Lions 29 - Argonauts 16 Post Game Stats and Comments

[274always]

well this was a fun first week for me in this group. Off to see the Lion King show in montreal tonight for its final show. One year ago today the leos trounced the als at McGill. They 'plugged' a 'Leak'. good luck with the argo sweep.

[Blitz]

I agree regarding Lemon getting a bum deal....11/15 with 3 drops gets you yanked? And you lose the best left tackle in the league......Unreal

Made zero sense in my opinion. Bell has showed absolutely nothing all season, except a flair for throwing interceptions. Oh well, Argos suck.

Bell wasn't even close on his passes and Toronto still had a chance to win the game if they had reinserted Lemon. Its almost as if Barker was willing to concede the game early in the second half just to make the decision that Lemon was no longer his quarterback of the future.

I enjoyed the game, especially watching our defense, which is so much better in a 4-3 structure, along with the personell changes and blitzes we are running now. With more pressure on opposition quarterbacks our secondary is able to play so much better. With Marsh and Banks playing well together again on the short side and with experience in Kournegay and Phillips on the wideside, we have a talented and skilled secondary now with Dennis and Ruffin adding great depth. It was great to see Couchy givin a start at safety and he showed great range on his interception and played well overall. Have no idea why we thought we could go with Aragki or Larose and really should have gone with Hylanad at safety but hopefully Couchy can get another start and continue his progress.

Of course Eliminian was a monster out there again...the guy can just plain hit a ton but I thought Anton McKenzie, a player I have been very tough on, played an excellent game. Still hoping that Rajon Henley will get a start in the future..he has great moves but Smith had his best game of the season.

Our defense played very well in the first half and turned the game around in the second half, giving our offence turnovers and great field position. We got 16 of our points off defense turnovers.

Offensively, Foster had an outstanding game and made another great deep catch. The guy is a stud with size and speed and strength. For all of Lee's first team practice reps during the week, it was mostly a smoke screen to punish Harris and Lee only got one carry as we went with Brown and Harris in the run game. Overall, though, we had about 139 yards rushing I think, and we ran the ball effectively overall.

Unfortunately, we kicked 5 field goals, as our red zone offence once again sucked and we also couldn't convert a third and a foot gamble. There is something fundamentally wrong that our offence has strggled for seaons now with our short yardage offence. Oppostion defenses are able to penetrate the offensive line in the Reid/Valli area of our offensive line, where we get no push on short yardage.

I'm no Chap fan but he is contining to make changes to our offence and I continue to believe that he was visited by the Ghost of Football Past, Ghost of Football Present, and Football Future recently. Last night, once again, he used a lot of formations that provided protection for Lulay on first down, ran the Wildcat a few times, ran the option with Jarious and Brown that was executed badly but still added variety to our offence, used Gore effectively on two wide runs, and used misdirection on a number of plays. All are positive signs for Chapdelaine. I wish he would get rid of the handsignals now that he can communicate with his quarterback wirelessly - ever notice how often Chap is shown by the cameras on TSN -and mentioend as well..in comparison to any other offensive corodinator in the CFL?? However, kudos to Chap for making changes to a stale offensive scheme that is looking much less predictable and more dynamic over the past two games. Arland Bruce is getting a lot of credit for the change to our offence but really its been Chap's changes that have been more of a difference maker in our last two outings.

In terms of Travis Lulay, there is one key change to his game that has to be made if he is going to move up to the next level. Too often, when Lulay is under pressure, he runs to his right. Sometimes he bails too early and at other times, he takes a step to his right before he throws, which effects the timing of the play and does not allow him to step up into his throw. Lulay made some plays against the Argos while running right but he was most effetive when he stepped up onto the pocket and didn't hesitate on his throws. Our one long touchdown drive was due to the fact that Lulay was not hesitating and steppng up into his throws, which featured two catches over the middle to Simon on that drive. We really need a quaeterback coach rather than two offensive line coaches. This is a correctable habit for Lulay but its still happening way too often and needs to be rectified.

Have to admit, while pulling for our Leos, I admried the play of the Argos Owens. What a dangerous, exciting player to watch and he was motivated and tried to inspire his team when things were bleak during the game.

There are still things to correct on our Leos, from Lulay's penchant to run right to our red zone offence and short yardage running attack. However, our defense is playing excellent football and our offence is changing in a positive direction. Bruce has added another dimension and Foster and Gore continue to impress but the key is oru offensive looks are different, we are much less predictable, and we are integrating some new stuff into the scheme which is paying dividends. With the speed on our offense, in the skill positions, we are finally doing some thtings to take better advantage of it.

[PigSkin_53]

I agree regarding Lemon getting a bum deal....11/15 with 3 drops gets you yanked? And you lose the best left tackle in the league......Unreal

Made zero sense in my opinion. Bell has showed absolutely nothing all season, except a flair for throwing interceptions. Oh well, Argos suck.

Speaking of which how do you suppose Rob Murphy got an anterior cruciate ligament, season-ending tear on seemingly such an awkward, but innocent routine play at the mid-season mark?

What this tells me is the guy was out of shape…

West Coast Joe use to tell of his country club lollygagging, helmet-in-hand socializing at practices when he was with the Lions organization, instead of keeping up his conditioning with good old-fashioned work ethic.

[CatsEyes]

Or instead of Hunt, put Soll-e in there-he'd likely do a good job getting through too! Was anyone else pleasantly surprised to see them use the direct snap? It worked, and they looked good doing it!

And what WAS that Illegal Interference call?

[PigSkin_53]

Or instead of Hunt, put Soll-e in there-he'd likely do a good job getting through too! Was anyone else pleasantly surprised to see them use the direct snap? It worked, and they looked good doing it!

And what WAS that Illegal Interference call?

I too loved the razzel-dazzle wrinkle we should be employing on a game-to-game basis Kim, which was more what you'd expect from Mathews than Buono, and is not exactly the Chapster's calling card...yeah?

[ziggy]

I thought the final score flatttered the Argo's. They were simply not able to execute( perhaps it was their schemes?) and minus the one runback late in the game, were pretty lame.

[Anglophone]

Bell wasn't even close on his passes and Toronto still had a chance to win the game if they had reinserted Lemon. Its almost as if Barker was willing to concede the game early in the second half just to make the decision that Lemon was no longer his quarterback of the future.

I really think he didn't want to give Lemon a chance to redeem himself, and that's why he didn't do it.

[WestCoastJoe]

Short yardage ...

IMO you still have to try to keep the D off balance. We don't do that. "We're going to pound the QB sneak down your throats. Try and stop us. We will out-execute you." Ummmm ... No. The defence anticipates, plugs the hole and stuffs us. And we miss a runner like Joe Smith who could make little moves, find little gaps, and run with extreme power.

Interior of the O Line ...

Jesse Newman looks like a beach ball. Very out of shape. Soft. Reid is no match physically for the Defensive Tackles of the league. Valli just has issues. He is a physical specimen as we know, but he seems too uptight to make consistent good plays.

[notahomer]

I don't know if its a safety issue thing but if NOT, I feel there is a flaw in the no yards rule. I don't understand how an Argo can partially block a kick that ends up only going for 15 yards then the Lions get dinged for no yards. IMO, if the kick is touched the no yards shouldn't matter as the cover team doesn't know that a kick they are expecting to go 40 yards is only going 15.....

In some ways there were some of those little mistakes that happen that would have led to a loss against an elite (Bombers/Stamps) CFL team. Blown punt block coverage leading to a free punt blocker. Lulays fumble. The struggles (at times) on short yardage. The long kickoff return for a TD. Yes the Lions were full value for this win but those things have to get cleaned up. Has there been a game yet this season (even the Edm. game) where ALL THREE phases really did awesome?

That being said, if this is the defence I get to watch for the rest of the season, I'm happy. We may or may not have success in terms of wins, playoffs etc... but watching a defence like this makes me happy. I'm watching these little passes and EXPECTING them to go for big yards but NO tackling was AWESOME, IMO. Usually a smashmouth tackle is done by Sol E. but many of his teammates seem to have been watching film on how he does it. So, Mr. Korey Banks, as far as the defence goes, I'm with you (not against you).....

[Hambone]

Or instead of Hunt, put Soll-e in there-he'd likely do a good job getting through too! Was anyone else pleasantly surprised to see them use the direct snap? It worked, and they looked good doing it!

And what WAS that Illegal Interference call?

I too loved the razzel-dazzle wrinkle we should be employing on a game-to-game basis Kim, which was more what you'd expect from Mathews than Buono, and is not exactly the Chapster's calling card...yeah?

The BC offence has been showing a lot of new wrinkles all season that the anti Chap/Bouno camp seems to want to refuse acknowledging. I picked up the 1st half being done by the Argo broadcast crew last night on Sirius. Hogie and Annunziata were lauding the Lions offensive scheme for the way they were using a lot of misdirection to keep the Argo D guessing.

[Rodu]

I agree regarding Lemon getting a bum deal....11/15 with 3 drops gets you yanked? And you lose the best left tackle in the league......Unreal

Made zero sense in my opinion. Bell has showed absolutely nothing all season, except a flair for throwing interceptions. Oh well, Argos suck.

Speaking of which how do you suppose Rob Murphy got an anterior cruciate ligament, season-ending tear on seemingly such an awkward, but innocent routine play at the mid-season mark?

What this tells me is the guy was out of shape…

West Coast Joe use to tell of his country club lollygagging, helmet-in-hand socializing at practices when he was with the Lions organization, instead of keeping up his conditioning with good old-fashioned work ethic.

I doubt he's out of shape, he locked his knee up. That's all that it takes to blow out a knee, especially when you're a big hoss like he is

[TheLionKing]

The BC offence has been showing a lot of new wrinkles all season that the anti Chap/Bouno camp seems to want to refuse acknowledging. I picked up the 1st half being done by the Argo broadcast crew last night on Sirius. Hogie and Annunziata were lauding the Lions offensive scheme for the way they were using a lot of misdirection to keep the Argo D guessing.

Yes, Chaps is a genius. I'm sure he'll be in high demand by other teams looking for an OC in the off-season. I believe he did said that he's made no commitment to the Lions next season. (Both Chaps and Benevides are signed to one-year contracts).

[TheLionKing]

I'm no Chap fan but he is contining to make changes to our offence and I continue to believe that he was visited by the Ghost of Football Past, Ghost of Football Present, and Football Future recently. Last night, once again, he used a lot of formations that provided protection for Lulay on first down, ran the Wildcat a few times, ran the option with Jarious and Brown that was executed badly but still added variety to our offence, used Gore effectively on two wide runs, and used misdirection on a number of plays. All are positive signs for Chapdelaine. I wish he would get rid of the handsignals now that he can communicate with his quarterback wirelessly - ever notice how often Chap is shown by the cameras on TSN -and mentioend as well..in comparison to any other offensive corodinator in the CFL?? However, kudos to Chap for making changes to a stale offensive scheme that is looking much less predictable and more dynamic over the past two games. Arland Bruce is getting a lot of credit for the change to our offence but really its been Chap's changes that have been more of a difference maker in our last two outings.

All these changes took place when the media and fans were getting on Chappy for his stale offence. Coincidence ?