Post Mortem on the Season, Als 50 - Leos 17

[B.C.FAN]

The Lions coaching staff basically gave up in the third quarter when they put Partridge in.

The players themselves gave up before then. I would argue that Partridge should have come in sooner, definitely before Glenn threw his second interception of the game in the third quarter and, better yet, for a change of pace and to give Glenn a chance to regroup in the second quarter. Glenn was rattled. He was missing open receivers, locking into his primary receiver and panicking unnecessarily in the pocket. Partridge came in for one play in the first half and picked up a first down with his mobility. The Lions needed a change of pace and needed to change the momentum. They stuck with Glenn and didn't give him a chance to regroup and regain his composure.

[aklawitter]

At least Brown and Logan made next year's decision on KR/PR/RB interesting.

1 OL drafted this past year.



boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Sir Purrcival]

Well now we switch from what was to what will be. There won't be much movement until the after the Grey Cup. That is the point that if there is some contemplation of changes, that you can realistically look at who and what may be available or worth pursuing. If pickings are sparse, Wally may decide to stay with Bene on the pretext that there is nothing that represents an improvement. I certainly hope not but it may be a while before the totality of what is available reveals itself. It will also depend on who else may be in the running for new coaches. Can't see too many HC firings among the competitors but you never know. Lots of questions, very few answers and lots of emotions. Fortunately the off season works for us fans as well. A chance to cool down, look at things realistically and hope for better things.

[The_Pauser]

What would you have expected Benevides do?

I mean sure, Schmitt should have been in the game. McCallum is not a good kicker, and I've said over and over again that he shouldn't even be on this team. That's on the coach.

Sure, a QB switch should have been made sooner, but was Lulay even healthy? I get the sense he was just a smokescreen and he wasn't going in even if Glenn went down to injury on the first play.

Sure, the PI challenge in the first half shouldn't have been made (it was clear as day it was a PI).

The offensive scheming was dumb, but that's on the OC (HC gets blame too as he is his boss, but Khari needs to take more heat for this, or have people just automatically written him off completely already?).

Kevin Glenn is done. We all saw this months ago. He is too inconsistent to be a starting QB in this league, and he is not good enough to lead this team (or any team) to a playoff win going forward. I called it months ago, and I know many others agreed. We needed to either bring in another QB, or groom Beck to take over the starters role at the midway point of the season. We didn't do that. We kept putting all our eggs in the Glenn basket, and allowed Beck to get into the position that got him concussed. Complete blunder.

[lion24]

This group gave up weeks ago and I pretty much checked out as well, hard to support a group like that. Worst brand of football in the CFL in years due to injuries to starting Qbs, poor officiating, etc. Hope changes are finally made with the country club atmosphere starting with Ryan Phillips

[Sir Purrcival]

I don't really think you can expect much of anything from an individual that seems to be unqualified for the position. He doesn't seem to be a great motivator, he isn't an x's and o's guy. He doesn't seem to be much of a personnel manager (players or coaches) and his personality seems atypical for a sideline general. I don't hate the guy, I don't know the guy but one sees what one sees and the signs have been there all season and the results speak for themselves. The fact is that you can have the best coaching in the world and still not win but you can also have good talent and not win because the leaders don't know how to lead.

[WestCoastJoe]

Anybody catch any post game interviews? I rarely listen to those. But, in a morbid sense, they would be interesting today.

Coaching staff. Dead men walking.

GM. His legacy and legend took some serious hits this year. The one time he made a Head Coach hire, he made a poor one. For all the wrong reasons.

It is pretty much a shambles right now. And it will not suddenly get better, without change, in the off season.

Some debate on here about: Is it coaching, or is it talent? Well, I have been clear in my view. IMO our personnel department has done well selecting players. IMO this slide down the slope is all about coaching. And it is not as if one agrees with every personnel decision made.

Of all the sports, it seems to me that football is the one where coaching makes the greatest difference. Edmonton is an excellent example. New coach. Big time buy in by the players, most of whom were there before the arrival of Chris Jones. Confidence instilled. Dynamite team. In one short season.

Look at what Tom Higgins did in Montreal. Higgins is not the greatest coach in the world, but he is a very good one. Fully credentialed. With a very impressive resume. Calm. Good at Xs and Os.

So we have had a lot of success with Wally since 2003. Wally and Braley are going to make the calls going forward. We fans may just be in for some humble pie for a while, after a really good run.

If Wally makes significant change, I believe he has to abandon the chair on the rooftop at practice. He has to abandon the chair on the tower. He has to let the Head Coach be the HC. If he has doubts, and feels the need to oversee, to criticize in the media, that speaks about the decision he made, it seems to me. As a Head Coach, it seemed that even for Wally, the evolution of football was leaving him behind, as he has always seemed to resist change. And that is understandable. It worked for him for over 20 years.

[Toppy Vann]

Great post WCJ...

Coaching in football is huge and the HC sets the tone in the team.

One of things a good HC does is instill in his team that they can win with the players they have and today they faked Travis Lulay to play and that basically said we don't believe in our team.

The fact that they know what makes Kevin Glenn a successful QB as he proved to be in Calgary and they didn't given him the game plans and put in schemes that he could win with. The lack of continuity in offensive philosophy with guys like Tim Brown in and out all the time show this regime to be totally bankrupt and yet they use an INTERNATIONAL punter and unless you got a guy who does all 3 kicking roles and gives you an ability to fake punts and kicks, this is pretty dumb.

Benny hired his DC for the wrong reasons meaning running Stubler out of town to get MW in the role (despite his deserving of a chance) is not the best way to run a team. IF Jones interviewed for OC with his approach it should have been - thanks for coming out... and get a guy with an understanding of what Calgary did to make Glenn a success.

As to Higgins, yes, he seems to have done a good job after their horrid start but on offense how much of that can and will be attributed to the arrival of Jeff Garcia (a guy who the Lions might want to look at for OC next year depending on how he worked out back in MTL)?

Garcia didn't have an immediate impact but the Als now have Crompton and his team believing who would be a disaster in BC as would most QBs including Esks Mike Reilly or up and comers like Zach Collaros.

Glenn will be panned but no QB in the CFL would have got this Khari Jones coached team into the GC this year with the Lions.

[WestCoastJoe]

Great post WCJ...

Coaching in football is huge and the HC sets the tone in the team.

One of things a good HC does is instill in his team that they can win with the players they have and today they faked Travis Lulay to play and that basically said we don't believe in our team.

The fact that they know what makes Kevin Glenn a successful QB as he proved to be in Calgary and they didn't given him the game plans and put in schemes that he could win with. The lack of continuity in offensive philosophy with guys like Tim Brown in and out all the time show this regime to be totally bankrupt and yet they use an INTERNATIONAL punter and unless you got a guy who does all 3 kicking roles and gives you an ability to fake punts and kicks, this is pretty dumb.

Thanks, Toppy. I always appreciate your management and coaching perspective.

Yes, it was strange regarding Lulay's "availability" for this game. Can't play? Don't suit up. False hope to fans. False message to players. Baloney.

Can't play. Don't suit up. Lulay's injury is not something that just happened recently. A well organized team plays, practices and prepares accordingly.

And I agree that Kevin Glenn was not the problem with this year's offence. He did just fine last year with Calgary. Didn't win the Grey Cup? Well, Hufnagel has not won since 2008. Not just Glenn at the helm in that time.

Firing JC and Stubler? Face saving. Scapegoats for Wally's protégé. Those guys were experts in their field, Xs and Os masters.

Yes, in football Job One is instilling confidence. Building confidence.

[The_Pauser]

Thanks, Toppy. I always appreciate your management and coaching perspective.

Yes, it was strange regarding Lulay's "availability" for this game. Can't play? Don't suit up. False hope to fans. False message to players. Baloney.

And I agree that Kevin Glenn was not the problem with this year's offence. He did just fine last year with Calgary. Didn't win the Grey Cup? Well, Hufnagel has not won since 2008. Not just Glenn at the helm in that time.

Firing JC and Stubler? Face saving. Scapegoats for Wally's protégé. Those guys were experts in their field, Xs and Os masters.

Yes, in football Job One is instilling confidence. Building confidence.

So what would you have the Lions do in that case? Only dress 2 QB's? Dress Rodgers?

I don't know that Glenn was THE problem with the offense, but he certainly was A problem. We wasted a 1st round pick to acquire a veteran QB who played as if he was a rookie, consistently making bad decisions that led to interceptions. Sure the game plan was inept, but you would expect a vet like Glenn to still make good decisions.

[WestCoastJoe]

Thanks, Toppy. I always appreciate your management and coaching perspective.

Yes, it was strange regarding Lulay's "availability" for this game. Can't play? Don't suit up. False hope to fans. False message to players. Baloney.

And I agree that Kevin Glenn was not the problem with this year's offence. He did just fine last year with Calgary. Didn't win the Grey Cup? Well, Hufnagel has not won since 2008. Not just Glenn at the helm in that time.

Firing JC and Stubler? Face saving. Scapegoats for Wally's protégé. Those guys were experts in their field, Xs and Os masters.

Yes, in football Job One is instilling confidence. Building confidence.

So what would you have the Lions do in that case? Only dress 2 QB's? Dress Rodgers?

I don't know that Glenn was THE problem with the offense, but he certainly was A problem. We wasted a 1st round pick to acquire a veteran QB who played as if he was a rookie, consistently making bad decisions that led to interceptions. Sure the game plan was inept, but you would expect a vet like Glenn to still make good decisions.

You might have to suit up just two, if a guy cannot play. And you might have to suit up Rodgers, if he is #4 on your depth chart.

Personally I did not like us being in the situation where we had to give up a 1st round pick for Glenn. But I am not that much of a critic of him either.

[The_Pauser]

You might have to suit up just two, if a guy cannot play. And you might have to suit up Rodgers.

Personally I did not like us being in the situation where we had to give up a 1st round pick for Glenn. But I am not that much of a critic of him either.

If we suit up just 2 QB's, and Glenn goes down then we're in a situation where we have Travis Partridge and nobody behind him. THAT is something unacceptable for any coach to do. I question what Lulay could do if he had to go in, but really the problem is how our coaching has handled the QB position all year. Glenn has been bad this year, let's not sugar coat anything. There were many opportunities where we could have/should have replaced Glenn with Beck, and even Partridge to give these guys some reps and see what they can do. That didn't happen, which ultimately put us in a position where with Beck out we needed to have Lulay dressed because Partridge had no meaningful reps all season.

Or perhaps if they had given Beck more meaningful reps this year, maybe they end up using Partridge as the short yard QB which means Beck doesn't get injured vs. Calgary, and we can throw him in there today.

[joewillie63]

The Lions have to get rid of Benivetes. He is out of his realm. He can't handle it.

[MexicoLionFan]

Thanks, Toppy. I always appreciate your management and coaching perspective.

Yes, it was strange regarding Lulay's "availability" for this game. Can't play? Don't suit up. False hope to fans. False message to players. Baloney.

And I agree that Kevin Glenn was not the problem with this year's offence. He did just fine last year with Calgary. Didn't win the Grey Cup? Well, Hufnagel has not won since 2008. Not just Glenn at the helm in that time.

Firing JC and Stubler? Face saving. Scapegoats for Wally's protégé. Those guys were experts in their field, Xs and Os masters.

Yes, in football Job One is instilling confidence. Building confidence.

So what would you have the Lions do in that case? Only dress 2 QB's? Dress Rodgers?

I don't know that Glenn was THE problem with the offense, but he certainly was A problem. We wasted a 1st round pick to acquire a veteran QB who played as if he was a rookie, consistently making bad decisions that led to interceptions. Sure the game plan was inept, but you would expect a vet like Glenn to still make good decisions.

You might have to suit up just two, if a guy cannot play. And you might have to suit up Rodgers, if he is #4 on your depth chart.

Personally I did not like us being in the situation where we had to give up a 1st round pick for Glenn. But I am not that much of a critic of him either.

Exactly Joe, Wally should never have put this team in this position by NOT dealing with the Lulay shoulder sooner...the same as being 3 games into the season without a Left Tackle with our small, ancient, backup and only experienced QB on the roster...or having to go with an American kicker...or with suiting up LaRose who wouldn't make another CFL roster even as a backup...BLUNDERS, HUGE blunders that have cost this team...like promoting an inexperienced and unsuccessful coach to become our HB instead of someone like Chris Jones or Mike O'Shea...the coaches that Wally passed on are the creme de la creme across the CFL!

[Toppy Vann]

You might have to suit up just two, if a guy cannot play. And you might have to suit up Rodgers.

Personally I did not like us being in the situation where we had to give up a 1st round pick for Glenn. But I am not that much of a critic of him either.

If we suit up just 2 QB's, and Glenn goes down then we're in a situation where we have Travis Partridge and nobody behind him. THAT is something unacceptable for any coach to do. I question what Lulay could do if he had to go in, but really the problem is how our coaching has handled the QB position all year. Glenn has been bad this year, let's not sugar coat anything. There were many opportunities where we could have/should have replaced Glenn with Beck, and even Partridge to give these guys some reps and see what they can do. That didn't happen, which ultimately put us in a position where with Beck out we needed to have Lulay dressed because Partridge had no meaningful reps all season.

Or perhaps if they had given Beck more meaningful reps this year, maybe they end up using Partridge as the short yard QB which means Beck doesn't get injured vs. Calgary, and we can throw him in there today.

We used to have 4 QBs who could ALL play and did. Dickie, Casey, Buck, Jarius.