Lions 36 - Bombers 27, Post-Game Stats and Comments

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WestCoastJoe
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As noted by BCFAN, and as I have posted a few times, the Bombers talent does not seem top level. They have pretty much maximized their results. They get great coaching from O'Shea and LaPolice. They 'tricked' us one more time on STs.

Nichols makes a huge difference.

Harris is key to their offence.

Nice to see Wally showing concern for Harris, when he got rocked by that helmet to helmet hit. Awful to watch. IMO the defender could have put his head to the side.

Re Loffler. He plays a dangerous game. As I noted in the GDT, coaches love a player who goes all out, but his long term health will suffer.

Glad to see Awe adjusting his game.
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.
TheLionKing
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leo4life wrote:
Sat Oct 28, 2017 10:17 pm
Meh nothing to see here Lions beat a Bomber squad minus their starting QB/RB...meaningless contest
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TheLionKing
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:wink: Lions won because the players executed and made more plays.
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WestCoastJoe
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Jennings: "We had a good game plan." As he was praising everybody's effort.

"Proud of the coaches for calling a great game."

"When we had one on one coverage downfield we hit them."

"We changed some formations. We mixed things up."

Jennings is always very gracious and humble. :thup:
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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DanoT
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Nice to see Jennings get his mojo back, but I am puzzled as to why the Lions never seem to call a designed roll out play for Jennings.

Seemed like the Lions got the best results running the ball when it was a called in the huddle running play, allowing the Oline and WRs to throw blocks downfield beyond the line of scrimmage.
Blitz
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It was a Halloween treat to watch our Leos defeat the Bombers on the road on Saturday. Wins have been hard to come by this 2017 season and its a good feeling.

Yes, the Bombers, who had lost a key player on both their offence and defense over recent weeks lost two more in this game as both Nichols and Harris were injured on offence during the game. The Bombers do not have good backup quarterbacks and Nichols injury hurt. Harris was also averaging 8 yards per rush in the game before his injury but our Leos were controlling the game at that point.

This game provided a number of insights. We learned that Jonathan Jennings has been playing with an injured shoulder that is still not 100% but improving. We learned that Dyshawn Davis, a linebacker who has been on the practice roster for almost two seasons now can hit and he can play. With both Awe and Davis complimenting Sol E. and Fenner, we have an excellent linebacking crew going into 2018.

We learned that no matter who we play at right tackle this season (this time it was Milton and before that it was Palmer and before that it was Antonio Johnson) couldn't pass block a beach ball (Johnson has played much better at left tackle).

We learned that James Vaillencourt, whom I wanted to play right guard from the start of this season, got to play that position in this game and played very well. We also learned that David Faucault has improved from the start of this season.

But most importantly, in this game, we learned that offensive scheme, formation, and play calls do make a difference. For two seasons now, I've written that we need to isolate Rainy on a linebacker and send him on some deep patterns. This was the first game in two seasons that we've done that and the results were more than evident.

We used a lot more formations in this game, including flooding the wide side with five receivers. We used a lot more motion, moving receivers around to get matchups. Jennings went back to what he does best in this game, throwing precise long passes to his receivers at times in one on one matchups.

Defensively and on special teams we did not alter our formations and scheme as much as we did on offence. The Bombers moved the football against us more than they should have been able to. Tyler Davis dealt with the same problems Rainey has faced all season on punt returns - there is no blocking. We also got a punt blocked and even though the play should not have been a touchdown for the Bombers, once again, we had a breakdown on special teams that should not have happened.

Here are some post-game thoughts.

THE GOOD

1. OFFENCE

For those questioning the abilities of Jonathan Jennings, he showed in this game that he still has all the tools that made many CFL analysts predicting before this season that he would become this year's MOP. Jennings threw for over 400 yards with a 75% completion average.

What was the difference? Jennings has shown, in recent weeks, that his shoulder injury was improving and his confidence was also returning. But the big difference in this game is that we also gave him the opportunity to shine because we had a good game plan and, for a change, we made numerous changes to our offensive scheme that helped, rather than hindered him.

I look at Bo Levi Mitchell of Calgary and the time he gets to throw the football (less than half the sacks, often has all day to throw the football) and the scheme and play calling that he has had at his disposal in comparsion to the protection and scheme that Jennings has had to deal with (with the exception of this game) and I would take Jennings over Bo Levi in a heart beat.

In this game, we flooded areas of the field at times, we used motion more effectively, we went empty backfield and got a lot of one on one matchups deep, we sent Rainey deep, and we used a number of screen passes to both receivers and backs. We also had better pass blocking, at times, although there were other times when our pass blocking broke down. Jennings was sacked four times and quickly pressured on other occasions. But the good in this game, is there were times when he did have time to throw. In some games this season, he has been a duck in a shooting gallery throughout the game.

The game also showed that we are a much better offensive team with Nick Moore in the lineup than with Chris Williams. Our offence really got out of sync this season when we brought Chris Williams into the lineup. Burnham, Manny, Rainey, and Shaq Johnson can all go deep. Nick Moore is also a deceptive receiver who can beat a defense deep. We didn't need Chris Williams this season (but we did need Olifioye).

On defense, Junior Luke got a sack. Awe, Fenner, and Davis all played very well at linebacker. Bazzie got some pressures and played with intensity. T. J. Lee had two interceptions. James showed potential at field corner. Purifoy had a good game and played aggressively.

On special teams, Ty Long continues to lead the CFL in punt average with a 47.8 yd. average. He boomed a few punts once again in this game. He has successfully converted 17 field goals in a row and has a 90% field goal success average. Long has made Richie Leone’s field goal kicking become a distant bad memory.

Chandler Fenner had 3 special teams tackles to lead the way. He has been an inspiration on special teams this season, as well as play the nickel back position with passion and aggressiveness.

THE BAD

It feels uncomfortable to criticize our receiving crew after such a good outing but they have had a free pass all season and often undeservingly so. In too many games this season they have been covered far too easily. Not so in this game but there were a number of plays that showed that this unit also needs to improve for 2018.

One of the problems of our receiving crew is that they often do a bad job of coming back to the football hard when Jennings is in scramble mode. On one play in this game, Jennings was running for his life while trying to find a receiver downfield and not one of them, except for Burnham, did anything but just lollygag and quit running. Jennings was forced to throw the football away.

It happened a second time and Jennings looked completely frustrated as he ate the football and took a hard hit. Jennings also got on Rainey’s case after an incomplete long throw that went incomplete because Rainy looked over the wrong shoulder and did not take his pattern wider to the sideline.

One of the many things I like about Bryan Burnham is that, when he catches a football, he gets upfield immediately. Not Manny Arseneaux this season. In the past Manny was very hard to bring down because he usually took the football upfield vertically after a reception. He is big, strong, and has a great stiff arm. But this season, Manny thinks he is “Mr. Juke” or "Mr. Dancing with the Stars".

He has repeatedly tried to beat defenders laterally after a reception, often losing yards. Nick Moore stood on the sideline on one play and did not work back to the football, instead catching the ball and going down. It was another example of how our coaching staff is not doing a good enough job of engraining our receivers to fight back to the football. Instead we too often rely on a perfectly thrown football.

We also often don’t run disciplined pass patterns and Jennings has taken the blame for recievers either not running their routes properly or not made the right adjustment and Jennings has unfairly been on the one the finger has been pointed at. WCJ has done an excellent job this season of posting photos that have shown our recievers blanketed at times.

On defense, outside of a pass rush that is deficient, the fundamental flaws of Washington/Buono’s passive zone coverage on the wide side continued in this game. Once again, receivers were wide open at times. Thompson is being asked to play too deep and can’t get over to help and our field corner and field halfback are stuck trying to cover three receivers. This has happened for the past two seasons and its still not resolved.

Luther Maddy did not make the impression one would have hoped for but it was his first game. Brooks only has one sack this season and his inside penetration is often non-existent and there was no fall off with Maddy.

Tyler Davis averaged 6.8 yards per punt return in this game. If anyone thinks our poor punt return average this season is Rainey’s fault they just saw the same thing that Rainey, Williams, and Iannuzzi have faced when returning punts this season. Our punt return blocking is embarrassingly bad.

THE UGLY

This game, for our Leos players, was about pride and playing for next season. But if this was a key game of the 2017 season, the punt block in this game was another example of the poor special teams preparation and design that has hurt us for too many seasons now. Once again, a defender came completely free to block Long’s punt attempt. We had three punts blocked in our first game of the season. I guess one punt block is improvement but its unacceptable.

On offence, once again, we had a pass rusher run a loop, be untouched in Dorazio’s pass blocking scheme and lay a wicked hit on Jennings. It happens way too often and has happened way too often whenever Dorazio has been coaching our offensive line, which has been every season, except one season in the Buono regime. Dorazio is also the architect of our one dimension inside zone read running game. I watched the different type of running plays that Andrew Harris was given yesterday compare to Rainey running into brick walls too often and it was frustrating. Dorazio is an example of incompetence being rewarded season after season.

In this game, Anthony Thompson missed a tackle on Andrew Harris when he had him in his cross-hairs. Thompson is left on an island so often, it must feel surreal to him to be anywhere near the action.

WRAP
As with most Leos games, there is the good, the bad, and the ugly. But it was a good feeling to see our Leos win a game again. It was good to see the smiles on many Leos faces. It was a fun game to watch offensively and showcased the talents of many of the players in our skill positions.

With one game to go in this very disappointing 2017 season, my hope is that we can beat the Argos and end this season on a two-game winning note. That would be a sweet treat to help get rid of the bad taste of this shocking season and provide more hope for 2018.

But perhaps, more than anything else, this win was a treat because I didn’t have to endure another Wally Wednesday powder puff interview or listen to him do his usual blame game stuff. Instead, after the game he was complimentary of Rainey’s big play ability on offence, (Rainey played tailback so the Lions could take a look at Tyler Davis), noted that we had three players on the offensive line who had not started the week previous (Faucault, Vaillencourt, and Milton), and that Jennings had time to pass the football in this game.

It was a Halloween treat victory for our Leos on Saturday. Time to savor it.
"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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DanoT
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Re: Blitz's critique of the Lion's receiving corps.

One only need look no further than the coaching staff to discover the problem: Rec coach is Marcel Bellefeuille, a guy with a ton of CFL experience...ALL BAD.

At the time of Bellefueille's hiring I was concerned but rationalized that Receiving Corps was the areas of greatest depth and talent for the Lions, so there shouldn't be that big of a problem. But as Blitz pointed out there are some problems.

IMO, coaching is all about the details and thorough preparation. At the pro level the physical differences between players is not that great and so metal mistakes are often the difference and the mental and situational game planning is the responsibility of the coaches.

The revelation a few games ago that rookie International punter Ty Long didn't know the CFL punting rules is great example of what is wrong not just with ST but the with the Lions as a team: A lack of thorough detailed planning.
VictoriaFan
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on the blocked punt Foley just stood there while the blocker ran around him, waste of space on that aquisition
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B.C.FAN
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VictoriaFan wrote:
Sun Oct 29, 2017 10:19 am
on the blocked punt Foley just stood there while the blocker ran around him, waste of space on that aquisition
Yes, and it’s not the first blocked punt he has given up since being acquired.
Blitz
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B.C.FAN wrote:
Sun Oct 29, 2017 10:30 am
VictoriaFan wrote:
Sun Oct 29, 2017 10:19 am
on the blocked punt Foley just stood there while the blocker ran around him, waste of space on that aquisition
Yes, and it’s not the first blocked punt he has given up since being acquired.
Plus Foley has been on the sidelines and forgotten that he is on the punt team on two occasions since he got here...either that or there was confusion by the coaching staff as to who is on the punt team.

As Dano T. notes, there are a lot of coaching problems on this 2017 Leos team.

I was reading Steinberg and Ferguson on cfl.ca regarding which teams would surprise upwards in 2018. Here are a few excerpts:
In BC, a highly-talented core may be overshadowed by questions about Wally Buono, a Hall of Fame coach whose future on the CFL sideline is unknown. After roaring to a 5-2 start, the Lions have lost eight of their last nine games en route to a 6-10 record.
Marshall Ferguson

BC feels like an organization in transition due to under achievement, and Montreal has yet to piece together much in the way of a public plan that suggests their improvement will out-reach Hamilton’s.
If June Jones returns, Phillip Lolley gets a chance to build his defence from day one and the quarterbacks continue to improve under Jones’ watch, the Tiger-Cats should be back in the playoffs next season. Something I can not as confidently say for BC or Montreal.
Pat Steinberg
I chose the BC Lions to win the Grey Cup, so my submission in this week’s debate is likely already biased. The Lions have had an extremely disappointing season and for them to miss the playoffs falls well short of expectations. But BC had high hopes entering the season for a reason: they’ve got a lot of really good players. That’s why I think they’re the leading candidate for a bounce back 2018 campaign.

Let’s not forget Jennings has some impressive threats at his disposal. With Bryan Burnham and Emmanuel Arceneaux, BC still boasts one of the CFL’s best one-two punches at receiver. Jeremiah Johnson, on the other hand, remains one of the league’s most consistent tailbacks and helps round out the Lions on offence. Assuming everyone is back next year, BC still boasts proven, reliable and dangerous playmakers.
An underlying look at the Lions defensively shows there’s some promise next year, too. This season, BC has allowed fewer than 80 yards per game on the ground, the second-best total in the league. The Lions have been decent defending the pass, too, sitting fifth with 299.7 passing yards against per game. If they can get a little more push on the defensive line this off-season, BC could be very formidable defensively; they’ve racked up 25 sacks, the league’s third lowest total.

No one is more disappointed in this season than Lions players and coaches. This team had high expectations both internally and externally, and they haven’t been able to live up to them. But those expectations weren’t simply fabricated for the sake of it. Plain and simple, BC has underachieved in a big way this season. With a couple tweaks, the Lions can absolutely be a factor in 2018.
"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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WestCoastJoe
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Great comments, Guys.

As always, excellent detail, Blitz. I was looking forward to your review of the game.

Despite our record, and despite being out of the playoffs, it was a fun game to watch. The players were having fun. We had a good game plan for Jennings, and he showed us once again, why some thought he would be this year's MOP. Razor sharp passes long and short.

One more game, and then we are off into the great unknown. Ownership? General Management? Coaching?

This game we made adjustments. So late. So late. But they really helped Jennings.

STs? Same mess. Unable to block on returns. Unable to block when we punt. This fan would put it down to lack of detailed planning and lack of film work on the opposition. We have always felt that we just need to take care of our business, focus on execution, and that will be enough to prevail. Once upon a time, that might have worked, but that was a long time ago.

We failed this year, once again, to have an O Line that could adequately protect the quarterback.

IMO we failed in our personnel choices with the Internationals in the D Line. We never had DTs who could collapse the pocket. We failed with an endless group of defensive ends who could not get to the quarterback. Bazzie was added late.

If we fail in our efforts on the O Line and on the D Line we cannot expect to compete at the highest level, IMO.

One more game. And they are all interesting.

This last game was a treat to watch, even with all of its imperfections. We allowed the Bombers to hang around in a game in which for the most part they had just one half of the time of possession. They had no TDs from the offence, but did get one on a punt block. They were without their starting quarterback. The game almost had the look of one in which we might once again squander a win.
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
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Time of possession 38:23 vs 21:37

Total yards 543 vs 241

Looking at those numbers, one might have expected a blowout win.

2017-10-29_1136.png
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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
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Passing game statistics ...

Efficiency 130.00 vs 36.22

4 TDs vs 0

408 yards vs 154

Completion percentage 75.0% vs 48.4%

2017-10-29_1137.png
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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
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We took a lot of penalties. I think I heard that the Bombers are the least penalized team in the league.

We had 3 penalties on STs, the Bombers 0.

Overall 10 penalties for us, 4 for the Bombers. 129 yards vs 55 yards.

2017-10-29_1138.png
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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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Hambone
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WestCoastJoe wrote:
Sun Oct 29, 2017 12:14 am

"When we had one on one coverage downfield we hit them."
Since Jennings took over back in 2015 he's never been shy about airing it out when he recognizes one on one coverage. The big difference yesterday was that he hit them. We really haven't seen that sort of accuracy on the deep ball out of Jennings this year. I can think of at least a few earlier in the season where receivers were behind coverage and Jennings missed the target. I can think of 2 sure TDs to Williams on deep routes behind coverage that wound up incomplete on overthrows. Maybe his shoulder wasn't 100% early on and is finally back to where it needs to be?
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