Strategy: Ray or LeFors at QB from the 2? Chap uses LeFors

[WestCoastJoe]

from an article in the Edmonton Sun

From just outside the 2 yard line the Esks use LeFors instead of Ricky Ray and do not get the touchdown.

Not that anyone here cares what the Esks do, but it is a strategic consideration. What is the right move?

.....................................

Terry Jones

One that got away

And the Eskimos lost the game when they pulled their best player, quarterback Ricky Ray, for two plays from inside 2 1/2 yards.

They wouldn't likely have dropped into last place in the CFL West if Stefan LeFors hadn't been Jacques Chapdelaine's choice to get the Eskimos to the endzone on first and 10 from 2 1/2 yards out with less than two minutes to play.

It was the Eskimos going with LeFors instead of Ray with the Eskimos set-up to score a touchdown from 2 1/2 yards out. That's going to light up the lines on talk radio.

"Our No. 1 QB hasn't run one quarterback sneak this year," said Maciocia.

"If LeFors scores, you don't ask the question."

Nobody questions using a back-up for short yardage in the middle of the game. It lessens the risk of Ray getting hurt.

But with the game on the line?

Don't you want you're best play with his hands on the football?

........................

Who cares what the Eskimos do? Right? Yeah.

But it is always entertaining when adversity happens to the Evil Empire.

Chapdelaine of course did the same thing with the Lions. In my view, it is OK for a first down QB sneak. But for a more complicated situation from outside the 2 yard line, needing the touchdown, leave your starting QB in. Chap and the Esks blew it.

[B.C.FAN]

If the call is to run a QB sneak from the 2-yard line (it was actually outside the 2), the I can't question the choice of QB. If Dave Dickenson were in the same position for the Lions, I wouldn't use him to run that play.

The play-calling itself, however, was open to second-guessing. LeFors got to the 1 on his first-down sneak, then was stuffed for a 1-yard loss when he tried the same thing on second down. Sean Fleming was brought in to hit a 9-yard field goal with 1:38 left to put the Esks ahead temporarily, but they couldn't hold the lead.

[Rammer]

If the call is to run a QB sneak from the 2-yard line (it was actually outside the 2), the I can't question the choice of QB. If Dave Dickenson were in the same position for the Lions, I wouldn't use him to run that play.

The play-calling itself, however, was open to second-guessing. LeFors got to the 1 on his first-down sneak, then was stuffed for a 1-yard loss when he tried the same thing on second down. Sean Fleming was brought in to hit a 9-yard field goal with 1:38 left to put the Esks ahead temporarily, but they couldn't hold the lead.

The play calling wasn't out of line, he got a great surge on first down, inside the one yardline, but the second down play was snuffed out and ultimately cost the Eskimos big points. That knee down challenge on Gaylor was big in the end.

[cromartie]

You mean Chaps outsmarted himself?

Shocking.

[4evercfl]

"That knee down challenge on Gaylor was big in the end. "

Actually, that was not a challenge. It came from "upstairs" booth. Coaches cannot challenge in the last 2 minutes of the game.