Leos/Al's Post Game Thoughts!

[Toppy Vann]

Wake up call missed by Lions.

Some mitigating factors (and some critical) in the loss and the poor play of the Leos:

* It is very difficult to win both ends of back to back games in the CFL.

* Montreal really had their noses rubbed in it last week, and came to play with excellent overall team motivation. Popp pushed the right buttons this week.

* Murphy and Jiminez overstepped the line of appropriate behaviour in disrespecting the opposing coach (Popp) last week. It must have been a rallying point to some degree to the Alouettes. I know I would be pumped if someone dissed my coach.

* After whomping the Als last week, it obviously was extremely difficult (impossible?) for the Leos to avoid complacency or over-confidence this week.

* It is the nature of the CFL. With the exception of Hamilton (and that may change now with CP), on any day, any team might win ...

* Motivation is the most important factor in these back to backs. Professional pride is on the line. Montreal (a good team) responded. Edmonton, a poor team lacking proper motivation, discipline, and pride, did not respond in their back to back with Calgary.

* Teams often rally when key players are out. Montreal rallied.

* The Lions probably felt they had rallied for Jarious last week (which they did), and evidently did not feel the same urgency this week.

* Winning back to backs is similar to the difficulty hockey teams have in holding a lead. The trailing team goes all out, takes chances and oftentimes achieves a very high level of play. The leading team gets more conservative, takes fewer chances, and their level of play usually falls off.

* Our defense is out of gas, emotionally. They worked hard early in the year, carrying the team, and show the mileage now. But they have to suck it up and dig down deep now.

* Our receiving corps are not the team leaders (by example) they have been in the past. This has been a controversial topic for Lionbackers and I will not get into it here. The game-breaking contributions are not there.

* One could, and people will, blame the Lions coaches for not having their players in the right frame of mind (or with the right schemes) for this game. That is pointless. It is not about X's and O's in a case like this. There are times when teams are going to be flat. The coaches can try everything to avoid it, and it is hopeless. Even Lombardi's teams occasionally could not find the motivation to play their brains out (with a hard-driver like him complacency was rare). Rather, the embarrassment of losing can be a good tonic for a team that has too much confidence. The Lions do fall into that category of feeling that they just have to show up and they will beat some teams.
.....................

Having said all that:

** No excuses for disinterested play. The coaches should severely kick ass next week in practice.

** Throw the film out.

** But fans need not throw themselves or the team under the bus.

** The best part of the whole thing was the progress shown by Jarious Jackson. That will help immensely as we go forward.

[LFITQ]

Well I guess it is only fair to post another pic for this game considering the rented mule for the Labour Day weekend game and the Popp-tart one for today's.

Not much enjoyment in this one, but ...

[David]

* Murphy and Jiminez overstepped the line of appropriate behaviour in disrespecting the opposing coach (Popp) last week. It must have been a rallying point to some degree to the Alouettes. I know I would be pumped if someone dissed my coach.

This is a good point. While I recognize that Popp can be a mouthy SOB, there are times you take the high road, point to the scoreboard, and move on. I don't think getting in a coach's grill after the game or miming a 'phone call' lives up the the high professional standards the B.C. Lions have set in the Bob Ackles-Wally Buono era. I'd like to think our organization has too much class for that post-game nonsense.

I don't have any doubt that it motivated their troops.

DH 8)

[PigSkin_53]

Joe you are getting better with age like a fine wine.

I can tell by your heart felt thoughts that you are right in your reaction and recriminations, and as is your way you have left the door open just enough that I'm sure that your confidence in our organization will be rewarded for your devotion and perseverance.

You have got to believe and there is no doubt in my heart that you do, so if we take Jarious's progress as you have so aptly sited as reason to celebrate, and Buck Pierce's imminent return as more reason yet to keep smiling, then if we came away short today things are still looking up for us and the team we all love.

[TheLionKing]

* It is very difficult to win both ends of back to back games in the CFL.

The advantage of a back to back game goes to the losing team especially if they were handily defeated in the first game.

[notahomer]

Two things I noticed:

1. I recognized Cahoon in streetclothes long before before TSN said anything. I kept seeing him and wondering what happened? I think this is one area where I've been spoiled by the 'overthetop' coverage you get in the NFL.

2. Am I glad we have replay. I didn't like how some of the calls turned out but I think BOTH coaches made good use of challenges. It just seemed to be a game that is a good example of why replay can work.

[Solar Max]

Well, most of it has been said, so there isn't all that much to add.

1) Simmons was a longshot at best at the beginning of the season, and Lions lost that bet. He simply is not a deep threat of any kind. No sense crying over spilled milk though, perhaps he can be used over the middle more to make up for the loss of the deep stuff.

2) Simon needs to sit for a game. Sorry, David, but he does.

3) Jackson stopped throwing to Clermont in the second half. On tv there was no real evidence as to the reason, but I'm hoping it isn't what I think it could be, namely changing something for the sake of changing. Don't change what works until it stops working, but be prepared to make a change on the fly.

4) Glatt is sorely missed in the middle; as stated elsewhere, Glatt had the time to grow into the position, which Pottinger has not. Regardless, Jason is not getting it done.

5) Looked like the db's were playing off again, a la 2004. That is not the attack style secondary that we're used to from Ritchie. Why the change, or was there a change?

6) Quarterbacking was not the problem today.

7) Turnovers. Giveaway/takeaway used to be a Lions strong point. So what happened? Injuries again?

Saturday will be huge, with Bishop's Argos trying to hunt down the Als for 2nd in the East. Saskatchewan plays resurgent Calgary, and the proper results could put BC in first place over the mighty Roughriders. Question, is, which team shows up Saturday?

[David]

Two things I noticed:

1. I recognized Cahoon in streetclothes long before before TSN said anything. I kept seeing him and wondering what happened? I think this is one area where I've been spoiled by the 'overthetop' coverage you get in the NFL.

Great observations notahomer.

For them to finally mention Ben Cahoon was out of the game a good 10-15 minutes after we first spotted him standing on the sidelines in civvies is frankly, inexcusable. It's bad enough that Rob Black, Danny Mac, and the TSN spotters didn't notice him missing from the action on the field, but Michael Whalen was standing on the Montreal sidelines too.

We need more newspaper columnists critiquing our broadcasters like they do in the States (the only one I'm aware of is the Globe and Mail's William Houston). Yes, mistakes happen, but where's the accountability? If you want scathing reviews of sports broadcasts, check out the NY Post's Phil Mushnick sometime!

DH 8)

[Area51]

However, once again our pass rush was ineffective. We couldn't get consistent pressure from our front four and when Ritchie resorted to the blitz wer were burned by some excellent throws by Brady, who threw bullets into tight spots at times. Brent Johnson is not only not playing inspired football right now but is even getting pushed off the line at times. I'm starting to wonder if he is hurt. However, the play of our entire defensive line was not there today.

Seems like a common theme every week - - no pressure from the front four. And once again the coaches maintain their agenda of not rotating Ricky Foley into the mix. Brady ran away from both BJ and Wake on several occassions today, but give the coaches credit - - they stuck with their boys right to the end. Let's see what Bishop does to them next week.

[WestCoastJoe]

And once again the coaches maintain their agenda of not rotating Ricky Foley into the mix. Brady ran away from both BJ and Wake on several occassions today ...

Yes, it has puzzled me all year why the Lions don't make more use of both Ricky Foley and Matt Kirk. When Nautyn McKay-Lauscher was here, he was rotated in on a regular basis.

It seems to me most very effective defensive lines use a frequent rotation scheme - keep the troops fresh. I have not watched this aspect that closely this year, but I think the film would show we have not done it all that much.

D Line must be the most exhausting position on the field. The hogs on O are generally bigger. The D Line must exert the effort to get around or through these behemoths. The D Line has to run a hell of a lot more than the O Line, chasing QBs and RBs. I guess it is Ritchie calling the D Line rotation, rather than Mike Roach. Not sure. I chatted with Roach a bit about rotation during the summer. He mentioned how Kirk and Foley were getting lots of reps on special teams, but that is not the point here. He might have been being diplomatic, keeping his mouth shut, since it was not his call (that is, if it was not his call).

[No Ordinary Joe]

Yep, I've been on board with getting more reps for Foley for a while now. I just don't understand why it's so obvious to us as fans, and yet these coaches who get paid money to figure stuff like this out fail to keep our guys fresh by establishing a rotation.

Sure, perhaps they're worried that Foley isn't ready, but, the only way he's going to improve is by getting game action. They sure don't seem concerned about Jay Pottinger stinking up the place and continuing to get tons of snaps. Mind you, they don't really have an option with him, but, the same principal applies. Ricky Foley needs to get some snaps to improve and also to keep our front four from falling apart in the 4th Qtr. because they're out of gas by being over-worked in the first 3.

[cromartie]

I'm with what everybody said (mainly because I was in Buffalo and missed the game).

But did you ever just roll out of bed in a bad mood way too early and have a bad day at work? Because honestly, that's what a lot of comment read like, in football terms.

This isn't to excuse anything. This game was, from a standings standpoint an opportunity wasted. You want to tell me we should lost to an Als team with no Cahoon and no Calvillo?

But I think, after taking a deep breath, every team just has two or three absolute stinkers where they come out flat and get flatter as the game goes on. Sometimes you luck out, other times the games look like what you all are describing today as.

Once is an accident, twice is a trend. Let's see what we can do against the Argos.

[David]

I agree on getting Foley more reps but we can't use 'over-worked' as an excuse today. IMO, the D overlooked the Als after last week's lopsided victory and mailed it in. Hey, it's human nature; it happens. But we can't say the front 4 was burned out. Jarious sustained plenty long drives for the offence to keep the D fresh on the sidelines. Moreover, this was only their 2nd game since August 17.

DH 8)

[B.C.FAN]

The game was lost in the third quarter. The first 8 B.C. plays resulted in 3 turnovers -- the fake punt, botched handoff and Paris Jackson's fumble. The Als outscored the Lions 13-0 in the quarter to take control of what had been a well-played game by the B.C. offence.

On defence, the Lions just couldn't get any stops and gave up far too many big plays. This did not look like the same unit that faced Calvillo and the Als last week. Credit Brady for being able to move the pocket and look downfield. Ryon Phillips was caught playing too shallow on several occasions, and he wasn't alone. Knowlton and Bethea were also burned as Brady completed 4 passes of more than 30 yards.

The Lions' run defence, as noted by others, was lacking. Floyd is still playing at half speed and Pottinger was not effective. Defensive play calling was also suspect. The Lions ran a lot of stunts and zone blitzes (Tyrone Williams was covering Ben Cahoon at one point). The Lions also gambled on filling gaps with their linebackers on run blitzes, which is a risky proposition against a good back who can take a deep handoff and search out a seam, with no second layer of defenders to stop him.

Kudos to Jarious Jackson for playing his best game as a passer. The fact he only got to throw 7 passes in the second half indicates how costly the turnovers were and how poorly the defence played.

The Lions face a similar style of quarterback next week in Michael Bishop, who is undefeated this season as a starter. Hopefully this game will at least serve as a learning experience for the defence.

[Blitz]

The game was lost as you note B.C. Fan, in the third quarter, with three turnovers on the first eight plays! At the same time our defense gave up a long drive for a touchdown to open the second half.

With regard to Ricky Foley, I really don't understand it! For the past two seasons I argued that McKay-Lauscher should get a lot more reps in our defense than what he was getting. For those who doubted at the time, have a look at how well McKay-Lauscher is playing for Hamilton. He's up there with the sack leaders of the league and he missed a couple of games.

Ricky Foley is not the same style of defensive end as McKay-Lauscher was. Mc-Kay was strong and could bull rush, and then make a move, or beat you with speed. Foley is more similar to Wake and Wilson in style, at this point.
However, he is good enough to insert into the defensive line, to provide a fresh rusher at this point. Johnson looks like he could use a rest as does Wake, who will eventually tire with a longer season than he is used to at college.