Eskimos 31 - Lions 28 Post Game Stats and Comments

[sj-roc]

@Area51

You obviously weren't at the game! You can say 21,000 fans would agree that the terrible ref calling was part of the reason why we lost. It was brutal out there tonight! Missed calls and calls that weren't supposed to be made contributed to our loss. Two prime examples, the forward PI on Phillips late in the 4th...that was a bunch of baloney! When seeing the replay on the jumbo tron it was clear to everyone that it was a clean and just a great defensive play by #21. We would have had an interception if that call wasn't made. The other was the stupid call on Black after his TD in OT. I apologize but I'm not able to be specific with what the actual call was but I know from all the fans around me they were pissed and shouting profanities. The call took away that TD by Black which potentially could have won us the game in overtime. You're right about saying that we can't just blame the refs for our loss but their controversial calls on those big plays sure didn't help us any. And, yes, our run defense sucked tonight...I totally agree!

Nothing like team bias. Phillips pushed off on Armstrong and the PI was the correct call. The ref was right there, so I'd say 21,000 drunken Lions fans can be incorrect.

Not sure what penalty Black took but it seems you aren't either. That makes it bias to suggest it wasn't a correct call.

Once again the Lions took some RP penalties which cost them ( head shot on a R Ray tackle ).

I don't know why there's confusion on this, but the penalty on that Black play was against Edm (for illegal contact on an ER away from the play). And it was a lucky thing for us, as it gave us a fresh set of downs to work with. Otherwise they would have spotted the ball at Black's forwardmost point of progress prior to the whistle, which was no better than the 14-1/2 (see image below; the defender dragged Black backward between that moment and the whistle), to bring up 3rd down and pretty much a full one yard to go. Prob would have kicked the FG right there given the game situation.

The penalty did not "take away" the TD. It was incidental and benefitted us GREATLY. The whistle is what "took it away". But you can't argue that Black would have scored anyway because you can't take it for granted that Edm was still going full bore to stop him after the whistle. Had it happened the other way around, I'd say someone on here would try to spin it like that. And sure, you could argue whether the whistle SHOULD have been blown in the first place, but the way the officiating to that point had progressed — for lack of a better word — can we really be surprised how it all unfolded?

Also, yes, Philips did get hands on Armstrong for that INT early in the 4th; but even if that was the wrong call, it would have been pretty much a wash anyway as Dante Marsh made the pick on the very next play, in almost the exact same location.

We didn't lose this game because of the officiating (although it admittedly didn't help us a lot either). We lost because, among other things, we let RR look like DA. I wonder what Rich Stubler thinks of Edm's ground game.

[tigerrr22]

Dominic wrote:

"The Lion's offence played well tonight. They threw the ball and did not bury themselves in first down runs only setting up constant second and longs. The problem was the Lion's D and their inability to stop the Eskimos running game. Time of possession was lob sided and Ricky Ray played the Lion's defensive line to perfection finding delayed gaps between the defensive ends and the DB's constantly. The defensive line was out of gas early. They couldn't get off the field enough."

I don't agree but I don't lay that on Lulay. We had scored 15 points, with 3 minutes left, against the worst defense in the leauge, while playing at home. A high passing percentage is the nature of Chap Ball, if he has a quarterback who will execute his offence the way Chap wants him to. It involves short, high percentage passes. However, its not easy to score this way. It means your offence will break down with one mistake and therefore makes consistent scoring, with long drives, more difficult. You really need a good mixture of passing depths, if you want to become a doninant offence.

Are you saying the Lions should empty the backfield more often and expect the QB to drop back for about 4 seconds to heave the deeper balls down field to a second or third option? That is the kiss of death with this offensive line. Your QB will get killed. Fewer passes will be completed. More passes will be picked off. The defence will sit back only sending four and still get effective pressure on the QB. This offensive line needs all the support it can get. They did a good job of having at least one back in the backfield on almost every play. This only opens up your playbook to hot and cold passes. And well timed running plays if you're looking to go against the grain on second and short. It forces the defence to spread out and consider more possibilities off the snap.

Your vision of offence needs an excellent pass blocking O -line able to stop four or five rushers easily and able to offset a blitz of 6 with a QB roll or a QB that steps up in the pocket to find another second. This offence was not the problem last night. The Eskimos offence owned the ball. The last drive, in OT, was all you needed to see to understand why the Eskimos won the game. They ran the ball down our throats on the winning play. The Lions need to address the O - Line before anything else in the offseason to bring this "Swervyn Mervyn" style of attack back to the game plan. But not now. 31-28 would have been 38-21 with your thinking. (Or worse.) Lulay played like a winner. The ball was spread around to all of the receivers well too.

Dominic in Vancouver

[notahomer]

I don't know why there's confusion on this, but the penalty on that Black play was against Edm (for illegal contact on an ER away from the play). And it was a lucky thing for us, as it gave us a fresh set of downs to work with. Otherwise they would have spotted the ball at Black's forwardmost point of progress prior to the whistle, which was no better than the 14-1/2 (see image below; the defender dragged Black backward between that moment and the whistle), to bring up 3rd down and pretty much a full one yard to go. Prob would have kicked the FG right there given the game situation...

Thanks for explaining this (no sarcasm intended). I was at the game, I watched Black run in and all our section was flabbergasted as to why it wasn't a TD. We were all screaming so maybe thats why I didn't hear the whistle had been blown. Why would we accept an penalty when Black had run right in for a TD? Many of the fans in our section were just puzzled. Now I know what happened. Should have figured it out for myself.....

As for the game. Its always painful to say to fellow fans, "I'm guessing Edm is going to run it and then on the next play they are going to run it and then they are going to run it again on the next play". Worst of all being right as is unfolds before your eyes! I left the stadium going "oh well its nice to not blame the offence for the loss for a change". Details are certainly an issue in my mind.

Due to a work related trip to Japan this was my last home game so I said my 'see you next years' to others in my section. I wonder how many of them will be back?

[Leothelion]

All you printers lovers give your head a shake. Lulay played better last night than any printers game in the last 5 years. No mistakes. None. He was not the reason we lost. In fact if we had that quarterbacking all year we would be in alot better position. As far as the ref's call in overtime, it was a bad call. I have seen alot of plays not blown dead that fast.

leo

[hwgill]

If last night was the best offensive performance of the year...than we have major problems, and the QB was NEVER the issue. If that was the best performance of the year offensively, than it is 100% the fault of the coaches, Buono, Chapdelaine, and Dorazio.

So many here were so down on CP, but at the end of the day, who showed more class? CP, or the Reid? From comments made by both, CP is most definitely the classier guy...by far.

I saw the "tantrum" of CP after the game, and to be honest, from what they showed, Casey's worst thing on camera was when he threw his helmet to the turf, and be honest here, who wouldn't get so angry and frustrated after a collapse like that, that they might lose it for a moment (though that doesn't excuse it, CP needs to learn to control his emotions). The supposed locker-room stuff we can ignore, because none of us were actually there, and we only heard a little of it from Reid, who has now shown himself to be a classless a$$. Wilson, who bore the brunt of the on-camera yelling, backed CP to the hilt, which shows that he too is a classy guy.

Finally, is CP's tirade after the game any different than Buono's tirades to players and coaches last night during the game? If anything, Buono's was worse, IMO.

He's lost the team, and is losing control himself. His own stubborness and unwillingness to admit, and most importantly, FIX, his own mistakes is why we are going to miss the playoffs this year, and at this moment, I hope they do miss the playoffs, and get humiliated for these last three games. Maybe then Braley will realize that Buono's record is no longer a reason to keep him on the sidelines. I don't think Buono should be GM either, because I do not believe for one second that Buono will keep his nose out of the HC job...not unless the new HC (whoever that may be) is strong enough to rebuff Buono.

[truth-hurts]

@Area51

You obviously weren't at the game! You can say 21,000 fans would agree that the terrible ref calling was part of the reason why we lost. It was brutal out there tonight! Missed calls and calls that weren't supposed to be made contributed to our loss. Two prime examples, the forward PI on Phillips late in the 4th...that was a bunch of baloney! When seeing the replay on the jumbo tron it was clear to everyone that it was a clean and just a great defensive play by #21. We would have had an interception if that call wasn't made. The other was the stupid call on Black after his TD in OT. I apologize but I'm not able to be specific with what the actual call was but I know from all the fans around me they were pissed and shouting profanities. The call took away that TD by Black which potentially could have won us the game in overtime. You're right about saying that we can't just blame the refs for our loss but their controversial calls on those big plays sure didn't help us any. And, yes, our run defense sucked tonight...I totally agree!

Nothing like team bias. Phillips pushed off on Armstrong and the PI was the correct call. The ref was right there, so I'd say 21,000 drunken Lions fans can be incorrect.

Not sure what penalty Black took but it seems you aren't either. That makes it bias to suggest it wasn't a correct call.

Once again the Lions took some RP penalties which cost them ( head shot on a R Ray tackle ).

I don't know why there's confusion on this, but the penalty on that Black play was against Edm (for illegal contact on an ER away from the play). And it was a lucky thing for us, as it gave us a fresh set of downs to work with. Otherwise they would have spotted the ball at Black's forwardmost point of progress prior to the whistle, which was no better than the 14-1/2 (see image below; the defender dragged Black backward between that moment and the whistle), to bring up 3rd down and pretty much a full one yard to go. Prob would have kicked the FG right there given the game situation.

The penalty did not "take away" the TD. It was incidental and benefitted us GREATLY. The whistle is what "took it away". But you can't argue that Black would have scored anyway because you can't take it for granted that Edm was still going full bore to stop him after the whistle. Had it happened the other way around, I'd say someone on here would try to spin it like that. And sure, you could argue whether the whistle SHOULD have been blown in the first place, but the way the officiating to that point had progressed — for lack of a better word — can we really be surprised how it all unfolded?

Also, yes, Philips did get hands on Armstrong for that INT early in the 4th; but even if that was the wrong call, it would have been pretty much a wash anyway as Dante Marsh made the pick on the very next play, in almost the exact same location.

We didn't lose this game because of the officiating (although it admittedly didn't help us a lot either). We lost because, among other things, we let RR look like DA. I wonder what Rich Stubler thinks of Edm's ground game.

Appreciate the explanation sj-roc. I wasn't clear about the call so thanx for your insight. (Said with sincerity)

[sj-roc]

I don't know why there's confusion on this, but the penalty on that Black play was against Edm (for illegal contact on an ER away from the play). And it was a lucky thing for us, as it gave us a fresh set of downs to work with. Otherwise they would have spotted the ball at Black's forwardmost point of progress prior to the whistle, which was no better than the 14-1/2 (see image below; the defender dragged Black backward between that moment and the whistle), to bring up 3rd down and pretty much a full one yard to go. Prob would have kicked the FG right there given the game situation...

Thanks for explaining this (no sarcasm intended). I was at the game, I watched Black run in and all our section was flabbergasted as to why it wasn't a TD. We were all screaming so maybe thats why I didn't hear the whistle had been blown. Why would we accept an penalty when Black had run right in for a TD? Many of the fans in our section were just puzzled. Now I know what happened. Should have figured it out for myself.....

I heard the whistle live without much difficulty, but admittedly, I was right above the goal line on that side of the field, i.e., the closest area of the stands to the play. I could see right off the bat it wasn't going to count, but not yet aware of the penalty, I was dreading what would happen next because I knew Black was stopped short of the marker to bring up 3rd & 1. Luckily the penalty against Edm precluded that concern, but still, we failed to capitalise and even worse, risked a turnover on Geroy's subsequent fumble.

[potbelly]

I did and you're right, they don't lie, Casey Printers doesn't even come close statistically this year. His highest games was like 312 yards or something, but in that game he threw 2 interceptions and had a lousy completion % and likely a couple fumbles too.

Cant just look a couple games and call him the go to guy. Besides jj almost throws for a few hundred yards in couple pass' so Lulay has not ran away with any remarkable numbers. games that Printers has started shows a better record then Lulay even this year. O yeah Lulay has thrown his fair share of pic's and as far as I am concerned losing the ball is losing the ball whether its to an interception or a fumble. Everyone is susceptible. Granted Printers did have a little more issues with fumbles in 1 game.

[potbelly]

Your funny... yet another confused person. May want to pay attention to the games and the stats a little more when watching football games. When Lulay accomplish anything close to what printers has accomplished to this point. Then you may have something to talk about. Until then...

He's right. That was the best performance by a Lion's QB this season. Easily, IMO.

The coaches, D, and lack of a run game cost us the game.

This one game.are you kidding me? Its takes more then a couple games to be a contender in the playoffs...if they even make it. If they finally miss the playoffs for the first time in I don't know how long maybe just maybe somebody will see the light and understand where the real problem is. If Lions can't come up with a win I guess Lulay was not able to put up enough points on the board. Too little too late the story all season. Take nothing away from Lulay, yes he did have a good game, but his consistency has not made me feel like he is that number qb. Besides all of this, The Lions team right now seems to be a place where qb's come to end their career so before you know it Lulay will be injured. You want a Concussion come on over to B.C.. Don't perform well for a couple games after an injury watch out you will get cut. Armstrong/Printers. How about Glatt and Murphey did they have injuries. Starting to see a correlation here? Wally says all the time Player can't lose his Job to injury. Amusing.

[potbelly]

Or is this primarily a thing against skin color. I am really starting to wonder about people's hearts and minds.

are you seriously playing the race card?

And no I am not playing the race Card. I am just stating the the obvious that some people still have issue's, not saying everyone, but some are still that shallow. To deny that would be walking around with horse blinders on.

[jerepeters]

How can they pay bad ref's and on the other hand the Bc Lions Should beat teams like Winnepeg and Edmonton I guess what I mean is teams lower in the standings you think the players would rise to the occasion like Winnipeg did to us last Monday regardless I am gonna Stay a BC Lions Fan talk die hard Dang come on boy's

[Anglophone]

I don't know why there's confusion on this, but the penalty on that Black play was against Edm (for illegal contact on an ER away from the play). And it was a lucky thing for us, as it gave us a fresh set of downs to work with. Otherwise they would have spotted the ball at Black's forwardmost point of progress prior to the whistle, which was no better than the 14-1/2 (see image below; the defender dragged Black backward between that moment and the whistle), to bring up 3rd down and pretty much a full one yard to go. Prob would have kicked the FG right there given the game situation...

Thank you for explaining this to me. I was as far away as you could possibly get, and had no chance of hearing the whistle over the noise. Nobody near me had any idea why we would have taken that penalty. Not even Wally would think that's a good idea...

[Blitz]

Besides the inability to contain Ray, and the snafu with McCallum, our Leos were flagged four times for procedure or offside calls and a fifth time for a time count violation among our 11 penalties. On Ray’s touchdown pass to Stamps, we only lined up only 11 players

I give the Eskimo coaching staff credit for a good game plan and in-game adjustments. First of all, it was obvious that our defense did not consider Ray a threat to run and didn't have a linebacker covering him if contain broke down. Our defensive ends crashed down most of the night and our linebackers were in coverage. I don't know what was going through the mind of Benevedes but at some point we needed to alter our defensive scheme and formations..allowing Edmonton to run up 346 yards on the ground is embarrassing. Edmonton had two receivers out of the game and were forced to line up Darren McCarthy at slotback. Having only 11 players on the field n for the Fred Stamps touchdown is another example of the comedy of errors by our coaching staff/\.

For those who are unaware, Printers wrote to TSN, to apologize for his sideline behavior. He accepted responsibilty and accountability, which is more than some others have done. As for the players dressing room comments that Printers made, I wonder how that got out of the dressing room unless a player or two made the coaching staff aware. As for Reid's comments, we're also now aware of Jarious Jackson's response to whatever Printers said in the dressing room was that what Printers said..."needed to be said"

Anyway, the next quarterback I'm ready to feel empathy for is Travis Lulay. He handles himself well. He doesn't panic. He throws the underneath stuff accurately. He doesn't hesitate to take off, which is critical, and I hope it isn't drummed out of him in order to 'execute' our offence out of the pocket. While I believe Chap's offence is a better fit for Lulay than it was for Printers or would be for Jarious Jackson, Lulay is still going to be restricted, in terms of what he can do as a quarterback in our offence. That's inherent in an offensive scheme that has its limitations.

[The_Pauser]

All you printers lovers give your head a shake. Lulay played better last night than any printers game in the last 5 years. No mistakes. None. He was not the reason we lost. In fact if we had that quarterbacking all year we would be in alot better position. As far as the ref's call in overtime, it was a bad call. I have seen alot of plays not blown dead that fast.

leo

Wow. Can all the hate for Casey Printers like, just go away? Please? He's no longer part of this football team. I bet people probably think that Casey was the reason we lost last night, right? Casey probably went over to Edmonton and told them all our plays (FYI Edmonton's response was thanks but no thanks...we got their playbook right here already).

Lulay looked good out there. His numbers, great. Could Casey have done better? Who knows. But the fact of the matter is that our offense was 3 minutes away from being shutout in the second half. That's completely unacceptable. That's also 3 games in a row now where Lulay's offense has either been shutout, or been very very close to being shutout in a full half of football (the last two games being in the first half). However which way you want to spin it, this Lulay led offense just isn't getting the job done. He's making these little dinky rope a dope completions, but has been unable to make the big play and the big play is something that Casey was able to do. Is this a byproduct of the Chapdelaine offense? Who knows...but the fact that Casey could make something happen and Lulay hasn't really been able to still remains.

[The_Pauser]

Anyway, the next quarterback I'm ready to feel empathy for is Travis Lulay. He handles himself well. He doesn't panic. He throws the underneath stuff accurately. He doesn't hesitate to take off, which is critical, and I hope it isn't drummed out of him in order to 'execute' our offence out of the pocket. While I believe Chap's offence is a better fit for Lulay than it was for Printers or would be for Jarious Jackson, Lulay is still going to be restricted, in terms of what he can do as a quarterback in our offence. That's inherent in an offensive scheme that has its limitations.

I'm thinking after seeing what happened to Printers last week, the rest of our QB's will be lining up to throw their helmets and chew out their teammates publically so that they don't have to endure the pains and hardships that come with being a Chapdelaine starting quarterback.