This loss I hang 100% on the coaching staff.
Last week we go through a huge amount of injuries and we let Joe Smith be our offense in order to let JJ have some breathing room.
This week we forget that Joe Smith is even on our team.
How can you only give Joe Smith so few carries - especially early in the game? You know JJ will be under pressure not only from the Riders D but also from himself, trying to prove something. So what do we do, put him out there and let him win it all on his arm alone. I'm sorry but that is poor coaching.
You can't give JJ the opportunity to succeed by taking away one of his biggest weapons. That is the coaches setting him up for failure.
Running the ball would have allowed the Oline to tee up and hit some people, tightens the D against the LOS and allows your receivers some more movement. Not to mention it gives your D some time to rest as it can slow the game down. As you can see by late in the 3rd and 4th Q the Riders D came to the realization that Smith wasn't going to get the ball and they coudl just sit back and cover the receivers and wait to pick off JJ.
This was a poorly designed gameplan tonight that did not give JJ (and thus the Lions) the chance to win. The Coaching staff mailed this one and gave the Riders the victory.
JJ didn't play badly considering the limited opportunity his coaches gave him.
Hang this loss directly and squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff who played not to win.
Coaching staff forgets they have Joe Smith
Moderator: Team Captains
And play to JJ's one perceived strength, which was throwing the deep ball.Larry Key wrote:If Wally was trying to "showcase" JJ.... it back fired on him pretty bad! The game plan the coaches came up with was really lame. Maybe with only 4 days to prep, they wanted to simplify it.
-
tony_montana
I could not understand it at all, all I could think was that they out guessed themselves, and figured with JJ starting, that we would be keying in ont he run so they forgot about it. It amazed me. As far as I am concerned a guy like Smith avg what he does, takes the pressure off of JJ, leaving him out of the offence hurts. I am still baffled by this. But ok with it as well. 
* Obviously with an offensive weapon like Joe Smith we should have used him more often. Play action is great but it's really most effective when you have established a running game. Otherwise defenses aren't going to bite.
* Why didn't they move the pocket around for Jarious? This would have given him only half a field to work with. He's a good roll-out quarterback. Much better than a pocket passer.
* Why didn't we see tight-end formations to give Jarious more time in the pocket when pass protection was breaking down?
* Why didn't Jarious pull the ball down and run it more? Even a quarterback draw would have kept the Sask defense honest and prevented them from pinning their ears back.
DH 8)
* Why didn't they move the pocket around for Jarious? This would have given him only half a field to work with. He's a good roll-out quarterback. Much better than a pocket passer.
* Why didn't we see tight-end formations to give Jarious more time in the pocket when pass protection was breaking down?
* Why didn't Jarious pull the ball down and run it more? Even a quarterback draw would have kept the Sask defense honest and prevented them from pinning their ears back.
DH 8)
Roar, You Lions, Roar
-
Canuck_4_Life
- Hall of Famer
- Posts: 3093
- Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 12:07 am
- Location: Parts Unknown
Was it just me, or was Jarious favouring the short side of the field for like the entire game, most notably right after Smart's missed FG return.
My latest Lions albums (updated Nov 4):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1 ... =602020965
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1 ... =602020965
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1 ... =602020965
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1 ... =602020965
Yes..with that cannon of an arm he has, he should be looking to the whole field and then some.Canuck_4_Life wrote:Was it just me, or was Jarious favouring the short side of the field for like the entire game, most notably right after Smart's missed FG return.
-
TheLionKing
- Hall of Famer
- Posts: 25103
- Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:13 pm
- Location: Vancouver
His arm could be his enemy. He has absolutely no touch to his passes, all his passes were on a rope. I thought for a time that Chapdelaine was sending in the plays. If something works go away from it.
Although I will say that outside of not utilizing Joe Smith enough, I don't blame the coaches completely. There were some balls that Jarious could've thrown better. I didn't see the entire game, but one that sticks in my head is with a few minutes left on second and one, he dumps off to...JOE SMITH~! of all people, but he puts the ball on Joe's shoe-laces and it ends up being incomplete. That should've been an easy pitch and catch and first down. Instead they had to sneak it on 3rd down.LukeN wrote:Hard to disagree LFITQ. I don't understand why Smith only got nine carries, especially after what he did last week. Its just baffling.
Also an endzone toss to Paris Jackson that apparently was flat and fell incomplete. Jarious should make those throws. For a QB with such a great arm, I'm surprised by the lack of touch on many of his throws. Its like every throw is a dart.
What inhibits QBs from learning how to put a softer touch on their shorter passes, or being able to get more air under longer ones?
-
TheLionKing
- Hall of Famer
- Posts: 25103
- Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:13 pm
- Location: Vancouver
Coaching ?LukeN wrote: What inhibits QBs from learning how to put a softer touch on their shorter passes, or being able to get more air under longer ones?
Yeah. I guess that would be it, but shouldn't this have been learned at an earlier stage in Jarious' career? He did spend a number of years in the NFL and at Notre Dame before that? Shouldn't he have learned that stuff then? He is 30yrs old, after all.TheLionKing wrote:Coaching ?LukeN wrote: What inhibits QBs from learning how to put a softer touch on their shorter passes, or being able to get more air under longer ones?
-
TheLionKing
- Hall of Famer
- Posts: 25103
- Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:13 pm
- Location: Vancouver
You would think so LukeN. There is no question that Jarius has the strongest arm among the Lions quarterback. Unfortunately he has no touch on his passes. There were at least 3 passes that were knocked down on the line of scrimmage. I wonder how many were due to his low trajectory on his passes.
Just Luke is fine. Thanks. The N is just my last initial. But yeah, I think you and I are on the same page on this one.TheLionKing wrote:You would think so LukeN. There is no question that Jarius has the strongest arm among the Lions quarterback. Unfortunately he has no touch on his passes. There were at least 3 passes that were knocked down on the line of scrimmage. I wonder how many were due to his low trajectory on his passes.
That was the problem. A deep ball must have some air under it. Paris Jackson and Geroy Simon were getting open behind Airabin Justin and James Johnson in single coverage throughout the first half, but JJ kept missing them.TheLionKing wrote:His arm could be his enemy. He has absolutely no touch to his passes, all his passes were on a rope.
The overthrow of Paris Jackson at the end of the first half was the turning point of the game. Instead of the Lions taking a 15-8 lead with 1:30 to go in the half, the Lions punted the ball away and Kerry Joseph drove the Riders down the field for the go-ahead TD with 20 seconds left.
In the second half the Riders played more zone and left a safety or halfback to read JJ's passes and pick them off. He still had opportunities to go deep but he didn't give his receivers a chance.
Kerry Joseph used Matt Dominguez much more effectively against Glover, putting the ball up in the air and giving his receiver a chance to get under it and shield the ball from the smaller defender.
The Riders outplayed the Lions at quarterback and in the secondary, and that's where they won the game.