Lapolice is out as coach
https://www.cfl.ca/2022/10/01/redblacks ... -lapolice/
Lions vs. Redblacks Sept. 30, 2022
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Coast Mountain Lion
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DanoT
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I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point Rugamba got injured, so Purifoy took over his Sam LB spot and Lokombo moved to Safety.OV:54-40 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 10:22 am
Agreed on the average to often mediocre or weak looking defence; not enough consistent pass rush; give up big chunks of rushing yardage at times; not enough play-making in the secondary (pass knock-downs, INTs, big hits). Not going to win in the play-offs with that.
Don't get Lokombo not playing ? - HTF is this guy not on the field on D lots (unless he is nicked and can't play at full speed?) - play-maker and vet leader - he could play moved around at 2 or even all LB spots and he was strong at safety when the Als used him there. Purifoy might be a vet D player, but he does not really get CFL safety IMO; Sayles is a bit of a liability IMO and Rugamba is a raw rookie. Have your best D players on the field most of the time (same deal for Menard on the D-Line).
Rugamba was injured with about 2 minutes left in the first half. Lokombo did not look out of place at safety, and seemed confident relaying the play calls to others in the secondary. With Adrian Greene injured on the previous series and Hakeem Johnson relegated strictly to special teams. the Lions didn’t have many options. I don’t know if Lokombo has taken practice reps at safety. He didn’t in training camp.
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Hambone
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No surprise. Despite his ability to play a great offensive coach on TV when he was on the TSN broadcasts I was never nearly as impressed with him as those who thought he should be at the top of the very short list to replace Benevides and Tedford. After 4-14 in his 1st year in Winnipeg he went 10-8. Since then 8-28.Coast Mountain Lion wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 12:05 pmLapolice is out as coach
https://www.cfl.ca/2022/10/01/redblacks ... -lapolice/
You're as old as you've ever been and as young as you're ever going to be.
Some general thoughts as I finally got the chance to actually watch a game in real time.
LaPolice was dealt a pretty bad hand in the personnel department; and I think philosophical disagreements on the direction of the roster were a big part of the reason we now have Coach Campbell. You can't have two disastrous drafts and expect a team to just magically jump in and be good. That said, it isn't really a surprise he was fired and I think we're done seeing him lead organizations. Those sideline shots were indicative of a team that was quitting on that coaching staff in the second half.
While I think more Special Teams coaches should be Head Coaches it's pretty interesting Mike Benevides isn't the interim there.
As for the Lions, at this point the warts are what they are. Special Teams are not very good and they aren't going to get any better than they are right now, which is not great. We can't block on returns and we aren't particularly good in coverage either. Fortunately we're getting pretty good performances from everyone who kicks the ball, so that helps a little bit but overall we aren't good.
There are some disciplinary lapses on this club that are incredibly frustrating and that almost let Ottawa back in this game. I don't think this is something you "clean up" at this point in the season, unfortunately.
The injuries in the secondary, compounded with the inability to stop and/or contain the run are really starting to show. They might be able to bandage this together to get another win against Toronto next week but I don't have a lot of faith in us against the West. When healthy this is a terrific secondary, but why throw against it when you can run all day?
You should never, ever give up a sack that isn't coverage related when your opponent is rushing two defenders against five offensive linemen. Four of the six sacks, to my eyes, were offensive line related, only two were coverage related. If it's two on five and the sack isn't coverage based; I mean we're talking butt fumble embarrassing.
Speaking of things that are what they are, at this point, Vernon Adams has an offense, and it is what it is. It's seven step drops and vertical routes/crossers that take a long time to develop. If you're looking for quick hitters, swings/shoots/screens, you aren't going to get them. There are limits to the type of offense Adams is capable of processing and that involves deep drops and quasi-go routes. When it works, it works well as it did this week, but when it doesn't, it doesn't at all, as it didn't against Calgyra.
There are no halftime adjustments coming offensively. You can't change the game plan to take advantage of clear outs and underneath patterns, because Adams can't adjust to processing them. At some point, you are going to blame the OC for this, but you shouldn't. Adams has been here for 20 minutes, and the OC has put in the playbook the plays that are easiest for Adams to get up to speed on and able to process most efficiently in real time.
Which makes the injury to Whitehead really important to watch, because this type of offense in particular needs his speed to take defenders away from the rest of the receivers. His lid lifting ability is critical down the stretch and unless there's another elite go route receiver ready to step in this offense has real problems without him.
This seems harsh on Adams, and it isn't really meant to be. Every QB has strengths and limitations, and one of the good things about Adams is that he can see the whole field and run this offense; unlike, say, a Jarious Jackson you don't have to roll Adams out to reduce the decision making to half the field.
And to his credit, one of the reasons he was sacked six times is that he had the good sense to go down and take the sack instead of trying to do too much, which is great progress on his part. It's often the hardest thing to ask of a QB and when the situation called for it, he took it without hesitation. And given time and opportunity his deep ball looks really, really good and if he isn't on our roster next year, he's good enough to be on someone's.
Still not a fan of Butler at RB. Left a lot of yardage on the field and I don't think he has the vision to be a quality RB.
Why does the Command Center have to be the one to call an obvious horse collar tackle?
LaPolice was dealt a pretty bad hand in the personnel department; and I think philosophical disagreements on the direction of the roster were a big part of the reason we now have Coach Campbell. You can't have two disastrous drafts and expect a team to just magically jump in and be good. That said, it isn't really a surprise he was fired and I think we're done seeing him lead organizations. Those sideline shots were indicative of a team that was quitting on that coaching staff in the second half.
While I think more Special Teams coaches should be Head Coaches it's pretty interesting Mike Benevides isn't the interim there.
As for the Lions, at this point the warts are what they are. Special Teams are not very good and they aren't going to get any better than they are right now, which is not great. We can't block on returns and we aren't particularly good in coverage either. Fortunately we're getting pretty good performances from everyone who kicks the ball, so that helps a little bit but overall we aren't good.
There are some disciplinary lapses on this club that are incredibly frustrating and that almost let Ottawa back in this game. I don't think this is something you "clean up" at this point in the season, unfortunately.
The injuries in the secondary, compounded with the inability to stop and/or contain the run are really starting to show. They might be able to bandage this together to get another win against Toronto next week but I don't have a lot of faith in us against the West. When healthy this is a terrific secondary, but why throw against it when you can run all day?
You should never, ever give up a sack that isn't coverage related when your opponent is rushing two defenders against five offensive linemen. Four of the six sacks, to my eyes, were offensive line related, only two were coverage related. If it's two on five and the sack isn't coverage based; I mean we're talking butt fumble embarrassing.
Speaking of things that are what they are, at this point, Vernon Adams has an offense, and it is what it is. It's seven step drops and vertical routes/crossers that take a long time to develop. If you're looking for quick hitters, swings/shoots/screens, you aren't going to get them. There are limits to the type of offense Adams is capable of processing and that involves deep drops and quasi-go routes. When it works, it works well as it did this week, but when it doesn't, it doesn't at all, as it didn't against Calgyra.
There are no halftime adjustments coming offensively. You can't change the game plan to take advantage of clear outs and underneath patterns, because Adams can't adjust to processing them. At some point, you are going to blame the OC for this, but you shouldn't. Adams has been here for 20 minutes, and the OC has put in the playbook the plays that are easiest for Adams to get up to speed on and able to process most efficiently in real time.
Which makes the injury to Whitehead really important to watch, because this type of offense in particular needs his speed to take defenders away from the rest of the receivers. His lid lifting ability is critical down the stretch and unless there's another elite go route receiver ready to step in this offense has real problems without him.
This seems harsh on Adams, and it isn't really meant to be. Every QB has strengths and limitations, and one of the good things about Adams is that he can see the whole field and run this offense; unlike, say, a Jarious Jackson you don't have to roll Adams out to reduce the decision making to half the field.
And to his credit, one of the reasons he was sacked six times is that he had the good sense to go down and take the sack instead of trying to do too much, which is great progress on his part. It's often the hardest thing to ask of a QB and when the situation called for it, he took it without hesitation. And given time and opportunity his deep ball looks really, really good and if he isn't on our roster next year, he's good enough to be on someone's.
Still not a fan of Butler at RB. Left a lot of yardage on the field and I don't think he has the vision to be a quality RB.
Why does the Command Center have to be the one to call an obvious horse collar tackle?
Great analysis. I agree on all points except this one. Butler is not an exceptional back, but I think he can be a very good one given the right blocking schemes. While he doesn't possess the shiftiness or breakaway speed of Ka'Deem Carey, he is very good at finding the hole and getting upfield with his leg strength. Moreover, he has very good hands for a back so possesses the ability to be an outlet pass for Adams. I also think he is an effective pass-blocker in the backfield.
I'd give him a B grade this season, probably a B+ were it not for a couple of games when he was nicked up.
DH
Roar, You Lions, Roar
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DanoT
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^^^David wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 11:26 pmGreat analysis. I agree on all points except this one. Butler is not an exceptional back, but I think he can be a very good one given the right blocking schemes. While he doesn't possess the shiftiness or breakaway speed of Ka'Deem Carey, he is very good at finding the hole and getting upfield with his leg strength. Moreover, he has very good hands for a back so possesses the ability to be an outlet pass for Adams. I also think he is an effective pass-blocker in the backfield.
I'd give him a B grade this season, probably a B+ were it not for a couple of games when he was nicked up.
DH
I am a Butler fan as he is very well rounded and consistent in his abilities.I think we're going to disagree on this one. I'm not impressed with his pass blocking at all. His lack of awareness in this facet of the game led directly to Rourke's foot injury.David wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 11:26 pmGreat analysis. I agree on all points except this one. Butler is not an exceptional back, but I think he can be a very good one given the right blocking schemes. While he doesn't possess the shiftiness or breakaway speed of Ka'Deem Carey, he is very good at finding the hole and getting upfield with his leg strength. Moreover, he has very good hands for a back so possesses the ability to be an outlet pass for Adams. I also think he is an effective pass-blocker in the backfield.
I'd give him a B grade this season, probably a B+ were it not for a couple of games when he was nicked up.
DH
This blocking scheme, and I'd argue most modern CFL offensive schemes, call for a back who has some degree of lateral vision, of which he possesses next to none. In the CFL, even more so than the NFL you need lateral vision and the ability to slide as skill sets, and he has none of that. Hitting the hole directly in front of you is a basic part of the job description. It's how you're able to adjust when their is no hole that differentiates some backs from others. He has almost none of that. It isn't even a matter of having a brain that sees a hole but a body that's not fast enough to get there. He just has no lateral vision.