Eskimos 31 - Lions 28 Post Game Stats and Comments

[David]

Lulay looked good out there. His numbers, great.

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.

Huh?

Can you make up your mind please? On the one hand you're saying he looked good out there and his 278 passing yards were great, but then you're saying he's just not getting it done.

If I may borrow a "Pauser-ism" (when you'd remind us ad nauseum every week, "Casey can't block too"), Travis doesn't play defense - and that my friend is where things got derailed last night. True, he didn't stretch the defense or complete many long passes, but he efficiently executed the game plan and didn't turn the ball over - something Casey wasn't able to do in his last few games as a B.C. Lion. But in the final analysis, it was our inability to stop the Eskimos rushing the ball that was our undoing. It had nothing to do with Travis being under center.

DH

[The_Pauser]

David, the Lions were shutout in the second half until there were about 3 minutes left in the game. I don care how inept our run defense was, that's just not getting the job done. Lulay put up good numbers, but he couldn't put up points when needed. Had he done that, perhaps he saves our asses and allows us to win despite our run defense. Look at it this way, despite giving up 350 yards on the ground, we only gave up 25 points in the 60 minutes. 25 points against isn't anything to celebrate, but it isn't as if we were giving up a ton of points either. And if the only way your team can win is if your defense holds the other team to under 15 points per game, your offense has problems.

[Blitz]

Our run defense was awful, no question about it.

However, I don't accept that our offensive performance was good or even acceptable. We were playing at home, against the worst defense in the league. It averages giving up over 400 yards a game. Our offence couldn't put up any points against it for almost the last three quarters. IEdmonton went into a prevent defense which helped us on those last two drives.

[tigerrr22]

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

Good post. Also Travis Lulay didn't take all those penalties that stalled drives in the second half either. Too many penalties and an inability to stop the run says that any QB on earth would have struggled to put points on the board in the second half as well.

Dominic In Vancouver

P.S. Too bad so many football fans, in Vancouver, are mesmerized by only money. They perceive sports as only big money or they won't take it seriously. Did anyone see Kyle Ortons dropped shot gun snap in the last minute of Denver's game against the NY Jets? Pathetic. I can tell you that Travis Lulay did not do that in the Edmonton game. The CFL should be better supported by "game attending" fans in Vancouver and Toronto. Pull your heads out of your asses NFL cream puffs.

[TheLionKing]

What an amazingly inept team! Can't run the ball ... can't pass ... can't tackle ... can't even register the starting roster properly. They played down to the level of the TSN announce crew and the game officials ... and that is BAD!

BINGO !

[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

Good post. Also Travis Lulay didn't take all those penalties that stalled drives in the second half either. Too many penalties and an inability to stop the run says that any QB on earth would have struggled to put points on the board in the second half as well.

Dominic In Vancouver

P.S. Too bad so many football fans, in Vancouver, are mesmerized by only money. They perceive sports as only big money or they won't take it seriously. Did anyone see Kyle Ortons dropped shot gun snap in the last minute of Denver's game against the NY Jets? Pathetic. I can tell you that Travis Lulay did not do that in the Edmonton game. The CFL should be better supported by "game attending" fans in Vancouver and Toronto. Pull your heads out of your asses NFL cream puffs.

Actually this couldn't be further from the truth. Sure Lulay had a great completion percentage, and yes he did play well as 278 yards passing are nothing to scoff at, that wasn't the best performance of any QB all season.

Please people, please please please take your blinders off and be more neutral, okay? Use logic. Makes things go easier. Casey Printers's game against the Argos, for example, was a much better performance than Lulay's last game. Sure the completion percentage wasn't as good, but Casey threw for more yards and more importantly more touchdowns. Casey put up more points for the Lions that game than Lulay did against the Eskimos. You can go 10/10 all you want, but unless you can put up points you're not doing a whole lot. Not saying that it's all Lulay's fault, but he hasn't shown the ability to make the big play and if it weren't for Edmonton dropping to a prevent defense in the final couple of minutes (geez where have we heard/seen this story before?) then we probably would have been shutout in the second half. Much like we were shutout by the Blue Bombers in the first half 2 weeks ago.

Lulay hasn't been the problem, but as a starter since Casey got benched he's been 1-2 and has had extended problems in at least a complete half of every game he's played where he hasn't been able to put up points.

[David]

David, the Lions were shutout in the second half until there were about 3 minutes left in the game. I don care how inept our run defense was, that's just not getting the job done. Lulay put up good numbers, but he couldn't put up points when needed. Had he done that, perhaps he saves our asses and allows us to win despite our run defense. Look at it this way, despite giving up 350 yards on the ground, we only gave up 25 points in the 60 minutes. 25 points against isn't anything to celebrate, but it isn't as if we were giving up a ton of points either. And if the only way your team can win is if your defense holds the other team to under 15 points per game, your offense has problems.

Couldn't put up the points when needed? Huh?? He drove the Leos down the field and put 10 points on the board in the final couple of minutes.

I'll grant you, I am not a fan of our scheme. Way too pedestrian. Far too conservative. Thank God for all the outlet passes to Roberson. But Lulay executed well within the system. If you're arguing - like I think you are - that Printers would have done a better job last night than Lulay, who can tell? But my own feeling is that with Printers's turnover issues lately, Lulay was the better choice (based on last night's performance), even if Printers was on the bench.

Also, hard to put a lot of points on the board when Edmonton controlled the clock. Time of possession was tilted far in the Eskimos' favour, especially in the 3rd quarter.

DH

[TheLionKing]

As much as it pains me to say it , it's best the Lions miss the playoffs. That's the only way that David Braley and Dennis Skulsky will see the disaster they have on their hands. Ricky Ray looked like Willie Fleming out there last night slicing and dicing the defence. Wasn't til mid way through the 3rd quarter they til made some stops. Another boring night of Chap ball. 15 points against one of the worst defence in the league. That guy should be put out to pasture

[The_Pauser]

Couldn't put up the points when needed? Huh?? He drove the Leos down the field and put 10 points on the board in the final couple of minutes.

I'll grant you, I am not a fan of our scheme. Way too pedestrian. Far too conservative. Thank God for all the outlet passes to Roberson. But Lulay executed well within the system. If you're arguing - like I think you are - that Printers would have done a better job last night than Lulay, who can tell? But my own feeling is that with Printers's turnover issues lately, Lulay was the better choice (based on last night's performance), even if Printers was on the bench.

Also, hard to put a lot of points on the board when Edmonton controlled the clock. Time of possession was tilted far in the Eskimos' favour, especially in the 3rd quarter.

DH

Huh?? We needed points earlier than with 3 minutes left in the game if we wanted to win. I'm sorry, but for 57 minutes of a football game, putting up a mere 15 points against the worst defense in the league is downright pathetic.

I'm not a fan of our scheme either, but that's the same scheme Casey Printers had to play with. Except when we had Printers in he often didn't have the luxury of those outlet passes to Robertson on most downs.

I'm not saying Printers would have done a better job. There's no point in arguing that because we'll never have the answer. What I'm arguing is that Lulay did NOT put in the best QB performance by a Lion this season, last night. Lulay did NOT prove that he's a better choice than Printers either. All Lulay did prove is that he continues to struggle to put up points over a long period of time, and that Casey Printers was not the reason our team has been losing games either. Yes Lulay put up points in the final 3 minutes of the game when he went into a hurry up offense and basically called his own plays, but Casey played very very well in the hurry up as well.

I'll give you that Printers seemed to have a short stint of turnover problems, but you do realize that Lulay has turned the ball over more than Printers this season, in less playing time as well, do you?

[David]

Look, there's no point debating with you because you insist on the last word, you'll vehemently defend Casey to the death, and frankly, this doesn't mean that much to me. I liked Casey ('til his gesturing after incompletions this season, the shoulder shrugs, the pouting on the sidelines, and finally, the post-game meltdown in Winnipeg) and I like Travis too. I also like Jarious.

Travis isn't purrfect, but I've seen vast improvements in his game since his first start. He may not have Casey's tools, but he's got more upside at this point and doesn't have any baggage.

DH

[Area51]

As much as it pains me to say it , it's best the Lions miss the playoffs. That's the only way that David Braley and Dennis Skulsky will see the disaster they have on their hands.

Even though this season will end up being the third consecutive year of progressively worse Lions teams, I fully epect Buono to return as the coach of the Lions next year. Braley is about as hand's off as you'll get from an owner, and I recall he said something in the past about how Buono will remain in control of BC for life if he wants.

And I don't think there's any way Buono's ego allows him to walk away from the mess he's created in BC and admit to failure. I'd expect him to spin this season's disaster as being the result of a "rebuilding" year...a brief respite from the playoffs with promises to return next year better than ever.

Unfortunately if/when Buono returns, you can expect his clipboard buddies to follow along too. Which means another year of offensive impotence and defensive meltdowns.

The only way to get this franchise back on the road to respectability as a legitimate contender is to have Buono completely removed from the organization. The best hope for that happening is if Braley decides to sell off the team.

[hwgill]

As much as it pains me to say it , it's best the Lions miss the playoffs. That's the only way that David Braley and Dennis Skulsky will see the disaster they have on their hands.

Even though this season will end up being the third consecutive year of progressively worse Lions teams, I fully epect Buono to return as the coach of the Lions next year. Braley is about as hand's off as you'll get from an owner, and I recall he said something in the past about how Buono will remain in control of BC for life if he wants.

And I don't think there's any way Buono's ego allows him to walk away from the mess he's created in BC and admit to failure. I'd expect him to spin this season's disaster as being the result of a "rebuilding" year...a brief respite from the playoffs with promises to return next year better than ever.

Unfortunately if/when Buono returns, you can expect his clipboard buddies to follow along too. Which means another year of offensive impotence and defensive meltdowns.

The only way to get this franchise back on the road to respectability as a legitimate contender is to have Buono completely removed from the organization. The best hope for that happening is if Braley decides to sell off the team.

Agreed.

[The_Pauser]

Look, there's no point debating with you because you insist on the last word, you'll vehemently defend Casey to the death, and frankly, this doesn't mean that much to me. I liked Casey ('til his gesturing after incompletions this season, the shoulder shrugs, the pouting on the sidelines, and finally, the post-game meltdown in Winnipeg) and I like Travis too. I also like Jarious.

Travis isn't purrfect, but I've seen vast improvements in his game since his first start. He may not have Casey's tools, but he's got more upside at this point and doesn't have any baggage.

DH

How do I insist on the last word? You made a statement that I disagreed with because in my mind there was a glaring flaw with it. I defend Casey to death because he's attacked to no end by a lot of people (not just on here but in the media) and I don't think it's right. Especially with the logic people use, it makes absolutely no sense. It seems like people use one standard to judge Casey, and another standard to judge other QB's. I like Travis Lulay, and I think he'll develop into a good quarterback. But I also think that Casey for today is the best quaterback option we had. I disagree with the notion that Lulay played a better game yesterday than any of our QB's this season.

[David]

How do I insist on the last word? You made a statement that I disagreed with because in my mind there was a glaring flaw with it.

There. You've done it again.

Travis Lulay's best days are ahead of him and unfortunately, Casey's are behind him. Bad knees and a bad attitude have done him in and I'd be very surprised if he resurfaces anywhere in the CFL.

But carry on. The last word is yours as it is with every Casey Printers thread around here....

DH

[scrawnyPilgrim]

Exactly, Casey is done! Had he played against Edmonton you wouldn't even of made it to overtime. I hope he has a great career post football and a long successful life, but I don't ever want to see him back in the CFL.