have unlimited potential.

“I’m in my third season with Gore and Manny, my second year with Jennings, and we’re finally starting to get that chemistry,” Burnham said about his comfort level in the Lions’ scheme. Bryan attributes his progression this season to the “trust” Jennings has shown “giving [Burnham] a chance to make a play” on deep routes.

The Moorestown, NJ native has reeled in 47 balls for 848 yards and two touchdowns thus far in 2016. Those numbers already represent career highs for Burnham and it is only September. The lanky wideout is on pace to have 77 catches worth a whopping 1,388 yards when the final curtain closes in November.

Burnham has burned defences all season with his jets and he is quickly getting a reputation as one of the premier deep threats in the CFL. Bernie is averaging 18.0 yards per catch in 2016 and he is tied for the league lead with 10 catches of at least 30 yards.

Gore describes Burnham as a “phenomenal player” and said that he expected the 26-year-old would have a breakout campaign in 2016. Arceneaux has also been impressed with the youngster this season, saying that “[Burnham’s] making the most of his opportunity.”

What is most surprising about the Tulsa University alum is the fact that he was not utilized as a wide receiver until his junior year of college. “I came in as a safety and I also played some outside linebacker,” Burnham said of his first two seasons at Tulsa. Bryan indicated that the time he spent playing defence makes reading different coverages much easier.

Gore adds the Canadian flavour to this receiver stew. The veteran has registered 48 receptions for 648 yards and a pair of scores this season. Gore is on pace to haul in 79 passes for 1,060 yards in 2016. Both tallies would shatter his career highs.

“[Gore] is having an excellent year, and his confidence is right where it needs to be,” Arceneaux said of his long-time teammate’s play in 2016. Manny went on to say that “as long as Gore can stay healthy, he can have some of the best numbers of his career [in 2016].”

After tearing up the CIS as a member of the Bishop’s Gaiters, Gore joined the Leos midway through the 2010 season. He has carved out a nice career with BC, amassing 3,672 yards on 292 receptions while hitting pay dirt 19 times. Gore’s best season with the Lions came back in 2011 when he snared 60 passes for 836 yards and one touchdown.

“It’s pretty special,” Gore said about being a Canadian star in the CFL. “All my friends and family are up here. I’m from Toronto, so they’re all watching back home.” Shawn appreciates the tradition of the Canadian game, saying the league “has a strong history,” and the CFL will always be part of him.

The 29-year-old oozes charisma, and he brings the fun factor every day at practice. Gore is liked and respected by his teammates and coaches, and his signature sparkling smile has helped make him a fan favourite in Vancouver. He plays the game the right way, but more importantly, Gore treats people the right way.

The inspiring play of BC’s receivers has provided fans with plenty to cheer about in Lions land this season. Arceneaux, Burnham and Gore are all on pace to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau in 2016. If that happens, they will be the first trio of receivers to do so in a Leos’ uniform since Geroy Simon, Jason Clermont and Ryan Thelwell did it back in 2005.

Sitting in second place in the West at 8-3, the BC Lions are playing like Grey Cup contenders this season. Having Arceneaux, Burnham and Gore firing on all cylinders come playoff time would make the Lions a very difficult team to defend against. Hopefully Jennings will continue to spread the ball around and the Leos will be playing football deep into November. 
"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)
green road kill
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Why worry so mutch about so mutch about stat pritty. There a ownly two stats that count, wins and losses and the score at the end of the game and in that the Lions are in secound place. A team could have the most beutifull stat sheet in football,but if there lossing games what good does it do them
Edmonton,Hamilton,Winnepeg, and Ottawa all might look prettier on paper than we are,but then again when has paper ever played football.
Last week we went up against Monteal and there league leading D, first in this first in that ,first in blaady blaw blaw, and we blew them up.We put 38 pionts on the board and 600yrds of offence.
We took the ball with over 3 minutes left in the game and did't give it back.We ran the ball when every one in North America new what we going to do,and there was nothing Montreal and stat pretty could do about it.
This team can win and they believe they can win,and thats what is going to get us a home play off game.I don't have a crystell ball to see what is going to happen down the sretch,but I think that this team has done enough to put a little bit more fear into Edmonton and Winnepeg than they'd like
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DanoT
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The stat sheet can be useful in identifying strengths, weaknesses and tendencies. However I think it is usually only relevant if you look at recent game stats because rosters, tendencies, etc. are often in flux and what happened at the start of the season stat wise can skew the numbers one way or another and thus not produce an accurate up to date analysis of where the team is now.
Blitz
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DanoT wrote:The stat sheet can be useful in identifying strengths, weaknesses and tendencies. However I think it is usually only relevant if you look at recent game stats because rosters, tendencies, etc. are often in flux and what happened at the start of the season stat wise can skew the numbers one way or another and thus not produce an accurate up to date analysis of where the team is now.
I certainly agree that stats are always in a state of flux, based on rosters, injuries, personnel decisions, opponents played against, play calls, etc. etc.

More recent stats often have more value over stats that reflect the longer term, in terms of weaknesses and strengths. The best example is our last game. Two personnel decisions on the offensive line and a fresh tailback made a huge difference in that game.

But recent stats can also skew a longer term tendencies too. So many different ways to utilize stats.

Stats are only one tool of many tools to evaluate a team and its individual players, its tendencies, opposition tendencies, etc. Coaches also grade players performances each game, based on specific criterion.

Simple stats can distort. For example defensive tackles can be a reflection of poor performance. A defensive back making too many tackles can mean that the receiver he is covering is making too many catches.

But usually, the team with very good regular season stats, especially on defense wins in the playoffs. In the NFL Seattle had the best defense in 2013 and 2014 and won the 2013 Super Bowl and should have won the following year too, if not for one key play. Last year Denver had the NFL's best defence and won the Super Bowl.

The Eskimos had the best defense, statistically, in most categories, during the regular season in 2015 and won the Grey Cup. The season before, the same held true for the Calgary Stampeders. The Saskatchewan Rough Riders won the 2013 Grey Cup with the best regular season defense. An exception was in 2012, when our Leos had the best defence in the CFL but lost in the WDF. But in 2011 we won the Grey Cup with the league's best defence.

The team with the best stats over the course of the regular season has won the Grey Cup 4 out of the last 5 years.

But statistical analysis is a huge growing trend in sports. Advanced analysis is the biggest trend. Baseball was where advanced analysis was first used, football was made for analytics, and its become a growing trend in hockey as well. Most NFL teams now have an analytics department and those departments are growing.

Used wisely, stats and analytics can play an important role in a team's success or not. If Edmonton is lined up with a second and four, inside the red zone, the number of times they run in that situation, the players they tend to throw to in that situation, the favorite plays they like to run in that situation can assist in what type of defensive play call to make.

In football, the low hanging fruit in analytics is in coaches' decision making.

Stats in sports have always been important when it comes to rating or ranking a player. Stats can be interpreted in different ways, but there is no ignoring them. And in today’s sports world analytics have become more important than ever.

Some fans like reading them. Other don't care about them so much.
"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)
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pennw
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Stats are interesting to read and are useful . I understand the point greenroadkill is trying to make (i think ) , they can be misleading at the same time or mis-used . But if you don't like them , you don't have to read them , others like to read them .
They can be very useful when used correctly , which I'm sure coaches try to do . But often they are used in inaccurate ways by fans or perhaps media to bolster their own point of view . And this is because stats only tell a part of the story . Eskies have two receivers who are on top , does this mean the EE are on top ? No , they are in 4th place . So what is missing from the picture ? I can't be bothered to investigate , but BC has a trio of receivers doing pretty good , but not as good as those Eskies. However BC has some pretty good RBs putting up decent running numbers to compliment those receivers , and of course more running plays can mean less pass plays .
The Als have a linebacker named Bear Woods leading the lead in tackles . This usually is interpreted by some in the media as meaning he is the best linebacker in the league . But is it true that he is the best ? Not IMO , no way would I ever consider trading one of our LBs for him . A few years ago JC Sherritt was considered the best based on this one stat alone , but since then he's not ? The fact is at that time the Esks were a bad team and the high tackle numbers only reflected the fact that the Esks spent that much time on defense , just like Blitz's example of the the DB who gets picked on having high tackle numbers. And the Als are the second from the bottom team and I suspect Woods' stats reflect the same thing . I don't see this guy as near the same athlete as Biggie. Just lile I said a few years ago about Sherritt , he hasn't repeated the same performance . The better your Offense and defense , the less tackles your linebackers are required to make . A 10 play drive always results in more tackles than a 2 and out . The tackle stat would be more useful if given out was the average yardage given up along the way to go with it .
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pennw
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The stat about receivers , how many times they are targeted vs how many catches they made would be better understood too , if accompanied by how many of those throws were catchable balls . Ianuzzi being farther away from QB , is ball in good position for him to catch as often as for recievers who play close to the QB ? IMO this makes difference , I do not see Ianuzzi dropping many balls he should have caught . If its way over his head going out of bounds is that his fault ? This where pro coaches are better at analyzing stats than fans . They have way more tape and spend far more time breaking it down .
Stats about QBs raise the same sort of questions .Most fans do not have the time nor resources to get into such detail . And many fans have their own points of view they are trying to bolster using stats .
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Personally I like stats, but I don't usually have the time to do much research. If others want to examine it, all the better. I think the most important stat that impacts on a team is overall game Time of Possession (lose that stat most of the time you lose the game).

As for position stats, QB and Kicking/Punting are interesting because they often aren't indicative of success or failure. Rushing stats interest me because of figures like "team x has won every game that player y has had x carries/yds."

I agree with pennw that having the highest amount of tackles is nothing to be happy about, because it's the result of an adverse team situation (you're on the field too long).
Blitz
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pennw wrote:The stat about receivers , how many times they are targeted vs how many catches they made would be better understood too , if accompanied by how many of those throws were catchable balls . Ianuzzi being farther away from QB , is ball in good position for him to catch as often as for recievers who play close to the QB ? IMO this makes difference , I do not see Ianuzzi dropping many balls he should have caught .

If its way over his head going out of bounds is that his fault ? This where pro coaches are better at analyzing stats than fans . They have way more tape and spend far more time breaking it down .

Stats about QBs raise the same sort of questions .Most fans do not have the time nor resources to get into such detail . And many fans have their own points of view they are trying to bolster using stats penw .
The Als have a linebacker named Bear Woods leading the lead in tackles . This usually is interpreted by some in the media as meaning he is the best linebacker in the league . But is it true that he is the best ? Not IMO , no way would I ever consider trading one of our LBs for him . A few years ago JC Sherritt was considered the best based on this one stat alone , but since then he's not ?

The fact is at that time the Esks were a bad team and the high tackle numbers only reflected the fact that the Esks spent that much time on defense , just like Blitz's example of the the DB who gets picked on having high tackle numbers. And the Als are the second from the bottom team and I suspect Woods' stats reflect the same thing . I don't see this guy as near the same athlete as Biggie. Jusa t lile I said a few years ago about Sherritt , he hasn't repeated the same performance . The bettter your Offense and defense , the less tackles your linebackers are required to make. penw
I often include stats in a thread or post to add interest, to support a point of view at times, or for just plain information.

Sometimes I find, when researching stats, they support a concept that I have and at other times they surprise me and change my thought process.

As I wrote, in the thread,

Stats are only one tool of many tools to evaluate a team and its individual players, its tendencies, opposition tendencies, etc. Coaches also grade players performances each game, based on specific criterion.

Simple stats can distort. For example defensive tackles can be a reflection of poor performance. A defensive back making too many tackles can mean that the receiver he is covering is making too many catches.
I agree wholeheartedly with penw regarding defensive tackles. Bear Woods leads the CFL in defensive tackkes and Sol E. and Bighioll are second and third in tackles in the CFL. Sheritt won an award based in the past based mainly on his defensive tackles. Sometimes, when you're linebackers are making too many, it means that your defensive line is not playing well enough. Sometimes there are other reasons.

As has been pointed out, simple stats do not tell the whole story. The example of Iannuzzi is a good one. Why do we have the least success rate throwing to him, based on targets vs catches. Has the quarterback missed him too many times? Haystve we thrown high difficulty throws to him? Advanced analytics deals with this type of scenario. Perhaps we need to use Iannuzzi on different patterns. Perhaps he is not getting open enough. Perhaps the quarterback should not have made certain throws to him.

But the stat does have significance, in terms of targeting Iannuzzi, and the number of receptions based on those targets. Its not something that just should be ignored.

Edmonton has two 1,000 yard receivers. That stat does mean that Edmonton throws to them a lot in comparison to using their other receivers. It does provide information regarding passing/reception balance in Edmonton.

The stat that surprised me most is that our Lions have had more second and 7 or longer situations than any other CFL going into our bye week. We were also the most successful team and second and 7 or longer than any other CFL team. However, as can be expected, we perform much better with second and 4-6 yds. and even better with second and 3 or less.

The Calgary Stampeders are one of the worst offences in the CFL and second and 7 or longer. The problem is that they have the best 1st down offence in the CFL so they see less second and long situations.

If we could make some changes in terms of what we are doing offensively on 1st down or with our execution with what we are presently doing on first down, it could be a difference maker.

All stats have to be looked at it context with the bigger picture and most stats have to be explored in greater depth than the ones that are recorded for fans.

Still, they can add colors to the discussion.
"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)
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