Leos/Red Blacks Post Game Thoughts

[Blitz]

It was a shootout at the Ok Corrall, well really it was B.C. Place and what an exciting shoot out it was. But the last man standing, or rather the last team standing, after all the bullets were fired, was our B.C Lions.

With over 1,000 yards of offence, with the highest scoring first half in this 2016 season, football fans were treated to an exciting football game that featured two impressive quarterbacks, a lot of offensive talent, and an array of many explosive, big offensive plays.

Our B.C. Lions prevailed 40-33 . Jonathan Jennings was hot, hitting 80% of his passing attempts, many of the deep variety, for 348 yds. and 3 touchdowns.

Ottawa's Trevor Harris completed 71% of his passes for a whopping 485 yds. and two touchdowns. But Jennings was the quarterback who prevailed as the two gunslingers went head to head in leading their offences.

Here are some post game thoughts.

OFFENCE

Our offence put up 461 yard of offence against the Red Blacks. We rushed for 113 yds against the CFL's best run defence, with Anthony Allen leading the way with 82 yards on 12 carries (6.8 yd. average). What pleased me more was that we had a more diversified running attack. Allen's biggest gain on the night was a 27 yard run on an inside handoff power sweep that he cut back. Terrell Sinkfield had 2 carries and Rainey had one carry and Jennings ran for a key first down on one series.

Shawn Gore (4 catches for 85 yds. and Terrel Sinkfield (4 catches for 84 yds. led our receivers. Gore had a 43 yd. reception and Sinkfield got in behind coverage for a 31 yd. touchdown reception.

Manny Arseneaux caught a 61 yd. bomb on our first series, which was immediately followed by a 30 yard touchdown reception by Chris Rainey, who leapt and then outfought Ottawa's middle linebacker for the football. Arseneaux also scored on a short pass and run play.

Bryan Burnham made an impressive run after a catch for an 18 yard gain to take the football to the one yard line. And shocking was that we inserted Adekolu into the game later in the 4th quarter and his 19 yard catch and run was a key play.

Our offensive game plan and play calling was the best I have seen all season for the following reasons:

1. We ran a sweep and a quick toss, diversifying our running attack. Sinkfield almost broke the quick toss for a touchdown run and the sweep play led to a 27 yard gain by Allen

2. We used Sinkfield for some deep patterns and also involved him in the backfield. We also moved our receivers around in this game more often.

3. We used misdirection play action on a few occasions and they worked every time for key receptions.

4. We put Manny in motion, had him reverse his motion and then hit him in the flat and with a great Burnham block, Arseneaux scored.

5. In inserted Adekolu into the offence and he looked cool and determined on his 19 yard reception. He is a big target that can add to our offence.

6. We ran a couple of pre-determined swing passes and draw plays. Both added to offensive diversity.

Credit to Khari Jones for getting away from vanilla. Credit to Jonathan Jennings, whose accurate arm on deep throws is amazing.

DEFENCE

Ottawa put up 543 yard of offence against our defense. This game exposed a number of flaws in our defense that need to get corrected.

Mark Washington tried everything. Four man pass rushes, three man pass rushes, a variety of blitzes, Cover 1, Cover 2, and Cover 3. He used Bighill in a Cover 3 and he also used Purifoy in a Cover 3. He inserted Aragki into the game and went 3-4. He used zone blitzes and dropped Bazzie into coverage. He tried almost everything and looked like he was grasping at straws rather than throwing a variety of defenses at Ottawa. He was desperate.

Trevor Harris often threw quickly but our pass rush was not good enough until late in the fourth quarter.

The first problem on our defense is Brandon Stewart, who was beaten time and time again in this game. His coverage skills are just not good enough and he is playing the wide corner position, the easiest of all the defensive backfield positions. He even missed an easy special teams tackle.

Anthony Fenner misplayed a zone/cover 2 defence by over-adjusting and not covering his deep one half of the field properly. Chris Williams, who was the only deep receiver on that side of the field, scored a touchdown on the play. But that is correctable.

Gaitor played well overall and made a nice interception touchdown return late in the game.. He also made a key breakup to Chris Williams on a second and short, late in the fourth quarter. He covered like a blanket and his interception touchdown return means that he leads our defensive backs in interceptions and touchdowns this season and he has only played during the second half of this season. He's a good one.


Mike Edem missed a key tackle in the game that led to a long Ottawa drive that would have been stopped if he had made the play. His anticipation skills also need to improve.


Mark Washington went to a Cover 3 with Bighill in the middle deep safety position in the second half a number of times. Whey he does that is beyond me. It led to a huge Chris Williams pass and run play, as Bighill missed the tackle. But Bighill should not be placed in that position of covering a Chris Williams in that kind of space.

David Menard, in the fourth quarter, got a great pass rush on Harris, that led to a key tackle by Eliminian and that play led to an Ottawa two and out. Sol. E. had an excellent game with 13 defensive tackles. Darius Allen was non-existent again. Brooks had 0 tackles and 0 sacks.

Our defense was very fortunate with the chop block call on Ottawa late in the game.

Overall, it was a poor defensive performance but our defense played its best late in the game and our improved pressure at that point of the game was enough to thwart Ottawa's offence. We only gave up 3 points in the 4th quarter.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Chris Rainey had a key 42 yard punt return, using his tremendous speed to break to the outside. He basically made the play on his own.

Richie Leone hit two field goals but missed two converts. His field goal kicking is still an adventure but his punting really helped with field position in the second half. He averaged 51 yards a punt and had a 70 yard single in the second half. Ottawa's Medeiros only had a 37.8 yd. punt average and that helped with field position for our Leos.

WRAP

A big win for our Leos who are now solidly in second place with a game in hand. It also was an excellent, entertaining win at home for our Leos fans.

It was an exciting game to watch.

[Alputt]

I'm glad it was an exciting game as I gave my tix to my father in-law since we couldn't make it and he's a lifer fan... I hope they had a great time!

[B.C.FAN]

As Blitz said, it was a shootout and the Lions prevailed.

Trevor Harris and the Ottawa offence were nearly unstoppable, especially in the first half when Harris had over 300 yards passing. Only three dropped passes, a catch ruled out of bounds on a B.C. challenge and a knockdown by Adam Bighill prevented a purrfect half of football. Harris didn't throw an off-target pass until the third quarter. Ottawa had the purrfect game plan for the B.C. defence, with lots of misdirection and play action passes in the flat. Anthony Gaitor and Chandler Fenner had some blown coverages. Mark Washington had a long talk with Gaitor after he bit on a quick move by Chris Williams and got beaten for a touchdown. Mostly, though, the Redblacks isolated receivers in one-on-one coverage and had B.C. defenders pursuing from side to side and often unable to prevent first downs.

As Blitz said, Washington mixed up his coverages and overplayed the wide side of the field with Stewart, Phillips, Purifoy, Edem and even Alex Bazzie dropping into coverage on that side at one point in the second half to try to cut down on passing lanes. That's when the Redblacks started running the ball with more success. It wasn't until late in the fourth quarter that the Lions managed to take away Harris's first read. That gave the front four an extra second or two to pressure Harris and force some bad throws, including Gaitor's pick-six that sealed the victory.

Turnovers were the key to the game. Ottawa had more offensive yardage and five minute more time of possession but the Lions scored 9 points on two Ottawa turnovers while not turning the ball over themselves. Chris Rainey also set up a B.C. field goal on a long punt return. That's 12 points generated by B.C.'s defence and special teams, while Ottawa's points were all generated by their offence.

While Jonathon Jennings didn't put up quite as much yardage as Harris, I was impressed that B.C.'s offence answered back every time Ottawa scored, beginning in the first quarter when Ottawa opened with a 12-play scoring drive and the Lions answered in two big plays. B.C. matched Ottawa in big plays, with four long completions to Arceneaux, Rainey, Gore and Sinkfield.

I was disappointed to see Gore leave the game in the fourth quarter but happy to see Adekolu make his first catch on his first offensive play of the season, and then pick up 19 yards and try to hurdle four defenders. He's been waiting two years for an opportunity but Gore and Iannuzzi have been healthy all that time. I hope Gore is able to return next week but would still like to see Adekolu get more reps on offence.

[TheLionKing]

To say it was an entertaining game is a gross understatement. Ottawa had the Lions defence off balance the whole night with their quick passes, deep passes, screens, slants, runs and misdirection plays. They threw everything at the Lions. Defence had no idea what was coming. It wasn't until the 4th quarter that they finally forced a 2 and out. In addition to offensive explosion that both team put on, the University of Washington Marching Band put on an entertaining pregame and halftime show.

[Blitz]

As Blitz said, it was a shootout and the Lions prevailed.

Trevor Harris and the Ottawa offence were nearly unstoppable, especially in the first half when Harris had over 300 yards passing. Only three dropped passes, a catch ruled out of bounds on a B.C. challenge and a knockdown by Adam Bighill prevented a purrfect half of football. Harris didn't throw an off-target pass until the third quarter. Ottawa had the purrfect game plan for the B.C. defence, with lots of misdirection and play action passes in the flat. Anthony Gaitor and Chandler Fenner had some blown coverages. Mark Washington had a long talk with Gaitor after he bit on a quick move by Chris Williams and got beaten for a touchdown. Mostly, though, the Redblacks isolated receivers in one-on-one coverage and had B.C. defenders pursuing from side to side and often unable to prevent first downs.

As Blitz said, Washington mixed up his coverages and overplayed the wide side of the field with Stewart, Phillips, Purifoy, Edem and even Alex Bazzie dropping into coverage on that side at one point in the second half to try to cut down on passing lanes. That's when the Redblacks started running the ball with more success. It wasn't until late in the fourth quarter that the Lions managed to take away Harris's first read. That gave the front four an extra second or two to pressure Harris and force some bad throws, including Gaitor's pick-six that sealed the victory.

Turnovers were the key to the game. Ottawa had more offensive yardage and five minute more time of possession but the Lions scored 9 points on two Ottawa turnovers while not turning the ball over themselves. Chris Rainey also set up a B.C. field goal on a long punt return. That's 12 points generated by B.C.'s defence and special teams, while Ottawa's points were all generated by their offence.

While Jonathon Jennings didn't put up quite as much yardage as Harris, I was impressed that B.C.'s offence answered back every time Ottawa scored, beginning in the first quarter when Ottawa opened with a 12-play scoring drive and the Lions answered in two big plays. B.C. matched Ottawa in big plays, with four long completions to Arceneaux, Rainey, Gore and Sinkfield.

I was disappointed to see Gore leave the game in the fourth quarter but happy to see Adekolu make his first catch on his first offensive play of the season, and then pick up 19 yards and try to hurdle four defenders. He's been waiting two years for an opportunity but Gore and Iannuzzi have been healthy all that time. I hope Gore is able to return next week but would still like to see Adekolu get more reps on offence.

I found the game almost strange to watch offensively, because all the things I had posted about our running game needing to attack the edges with a sweep or quick pitch, rather than just using the one inside zone read run and for our passing attack to include some misdirection semi-rollout and sprint out action on occasion to move the pocket happened right in front of my eyes.

It was the first game we've run a sweep all year and when I saw Allen take an inside handoff on a sweep, spread the defense horizontally, and then cut if up for a 27 yard gain, I could harly believe my eyes. We also ran three quick toss runs to the outside and used the draw play effectively.

I also watched the first sprint out that we have run all year. With misdirection play action, Jennings hit Iannuazzi on the wide side for a key first down on our final offensive drive of the game. We also ran two other sprint out plays and a semi-boot in the game, with completions to Gore and Sinkfield. It was a treat to see us move the pocket on occasion for Jennings and every time we did it was very successful.

It was a treat for me to see Adekolu get into a game and make a nice catch and run. There is no reason why we shouldn't be giving him some rotational reps at wide side outside receiver, especially with Iannuzzi going back on punts. He's a big target with great hands. We use almost all of our personnel for rotational reps on offence and defense in personnel packages.

Calgary gets all of its receivers into games by using different packages. Calgary spells off McDaniel with Durrant and Parker with Charbonneau Campea. Durant has 37 receptions for 335 yards and Charbonneau Campea has 19 receptions for 148 yards spelling off Parker. Getting a fresh receiver like Adekolu in for some rotational reps not only gives him game experience and pushes Iannuzzi but we could also design some pass plays that utilize his strengths. If either Gore or Iannuzzi get injured in a game or for any stretch of time, Adekolu would be game ready. But for some reason, we've just sat him on the sidelines for two seasons. That is not developing him and its not smart.

I also was very pleased that we did not 'plug and play' Sinkfield. We used him on the outside at times and we also used him in the backfield. This game was the best game all season from Khari Jones, who finally showed some ability to adapt his scheme in both the running game and passing game.

On defense, Ottawa attacked our wide side of the field, as almost all opposition offences have done this season when they have been successful. I believe they see Stewart as a weakness to attack as well as the style of defense we play exposes us to that side of the field. We not only, as you said B.C. Fan "overplayed the wide side of the field with Stewart, Phillips, Purifoy, Edem and even Alex Bazzie dropping into coverage on that side at one point in the second half to try to cut down on passing lanes" but we also tried a 3-4 defense with Aragki for the first time this season and also went to a dum Cover 3 with Bighill as the middle free safety.

There is absolutely no reason to use Bighill as a Cover 3 middle safety. If Washington thinks that it fools a quarterback, the quarterback can see Bighill running back there, from his linebacker position from a mile away. Secondly, it asks Bighill, a linebacker to cover a fleet receiver in the open field or make open field tackles in too much space.

If we want to go Cover 3, in that way, put Purifoy there or insert Fraser or Thompson. Last season, Washington came up with the 'bright' idea of using Bighill as a Cover 2 safety, covering the deep one half of the field. He did that for a huge chunk of last season, with disastrous results. When he finally threw that lame brain idea away, our defense played so much better. Bighill is a very good cover linebacker and a decent blitzer. Let him do what he does best.

I thought Gaitor had an excellent game, overall. On Chris William's first touchdown we were in a Cover 2 and Gaitor played it like a zone/cover 2 defense and let Williams run by him, which Fenner, responsible for the deep half of the field on that side, slid slightly inside when Harris slid to his right and looked right and then came back on the deep throw to Williams. Fenner was late getting over due to his positioning. However, Gaitor only had to make one defensive tackle because they never threw at him - they mostly worked the wide side or they used misdirection play action to open up the inside slant patterns.

I would love to see us use Jeremy Harris in Stewart's wide side corner spot. Parker can play that position better. But I know we're probably stuck with Stewart there for the rest of the season.

It wasn't until late in the fourth quarter that the Lions managed to take away Harris's first read. That gave the front four an extra second or two to pressure Harris and force some bad throws, including Gaitor's pick-six that sealed the victory. B.C. Fan

Great point. It was a key to our defensive game in the fourth quarter. However, too many offences have been successful this season attacking our wide side flat. Toronto did it to us in our first loss of the season and then came back to the run. Calgary did it to us when they blew us out in our third contest. Edmonton attacked our flat and then came back with the run. Its something we gotta get fixed.

When Menard was in the game, he got good pressure. Its a waste to play Darius Allen. I was disappointed that we didn't use Bryant Turner Jr.once again, but we really need a nose tackle type next season. Menard has outplayed both Allen and Hudson this year, with much less opportunities.

Chris Rainey, with a great catch on offence and a 41 yard punt return, was once again a key factor. Sinkfield's speed is obvious. I would love to see us line both up in the backfield and use them on occasion for a split screen or have both sprint to the flats and run a quarterback draw. We really should add a jailbreak or hitch screen for Sinkfield. With the speed of Rainey and Sinkfield, we really should develop some misdirection play action and get then the football quickly to one of them with a short pass in space and let the run.

I loved the touchdown pass/run that Arseneaux scored on. It showed the advantage of misdirection motion rather than just waggling our slotbacks all the time.

[SammyGreene]

As the season continues to unfold it's reminding more of the 2004 team when we had an exciting young QB and emerged as an upper echelon team but our defence wasn't quite up to championship standards. Heck, the place-kickers from those two teams are (were) very erratic to be kind. It meant winning high-scoring games like last night which isn't a bad thing when you are trying to recapture the attention of this market.

This defence has certainly been dominant at times but the last 2 weeks has shown its warts big time against elite QBs when the front 4 on its own isn't producing enough pressure. Don't know what has happened to Brooks. He has basically been invisible for a significant stretch now. When I was exclusively watching just him last night from he stands, it was all 1-on-1 match-ups so its not from double teams. Bazzie has also cooled off from his great start. Their drop-offs combined from what little you are getting from your other DE spot and it adds up to a very ineffective pass rush.

As Blitz pointed out, Khari Jones was innovative with his play calling last night which often can be the case when you have been completely shutdown like they were the week before against Edmonton.

Calgary on their way to 1st place. The Lions holding their ground in 2nd thanks to a dominating 7-1 record against Eastern teams but still lot to prove against the West at 1-2. The Bombers slipping a little but gets BC back-to-back weeks. The Eskimos surging and probably the 2nd most dangerous team in the league right now.

Fasten your seat belts for what should be a great next 3 weeks at least.

[Blitz]

As the season continues to unfold it's reminding more of the 2004 team when we had an exciting young QB and emerged as an upper echelon team but our defence wasn't quite up to championship standards. Heck, the place-kickers from those two teams are (were) very erratic to be kind. It meant winning high-scoring games like last night which isn't a bad thing when you are trying to recapture the attention of this market.

This defence has certainly been dominant at times but the last 2 weeks has shown its warts big time against elite QBs when the front 4 on its own isn't producing enough pressure. Don't know what has happened to Brooks. He has basically been invisible for a significant stretch now. When I was exclusively watching just him last night from he stands, it was all 1-on-1 match-ups so its not from double teams. Bazzie has also cooled off from his great start. Their drop-offs combined from what little you are getting from your other DE spot and it adds up to a very ineffective pass rush.

As Blitz pointed out, Khari Jones was innovative with his play calling last night which often can be the case when you have been completely shutdown like they were the week before against Edmonton.

Calgary on their way to 1st place. The Lions holding their ground in 2nd thanks to a dominating 7-1 record against Eastern teams but still lot to prove against the West at 1-2. The Bombers slipping a little but gets BC back-to-back weeks. The Eskimos surging and probably the 2nd most dangerous team in the league right now.

Fasten your seat belts for what should be a great next 3 weeks at least.

Thrilled about the win Sammy. Jennings and Company answered every challenge.

When Ottawa completed six passes in a row and dissected our defense for a touchdown on their opening drive, Jennings hit Arseneaux for 48 yards and Rainey for a 30 yd. touchdown.

When Ottawa took the lead, after Harris hit Williams for a deep pass touchdown, Jennings came back with two passes to Sinkfield and Gore for 70 yards and then capped the drive off with a 3 yd. pass and run to Arseneaux.

Jennings, in the second half, when Ottawa took a 1 point lead, Jennings threw to Iannuzzi, Sinkfield, and Burnham to get us to the Ottawa one yard ine, where Travis Lulay punched it in.

When Madu scored for Ottawa, giving Ottawa a 3 point lead going into the fourth quarter, Jennings threw twice to Shawn Gore and then hit Sinkfield with a purrfect deep throw for a 31 yard touchdown to give us the lead again, lead we did not relinquish.

However, on defense, we gave up passes of 68, 68, 44, 39, 30, 52, and 53 yards while Harris passed for 485 yards. That's not pass defence. That's atrocious pass defence.

We lost both Lee and Clarke (who was outstanding) to injury this season. The boundary half position is the toughest spot to play in the defensive backfield. But Gaitor went in and also played very well at boundary halfback. But when Ronnie Yell got hurt, we moved Brandon Stewart to boundary corner for two games and he couldn't get the job done. Boundary corner is the next toughest spot to play on pass defense.

So we had to move Stewart back to wide side corner. That meant moving Gaitor to boundary corner and inserting rookie Chandler Fenner to boundary halfback.

But the boundary side of our pass defence has not been our problem this year. Its been the wide side. Stewart can't cover well enough and Edem is not good enough. It forces us to go Cover 2 and in this game, it forced us into even a Cover 3 to allow our wide side to attempt to play tight enough. Using Bighill in the middle safety position for a Cover 3 is jaw dropping. We even dropped Bazzie to the wide side at times and tried using Aragki in a 3-4 to try to stop the slant passes.

Our defensive line is also not good enough. Basically our pass rush comes from Bazzie or Westerman or Menard when we play him. Craig Roh basically gets clean up sacks. Brooks has 0 sacks and Allen or Hudson, when they are playing our rotational defensive end are a waste. We'd be better off either playing Uko or Bryant Turner Jr. as a rotational defensive tackle and playing Menard more.

Our defensive line play on run defense is also lacking. Roh is not a good run defender and Brooks is not making run defense plays. Eliminian and Bighill are forced to make too many tackles.

I was hoping that we would sign an NFL cut defensive end to come in and take over one of our rotational International defensive end positions. Calgary recently signed Cordarro Law, an NFL cut, who had 15 sacks in 18 games the last time he suited up for Calgary.

Our defense is a worry right now. I would be happy to see Jeremy Lane inserted for Brandon Stewart but that likely won't happen. I would also like to see Thompson get some reps in Edem's spot, whose play has been anything but stellar and could use a message.

I'm thrilled about the win but our defense is going to likely be playing Winnipeg and if we win, playing Calgary in the playoffs. We can't count on our offence playing lights out against those defenses. As you point out Sammy, our defence does not play well against very good quarterbacks. Bo Levi Mitchell shredded our defense with a 73.7% completion rate and 340 yards the last time we played Calgary. Mike Reilly completed 77.4% of his passes against us last week. Harris completed 71.1% of his passes for 485 yds. against us last night.

Mark Washington better get it figured out and should also consider personnel changes.

An exciting game for sure. Jennings is special and our receiving group now has all the weapons needed. Khari Jones, at least for one game, showied that he can make changes to an offence that has been way too vanilla.

But if we want to have a good shot at going to the Big Dance, improvements on defence are needed and there needs to be a sense of urgency about them.

[WestCoastJoe]

From the Island, on the tablet.

Only managed to see the highlights. But one gets the picture, thanks to TV, sports reporting, and this website.

Pretty awesome offensive display. Gotta love CFL QBs. Harris ain't too shabby. And Jennings is some kind of revelation. 80%. Over 300 yards. 3 TDs. No Ints, Using all the weapons. Making all the throws. Those numbers are crazy good. We, as fans, are blessed.

Receivers in Heaven with JJ at the helm. Manny. Burnie. Shawn. Marco. Sinkfield.

Great RBs.

Now about that defence, as Blitz has pointed out in great detail.

Run stopping? As considered numerous times this year, this fan wonders if we planned mistakenly in terms of DT personnel. No NT types. No run stoppers in the middle of the D Line. A number of D Ends, but none of All Star level, IMO. Yes, Bazzie can pass rush like a slippery eel. It seems clear we do not have the right mix of International DL types. Nationals are fine with Westerman and Menard.

With ordinary International DEs, no stars aside from pass rush ability from Bazzie, we are in tough. Can't pressure the QB? Ouch. It seems to this fan that this is something of a failure at the personnel planning level. Failure also in personnel planning with the International DTs. As with RBs and receivers, these guys almost grow on trees at American college football factories, but you have to plan well, judge well and choose well.

Bighill back at safety again?

So, back to the drawing board for MW.

Great win. Great CFL shoot out, as noted. A barn burner, as they say. And we have our gun slinger. But he seems like much more than that. He also protects the ball. He is elusive. Calm. Accurate. Inspirational. Raises the level of those around him. Nice to see our O game planning giving him time and space, through a variety of preparations. Well done, Khari.

[Blitz]

From the Island, on the tablet.

Now about that defence, as Blitz has pointed out in great detail.

Run stopping? As considered numerous times this year, this fan wonders if we planned mistakenly in terms of DT personnel. No NT types. No run stoppers in the middle of the D Line. A number of D Ends, but none of All Star level, IMO. Yes, Bazzie can pass rush like a slippery eel. It seems clear we do not have the right mix of International DL types. Nationals are fine with Westerman and Menard.

Bighill back at aafety again?

So, back to the drawing board for MW.

We've posted a number of times WCJ about the need for a NT type of defensive lineman. Why not activate Uko for a game and rotate him in the defensive tackle spot. Its not working with Darius Allen or Hudson. We've been better off rotating in Bryant Turner Jr. but why not Uko?

It won't be on the radar screen, with all the big plays that took place in this game, but perhaps the key drive of the game took place with 2:37 on the clock and our Leos holding a very small lead. Jennings completed a 12 yard pass to Iannuzzi on a play action sprint out. Allen then ran the football tough inside for 5 yards. Jennings then completed an 8 yard pass to Arseneaux, a key short pass on second down. We then ran the football with Sinkfield carrying and then Jennings was stopped short on second down on a quarterback draw.

But, by getting a third series of downs and using three running plays, with two key reception to Iannuzi and Arseneaux, when we punted the football, we had moved the football from our own 31 yard line to the Ottawa 46 yard line. Ottawa, following their punt return, had the football on their own 19 yard line, with only 19 seconds left to play.

Gaitor intercepted Ottawa's pass on second down but Ottawa had a long way to go, with little time on the clock due to the fact that our offence was able to get a first down and run out a lot of clock.

Had we gone two and out, on our final offensive series, we would have been punting from our inside our own 40, with over 2 minutes left on the clock for Ottawa to mount a drive and the outcome could have been different.

[DanoT]

This definitely was a whoever has the ball last, wins, kind of game.

Nice to see the Lions have some new more imaginative plays as Blitz has been calling for. In fact it almost seemed as if the Lions OC has been lurking on Lionbackers and taking notes.

Ottawa sure had a quick passing game with lots of horizontal plays to the boundary and field side, which then opened up the middle of the field for all those deep plays. Maybe the Redblacks OC has been reading some of Blitz's posts as well.

[Blitz]

This definitely was a whoever has the ball last, wins, kind of game.

Nice to see the Lions have some new more imaginative plays as Blitz has been calling for. In fact it almost seemed as if the Lions OC has been lurking on Lionbackers and taking notes.

Ottawa sure had a quick passing game with lots of horizontal plays to the boundary and field side, which then opened up the middle of the field for all those deep plays. Maybe the Redblacks OC has been reading some of Blitz's posts as well.

They wouldn't have the time or the inclination Dano T.

But if almost seemed like they have been taking notice of all the bright minds on Lionbackers, including your thoughts!

Heck they are even using Jennings as the quarterback on converts now, after using Lulay for most of the season - another strong suggestion that could be found on Lionbackers.

One cannot go wrong with the sage minds on this website. We should hire this website out as a football consulting firm.

This week, we'll focus on defense!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[maxlion]

I missed the game last night but watched it on youtube this morning after reading some of the comments posted on here.

Unlike some posters here, I felt that the dline played very well. They limited the redblacks rushing attack, and on the few occasions that Harris held on to the ball more than a second or two, they were getting pressure. The fact is that Harris was getting the ball off very quickly on almost every single play, so there was no opportunity for the dline to get sacks.

The Lions problems on D were entirely on the secondary. It's pretty hard when you are playing against a precision passer and great receiving core, but eventually you have to step up and make some plays, and our secondary failed again and again to do so. Combine this with missed tackles and blown coverages, and you get the huge numbers that Harris put up. I can't blame Fenner and Gaitor too much as they are raw rookies taking the place of all-stars, but they are the weak spot in our D, and Washington will have find some way to compensate for this in the last bit of the season and playoffs.

On offense, I felt that our oline was very good, opening up holes for Allen all night and giving Jennings time to make plays. Jennings was excellent, but I feel that we are relying too much on making big plays, unlike Ottawa who were making the high percentage plays and eating up the clock all night. Still, it's fun to watch our gunslinger QB and all of the offensive talent on our team put on a show.

Leone is a good punter, but probably the worst place kicker I have ever seen--at least among those who lasted more than a game or two. How many games is he going to cost us before we wise up?

I liked that we played disciplined this game.

We got a bit lucky, but also did a lot of things well. Entertaining game for the hometown fans and nice to come away with the win.

[Gridiron Ernie]

Just thought I'd chime in, giving credit where credit is due, for Craig 'Death' Roh -- if my aging eyes weren't deceiving me it was our #93 who, in the act of tackling opposing QB Harris as he attempted to follow through on that last pass, hurried Harris and turned Harris's body just enough so that the pass was errant, which our young Mr. Gaitor conveniently intercepted for his pick-six (nicely escorted by Biggie into the end-zone, and punctuated by a wallop our little-big-man delivered on some hulking o-lineman at the goal-line) which salted the game away. Like almost any football play, it's a combo of course -- a full compliment of efforts. But I just wanted to hereby credit Roh, as the play-by-play boys on TSN didn't bother (although I thought one of them hurriedly offered up #53 Bazzie's number as the possible point of pressure). It was a pivotal part of that pivotal play. IMO, our Mr. Roh became the 'death' of the RedBlacks at that moment. He may very well be a less-than-purrfect player for his position (I wouldn't pretend to know), but, here's credit when/where it's due. Cheers.

[VictoriaFan]

my wife asked why the Lions always go for the 2 points after a TD. After Leone missed the 2 singles in a row I said that's why they go for 2

[Blitz]

I missed the game last night but watched it on youtube this morning after reading some of the comments posted on here.

Unlike some posters here, I felt that the dline played very well. They limited the redblacks rushing attack, and on the few occasions that Harris held on to the ball more than a second or two, they were getting pressure. The fact is that Harris was getting the ball off very quickly on almost every single play, so there was no opportunity for the dline to get sacks.

The Lions problems on D were entirely on the secondary. It's pretty hard when you are playing against a precision passer and great receiving core, but eventually you have to step up and make some plays, and our secondary failed again and again to do so. Combine this with missed tackles and blown coverages, and you get the huge numbers that Harris put up. I can't blame Fenner and Gaitor too much as they are raw rookies taking the place of all-stars, but they are the weak spot in our D, and Washington will have find some way to compensate for this in the last bit of the season and playoffs.

On offense, I felt that our oline was very good, opening up holes for Allen all night and giving Jennings time to make plays. Jennings was excellent, but I feel that we are relying too much on making big plays, unlike Ottawa who were making the high percentage plays and eating up the clock all night. Still, it's fun to watch our gunslinger QB and all of the offensive talent on our team put on a show.

Leone is a good punter, but probably the worst place kicker I have ever seen--at least among those who lasted more than a game or two. How many games is he going to cost us before we wise up?

I liked that we played disciplined this game.

We got a bit lucky, but also did a lot of things well. Entertaining game for the hometown fans and nice to come away with the win.

I agreed with your thoughts maxlion on the play of our offensive line, both in run and pass blocking and the missed tackles and blown coverages on defense.

In just looking at our defensive secondary (and not our linebackers covering their zone areas, I don't agree with the assessment that its Gaitor and Fenner (boundary side) of our secondary that is the biggest problem.

Take Ottawa's first drive of the game. Harris completed two passes to Ellingson, covered and tackled by Brandon Stewart and to Ernest Jackson and Lavoie, who were being covered and tackled by Edem, in his area of responsibility. No passes were completed on that drive against Gaitor and Fenner into the red zone. There was assignment confusion on the 3 yd. touchdown pass to Sinipoli.

On Ottawa's second drive of the game, leading to a field goal, Harris completed a pass to Smith, who was covered and tackled by Thompson, then threw a 47 yd. completion to Ernest Jackson, who was covered and tackled by Edem. Harris completed an 8 yd. pass to Chris Williams, who was covered by Gaitor. Harris then threw to Chris Williams, who was covered and tackled by Stewart.

In the second quarter, Harris completed passes to Sinopoli (covered and tackled by Edem), to Ellingson (covered and pushed out of bounds by Stewart), and to Ernest Jackson (covered and pushed out of bounds by Phillips)

On the next drive Harris passed to Passed to Chris Williams (covered and tackled by Stewart) and then the 68 yard td. pass to Chris Williams, where Fenner did not get over in time and was out of position by reacting to Harris off the play.

On the final Ottawa drive of the half, Harris threw to Sinopoli for 24 yards (covered and tacked by Edem) to Criner (covered and tackled by Stewart) and we challenged the play successfully for an incomplete pass but Stewart had been beaten. Fenner was then beaten by Ellingson and Ottawa kicked a field goal.

By my score, in the first half, Stewart was beaten 6 times, resulting in 5 completions. Edem was beaten 4 times, Fenner was beaten twice, Phillips once, Thompson once, and Gaitor once by Chris Williams for 8 yds.

In the third quarter, Harris completed to Ernest Jackson (covered and tackled by Edem, to Madu (covered and tackled by Edem) and to Criner (covered and pushed out of bounds by Fenner) and on their next drive to Sinopoli (tackled and covered by Fenner) and to Lavoie (covered and tackled by Purifoy) In the fourth quarter, Harris threw to Ernest Jackson (covered and tackled by Purifoy)

Overall, Stewart was beaten 7 times, Edem 6 times, Fenner 4 times, Purifoy twice, Gaitor twice, Thompson once, and Phillips once. The rest of the passes were completed into linebacker zone pass coverage areas.

When one looks at the wide side and boundary side (not counting linebacker zone areas) 11 passes were completed to our wide side and 6 passes to our into coverage on the wide side, and went 3-4 defense at times to add a linebacker to the wide side. Most of the passes completed into the linebacker zone areas were also completed to the wide side of our defence. I've probably made an error or two but overall, those stats provide a general picture.

I thought Gaitor had an excellent game, only giving up 2 short passes and he also had an interception for a touchdown late in the game, his 2nd in his last two games and already leads our secondary in that department.

However, I do agree that Chandler Fenner needs to improve but he was only playing his second game as a rookie at the toughest spot in the secondary.

However, I still stand by my view that Stewart and Edem are more of a problem in our secondary than the other defensive backs. Stewart is 3rd on our defense in tackles and leads our defensive backs in that category by a wide margin because teams throw on him. He rarely makes run tackles at the corner position on the wide side. Mike Edem has 0 interceptions and the deep balls and big plays that our defense gives up are often because he provides deep ball help too late or is out of position. Both are also experienced CFL defensive backs.

In terms of our defensive line, our run defense has been good this season but mostly due to the ability of Eliminian and Bighill to scrape, as well as Bazzie's ability to slide down the line as well as pursue. Most running plays get into our second layer, which is why Sol E. and Bighill are second and third in the CFL in tackles.

In the game against Ottawa, Roh had 2 tackles and Westerman had 1 tackle. Brooks, Allen, Menard had 0 tackles and Ottawa ran the football 16 times.

Over the course of this season so far, CraIg Roh and Brooks are averaging one defensive tackle per game. Wally called out our defensive line for improved play before this game and Brooks didn't like it but I agree with Buono.

I agree that this was a difficult game for our defensive line, in terms of a pass rush, with Harris throwing so quickly and he also used misdirection play action well.

But over the course of this season, our defensive line is not getting enough of a pass rush nor are they doing a great job against the run overall. Only Bazzie and Westerman have done a good job against the run or its been left up to our linebackers. Bazzie and Westerman also have 14 sacks between them while Roh, Brooks, Allen, and Hudson have 7 sacks combined for the season.

I certainly agree maxlion that it was an exciting game before the home town fans. Too bad the crowd was less than 20,000. It was CFL entertainment at its best. It was a 'wild, wild West shootout".