Riders @ Lions -- Post Game Stats and Comments

[WestCoastJoe]

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Kudos to the club for ponying up to bring in the Washington Husky Marching Band, who put on a wonderful show pre game and half time (the "Go Lions" formation was a nice touch, as was performing "Oh Canada"). Finally, a game that had the feel of a big league experience. Just wondering though, on a glorious sunny day, deep blue skies and 16 degrees at kick-off (61 Fahrenheit), why in the hell would the club decide the roof needs to be closed?!? I don't understand why we went with a $563MM reno of BC Place if they're only going to open the damn thing on warm, sunny days prior to Labour Day.

To me, it reeks of Wally's interference as he has it in his head a closed roof creates more noise.

LOL

Good post, as always, David.

Wally seems to have a couple of avenues in his preferences and in his decision making process.

One side is very practical. Balance the budget, at whatever pain it takes. Make the tough call to cut veterans. Et cetera ...

The other side is ... ummm ... whimsical is the word I have come up with lately. Whimsical. That suggests amusement, however, and the fans are not amused by whimsical decisions by a GM. Bizarre also comes to mind. Off the wall. Out in left field. On a different planet.

As noted, his methods have worked, for the most part, for over 20 years. He tends to get things right eventually. He drives some/many fans to distraction. And through it all he seems to be on good terms with the Big Guy upstairs. So he and his team usually come through things all right. We have been on the downslope, however. So ... we will see.

[MexicoLionFan]

Jennings is a treat to watch. At the level of Casey Printers for excitement, with a much more mellow personality. And lest we forget all Casey did was win MOP, wearing a Lions' uniform.

Jennings clearly energized the entire team. Electrifying. So efficient. Not just against the sad sack Riders either. He moved the ball smartly against the Schmos also. Chris Jones spoke highly of Jennings.

What does it mean for our team? We have hope. Obviously with a QB playing at a high level we can compete with any team.

Can hardly wait for the nxt game at this point.

And, Yes, he was clearly rhe best QB in our camp. But the staff had him buried at #3 on the depth chart. It took two QB knockouts to give him his chance. Credit, however, to those on staff that saw his potential, brought him in, and kept him here. The fans like what they see.
........

And it was great to see Manny Showing his stuff. Great, great run after catch. Fast and strong. Also made a terrific, subtle move to throw off the last defender.
.........

Is this still Travis' team? That is a tough call. Based on his poor play prior to injury, No. Based on his dissection of the Riders twice, earlier, Yes. I am glad it is Tedford who gets the call, not Wally. Back in the day Wally dithered back and forth with Printers and Dickenson forever.

Lulay will want to play. If he does get to play, and does poorly, Jennings is right there. At this stage of the year, I think we have to ride Jennings. Circumstances did not favour Lulay.

.......

I have been a fan of David Menard since I saw tape of him at the Combine. Very, very effective player.

As noted numerous times, Wally makes a number of decisions that fans dislike strongly, but he is a survivor. He usually gets things right eventually, even if it is by scraping around until the last possible solution works. And the whimsical notions, as with Gary Butler, are finally, finally, cast aside. Some decisions do cause lasting damage. And nowadays, I think, most fans prefer attacking football.

It's funny, the things that we saw last night with the Lions certainly resemble what the majority of this board has been saying ALL SEASON LONG. The Lions have played BORING football, and it turns the best players, especially Defensive players, into bad ones. We are starting to see that the Lions talent isn't as bad as it was with just a few key additions and finally some reasons to get excited. Football is a fast, violent game, its not for bookworms and masters of the 10 man drop zone! Why has it taken until just recently for our DLine to look and play like this? Craig Roh at DT took half the season for the Lions to figure out wasn't going to work, and the change has been demonstrative. Amazing what happens to a DBs talent when the DLine starts playing well!

As for the offence, most of us saw it against CGY, even with the mistakes, you could see the talent and inherent confidence that JJ has. Most of us have been calling for him since early in the season as trying to go with Lulay was a mistake IMO, and labelling Beck as 2nd best was another big mistake. And with some passing offence, suddenly Andrew Harris rushed with a 10 yard per carry average. Imagine what Harris' #'s would have looked like if he had ANY kind of help before now. And there are fans here that don't want to re-sign Harris??? Wow! You must be a lot smarter than I am to see that. Finally, Tommy Draheim is the best LT we have had since Rob Murphy, and I think he's better than even Olafoye at his best. If Draheim can stay healthy and the Lions can keep Draheim, Harris and JJ into next season, there's suddenly a lot to be excited about. And its all happening in spite of our coaching, which is rather bizarre!

BTW some excellent posts guys, especially Joe (and Blitz) who has been calling for Menard for a long time! Here's to exciting football.

[WestCoastJoe]

Good stuff, MLF.

And now we are calling for Tommie Draheim. Very cool guy. Built for LT work. As he said, he was not a fat kid, but athletic. He grew and put on solid, good weight. He can carry it well. He is outstanding pulling in front of Harris. His technique is solid.

Very fun to watch him play. Very fun.

Credit to those on staff that saw his potential. Doug Malone? Probably.

[pennw]

What is wrong with Leone. Two missed converts a blocked punt and an easy missed field goal.BB

I can't ever recall a Lion or any other kicker missing two converts in a game. Leone has really struggled the last few games with his placekicking.

Converts used to be from much closer up though weren't they ?

[BC 1988]

Arceneaux has played well all season. They just are starting to throw more to him, and have a QB who is getting him the ball.

Jennings looks amazing out there. Like someone mentioned, he looked very Casey Printers-ish on a few plays. Scrambled out of pressure, connected with several deep balls, made plays. I didn't like some passes into double or triple coverage, but he was able (lucky) to connect on them. I fear against Calgary or Edmonton that some of those passes end up picked, but that's just a small complaint given he did connect and he did take over the game.

Harris looked re-energized, Arceneaux looked great, Hawkins had a great game. O-Line had some issues. Defense was great last night, and it was very nice seeing the big guys on the interior having their way with the Riders O-line. Brooks looked pumped and had an excellent game!

Leone is showing his inexperience as a FG kicker. I think in time he'll learn that he doesn't need to boot it full power from 20 yards out, and that he can take a bit off and try to increase his accuracy. That big leg is great from outside the 45, but when you're kicking what should be chip shots it's OK to take a bit off.

Great entertainment throughout the night. Last night felt like a blast from the past in terms of on-field product and off-field entertainment. Hopefully this means we're moving in the right direction.

Agree completely. I was most impressed with the several times that Jennings had defenders on him but was able to not only evade the sack, but had the presence of mind to make meaningful plays.
If you look at film of 2004 Printers, it sure does look like a flashback. He will get burned with picks against 1st ranked coverage though. SSK D is a train wreck. I can't wait to see how he does against WPG.

The morale lift that the entire OFF gets with a QB who can consistently deliver the ball to his targets is obvious. It showed last week as well before EDM D figured out how to contain him. The big test will be the rematch in 2 weeks. It was encouraging seeing how he used the entire field to keep the D guessing. (Hard to believe this is the same Cortez OFF).

I think Leone is showing a lack of coaching to do his unfamiliar role as a placekicker (he's a converted punter, after all). He could do with better mentoring (it doesn't help that Fera's main experience is also punting.)

[zeppo]

I think Leone is showing a lack of coaching to do his unfamiliar role as a placekicker (he's a converted punter, after all). He could do with better mentoring (it doesn't help that Fera's main experience is also punting.)

Leone gets plenty of personal attention from Don Sweet, so lack of coaching is not an issue.

[BC 1988]

Hard to go back to Travis now with the team (esp. the receivers) so full of energy, as well as fans' hopes and expectations. Big fan of Travis's, but this is a results business. While it's a small sample size to be sure, we're getting the results right now from Jennings and are in the thick of a playoff run. We can't afford to sit back and watch Travis work off the rust. Nor can we afford to sit back and hope he regains early season form.


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Speaking of energy, BC Place hasn't been that electric in well over a year. The players clearly feed off the vibe which is why the lower bowl needs to be at least 80-90% full. ** HINT TO MGT ** - affordable tickets are a must.

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Kudos to the club for ponying up to bring in the Washington Husky Marching Band, who put on a wonderful show pre game and half time (the "Go Lions" formation was a nice touch, as was performing "Oh Canada"). Finally, a game that had the feel of a big league experience. Just wondering though, on a glorious sunny day, deep blue skies and 16 degrees at kick-off (61 Fahrenheit), why in the hell would the club decide the roof needs to be closed?!? I don't understand why we went with a $563MM reno of BC Place if they're only going to open the damn thing on warm, sunny days prior to Labour Day.

To me, it reeks of Wally's interference as he has it in his head a closed roof creates more noise.

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Hard to find much fault in a 46-20 shellacking - that could have been worse but for some points given in up in garbage time when the issue was decided. But Special Teams continues to plague this team. Coverage is abysmal. Penalties are almost a guarantee. Leone's kicking is an adventure. Rainey is dealing with a hamstring pull, and I am seeing little evidence of the 4'4 combine speed and ability to make guys miss that Shaq showed on film.


DH

Agreed. I can't see Travis being rushed back. He's very much a sitting duck with his reduced mobility. Jennings has made the most of his two starts, he's earned the right to see how far he can go with this team.

I didn't see an official reason why the roof was closed on a sunny day for an afternoon game, but I suspect that (in addition to Wally's stated preference to have it closed all the time) the reasoning is that you get improved acoustics for the HMB performance with it closed.

[potbelly]

[quote="Ballistic Bob"]What is wrong with Leone. Two missed converts a blocked punt and an easy missed field goal.BB[/quote

So the guy can't have a bad game now? Offence plays garbage ball for more then several games, and he is pretty much the only constant.

[zeppo]

So the guy can't have a bad game now? Offence plays garbage ball for more then several games, and he is pretty much the only constant.

Leone's place kicking has been shakey for the past several games. Last night was not the first time this season that he has
missed short field goals and converts. In fact, I would hazard a guess that he leads the league in missed converts.

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.cfl.ca/article/jennings-like ... ver-riders

Re Jennings ...

“He makes plays, and that’s the thing about it – but he stays poised,” Phillips noted following the Lions’ 46-20 win over the Riders. “Even though he’s young and everybody wants to say ‘he’s the young guy, he might make some young mistakes’ – at the end of the day he’s always poised, he’s always looking down field.

Statistically, Jennings' second career CFL start is among the best ever. For a 23-year-old the numbers are out of this world – and yet they could’ve been so much more.

Jennings finished his night with 364 passing yards on 19-of-25 passing with four touchdowns and zero interceptions, but most of his passing yards came in the first half and the first possession of the second half. He exited the first half with 266 passing yards, then threw an 82-yard touchdown pass to Arceneaux on the second half’s opening play.

“It’s a tribute to how he plays and what his attributes are,” said running back Harris. “His legs and his arm, you can’t really compare it to anyone else – he’s basically like a young Casey Printers I would compare him to.

“He makes plays when most quarterbacks you’d count them out, and he extends plays,” added Harris. “He stands in the pocket and he throws darts, and a couple of passes there he floated them over the defender so he has that touch. He has a lot of skill and he’s going to get better.”

“We’ve been talking all week and you know, I’m always telling those guys, ‘go out there and help me out and I’ll try to help you out’,” said Jennings. “They went out there and did a great job for me and it’s exciting.

“I think they’re excited, we’re out there making plays and receivers are having fun,” he added. “But there’s still work to be done. We’re just going to take it day by day and continue to work.”

[Blitz]

Jennings was the story of our big win against the Ridres and for good reasons. For only his second CFL start, he showed poise, a quick release, an accurate arm, the ability to throw the deep ball, escapabilty and running ability, the talent to extend plays, the arm strength to throw the wide side out, the ability to throw a touch pass when needed, and most of all, kept his eyes downfield to throw the football while on the run..... and so on

The return of Tommy Draheim was a boost to our offence. Hawkins has become a very positive addition to our receiving crew.

But this was not all personel. Cortez is either starting to have some light enter that rigid brain of his or Tedford is starting to have some influence on our offence but there were changes, strategy wise, and play calling wise in this game.

We ran a lot of single and double tight end sets on first down and instead of running the zone read into the strength of a stacked defense against our run, we passed out of those tight end sets on first down.

We didn't just run zone read but we mixed our blocking scheme. A great example was Tommy Draheim pulling to lead block for Harris on a well designed run.

We lined up Rainey at wide out and brought him underneath on a well designed crossing pattern underneath for a big gain. We used Rainey on a well designed bubble screen. We mixed up our receivers positions, lining up Collie wide and creating a mismatch for Hawkins. We actually ran a gadget play, although I don't consider those types of plays gadget plays - that term was created by a defensive coordinator who got burned. They are change up, unexpected plays that can rip the spirit out of a defense.

Defensively, Washington ran more blitzes than usual. Our front four looked so much better with Minter, Brooks, and Westerman inside and Roh outside. I was so happy to see Menard get more reps at defensive end. He has a great motor and is a better option than Smith or Bazzie. Menard proved that this game.

Our defense played so much better with a better pass rush and better run defense. Our players played more aggressively rather than passively. Scheme wise, on defense. there is so much more work ahead but at least we mixed things up more and our blitzes, when we ran them, looked better designed. Josh Johnson and T.J. Lee are good blitzers from their positions.

Fans enjoyed watching this game and with the Riders here, we had out biggest crowd of the season.

Lions fans have needed something to cheer about. They saw there is talent on this team...but its too often been not used properlty. Now there is hope and with hope, a lot of thinngs can positively change. Lets hope.

[WestCoastJoe]

Nice post, Blitz.

It is always nice to read detailed, well thought out posts.

Yes, we have hope.

The CFL is a QB driven league. And it seems we have on board our next top tier QB. That is a great starting place.

Offence. Defence. STs. We still have work to do, as Jennings says. The kid absolutely energized the entire team. Fans also.

I liked Tedford's pre game speech. I have an optimistic hunch that Tedford's influence is starting to show a bit more as time goes on.

He was hauled into a chaotic situation, in a league he was away from for a very long time.

Out with the old. In with the new.

DL. I like the personnel.

LBs. Same.

DBs. Same.

OL. Work in progress. Draheim makes a huge difference. Doug Malone fell into a Black Hole after the wasteland of the last 12 years.

QB.

RB.

Receivers. Good. Even very good with Jennings. Arceneaux. Hawkins. Burnham. Gore. Gotta give the crew excellent marks for that performance. All looked energized. Much of that is due to Jennings, but he might even liberate our coaching. It can be contagious.

[TheLionKing]

Yes Jennings showed poise, ability to escape the rush and made plays but the thing that impressed me the most was the way he neutralized the blitz. He was decisive and knew exactly what to do when the Riders came with the blitz early and often.

[David]

Receivers. Good. Even very good with Jennings. Arceneaux. Hawkins. Burnham. Gore. Gotta give the crew excellent marks for that performance. All looked energized.

Good observation, WCJ. I would also add Austin Collie's name, although I don't think we've even seen his best work this year despite leading the team with 6 TDs....and one passing TD.

In addition to talent I would even say our Leos have "good depth" at receiver. For example, if no Shawn Gore on the wide side, we can plug in the very versatile Marco Iannuzzi. Bryan Burnham goes down? Simple. Insert Courtney Taylor (some would argue he should be starting.....TSN1040's The Moj being one). Don't forget too that Terence Jeffers-Harris looked terrific in preseason. I'd have no hesitation putting him in if Lavelle or even Manny gets injured.



DH

[TheLionKing]

http://bclions.com/video/index/id/117577

Like Jason Arakgi's decision not to award the game to the Special Teams. Nobody did anything that deserves recognition.