Lions 41 - Alouettes 18, Post-Game Stats and Comments

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Coast Mountain Lion
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So Jennings is back, mostly. They have Alex Ross, no QB on the PR, and no experienced backup with Lulay out. Who is out there that can be picked up, and at what price? Preferably someone whose initials are not DW.
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DanoT
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Part of the tragedy for Lulay is the financial loss this injury represents. Prior to the injury he was the highest rated QB statistically and with the best passing completion percentage. He will be a free agent in 2018 and would likely have teams bidding for him to be their starter....Now he probably won't be recovered enough to start the season at 100%.

Maybe the Lions should take a page out of the TiCats book and hire Lulay to start the season as a coach like Fantuz for the Cats. Basically Lulay already is the QB coach.
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B.C.FAN
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CardiacKid wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 12:28 am
What were folks' impressions of Boatright?
Boatright made no impression. He had no pressures and just one tackle on an 8-yard pass to Nik Lewis. His fumble recovery was a gift that bounced into his arms. Maxx Forde was credited with forcing the fumble.

David Menard is the only pass rusher that the Als feared. They put a tight end on him to try to make him cover a greater distance and Durant often rolled away from him. Menard still beat the tight end and running back for his end-zone sack.

Menard did more as a situational pass-rush specialist than any of the starters. In addition to Menard's two sacks, the Lions had just four QB pressures, two from Turner, one from Roh and one from Fenner on a blitz.
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David
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POST-GAME THOUGHTS:

* Proverbial "no win" situation. Lose and here we go again. Win and they're supposed to. They instead won big which was the best of all scenarios, but losing Lulay for the season just put a big hit on post-season plans.

* I predict JJ will be better now that he's not looking over his shoulder and trying to do too much. But losing your leader (and de facto team captain) is killer.

* Can't decide if major strides were made or if they just played the same whipping boys who'd lost before they'd even stepped off the plane in Vancouver, so aware of their miserable record here and "the time difference."

* Defensive pressure was good most of the night. Backfield a little soft in the 4th quarter. Still not in love with Jones' play-calling and how we're deploying Williams, but had the good sense to keep feeding the ball to Johnson.

* That was one of the loudest sub-20K crowds I can recall at BC Place.

* Lots of kids as usual this season. :thup: Just seemed to be noticeably lacking many folks in their 20s and early 30s though. Couple of young guys (comped tickets I assume) sat a few rows in front of me in 241 and blew the game off in the second quarter. Most people though seem to be have a genuinely great time at Lions' games (more so when we win of course).

* Not sure why some here were carping about the hard hat promo. In many US (and CFL - see Hamilton, Ottawa) stadia, hard hats are a staple among fan apparel (as a sign that you're behind the lunch-pale defense. You put the team logo on each side). These were top-quality adjustable hard hats too and nice souvenirs that many fans were wearing. :thup:

* Also not sure why the half-time act Karen Lee Batten was not better promoted. No mention of it in their ads? Just announced over the PA as the 1st half came to a close. Any musical act needs to be better hyped so fans are aware they are getting great value for their ticket.

* Surprisingly little hype for the ground-breaking new Telus app too.


DH :cool:
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The_Pauser
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Coast Mountain Lion wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 8:22 am
So Jennings is back, mostly. They have Alex Ross, no QB on the PR, and no experienced backup with Lulay out. Who is out there that can be picked up, and at what price? Preferably someone whose initials are not DW.
Zach Collaros is on the trading block. Though I highly doubt we can fit his salary under our cap.

Kevin Glenn could become available if Collaros goes to Saskatchewan? Though I don't know why Saskatchewan would try to help us.

Brandon Bridge has been a personal favourite of mine for a while. Looks good, just has the wrong passport.

Drew Tate? I don't think he's really been used much in Ottawa.

Call Henry Burris out of retirement? Doubtful.

We've gone to Ricky Foggie in the past...can the greybeard still go?

Realistically I don't see us taking on one of those veterans for cap purposes. If we had to move Olafioye due to cap reasons then there's no way we can afford to take on another high priced QB, one who most certainly has a higher salary than Lulay did. My guess is we'll go with Jennings and Ross, and probably pick up someone from down south. Last month we had a guy that came up from the Seahawks who had a great arm. I can't remember his name, but he looked good in practice.
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Ballistic Bob
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I too looked for the Hat promo. Only saw it one day. A very good friend picked me up a couple. Might be able to part with one when I'm back from holidays in 3 weeks. BB
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Coast Mountain Lion
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The_Pauser wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 10:59 am
Coast Mountain Lion wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 8:22 am
So Jennings is back, mostly. They have Alex Ross, no QB on the PR, and no experienced backup with Lulay out. Who is out there that can be picked up, and at what price? Preferably someone whose initials are not DW.
Zach Collaros is on the trading block. Though I highly doubt we can fit his salary under our cap.

Kevin Glenn could become available if Collaros goes to Saskatchewan? Though I don't know why Saskatchewan would try to help us.

Brandon Bridge has been a personal favourite of mine for a while. Looks good, just has the wrong passport.

Drew Tate? I don't think he's really been used much in Ottawa.

Call Henry Burris out of retirement? Doubtful.

We've gone to Ricky Foggie in the past...can the greybeard still go?

Realistically I don't see us taking on one of those veterans for cap purposes. If we had to move Olafioye due to cap reasons then there's no way we can afford to take on another high priced QB, one who most certainly has a higher salary than Lulay did. My guess is we'll go with Jennings and Ross, and probably pick up someone from down south. Last month we had a guy that came up from the Seahawks who had a great arm. I can't remember his name, but he looked good in practice.
Looking through the rosters, each team has a reasonably capable backup and one or two rookies. The only team which seems to have any potential spare with any significant experience is the Argos, who have Matthews and Fajardo. Fajardo has looked fairly decent in relief and may be the future there (assuming they don't give him up as they did with Harris and Collaros); Matthews hasn't lit anything up but at least might be an insurance policy.

Then there's DeMarco who I think is looking for work...
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David
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The_Pauser wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 10:59 am
We've gone to Ricky Foggie in the past...can the greybeard still go?
I'd rather go with Ricky Foley at quarterback than Ricky Foggie.

As for replacing Lulay within the salary cap, players added to the 6-game injured list have their salaries excluded from the cap for the duration that they are on the list. So we get some cap relief there in terms of finding a replacement, if I'm not mistaken.


DH :cool:
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The_Pauser
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David wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 11:30 am

I'd rather go with Ricky Foley at quarterback than Ricky Foggie.

As for replacing Lulay within the salary cap, players added to the 6-game injured list have their salaries excluded from the cap for the duration that they are on the list. So we get some cap relief there in terms of finding a replacement, if I'm not mistaken.


DH :cool:
I hope you're right about that. I don't know the CFL CBA too well so I wasn't sure, but it would make a lot of sense. Especially teams that lose a couple high priced players would be seriously hamstrung.
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maxlion
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With regards to the qb situation, there is no realistic option that could lead us to the promised land if Jennings goes down. It's Jennings or bust from here on out.

Jacory Harris is available. He might be able to hold the fort for a quarter or half if need be.

Only way we get Collaros is if we trade Jennings. Could be worth considering.
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Offense: Jennings showed signs of the phenom from last year. Manny and Burnham? Toss it in their area code and it is a completion, what a tandem. Iannuzzi continues to have an exceptional year. I still don't understand why they don't go deep to Williams - it is always the 5-10 yard crossing pattern or a 5 yard hook - use his speed more, even if you don't throw to him he clears it out underneath for another receiver.

Running game looked great. JJ24 is a star running back. I think if they went with him and Rainey as a running tandem they would both do better - running a sweep with the speedy and elusive Rainey would open up the middle a bit more for JJ to hit a big one. I was disappointed with the O-line selection. Antonio Johnson AND Kelvin Palmer on the O-line at the same time! It looks like Vaillancourt is the odd man out which I find quite odd as he is much better than the two previously mentioned O-linemen. I thought Stewart was having an all star season at left tackle so in their wisdom they move him to guard and insert the traffic cone of a left tackle in Johnson or Palmer for that matter (watch #7's play against Palmer all night!!!) The left side should be Stewart and Vaillancourt, the right side should be Fabien and ??? with Husband in the middle.

Defense: The two players that impressed me the most were Menard and Luke. Luke is a pile mover - he was double teamed on every down and yet consistently pushed the double team back into the quarterback's space forcing Durant to take an additional step back just when he was set to throw in order to get the ball off - this is why a number of his throws seemed so errant - he even slammed his hand into his own lineman a couple of times. Luke blocked a pass with a straight bull rush pushing his man back into Durant. Menard is a machine and plays really well beside Luke. He knows how to slip past when they double team his partner. Maxx Forde should start. Those three guys give a nice rotation for DT. Roh, Boatright and Turner for the other rotation. I also thought Awe had a good game as a rookie at linebacker with 3 solo tackles and in on a number of others. I was watching Elimimian helping him out with positioning before the snap and advice right after - Awe will improve - big upside to his play. Purifoy needs to use his arms when he tackles - Cunningham went for an additional 15 yards on a reception after Purifoy tried to tackle him with a hit rather than a hit and wrap. We got better play from Thompson at free safety - good to see. They may have picked on Gaitor but I think he is playing well for a second year man.

Special teams - beauty of a decision to put Rainey at rush end on the blocked field goal attempt. Coach should have found some time in the last 3 and a half months to explain the kicking rules to his kicker. I still don't know why they blew the whistle on that play with the ball on the goal line - Logan had not played the ball - there is only a single if the ball goes into touch through the end zone or a player concedes the point. Puzzling for all concerned.

Overall, a game we had to win. I like some of the player changes on defence but question those on the O-line. I saw some solid effort from a team that worked hard. I am saddened by what happened to Lulay - it appears to be unanimous here and on the media that the guy is an exemplary individual on and off the field. If this ends his playing career, coaching is surely his next step - QB and receiver coach for the Lions next year followed by a quick promotion to OC - then we might get some more innovative play calling that takes advantage of our talent as well as adjusting to take advantage of the opponents weakness. Do you see Lulay as a HC in a few years much like Dickinson?
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B.C.FAN
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Vaillancourt is injured and was scratched last night. When he's healthy, I'd like to see him start at left guard, with Steward sliding back to tackle.

I was surprised the Lions rushed mostly to the right side of the line behind Kirby Fabien. The failed short-yardage series in scoring territory was all run to the right side. Jennings was dropped for a two-yard loss on a third-down sneak. The Lions had much better success rushing to the left side behind Steward and Antonio Johnson late in the game.
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The_Pauser
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Anyone have any insight as to why RP was on the sidelines last night? Sounds like he may be coming back to the team, but I don't know in what capacity.
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maxlion wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 12:09 pm
Only way we get Collaros is if we trade Jennings. Could be worth considering.
Collaros is shattered and has zero confidence right now. Austin rode him hard and him away wet.
Plus I understand he is not a great team-mate and *beeotch* a lot. Not a good fit for the Lions locker room.
maxlion
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One difference I noticed in this game was the specials teams were getting close to the Montreal kicker on punts. Previously, they would just curl back and set up for the return, with no serious attempt at blocking the punt. Last night, it looked like they could have blocked a few punts if they had wanted to. It almost seemed that they were holding off on actually blocking punts despite getting through the blocking. Perhaps saving it for a better time?
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