B.C.FAN wrote: ↑Sat Nov 11, 2017 4:13 pm
WestCoastJoe wrote: ↑Sat Nov 11, 2017 4:01 pm
Would our record have been better under Lulay?
A healthy Lulay would not have saved the defence.
A healthy Lulay would not have saved the STs.
Lulay got injured, once again. He was unavailable for duty.
Would the relatively immobile Bo Levi Mitchell have been able to make our O highly functioning? It is not just the QB. The O needs pass protection. It needs good route schemes. It needs separation by the receivers. It needs an effective attack plan, focusing on vulnerabilities. It is a package. Our overall offensive package was a fail.
Change Jennings out, and, IMO our season would still have been a failure.
This CFL fan looks at ownership and coaching as our big fails this year.
How about Ross or Gale in our offence? They would need some magic, which would probably be missing.
Just IMO ...
It's all speculation, of course. But consider that the Lions lost 7 games by 7 points or less, and that they generated an average of 100 more yards of offence under Lulay than Jennings. If that translates into a bit more scoring in close games, the Lions could easily have been an 11- or 12-win team again. Not to mention, they would have had a lot more confidence than the deflated bunch that always seemed to look for new ways to lose in the second half of the season.
My main wish is that Lulay and Jennings both come back next year and that the head coach, whoever that is, feels free to start whichever quarterback gives the team its best chance to win.
When a team wins, quarterbacks get credit, even if the QB mostly manages the game.
When a team loses, quarterbacks take heat.
Lulay is one consideration. Was he doomed to eventual injury this year? Could he have sustained his career-best performance level?
Our offence failed this year.
Our defence failed this year.
Our special teams failed this year.
Jennings had a bad year in 2017. In 2016 he looked like a future MOP. In 2015, he won the starter's job. This fan thinks we failed to give him the support he needed, with a well designed offence. IMO Jennings failed to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
Could Lulay have made our offence hum all year, assuming he stayed healthy? Maybe. And, maybe defences would have adjusted to the new, improved Lulay, slowing him down. Defences around the league adjust. I think they would have slowed Travis Lulay down. Could we re-adjust once again? Maybe. Offence vs defence. One is on top. The other adjusts and gets an advantage. Then another adjustment. Teams have a good book on Jennings. We need to adjust our offence.
This fan, as noted, has always been very supportive of all our QBs. IMO we tend to throw them to the wolves. Sacks, hits and hurries, followed by injuries. In our offence, it seems to me all our QBs have shown some shell shock, some battle fatigue. Dickenson got pounded. Printers got pounded. Pierce got pounded. Lulay got pounded. Jennings got pounded. To their credit, they all coped, to a degree. Their courage never wained.
Just 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.