Leos Prepare to Play Stamps in West Final

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almo89
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I'm worried about our defense this Sunday. Last time we played the Stamps, they barely got to Mitchell. It seems like everytime we blitzed, they picked it up. I don't know how else they can bring the pressure unless the front 4 plays the game of their lives.
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almo89 wrote:I'm worried about our defense this Sunday. Last time we played the Stamps, they barely got to Mitchell. It seems like everytime we blitzed, they picked it up. I don't know how else they can bring the pressure unless the front 4 plays the game of their lives.
Its my biggest worry too almo89.
First of all, their offensive line is outstanding
I don't know how they do it. They used 10 different starters this season. Spencer Wilson played guard, center, and tackle. They will have their starting lineup for this game, with Lavertu at center, Wilson (332 lbs) and Bergman (347 lbs) at guard, Dennis (341 lbs) and Federkeil (320 lbs) at tackle. They are HUGE as well as good.

Their backup offensive lineman could start for many teams, if they were being coached by offensive line coach Pat DelMonaco, who is outstanding.
Calgary has started the trend here in the CFL to bigger guards
It used to be that the guards were smaller than the tackles. With the spread offence and more inside running, the trend will be towards bigger guards and lighter (but still big) tackles. Its one reason why I wanted us to go with Vaillencourt (330 lbs) over Kirby Fabian (300 lbs).

So, with Calgary, they have a huge, talented offensive line, a huge talented back in Messam (250 lbs), and a smart coordinator who is tough to blitz, because Calgary has the best anti-blitz offence in the league. They have at least one 'hot' receiver on every pass play and a dump off receiver (often Messam or Cote).

If you don't blitz them its hard to get any pressure with a front four. Our front four has had trouble getting pressure against weaker offensive lines at times. But if you blitz them and don't get there, they can slice you to pieces. Most of the time, the key will be to get pressure with our front four by using a rotation.
The one thing we should not do is use our standard A and B gap blitz with Sol E. and Bighill very often. Their guards will pick it up and Bo Levi will hit McDaniel underneath almost every time.
On most passing plays, Bo Levi will look for a deep ball on his first read, and if not there, he will go immediately underneath to either the hook areas with quick dig routes or the flat areas. Their offence targets every area of the field vertically in all three layers and they also target every area of the field horizontally - including the flats.

Davaris Daniels is their most dangerous deep threat. Playing the same position as Gore on our Leos, Daniels only started 11 games for the Stamps and had more yards than Gore did in 16 games. They send Messam out on patterns and not just the flat area. He caught 54 passes this season (9.0 per catch) and they have a very high success rate when they throw to him
Calgary rotates in a lot of receivers. They will start Marguay McDaniel (their go to guy on clutch second downs), Davaris Daniels, Anthony Parker, Bakari Grant, Kamar Jorden. They will rotate in Lemar Durant, Simon Charbonneau Campeau, Rob Cote, and Tory Harrison in certain packages.
Even though Calgary has such huge guards and the biggest offensive line in the CFL, they don't just run inside, like we do. They want to attack both inside and outside with their run game so they use Messam on sweeps and stretch plays and also will run jet sweeps and reverses to attach the edge.

So, to put it simply and bluntly, they attack every area of the field with their passing attack, both vertically and horizontally, they attack the inside and outside with their run game, their offensive line gives Bo Levi a lot of time to throw, and to make matters even tougher, they also buy him additional time with misdirection play action.

And then we have Mark Washington.
Calgary will slice us to pieces underneath, if we drop Bighill to two deep safety or three deep safety.
Calgary will kill us in the flats if Washington plays his passive defence. Daniels will torch us deep if Edem overplays the wide side. But if we go two deep safety with Bighill, we'll get a steady dose of McDaniel inside.

If Washington was losing his hair against Winnipeg and couldn't come up with a good game plan to start the game against them (a major understatement) he should have no hair right now.

So how do you defense Calgary. Not the way Mark Washington likes to play defence.
You have to go away from tendency.
Calgary is not only scouting our defence but they are also self-scouting their offence to move away from tendencies. I highly doubt we self-scout.
“I do think you have to tweak things. It will be a matter of who can make the small adjustments in the game". Calgary will lock the doors on Thursday’s closed practice so they can implement a few of those wrinkles in private.
You have to mix it up. You can't blitz both linebackers. You can only blitz one of them. You have to blitz your outside linebacker Lokombo or nickelback (Purifoy) at times, while using Sol E. and Bighill as linebackers to help cover the underneath and flat.

When we rush four, we have to mix up our coverages and not just play straight up passive zone, like Washington likely will. You have to man them at times and zone them at times and at times you have to go with a mixed coverage of zone and man. You can man one side of the field and zone the other or man underneath and zone over the top or zone underneath or play zone with our linebackers playing man.

Our Leos led the league in big plays (71) and Calgary was second in the CFL (67). Calgary is a pass possession type offence but they give Bo Levi so much time he can go deep and does often. If you play passive they slice and dice and if you cheat they go over the top.

So we can't cheat with Bighill playing safety. Everyone has to be able to do their job without extra help. That means Edem needs to stay in the middle and help on both sides. It means Fenner will have to cover Daniels deep. It means that Phillips will have to cover Parker deep if he goes deep. It means that Stewart has to play the game of his life and not the usual game he gives us. Gaitor I'm not worried about - he's our best defender.

We can't give Calgary what we usually do - four or three man rush, straight up zone, with Biggie running back to safety like a mad man for a two deep coverage on longer second downs - just won't work. We'll be down early and then it will be tough to come back.
Calgary will be rusty. We need to shut them down early on defense and get a lead on offence. If we can do that, it will change the game.
Our greatest strength going into this game is that we have the ability to rotate our defensive line with the personnel we actually had at the start of this season but took Buono and Washington about 14 games to get right. We will have Bryant Turner Jr., Brooks, and Westerman at tackle. We wasted about 2/3 of a season playing Darius Allen as a rotational defensive lineman.
You have to keep using fresh defensive lineman against their huge guards.
At defensive end, we will rotate Menard and Roh, which we needed to do all season and didn't. Finally, we can't play Bazzie at defensive end all game. We have to give him a break with a three man defensive line on occasion or insert Forde there on occasion and blitz Lokombo or Purifoy when we do.
So Washington needs to rub his increasingly hairless head and get out of his usual box and come up with a smart game plan Defensive play calling will be so important with a real mix. Washington can't just give Calgary his usual pablum.
We have the talent to play a good defensive game against Calgary. We did a very good job on them defensively to start this season, so the talent is there.
But we can't strategize against them with fear. We can't strategize against them by cheating. We can't just go with our usual tendencies.
They've had three weeks to look at tape of our defence and Hufnagel and Dickenson have both been looking at it.
We'll need to play a smart, aggressive game against them and everyone will have to do their job very well. If we can do that, we can win.
"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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Something to factor in for Calgary is the amount of rest they had. Calgary hasn't played a game in three weeks, while Mitchell hasn't played in over a month. While rest can be beneficial with the extra time to prepare and to get some key players healthy, too much of it can lead to rust. I'm sure Dickenson would have given his players a few days off during their three week rest. In my past experience playing I used to hate long bye weeks. My teams would often play some of our worst games after a long bye week.
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Lionsfan65 wrote:Something to factor in for Calgary is the amount of rest they had. Calgary hasn't played a game in three weeks, while Mitchell hasn't played in over a month. While rest can be beneficial with the extra time to prepare and to get some key players healthy, too much of it can lead to rust. I'm sure Dickenson would have given his players a few days off during their three week rest. In my past experience playing I used to hate long bye weeks. My teams would often play some of our worst games after a long bye week.
I agree that its difficult to get back to game speed. Practices are not like a game situation, in terms of timing etc. The best way to deal with long bye weeks is to practice as hard as possible at full speed to at least attempt to simulate game speed.

The advantage Calgary has is that they have been able to rest their starters after a long, season. Players get stale, the nicks and bruises add up. Calgary also has had a lot of time to scout us and self-scout.

We have momentum. Calgary has preparation. Hard to know which one will benefit the most until Sunday.
"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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Execution. Yes. Must be first rate.

But, even more important, for a playoff game such as this, is game planning. Vanilla and pablum will not do it. Must be specific and detailed for this opponent. Must be based on close analysis of the film, with focus on perceived vulnerabilities and tendencies. Don't all teams do that? LOL Ummmm, methinks not. Old school does not care about specific, detailed, fresh game prep for each opponent. Old school cares about execution, hitting harder.

* Calgary will game plan vs our defence. Oh yes. Soft zone --> slow death, even fast death. PIcked apart. Mitchell having a cup of coffee in the pocket.

We even hear our players recite the team philosophy: Stay with what got us here. Well, that is loyalty, but IMO if we do not prep creatively, we could face a beating.

* Calgary will game plan vs our offence. Take away the main targets. Overplay. Blitz with good planning. Mix things up. Work to stuff the inside run. Pretty hard to stuff JJ24 and Rainey however. Pretty hard to stuff JJ on zone reads, QB draws and scrambles. Moving the pocket would be advantageous.

An Xs and Os guy like Dickenson loves to do this kind of detailed game planning. Even an ex STs guy like O'Shea had his coordinators do a great job of out game planning us.

Be a shame if we just trot out the same old, same old. IMO it will not cut it. Be a shame to waste our terrific talent, spirit and morale.

* Talent. IMO we are at least even, with the possible exception of International D Line talent.

* Execution. A key of course. But if the execution is excellent on both sides, look for ...

* Game planning. Modern age football. Attack minute vulnerabilities. Mix it up. Keep them off balance. Create some potential confusion. Did we do this vs the Bombers? Not until half time, methinks, and then perhaps reluctantly. The Bombers did it to us, jumping our routes, rolling out vs our zone D. Our talent prevailed. JJ's talent. There is, however, no game planning answer to a talent such as JJ when he gets going.

In game decisions. Does Wally have a decision card to reference re situations, or does he wing it, based on whim? When to go for it. When to challenge? What to do in the final three minutes.

Just IMO, of course ...
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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David
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TheLionKing wrote:IMO the key to beating the Stampeder high powered offence is not to let them have the ball. Long, sustained time consuming drives. Play to win instead of playing not to lose.
Yup. Wally would never agree to this, but I would love to see us line up Johnson AND Allen in some packages and pound the rock on a freezing cold Calgary afternoon - especially with Arceneaux's sprained ankle (even if he's cleared to play in the first place). We could really confuse the Stamps with the "pick your poison" 2-back set. Running the football is our strength and, to your point, controlling the clock on a cold day to keep it out of BLM's hands is a requirement in order to win this game.

Just a thought. We could play Parker at field corner as he has excelled there.


DH :cool:
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TheLionKing
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almo89 wrote:I'm worried about our defense this Sunday. Last time we played the Stamps, they barely got to Mitchell. It seems like everytime we blitzed, they picked it up. I don't know how else they can bring the pressure unless the front 4 plays the game of their lives.
Washington will drop 12 guys into coverage
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Snow showers in Calgary today. Partly sunny with 5 degrees predicted for Sunday
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DanoT
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The Lions need 2 game plans, one for each half as the Stamps will surely adjust at half time to whatever the Lions are doing to start the game.

Running the ball and short passing plays to burn up the clock and keep Bo off the field is the way to start, imo. A longer pass game might be necessary in the second half as needing to play catch up might be in the cards.
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B.C.FAN
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David wrote:Just a thought. We could play Parker at field corner as he has excelled there.
IMO that's not going to happen. But starting Adekolu or Gore in place of Arceneaux is more likely, which would give the Lions an extra roster spot for Allen if they chose to go that way.

I would still prefer to use Rainey as the second back with Johnson at times, as the Lions have done more frequently in recent games. He can do everything and create matchup problems inside or outside. Allen is a one-trick pony who is no threat as a receiver or a runner outside the tackles. That would allow the Lions to activate Douglas McNeil from the practice roster at Arceneaux's spot. He would be a secret weapon since the Stamps have no film on him.
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prj
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Congratulations and thanks for a very nice review of the major items to be watching on Sunday.

The only idea I can add is to ask which team responds more effectively to cold weather?

Either way, win or lose, this has been a great season, ably supported by this Board.

Nice job guys!

Thanks.
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BC 1988
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prj wrote:Congratulations and thanks for a very nice review of the major items to be watching on Sunday.

The only idea I can add is to ask which team responds more effectively to cold weather?

Either way, win or lose, this has been a great season, ably supported by this Board.

Nice job guys!

Thanks.
Fully agree, I doubt there's another CFL board with as much in-depth analysis as this one. (I'm just a fan, never played or studied the game).

If the Lions can somehow pull it off on Sunday (a tall order) their chances would be very good in the GC. I'd be satisfied if they can at least have a respectable showing, wipe out the memory of their worst loss of this season vs CGY (and last year's 35-9 playoff loss as well.)

As far as weather, it's looking like it won't be much of a factor by Sunday (although long-range forecasts can change).
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B.C.FAN wrote:
David wrote:Just a thought. We could play Parker at field corner as he has excelled there.
IMO that's not going to happen. But starting Adekolu or Gore in place of Arceneaux is more likely, which would give the Lions an extra roster spot for Allen if they chose to go that way.

I would still prefer to use Rainey as the second back with Johnson at times, as the Lions have done more frequently in recent games. He can do everything and create matchup problems inside or outside. Allen is a one-trick pony who is no threat as a receiver or a runner outside the tackles. That would allow the Lions to activate Douglas McNeil from the practice roster at Arceneaux's spot. He would be a secret weapon since the Stamps have no film on him.
Parker would be starting at field corner over Brandon Stewart if it was my team..and not just for ratio reasons. Quite frankly Parker is better than Stewart.

I don't know if Manny is ok or he's not and we're just keeping Calgary guessing. If Manny is really a 'go' I sure hope that we're sure because we couldn't afford to have him have to come out of the game early. McNeil is the best solution if Manny can't go.

The two back set is a good idea David but I think its too late in the season to go with that concept. We just don't have the run plays in our scheme to do that...we're basically an inside zone read one play (with zone blocking) team with our running attack. The only variation is that we change the blocking scheme for it a bit if Lumbala is in the game.

Jones did run a quick toss a couple of games back and Jennings did run the zone read option once last game and took off outside for a key first down.

If you were a defensive coordinator, how would you play us. Turner of Calgary said our Leos want to control the line of scrimmage, run the football inside, and throw deep to Manny". I think Turners comment was simplistic but its not that far off.
"Take away our inside run, take away our deep ball, and win the game".
That is what defensive coordinators want to do. But easier said than done, because we've won in recent weeks, with defenses trying to do that. But our talent is not easy to stop with Jennings, Johnson, Rainey, Manny and Burnham, with everyone else chipping in.

Our offence has to do what will not be predicted. Run the football outside at times (quick toss, stretch play, fly sweep, reverse, zone read option) breaks tendency. Get Jennings out of the pocket more (misdirection play action, quick sprint out) because they expect him in the pocket. Delay our tailback out of the backfield and screen...because they don't expect that.

Throw more shorter routes because they expect us to go deep. We sliced and diced Winnipeg in the fourth quarter because they were so worried about our deep pass. Go to the deep pass later. Go with more horizontal routes early because the expect our vertical passing game. Throw early to Gore and Iannuzzi and Sinkfield and get Adekolu some game reps (he caught the most passes last game for us and he had only 2 career catches before - talk about coming through in a pressure packed contest) and send him deep. Instead of Manny and Burnham always being our deep receivers send the others deep on occasion and use Manny and Burnham underneath.

Use Lumbala as a screen man or fake a quick toss to Rainey and come back inside with an inside trap hand off to Lumbala. In other words go away from tendency early In the game and mix things up. If they man us, go with more bunch formations. Use Manny and Burnham together on the boundary side. Isolate Sinkfield on the outside and look for him deep.
Its gotta be "offence is a box of chocolates, you don't know what you are going to get" mixed in with "keep on keepin' on" - the things that we have been successful with this season. In other words a good mix of old and some things new or different or a variation
WCJ, B.C. Fan, David, and other Lionbacker colleagues know that this just can't be a game of execution and have said so....because Calgary can execute very well too and Calgary usually has a better game plan and scheme to execute.
We need to have an equally good game plan and scheme for this game too - I think our talent is good enough to win if our game plans and plays are equal.

Equal is all we need. I don't think Calgary can stop Jennings and Company if that is the case.
"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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Manny says he doesn't have a concussion and has a device that he purchased himself to speed up the heeling on his ankle.

Manny also took responsibility for the interception against the Bombers...so much for Wllles and others to try to blame it on Jennings.
He does admit that he sprained his ankle on the first play of the game, which compromised his ability to make a play on the second. Quarterback Jonathon Jennings’ pass, intended for Arceneaux, was intercepted by defender Chris Randle, leading to Winnipeg’s first touchdown.

“That’s on me. And I owe the team for that,” Arceneaux said. “I was at 20 per cent in that game (he still made four catches for 56 yards). My 40 per cent is some people’s 100 per cent. So I’m working every day to get ready for Sunday.”
Why is Manny having to purchase this out of his own money?
An admitted fast healer, Arceneaux is employing newfangled technology — a Game Ready machine, which he purchased himself — to give his ankle recovery a boost. The electro-medical contraption uses pneumatic compression and rapidly circulating cold therapy to ease pain and aid recovery for acute injuries to backs, knees and ankles.
Mike Beamish: Head's fine, says Lions' Manny Arceneaux
Mike Beamish
Published on: November 16, 2016 |

Many players envision reaching football’s biggest stage, but few have travelled the quixotic road to get there that Doug McNeil of the B.C. Lions has.

From junior college, through three universities, the Arena League and the Baltimore Blaze of the Maryland Flag Football Association, the wide receiver made his way onto the practice roster of the Seattle Seahawks.

Tutored by Richard Sherman to play cornerback, encouraged by Ricardo Lockette to perform on special teams and learning the nuances of the receiver position from Doug Baldwin, the versatile McNeil stuck around the National Football League for parts of two seasons, picking up an NFC championship ring with the Seahawks in 2014.

Now a member on the Lions practice roster, McNeil has yet to play a game in the Canadian Football League. It could happen Sunday, when the Lions are in Calgary for the CFL West final against the Stampeders.

McNeil is preparing to suit up as the poor man’s Manny Arceneaux, in the event the inspirational receiver isn’t cleared to go after suffering,  a) an apparent concussion and, b) an ankle injury, in last Sunday’s 32-31 semifinal win against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

“I know Manny’s a guy who will do whatever it takes to get out here and play,” McNeil said Wednesday. “He’s a leader, and there’s no tougher receiver out there. If he’s not ready, that’s why I’m here.”

Arceneaux, who watched the Lions practise while putting in work on an exercise bike, vows he’ll be ready to play Sunday. He also insists he doesn’t have a concussion, even though the team’s leading receiver fell motionless to the turf after being KO’d by the shoulder of the Blue Bombers’ hard-hitting safety Taylor Loffler on Sunday. Arceneaux had to be aided to the sideline and didn’t return. It was a sombre moment for his teammates.

“Everybody’s just concerned about the collision that took place, as if that overrides every other issue,” Arceneaux said. “Everybody I talk to figures I have a concussion. They don’t believe anything I’m saying. I don’t have a concussion. And my ankle is going to be all right. We’re just taking it one day at a time.”

Plausible denial or not, to be cleared to practise, Arceneaux must go through the CFL’s concussion protocol, which stipulates that he must be symptom-free for 24 hours, cleared to participate in physical exercise without a relapse and able achieve his baseline scores on the King-Devick test.

A timed test developed by American optometrists Alan King and Steven Devick, it measures attention, concentration, eye movement and language function that are affected by a brain injury. Lions players are administered the test before the season begins to establish a baseline score.

Wide receiver Shawn Gore, who was diagnosed with a concussion earlier in the season, missed two games in November, including the West semifinal, after his symptoms returned. Cleared for a second time, Gore was back on the practice field Wednesday.

“I feel really good,” Gore said. “I’ve had two weeks off. And I’ve passed the protocol process. We’ll see where it goes from there.”
Arceneaux maintains he’s never been concussed before, though he admitted to having a headache after the Winnipeg game. A single crutch also stood by his locker room stall.

He does admit that he sprained his ankle on the first play of the game, which compromised his ability to make a play on the second. Quarterback Jonathon Jennings’ pass, intended for Arceneaux, was intercepted by defender Chris Randle, leading to Winnipeg’s first touchdown.

“That’s on me. And I owe the team for that,” Arceneaux said. “I was at 20 per cent in that game (he still made four catches for 56 yards). My 40 per cent is some people’s 100 per cent. So I’m working every day to get ready for Sunday.”

An admitted fast healer, Arceneaux is employing newfangled technology — a Game Ready machine, which he purchased himself — to give his ankle recovery a boost. The electro-medical contraption uses pneumatic compression and rapidly circulating cold therapy to ease pain and aid recovery for acute injuries to backs, knees and ankles.

There’s no such device available for a brain injury, however. Still, Arceneaux keeps insisting he doesn’t have one.

Even if he wanted to declare himself ready for Calgary, disregarding the possibility of re-injury, and against the better judgment of the Lions’ medical staff, head coach Wally Buono says it’s a no-go.

“It’s not up to the player, and it’s not up to the coach,” Buono said. “I think that’s the safeguard of the protocol. If a player wants to play, and the medical staff doesn’t feel he’s fit to go after the testing, it doesn’t matter what the player says.”
"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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B.C.FAN
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Blitz wrote:Manny says he doesn't have a concussion and has a device that he purchased himself to speed up the heeling on his ankle.

Manny also took responsibility for the interception against the Bombers...so much for Wllles and others to try to blame it on Jennings.
He does admit that he sprained his ankle on the first play of the game, which compromised his ability to make a play on the second. Quarterback Jonathon Jennings’ pass, intended for Arceneaux, was intercepted by defender Chris Randle, leading to Winnipeg’s first touchdown.

“That’s on me. And I owe the team for that,” Arceneaux said. “I was at 20 per cent in that game (he still made four catches for 56 yards). My 40 per cent is some people’s 100 per cent. So I’m working every day to get ready for Sunday.”
The interception is not on Jennings and it's not on Manny. It's on the coaching staff for targeting Manny on the first two plays of the game when they knew he would draw tight coverage, and for sticking with the game plan even after everyone in the building saw him get hurt on the opening play. He couldn't come back to the ball on the second play because he had a freshly sprained ankle and was, in his words, at 20 per cent. Kudos to him for gutting it out and competing on every play without complaint until Loffler knocked him from the game.
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