Leos at home to Bombers

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Blitz
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Our Leos are back at home on Friday night, when we take on the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

How can one forget the thrilling finish to last season's Semi-Final, as our Leos defense fell apart early and then Jonathan Jennings led us out of that dark hole and then made "THE PLAY", escaping like Houdini and then racing to the end zone and victory.

Nor can one forget the regular season contests between these two clubs in 2016.

On Friday night, Travis Lulay will be at the controls of our offence, following his impressive performance against Hamilton. Jonathan Jennings will not only not be able to pull a rabbit out of his hat, as he did in last year's Semi-Final. He may not even be our back up quarterback. His MRI showed no serious injury. He has a bruised shoulder and he has improved range of motion but our Leos are taking a cautious approach. We may even bring in another quarterback while Alex Ross could assume the backup role.

Our Leos lost their home opener but since have won 3 games in a row on the road. Its time for our Leos to show that they are not only road warriors but know how to play tough and wise on their own turf.

Lets have a closer look at this game.

OFFENCE

Our Leos play their best with a balanced attack. Travis Lulay is at his best with play action. What do those two things mean? We gotta run the football some more.

Last week Jeremiah Johnson had a 7.7 yd. run average on 9 carries. We need to 'up' his work load some. Johnson is now 2nd in CFL rushing in the CFL and has the best rush yd. average (6.0 yds.) of any CFL tailback with over 20 carries

Nick Moore, coming off a tremendous performance in Hamilton leads our Leos receivers in receiving yards and is 4th in the CFL in receiving. Moore has an amazing 18.9 yd. average per catch this season.

Moore proved in Hamilton that our passing game does not have to be the Manny/Burnham show and he is more than capable of taking the pressure off those two players or hurting a defense if we utilize him.

Our offence is 2nd in the CFL in points scored, 2nd in rushing and 3rd in passing. We have a lot of offensive weapons.

But we've given up the most sacks in the CFL so far. My worries about the Olifioye trade and our quarterback getting injured this season have come to fruition. Antonio Johnson has struggled at times. Facault let his defender through and the result was our first string quarterback was injured. Travis has had a long list of injuries. Quarterback protection has to improve.

For the Bombers, Andrew Harris Is 4th in CFL rushing and Weston Dressler is 6th in CFL receiving and already has 16 receptions out of the backfield this season. Both our the Bombers 'go to' guys on offence.

The Bombers are not an explosive offence. But our Leos defense has to play smart football against the Bombers because they know how to play against our defense.

The Bombers also have given us just over half as many sacks as our Leos offence has. We have to give Dressler the attention he deserves and watch Harris coming out of the backfield.

DEFENSE

Our Leos defensive unit needs to up its game if we want to become a championship team. While we lead the CFL in pass knockdowns, we've done that while only having the 4th best pass rush in the CFL. We've given too many quarterbacks too much time to throw the football. When we've done that, we've given up big plays.

When we get pressure, the talent and speed of our secondary shines. But our zones open up when we have to cover for too long. What has really hurt us defensively so far is a lack of an inside pass rush. Craig Roh is 3rd in the CFL in quarterback sacks. Dequin Evans and Josh Shirley (with less reps) have one each as does Bryant Turner.

Brooks does not have a sack and has 7 defensive tackles. Turner has 4 defensive tackles. Brooks is averaging less than 2 defensive tackles per game and Turner is averaging one tackle per game. They have one sack between them (Turner) and they have not been getting consistent penetration, which is critical these days against pocket passing quarterbacks.

I'm hoping to see Luke and Forde get more reps at tackle against the Bombers. Neither have a tackle so far this season or a sack but their playing time has been quite limited.

Sol E. and Alex Singleton, by far the two best linebackers in the CFL have 34 tackles each to lead the league in that category.

The Bombers are a dangerous defense. The lead the CFL in interceptions and T.J. Heath is the CFL's interception leader. Jamaal Westerman is a tough defensive lineman to block.

The Bombers defense can be exploited. They love to run press man coverage with zone over the top. They play a high risk, high reward style but it can also be a high risk, get burned style. The key is game planning, play calling, and quarterback protection.

The Bombers, by playing a lot of press man coverage with zone over the top, have to cover the tailback with a linebacker. If we use Johnson and Rainey wisely out of the pocket, we can isolate either on a linebacker and take advantage. But that doesn't mean quick swing passes against press man. It means getting our tailback downfield.



SPECIAL TEAMS

Ty Long has the best punt average in the CFL. Not too shabby when one considers he was not a punter in college. He also leads the CFL in kickoff average. Long has hit 10/11 field goal attempts for a 90.1% success rate.

Shockingly, our Leos 7th in the CFl in punt return average, while having the best return man in the CFL in Chris Rainey and a backup returner in Iannuzzi who knows how to get good positive yardage on returns.

WRAP

Go Leos. We need a win at home for 2017. Friday night is the time to win our first home game of the season against the Bombers. :thup:
"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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Great breakdown as usual Blitz. These are the games we all have been waiting for.
What the Lions accomplished the past 3 weeks back east is no easy feat (ask the Stamps) but the ultimate measuring stick of where this team is and if it has or is improving from a year ago comes against Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. 2-5 against those teams last year or 3-6 including the playoffs. 0-1 so far this year.
Nichols threw for nearly 400 yards in the West semi-final and it took a remarkable 4th quarter comeback by Jennings to pull out the victory. The defence has to be better this time and I think the secondary certainly is.
You are bang on. It will come down to the Lions play in the trenches. Can they generate an effective pass rush to disrupt Nichols and can the offensive line give Lulay enough time to exploit their press man coverage? As you mentioned Blitz, the early season sacks allowed total is a little alarming, never mind having your No. 1 QB sidelined after taking a huge hit.
The line of the scrimmage was certainly the difference in the season-opening loss to the Eskimos.
Going into this season, my two major concers were our offensive and defensive line. I had hoped that we would go with Steward at left tackle, Fabian at left guard, at center, Vaillencourt at right guard, and Olifioye at right tackle for 2017. The trade for Facuoult changed that I still hope for Vaillencourt to eventually get a shot at right guard again. He is big, tough, and aggressive and we could use that type of player on our offensive line.

My hope is that Palmer recover from his injury and become right tackle but I would also love to see Boyko here later in the season and perhaps transitioned to right tackle. We're very undersized on the right side of our offensive line.

Our lack of offensive production at times in our first three games of this season was mostly caused by poor pass protection. By game four, Jennings was hurt, which could have been anticipated. I was surprised it didn't happen in one of our earlier games - he took a lot of wicked hits during those contests.

On the defensive side of the football, a lack of a sustained pass rush by our front four has also led to our defense giving up some big plays. When we' ve got some heat on opposing quarterbacks our secondary has played very well.

For this game against the Bombers, we need to do the following:

1. On offence, if the Bombers play press man, Cover 2 we need to

a) use more man type patterns such as crossing patterns
b) throw to Johnson and Rainey downfield, because they will be covered by a linebacker
3) have our quarterback run more often (the Bombers style of defense means that our quarterback will have a lot of room to run if he gets past the line of scrimmage (both the inside zone read, quarterback keeper and quarterback taking off inside on pass plays could result in big gains)

I like having Travis Lulay as our quarterback for this contest, now that his shoulder is strong and he is also not showing such happy feet in the pocket after his first read. Travis is very good at escaping and running and he is also very good at looking to his tailback on pass plays. So if the Bombers play press man/Cover 2, its a good defense for Travis to exploit.

However, if the go to a Cover 1, Travis will need to go over the top successfully. Defenses in the past were not afraid of Travis hurting them deep and they spied him to prevent him from running with the football.

We also have to realize that the Bombers will load up the box on second and short to stop our run. They stopped us on second and two last year like it was easy. We need to do something other than the inside zone read run on second and short because they will have more defensive bodies in the gaps than we can block.

Defensively, the Bombers like play action, the short possession style passes, and they love to hit Harris downfield and in the flat. It makes no sense to have Sol E. covering inside hook areas on pass plays while Harris is in the flat.

Its good that our Leos are making changes to our defense for this contest. I was never excited about our free agent signings of Tony Burnett, Buddy Jackson, Ainsworth, or Dequin Evans. I may be proven wrong about Evans ( I prefer Shirley) but I'm thrilled to see Awe given the start at linebacker. He's been a force on special teams and he was impressive at training camp. Thankfully Anthony Gaitor returned to our Leos and he is a difference maker in the defensive backfield and an upgrade on Buddy Jackson.

I'm also pleased that Forde will start at tackle, backed up by Junior Luke. We could have taken either Turner (4 tackles, one sack) or Brooks (7 tackles, no sacks) out of the lineup) as far as I am concerned. Neiither have played well.

Mark Washington needs to game plan for the Bombers offence, rather than just doing the same old. If he takes away Dressler and covers Harris with Sol E, Fenner, or Awe in man coverage, we will take away their major weapons. We also need to be very conscious that Nickols likes to use play action passing.

I'm excited about this game. Hoping Lulay can play well as a starter, Forde/Luke will play well and Awe will impress in his first start at linebacker.
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DanoT
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The O line needs to play better and running the ball a lot would be a big help.
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Give Nichols time to look around and he is good enough to hurt you. If need be, the Lions may have to run some blitzes if the DLine can't get enough pressure. It will be hard enough to cover the likes of Dressler as it is. If you can help it, you don't want to open up the middle for his crossing patterns or quick outs. They can do that all day if the Lions let them. Then they will throw some deep balls to keep the secondary honest.
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A few game facts and trivia items from the always-informative Game Notes at bclions.com:

- Matt Nichols is 3-1 in his career against B.C.
- Travis Lulay is 4-4 in his career against Winnipeg.
- The Bombers narrowly won both regular season games last year. The Lions won the WSF at home in a dramatic comeback. Both teams scored over 30 points in all three games.
- This is the first of three games between these teams in 2017. The other two are in Winnipeg.
- The Lions have won three games in a row this year. They haven't won four in a row in a season since 2012, with Lulay at QB.
- Weston Dressler is off to the best start in his career with 19 catches for 308 yards in three games.
- The Bombers have scored only The Bombers have scored only 7 points all season in the first quarter and a CFL-worst 9 points in the fourth quarter. Most of their scoring has come in the second and third quarters.
- The Lions have scored 49% of their points in the fourth quarter.
- The Bombers have yet to rush for 100 yards this year but had 96 and 91 yards in their two victories.
- The Lions lead the league in rushing, as they did last year.
- Justin Medlock has his 28 field goals in a row, dating back to last season.
- Before Travis Lulay did it, the last QB to come off the bench within the first two offensive plays of a game and lead a team to victory was Nichols while in Edmonton in 2014.
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It looks like Micah Awe will get his first start at WILL on Friday, and will play a big role in trying to shut down Andrew Harris. Dyshawn Davis is activated as backup. Tony Burnett may be scratched.

SFU and St. Thomas More alum Felix Gacusana is activated from the practice roster as a backup O-lineman in place of Jas Dhillon, who moves to the 6-game injured list. WR Stephen Adekolu, who was activated and scratched last week, moves back to the 1-game injured list.

On the defensive line, Maxx Forde gets his well-deserved first start of the season ahead of Bryant Turner Jr. at defensive tackle, while DeQuin Evans returns as rush end. I hope for big things from this unit, both for shutting down Andrew Harris and pressuring Matt Nichols.

Jonathon Jennings remains on the roster as third QB but won't play. There are no other changes on the official depth chart and roster but a cryptic line in Matt Baker's game preview on bclions.com hints at possible changes in the secondary.
Limit the deep ball– Nichols is a quarterback who likes to air it out. The Lions’ athletic secondary knows this so you can count on another big game for the likes of Chandler Fenner, Ronnie Yell, TJ Lee and new safety Anthony Thompson.
LIONS BACK HOME TO TACKLE BLUE BOMBERS
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DanoT
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"New Safety Anthony Thompson" still appears as cornerback on the depth chart.

Is there a typo somewhere or has he actually been tacking reps at free safety during practice?

Or have the Lions been practicing with two deep safeties (with press man underneath) and then Thompson becomes one of the deep safeties?
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Gridiron Ernie
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This looks real promising (on paper at least) -- these line-up changes (as you've highlighted B.C.FAN) re starters:

Micah Awe -- absolutely deserved based on what he's shown with his high-impact energy! I'm mighty happy for this.

Anthony Thompson -- noticed that too (i.e. Matt Baker's comment re "new safety") -- intriguing! --especially in light of the fact it's not indicated on depth chart. Perhaps the questionable experiment back there is over (?) But you gotta' play Mr. Purifoy somewhere! I wonder where oh where that powder keg will be inserted in the scheme. (Hope it's not just an errant sentence/typo snafu that slipped by editing.)

Maxx Forde -- at long last!!!! It's bloody well time he got his chance to start! I hope he comes through with flying colours. I'm super pleased to see this move. Been waiting. My favourite personnel move of them all this week. Thumbs up!
Blitz
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Great breakdown as usual Blitz. These are the games we all have been waiting for.
What the Lions accomplished the past 3 weeks back east is no easy feat (ask the Stamps) but the ultimate measuring stick of where this team is and if it has or is improving from a year ago comes against Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. 2-5 against those teams last year or 3-6 including the playoffs. 0-1 so far this year.
Nichols threw for nearly 400 yards in the West semi-final and it took a remarkable 4th quarter comeback by Jennings to pull out the victory. The defence has to be better this time and I think the secondary certainly is.
You are bang on. It will come down to the Lions play in the trenches. Can they generate an effective pass rush to disrupt Nichols and can the offensive line give Lulay enough time to exploit their press man coverage? As you mentioned Blitz, the early season sacks allowed total is a little alarming, never mind having your No. 1 QB sidelined after taking a huge hit.
The line of the scrimmage was certainly the difference in the season-opening loss to the Eskimos.
Going into this season, my two major concers were our offensive and defensive line. I had hoped that we would go with Steward at left tackle, Fabian at left guard, at center, Vaillencourt at right guard, and Olifioye at right tackle for 2017. The trade for Facuoult changed that I still hope for Vaillencourt to eventually get a shot at right guard again. He is big, tough, and aggressive and we could use that type of player on our offensive line.

My hope is that Palmer recover from his injury and become right tackle but I would also love to see Boyko here later in the season and perhaps transitioned to right tackle. We're very undersized on the right side of our offensive line.

Our lack of offensive production at times in our first three games of this season was mostly caused by poor pass protection. By game four, Jennings was hurt, which could have been anticipated. I was surprised it didn't happen in one of our earlier games - he took a lot of wicked hits during those contests.

Going into this season, my two major concerns were our offensive and defensive line. I had hoped that we would go with Steward at left tackle, Fabian at left guard, at center, Vaillencourt at right guard, and Olifioye at right tackle for 2017. The trade for Facaoult changed that I still hope for Vaillencourt to eventually get a shot at right guard again. He is big, tough, and aggressive and we could use that type of player on our offensive line.

My hope is that Palmer recover from his injury and become right tackle but I would also love to see Boyko here later in the season and perhaps transitioned to right tackle. We're very undersized on the right side of our offensive line.

Our lack of offensive production at times in our first three games of this season was mostly caused by poor pass protection. By game four, Jennings was hurt, which could have been anticipated. I was surprised it didn't happen in one of our earlier games - he took a lot of wicked hits during those contests.

Interesting that we are putting Gacusana on the 46 man roster and taking Adekolu off. Wally is preferring to go with two backup National offensive linemen and one backup National receiver for this contest. Sad we lost our second round pickJeremy Zver #16) and ended up replacing him with Calgary's fifth rounder round ER (#43) in Gacusana. Gacusana has decent size, at 318 pounds, is aggressive and played at SFU. Right now he has moved ahead of Dhillon on the depth chart.


Our lack of offensive production at times in our first three games of this season was mostly caused by poor pass protection. By game four, Jennings was hurt, which could have been anticipated. I was surprised it didn't happen in one of our earlier games - he took a lot of wicked hits during those contests.

On the defensive side of the football, a lack of a sustained pass rush by our front four has also led to our defense giving up some big plays. When we' ve got some heat on opposing quarterbacks our secondary has played very well.

For this game against the Bombers, we need to do the following:

1. On offence, if the Bombers play press man, Cover 2 we need to

a) use more man type patterns such as crossing patterns
b) throw to Johnson and Rainey downfield, because they will be covered by a linebacker
3) have our quarterback run more often (the Bombers style of defense means that our quarterback will have a lot of room to run if he gets past the line of scrimmage (both the inside zone read, quarterback keeper and quarterback taking off inside on pass plays could result in big gains)

I like having Travis Lulay as our quarterback for this contest, now that his shoulder is strong and he is also not showing such happy feet in the pocket after his first read. Travis is very good at escaping and running and he is also very good at looking to his tailback on pass plays. So if the Bombers play press man/Cover 2, its a good defense for Travis to exploit.

However, if the go to a Cover 1, Travis will need to go over the top successfully. Defenses in the past were not afraid of Travis hurting them deep and they spied him to prevent him from running with the football.

We also have to realize that the Bombers will load up the box on second and short to stop our run. They stopped us on second and two last year like it was easy. We need to do something other than the inside zone read run on second and short because they will have more defensive bodies in the gaps than we can block.

Defensively, the Bombers like play action, the short possession style passes, and they love to hit Harris downfield and in the flat. It makes no sense to have Sol E. covering inside hook areas on pass plays while Harris is in the flat.

Its good that our Leos are making changes to our defense for this contest. I was never excited about our free agent signings of Tony Burnett, Buddy Jackson, Ainsworth, or Dequin Evans. I may be proven wrong about Evans ( I prefer Shirley) but I'm thrilled to see Awe given the start at linebacker. He's been a force on special teams and he was impressive at training camp. Thankfully Anthony Gaitor returned to our Leos and he is a difference maker in the defensive backfield and an upgrade on Buddy Jackson.

I'm also pleased that Forde will start at tackle, backed up by Junior Luke. We could have taken either Turner (4 tackles, one sack) or Brooks (7 tackles, no sacks) out of the lineup) as far as I am concerned. Neiither have played well.

Mark Washington needs to game plan for the Bombers offence, rather than just doing the same old. If he takes away Dressler and covers Harris with Sol E, Fenner, or Awe in man coverage, we will take away their major weapons. We also need to be very conscious that Nickols likes to use play action passing.

I'm excited about this game. Hoping Lulay can play well as a starter, Forde/Luke will play well and Awe will impress in his first start at linebacker.
"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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Gridiron Ernie wrote:
Thu Jul 20, 2017 1:39 pm
Micah Awe -- absolutely deserved based on what he's shown with his high-impact energy! I'm mighty happy for this.
I too am looking forward to seeing Awe in this new role--he has looked good on ST tackles. Maybe we could have the makings of a new (all Nigerian this time) Team 107.

Now we have to hope the miniscule 70% POP of 2-4mm isn't enough for them to lock up the roof.
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Wally Buono on facing the Blue Bombers: “I don’t usually concern myself with the opposition, and they’ve got a good football team like we do. Last year all games were down to the wire and I expect the same thing.

This type of comment drives me crazy. It's what causes our Leos playoff losses. Its why we lost the last two games, including the WDF last year. Its why Calgary and Winnipeg built up such huge scores in the first half of those games.

Pre-scouting, knowing the opposition's formations and tendencies from those formations, as well as down and distance, etc. etc. is an important aspect of football.

Onto a different topic. While the CFL credited last game as a start for Lulay, this Winnipeg game is really Travis Lulay's first start in two years.

Jason Botchford takes a look at Travis Lulay in his Province article.
So you didn’t think Travis Lulay could still throw for 400 yards.

Yeah, you weren’t alone.

Even Lulay had doubt in his arm. How could he not?

A string of shoulder issues, which spanned several years, gnawed at the quarterback’s exit velocity, and his confidence.

A tweak to that shoulder in 2012, followed by a couple of painful dislocations, a surgery and two long stretches of rehab left Lulay unable to make some of the throws that made him, well, Travis Lulay.

“I was not sure. I didn’t know for sure,” said Lulay, the 2011 CFL MVP, when asked if he wondered whether he’d ever fully recover.

“There was a time when I thought I was going to be a little limited in my arm strength and I’d have to make up for it with my eyes and be quicker with my feet.”

I can tell you that my shoulder feels the best it has in years and that’s just fact,” Lulay said. “There’s no question it changes your ability to play the game when you’re focused on reading defences and making the right decisions and not worried about how the physical throw was going to end up.”

This is all wonderfully encouraging news for the B.C. Lions who will likely lean on Lulay to start for the next two games, and maybe more with starter Jonathan Jennings nursing a shoulder injury.
"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)
Blitz
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It appears that most of the personnel changes for this game are due to injury reasons.

Bryant Turner Jr. tweaked an ankle in Hamilton and will not suit up. Linebacker Tony Burnett is out with a minor quad contusion, which means Dyshawn Davis will make his first appearance of 2017 behind Micah Awe. Offensive lineman Jas Dhillon has been placed on the six-game injured list after suffering a bicep injury in practice this week. Dhillon’s spot on the roster will be taken by SFU product Felix Gacusana Jr whom the club signed last week after his training camp release from Calgary.
"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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Blitz wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 5:33 am

Wally Buono on facing the Blue Bombers: “I don’t usually concern myself with the opposition, and they’ve got a good football team like we do. Last year all games were down to the wire and I expect the same thing.

This type of comment drives me crazy. It's what causes our Leos playoff losses. Its why we lost the last two games, including the WDF last year. Its why Calgary and Winnipeg built up such huge scores in the first half of those games.

Pre-scouting, knowing the opposition's formations and tendencies from those formations, as well as down and distance, etc. etc. is an important aspect of football.
On facing the Blue Bombers: “I don’t usually concern myself with the opposition, and they’ve got a good football team like we do. Last year all games were down to the wire and I expect the same thing. The thing that you don’t want to take for granted is the home field advantage. A content team is not very healthy. We should be happy about the three wins, but the win this week is more critical than the last three.”
That defines Wally's philosophy, Blitz. It expresses confidence in his team, disdain for the opposition, disdain for detailed prep for each opponent, and it has gotten him to where he is in the record books. That is both a good thing and a bad. It is very old school.

It sounds like this: "We are going to beat them with execution, with hard hitting. We don't care if they know what we will be doing. They will not stop us."

Well we have seen teams beat us with superior game plans and preparation many times. Yes old school can work, but it is not playing the odds, not giving your team its best chance for victory. We heard Rick Campbell talk about detailed game prep after the Grey Cup.

Hopefully Khari and Mark can slip some detailed prep in there. We see the opposition do it with good effect, especially as the season moves on, and into the playoffs.

IMO ...
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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WestCoastJoe wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:01 am
Blitz wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 5:33 am

Wally Buono on facing the Blue Bombers: “I don’t usually concern myself with the opposition, and they’ve got a good football team like we do. Last year all games were down to the wire and I expect the same thing.

This type of comment drives me crazy. It's what causes our Leos playoff losses. Its why we lost the last two games, including the WDF last year. Its why Calgary and Winnipeg built up such huge scores in the first half of those games.

Pre-scouting, knowing the opposition's formations and tendencies from those formations, as well as down and distance, etc. etc. is an important aspect of football.
On facing the Blue Bombers: “I don’t usually concern myself with the opposition, and they’ve got a good football team like we do. Last year all games were down to the wire and I expect the same thing. The thing that you don’t want to take for granted is the home field advantage. A content team is not very healthy. We should be happy about the three wins, but the win this week is more critical than the last three.”
That defines Wally's philosophy. Blitz. It expresses confidence in his team, disdain for the opposition, disdain for detailed prep for each opponent, and it has gotten him to where he is in the record books. That is both a good thing and a bad. It is very old school.

It sounds like this: "We are going to beat them with execution, with hard hitting. We don't care if they know what we will be doing. They will not stop us."

Well we have seen teams beat us with superior game plans and preparation many times. Yes old school can work, but it is not playing the odds, not giving your team its best chance for victory. We heard Rick Campbell talk about detailed game prep after the Grey Cup.

Hopefully Khari and Mark can slip some detailed prep in there. We see the opposition do it with good effect, especially as the season moves on, and into the playoffs.

IMO ...
Most of my complaints about Wally's Way are minor, such as not wearing a headset, conservative approach, too loyal to coaching staff, etc. But the big flaw is most definitely the lack of detailed game planning opponents and I suspect a lack of self scouting.

The problem with Wally's old school "beat them physically and out execute the opposition" philosophy is that in terms of physical athletic play, most players and teams are pretty close in ability. The winning difference comes from coaching and preparedness and mentally getting your opponent out of his comfort zone.

For me Wally= great GM, not so great HC.
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DanoT wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 8:03 am
WestCoastJoe wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:01 am
Blitz wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 5:33 am

Wally Buono on facing the Blue Bombers: “I don’t usually concern myself with the opposition, and they’ve got a good football team like we do. Last year all games were down to the wire and I expect the same thing.

This type of comment drives me crazy. It's what causes our Leos playoff losses. Its why we lost the last two games, including the WDF last year. Its why Calgary and Winnipeg built up such huge scores in the first half of those games.

Pre-scouting, knowing the opposition's formations and tendencies from those formations, as well as down and distance, etc. etc. is an important aspect of football.
On facing the Blue Bombers: “I don’t usually concern myself with the opposition, and they’ve got a good football team like we do. Last year all games were down to the wire and I expect the same thing. The thing that you don’t want to take for granted is the home field advantage. A content team is not very healthy. We should be happy about the three wins, but the win this week is more critical than the last three.”
That defines Wally's philosophy. Blitz. It expresses confidence in his team, disdain for the opposition, disdain for detailed prep for each opponent, and it has gotten him to where he is in the record books. That is both a good thing and a bad. It is very old school.

It sounds like this: "We are going to beat them with execution, with hard hitting. We don't care if they know what we will be doing. They will not stop us."

Well we have seen teams beat us with superior game plans and preparation many times. Yes old school can work, but it is not playing the odds, not giving your team its best chance for victory. We heard Rick Campbell talk about detailed game prep after the Grey Cup.

Hopefully Khari and Mark can slip some detailed prep in there. We see the opposition do it with good effect, especially as the season moves on, and into the playoffs.

IMO ...
Most of my complaints about Wally's Way are minor, such as not wearing a headset, conservative approach, too loyal to coaching staff, etc. But the big flaw is most definitely the lack of detailed game planning opponents and I suspect a lack of self scouting.

The problem with Wally's old school "beat them physically and out execute the opposition" philosophy is that in terms of physical athletic play, most players and teams are pretty close in ability. The winning difference comes from coaching and preparedness and mentally getting your opponent out of his comfort zone.

For me Wally= great GM, not so great HC.
I share in all the same concerns on Wally's coaching, as Andrew Harris suited around in talking to LU this week on 1040. Many seasons Wally's teams have had by far better talent and not won the GC. Thankfully my fondest GC run was one such occasion, 1994.

The area where Wally's teams have excelled at is finding the talent , however Calgary in recent years has found as much talent and has a coaching staff that isn't as rigid in their game planning, with results to show for it.

Wesley's tenure is coming to an end, but I don't see the heir apparent in the Lions stable either. So I'll keep quiet on Wally's downside for now, the Lions need to have him at the helm in order to have any success on the field and ultimately the gate.
Entertainment value = an all time low
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