Leos/Red Blacks Post Game Thoughts

[Ballistic Bob]

On that pick at the end of the game Gaitor should of taken a knee. 3 seconds and game over. BB

He's a rookie , that was his first TD and it was a safe play . Why should he not have gone for it ?

Not to beat a dead horse but Ottawa had time left to recieve a kickoff. They do get run back last time I checked. BB

[Blitz]

On that pick at the end of the game Gaitor should of taken a knee. 3 seconds and game over. BB

He's a rookie , that was his first TD and it was a safe play . Why should he not have gone for it ?

Not to beat a dead horse but Ottawa had time left to recieve a kickoff. They do get run back last time I checked. BB

The horse is dead but we are giving it CPR!

Yes, but with the kickoff, we were up 8 points and they had 3 seconds. Without the interception, we are only up by 1 and there is 10 seconds left on the clock. Enough time for a long bomb or a pass interference call and then kick the winning field goal.

I'll take the interception over the other scenario. Obviously you don't Ballistic Bob. It's an interesting scenario, in terms of the two options.

Don't feel bad about the horse. It was old and formerly ridden to celebrate Calgary touchdowns.

[Ballistic Bob]

One last time. We are only up by 7. Leone missed another convert. Gaitor intercepts and takes a knee. Jennings takes a knee. Thats the safe play. BB

[Blitz]

One last time. We are only up by 7. Leone missed another convert. Gaitor intercepts and takes a knee. Jennings takes a knee. Thats the safe play. BB

We are up by 1 before the Gaitor touchdown run back.

For some reason, I thought you wanted him to knock the football down but now know that you just wanted him to take a knee. I guess he could have fumbled but he also could have run out of bounds if he saw a tackler. Of course he likely would not have.

You're right. Taking the knee was the safest choice for that situation. Jennings takes a knee and game over. With 3 seconds left Ottawa got a chance for a kick return to be able to tie the game. It was a good squib kickoff but anything can happen.

But if I'm a rookie cornerback and its second down and the ball is in my hands on an interception and no one has told me what to do in that situation, in an exciting game, and there is tons of space in front of me, the adrenalin is pumping and I'm running.

But you definitely made the correct call for what was the best thing for Gaitor to do for that situation.

[TheLionKing]

The interception return added to the excitement for the fans.

[WestCoastJoe]

It is a situation for consideration.

A team runs in five yards for a TD on first down. Time left on the clock. The other team scores and wins. Should the first team have killed some time?

Gaitor could have downed the ball on the one yard line. LOL. That ain't gonna happen. He could consider stopping at the one, ready to move forward as the other team closes in.

In an unstoppable air show by both teams, the team that has the ball with time left might win.

A tough one ...

A completely unselfish player might down the ball after the interception. I expect he would be honoured in football lore. Similar to a receiver or running back who gives the ball to a lineman for the final yard of a TD play.

[Lions4ever]

To keep things in perspective while discussing Richie Leone , it may be worth comparing his stats to not only other kickers in the the league but also kickers of the past . A good example would be None other than Lui Passaglia who had a career average of approximately 77% on field goals . His first year he was good on 57% . His last year was his best at 90% which brought up his overall average . Most years his average was lower than Leone's with a number of years in the 60% range .

Then there is the legend of the Esks , Dave Cutler with a approximately 54% field goal average . His worst year was 34 % , his best was 68.8% .
This shows how far players have come . While Leone lags behind others today in FGs , he is head shoulders above the rest in punting and some other kickers being compared to , have second guy on the roster to do the punting for them . When comparing to Rene Paredes , one should remember he has a guy named Rob Maver doing the punting , while Leone does both jobs . How good a punter is Paredes ? And how good is Maver at field goals? It would seem that the Stamps coaches don't see either guy as good enough to do both .leone did come here to do the punting but then was asked to place kick too , because it would seem our coaching staff values the extra roster spot he gives us more than the accuracy of the field goals .

Good points. Expectations of kickers (mine included) are much higher than in the somewhat more distant past. Jan Stenerud is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with a 66.8% lifetime success rate on FGs and a career long of 54. I'm wondering if you'd even be able to keep a job today with those numbers.

[David]

BC Place exploded when Gaitor intercepted Harris's pass. It would have been weird with that much energy in the building to suddenly take a knee or even step out of bounds. No one (but purists like us) would have understood it and it would have been a semi buzz kill. If we couldn't cover a squib kick with no time on the clock then we deserved to lose!

The more egregious error IMO was the Ottawa kick returner who decided to field Leone's punt at the 2 yard line instead of letting it bounce into the end-zone for a useless single. That would have given Trevor Harris the opportunity to start a drive at the 35-yard and with Milo's range...


DH