So, now what??

[pennw]

I would stick with Buck Pierce win or lose. There would be less continuity with the offence if we keep switching back and forth. If Buono thinks Pierce is the future quarterback with the Lions play him. He can only improve by playing, not holding the clipboard.

How many years has Pierce been here now? If he is the future , well that future should already have started by now . Having said that I'll say again what I already said , this last game Pierce was not the problem , he threw for almost 300 yds . For that I'd give him a passing grade .
To me at this time when I think QB of the future , I think Lulay .Next year he should be at least at #2 , and if he out performs Pierce , then make him #1 .

[Toppy Vann]

I would stick with Buck Pierce win or lose. There would be less continuity with the offence if we keep switching back and forth. If Buono thinks Pierce is the future quarterback with the Lions play him. He can only improve by playing, not holding the clipboard.

How many years has Pierce been here now? If he is the future , well that future should already have started by now . Having said that I'll say again what I already said , this last game Pierce was not the problem , he threw for almost 300 yds . For that I'd give him a passing grade .
To me at this time when I think QB of the future , I think Lulay .Next year he should be at least at #2 , and if he out performs Pierce , then make him #1 .

QB as your own post is not the main issue here. Why do you think the back up is so popular over Jarius and Buck? It's simple. He ain't never played in a CFL game yet so of course he must be better than 1 and 2. That is how football was in the old days - change QBs until you win but that never ever did or does happen.

Buck has not had a full season at QB so to be knocking him now is crazy especially when his play is not the reason they are losing.

[Blue In BC]

Fans around the CFL always think the back up is the " future QB ".

[TheLionKing]

I would stick with Buck Pierce win or lose. There would be less continuity with the offence if we keep switching back and forth. If Buono thinks Pierce is the future quarterback with the Lions play him. He can only improve by playing, not holding the clipboard.

How many years has Pierce been here now? If he is the future , well that future should already have started by now . Having said that I'll say again what I already said , this last game Pierce was not the problem , he threw for almost 300 yds . For that I'd give him a passing grade .
To me at this time when I think QB of the future , I think Lulay .Next year he should be at least at #2 , and if he out performs Pierce , then make him #1 .

In his first few years with the Lions Buck was playing behind a couple of dudes named Dickenson and Printers. He saw very limited playing time. Last year he won the starting job in training camp but was injured early in the season but returned to starter status later in the season.

[Lions4ever]

Buck has not had a full season at QB so to be knocking him now is crazy especially when his play is not the reason they are losing.

No, of course not. Not if you ignore those game-killing INTs. Those must be because the receiver ran the wrong pattern. Right, coaches?

[Hawkballer 14]

Here's how I see things entering week 6:

-The 4-2 and the 3 man rush are failed experiments. Toss them and return to the traditional 4-3; with Terna Nande in the middle, Javy and Anton outside.
-Blitz. Be creative with your blitzes. Send your DB's on occasion. Be aggressive.
-I really like Martell Mallett, he's shown that he's a capable CFL RB.
-Keep with BP at QB. He's in his first full season as THE guy, last year was a wash because he got hurt in week one.
-Run some pro formations. BP under center, Lumbala as the blocking FB, Mallett/Smart as the TB, Green as the TE.
-The Co-ordinators need to grow a pair and tell Wally to back off, let them call the plays. WB needs to avoid micro-managing.
-Get Kruck on BP to air it deep regularly. Even if you don't complete it, the DBs have to respect the deep ball and it opens things up underneath for the crosses, the hitches, the outs.
-Pattern extensions: out-n-up, slant-n-go, hitch-n-go. Opposing defences know what's coming, so throw them the occasional curve.
-CBs press the WRs, do not let them get clean breaks off the LOS.
-Run the empty set on the goal-line with BP under center. Spread the D out, create some natural spacing. One step drop with a redzone fade to Hetherington (who is 6-4) at WR, the NFL has such thing as red-zone receivers.

[smphantom]

Sign Michael Vick!

Woof woof!!

[WestCoastJoe]

Here's how I see things entering week 6:

-The 4-2 and the 3 man rush are failed experiments. Toss them and return to the traditional 4-3; with Terna Nande in the middle, Javy and Anton outside.
-Blitz. Be creative with your blitzes. Send your DB's on occasion. Be aggressive.
-I really like Martell Mallett, he's shown that he's a capable CFL RB.
-Keep with BP at QB. He's in his first full season as THE guy, last year was a wash because he got hurt in week one.
-Run some pro formations. BP under center, Lumbala as the blocking FB, Mallett/Smart as the TB, Green as the TE.
-The Co-ordinators need to grow a pair and tell Wally to back off, let them call the plays. WB needs to avoid micro-managing.
-Get Kruck on BP to air it deep regularly. Even if you don't complete it, the DBs have to respect the deep ball and it opens things up underneath for the crosses, the hitches, the outs.
-Pattern extensions: out-n-up, slant-n-go, hitch-n-go. Opposing defences know what's coming, so throw them the occasional curve.
-CBs press the WRs, do not let them get clean breaks off the LOS.
-Run the empty set on the goal-line with BP under center. Spread the D out, create some natural spacing. One step drop with a redzone fade to Hetherington (who is 6-4) at WR, the NFL has such thing as red-zone receivers.

I like your ideas. Aggressive. Play to win.

The problem is ... that is not how Wally does it. He plays it safe. He takes no chances. He compromises. He is completely conservative, and he resists changes until he is forced to make any. And he does micromanage his play callers, counterproductively.

[David]

Here's how I see things entering week 6:

-The 4-2 and the 3 man rush are failed experiments. Toss them and return to the traditional 4-3; with Terna Nande in the middle, Javy and Anton outside.
-Blitz. Be creative with your blitzes. Send your DB's on occasion. Be aggressive.
-I really like Martell Mallett, he's shown that he's a capable CFL RB.
-Keep with BP at QB. He's in his first full season as THE guy, last year was a wash because he got hurt in week one.
-Run some pro formations. BP under center, Lumbala as the blocking FB, Mallett/Smart as the TB, Green as the TE.
-The Co-ordinators need to grow a pair and tell Wally to back off, let them call the plays. WB needs to avoid micro-managing.
-Get Kruck on BP to air it deep regularly. Even if you don't complete it, the DBs have to respect the deep ball and it opens things up underneath for the crosses, the hitches, the outs.
-Pattern extensions: out-n-up, slant-n-go, hitch-n-go. Opposing defences know what's coming, so throw them the occasional curve.
-CBs press the WRs, do not let them get clean breaks off the LOS.
-Run the empty set on the goal-line with BP under center. Spread the D out, create some natural spacing. One step drop with a redzone fade to Hetherington (who is 6-4) at WR, the NFL has such thing as red-zone receivers.

Great post Hawkballer. Very well thought out.

RE: getting Buck to throw the deep ball to stretch the defence, did you notice that when we were hemmed in deep last week and Buck threw long, it opened everything up underneath and we marched down the field? Granted, it was a pass interference call instead of a completion and the deep ball is not Buck's strength, but it gives the defense something to think about and forces them to be less aggressive.

RE: goal-line set, I always like it when we declare one of the big guys eligible and the QB runs play action to an open "receiver" in the endzone. We used to try that occasionally with Ty Williams and Brent Johnson. We should do it again.

DH

[pennw]

I would stick with Buck Pierce win or lose. There would be less continuity with the offence if we keep switching back and forth. If Buono thinks Pierce is the future quarterback with the Lions play him. He can only improve by playing, not holding the clipboard.

How many years has Pierce been here now? If he is the future , well that future should already have started by now . Having said that I'll say again what I already said , this last game Pierce was not the problem , he threw for almost 300 yds . For that I'd give him a passing grade .
To me at this time when I think QB of the future , I think Lulay .Next year he should be at least at #2 , and if he out performs Pierce , then make him #1 .

In his first few years with the Lions Buck was playing behind a couple of dudes named Dickenson and Printers. He saw very limited playing time. Last year he won the starting job in training camp but was injured early in the season but returned to starter status later in the season.

Yes , I know Pierce's history here . My point is that Pierces time is now , not "Qb of the future" amymore . Future QB is someone with potential you are developing , not some one who should be coming into his prime already , which Pierce IMO should be entering by this time . The future development guy to me is Lulay followed by Champion . It's time for Pierce to get it done this season , he is our starter is he not?

[The_Pauser]

Yes , I know Pierce's history here . My point is that Pierces time is now , not "Qb of the future" amymore . Future QB is someone with potential you are developing , not some one who should be coming into his prime already , which Pierce IMO should be entering by this time . The future development guy to me is Lulay followed by Champion . It's time for Pierce to get it done this season , he is our starter is he not?

I don't care if Pierce's time is now or not. The fact of the matter is we're entering Week 6, and we're a 1-4 football team. Dead last in the CFL. That is not acceptable in this city. When something isn't working what do you do? Do you a) Stick with it and keep trying to mash a square peg into a round hole hoping that it'll fit, because dammit it's that peg's turn to go in? or do you b) Make the appropriate changes to find a circular peg for that circular hole in hopes of salvaging some respectability?

[pennw]

Yes , I know Pierce's history here . My point is that Pierces time is now , not "Qb of the future" amymore . Future QB is someone with potential you are developing , not some one who should be coming into his prime already , which Pierce IMO should be entering by this time . The future development guy to me is Lulay followed by Champion . It's time for Pierce to get it done this season , he is our starter is he not?

I don't care if Pierce's time is now or not. The fact of the matter is we're entering Week 6, and we're a 1-4 football team. Dead last in the CFL. That is not acceptable in this city. When something isn't working what do you do? Do you a) Stick with it and keep trying to mash a square peg into a round hole hoping that it'll fit, because dammit it's that peg's turn to go in? or do you b) Make the appropriate changes to find a circular peg for that circular hole in hopes of salvaging some respectability?

And your point is exactly what?? Can you figure out the context of that post I made you are quoting here instead of trying to make it say something it doesn't . Hint: note the post i'm addressing there( it's related to that post).

[B.C.FAN]

Yes , I know Pierce's history here . My point is that Pierces time is now , not "Qb of the future" amymore . Future QB is someone with potential you are developing , not some one who should be coming into his prime already , which Pierce IMO should be entering by this time . The future development guy to me is Lulay followed by Champion . It's time for Pierce to get it done this season , he is our starter is he not?

I don't care if Pierce's time is now or not. The fact of the matter is we're entering Week 6, and we're a 1-4 football team. Dead last in the CFL. That is not acceptable in this city. When something isn't working what do you do? Do you a) Stick with it and keep trying to mash a square peg into a round hole hoping that it'll fit, because dammit it's that peg's turn to go in? or do you b) Make the appropriate changes to find a circular peg for that circular hole in hopes of salvaging some respectability?

You address the problem, and don't make changes for the sake of making changes. That's a slippery slope that bad football teams fall into. The Lions are still a good team that has committed too many turnovers and special-teams penalties. You turn the team around by focusing on correcting those mistakes, not replacing the players who made them.

[The_Pauser]

You address the problem, and don't make changes for the sake of making changes. That's a slippery slope that bad football teams fall into. The Lions are still a good team that has committed too many turnovers and special-teams penalties. You turn the team around by focusing on correcting those mistakes, not replacing the players who made them.

I agree, you address the problem. Part of that was done today with the signing of JoJuan Armour. That won't fix all of the problems, but it's a start.

We still need to seriously upgrade our offensive line, that's another problem.

We still need better playcalling on offense AND defense. That's another problem.

We also need a QB that's going to win this team some games. We went through it last year with a vanilla like offense and two QB's who really couldn't get the job done. What makes it good enough now when this team has regressed? You would expect someone like Buck to actually improve over last year. I don't see improvement in his game at all. I see regression, and event he most rosey-eyed Pierce supports can only say he's at about the same level, and to me, that's not good enough.

[David]

You address the problem, and don't make changes for the sake of making changes. That's a slippery slope that bad football teams fall into. The Lions are still a good team that has committed too many turnovers and special-teams penalties. You turn the team around by focusing on correcting those mistakes, not replacing the players who made them.

With all due respect, to say that things can be turned around simply by not taking bad penalties and turning the ball over is overly simplistic and does not address the fundamental problems that exist. Like teams routinely getting past our 2nd layer on running plays (witness Reynolds and Cobb) and swallowing up our linebackers in the process. Like our offense's stalled drives from the quarterback continually locking in on his primary receiver. Like our O-line's inability to deal with a 3 man rush. Like our ineffective pass rush....

DH