Lionbackers.com

From LU story's today:

And the Lions, who had sophomore Jamall Lee in the lineup but used him only as a blocker, didn't have enough wrinkles of their own.

"They know what we're going to do," centre Dean Valli said.

Wally's demise will eventually be his loyalty and blind faith in his two coordinators. The fact Lee hasn't touched the ball in two games is ridiculous. And throughout training camp we heard the rave reviews regarding Messam and he has yet to be used in any formation.

Good coordinators are able to adjust and adapt to the talent they have to work with — not being ignored in the same cookie cutter playbook.

Week #2 and Riders knew exactly what the Lions were doing. Nice.

Has anyone heard what Casey P's injury status will be for Friday Night?

Is he seriously injured or?

David wrote:Even more ridiculous is the fact that we continually elected to have the Riders kick to us after a field goal instead of scrimmaging from the 35. More often than not, due to a poor return or a penalty (or both), we lost field position.


DH

That was interesting for sure. I suspect Wally saw something from the MTL/SSK matchp that he felt could be exploited, or he didn't respect the SSK special teams coverage.

I've been saying for years that Cahpdelaine needs to go. Yeah, I called him a fool and an idiot, but really...where has his coaching gotten us? Two QB's with health issues.

wildthing wrote:

David wrote:Even more ridiculous is the fact that we continually elected to have the Riders kick to us after a field goal instead of scrimmaging from the 35. More often than not, due to a poor return or a penalty (or both), we lost field position.


DH

That was interesting for sure. I suspect Wally saw something from the MTL/SSK matchp that he felt could be exploited, or he didn't respect the SSK special teams coverage.

Funny thing is where there have been concerns about the return game I left Emprire feeling comfortable with Jordan as a returner. He looks competent in his fielding of the ball and for the most part went north-south. He was close to breaking a couple for some big gains. Most of his short returns came off short kicks which usually are an advantage to the coverage team. He had one KO return of -2 but that was on a short high 48 yard KO where had nowhere to go forward and tried to get outside instead. If there was one decision that puzzled me it was when Sakoda shanked a 22 yarder and BC opted to make him punt again from 10 yards back. I think I'd rather take the gift of the net 22 yarder instead of giving a punter a chance to redeem himself.

As for the decision to scrimmage or force a kickoff it was pretty much a wash. BC started on their 34, 44 and 27 after the 3 KOs after a FG. They averaged starting at the 35. I think Buono's philosophy is that from a normal kickoff down that comes down inside the 20 the return team can set up their blocking properly and normally can get back damned close to the 35 in a worst case scenario, barring penalty, but there is the chance to break it for more. As such I think he figures he should expect to at worst come out close to where he'd be scrimmaging from if they didn't force the KO so why not try to give the returner a chance to improve on that. He believes the potential reward is greater than the risk.

ST's are reflective of your teams attitude on any given day, the team that can win those battles often seem to draw inspiration from it on either the O or D units. After a couple, a coach should have a better understanding on how his teams level of compete is on the game.

QB Club 63 wrote:I don't understand why Robert Jordan is still on the roster. On every kickoff his return partner was Andrew Harris, and every kickoff went to Jordan. See a pattern? The Greenies kicked to the guy they saw as no threat returning the ball.

Why would the Greenies consider Harris to be more of threat than Jordan? A right footed soccer style kicker can get more distance pushing the ball right than pulling it left. Most KOs go to the right side unless the kicker is a leftie. Also coverages always know which side their kicker will be directing it to. At this early stage of the season I doubt teams give a frog's fat behind about which Leos are back as a returner. They are going to kick to the side they want to cover no matter who the returner is. If Harris and Jordan flipped sides then Harris would've been getting the returns instead of Jordan. It has nothing to do with who the returners are and who might be perceived as more of a threat than the other.

Hambone wrote:

QB Club 63 wrote:I don't understand why Robert Jordan is still on the roster. On every kickoff his return partner was Andrew Harris, and every kickoff went to Jordan. See a pattern? The Greenies kicked to the guy they saw as no threat returning the ball.

Why would the Greenies consider Harris to be more of threat than Jordan? A right footed soccer style kicker can get more distance pushing the ball right than pulling it left. Most KOs go to the right side unless the kicker is a leftie. Also coverages always know which side their kicker will be directing it to. At this early stage of the season I doubt teams give a frog's fat behind about which Leos are back as a returner. They are going to kick to the side they want to cover no matter who the returner is. If Harris and Jordan flipped sides then Harris would've been getting the returns instead of Jordan. It has nothing to do with who the returners are and who might be perceived as more of a threat than the other.

Thank you Hambone - I wonder how closely some people follow football sometimes.

I agree with your take on Jordan - he hasn't looked bad, and makes his decisions quickly.

As for taking the penalty and having a re-kick, maybe that was to try to balance out the penalty count?

David wrote:Even more ridiculous is the fact that we continually elected to have the Riders kick to us after a field goal instead of scrimmaging from the 35. More often than not, due to a poor return or a penalty (or both), we lost field position.


DH

Take a good look at the return coverage. They aren't setting up well. Jordan isn't great, but he isn't the primary problem, either.

Hambone wrote:If there was one decision that puzzled me it was when Sakoda shanked a 22 yarder and BC opted to make him punt again from 10 yards back. I think I'd rather take the gift of the net 22 yarder instead of giving a punter a chance to redeem himself.

UNBELIEVABLE!.. I couldn't believe it and it was a STUPID mistake, making Buono seem like he has the football IQ of an 8 year old.
The ONLY explanation i can come up with is this, and i think it's what Buono was thinking, even though the logic of it dosen't make any sense...

Because the ball went out at the 22 (or close to the 20)... i think Buono had his mind preset when he first heard of the rule to only accept the penalty if the ball was kicked out of bounds between the 20 and 25, lets say.... BUT IT WAS A 25 YARD NET WALLY!!!... i don't believe he took that into consideration, and his age shows on this play.. like WHERE IS HIS CONSULTING with other coaches.. It drove me insane

Instead of the ball on the 22, we got it on the 17 on the very next play on an average kick.. nice...

korey&dante4ever wrote:

Hambone wrote:If there was one decision that puzzled me it was when Sakoda shanked a 22 yarder and BC opted to make him punt again from 10 yards back. I think I'd rather take the gift of the net 22 yarder instead of giving a punter a chance to redeem himself.

UNBELIEVABLE!.. I couldn't believe it and it was a STUPID mistake, making Buono seem like he has the football IQ of an 8 year old.
The ONLY explanation i can come up with is this, and i think it's what Buono was thinking, even though the logic of it dosen't make any sense...

Because the ball went out at the 22 (or close to the 20)... i think Buono had his mind preset when he first heard of the rule to only accept the penalty if the ball was kicked out of bounds between the 20 and 25, lets say.... BUT IT WAS A 25 YARD NET WALLY!!!... i don't believe he took that into consideration, and his age shows on this play.. like WHERE IS HIS CONSULTING with other coaches.. It drove me insane

Instead of the ball on the 22, we got it on the 17 on the very next play on an average kick.. nice...

maybe he beleives in his kick returner

korey&dante4ever wrote:

Hambone wrote:If there was one decision that puzzled me it was when Sakoda shanked a 22 yarder and BC opted to make him punt again from 10 yards back. I think I'd rather take the gift of the net 22 yarder instead of giving a punter a chance to redeem himself.

UNBELIEVABLE!.. I couldn't believe it and it was a STUPID mistake, making Buono seem like he has the football IQ of an 8 year old.
The ONLY explanation i can come up with is this, and i think it's what Buono was thinking, even though the logic of it dosen't make any sense...

Because the ball went out at the 22 (or close to the 20)... i think Buono had his mind preset when he first heard of the rule to only accept the penalty if the ball was kicked out of bounds between the 20 and 25, lets say.... BUT IT WAS A 25 YARD NET WALLY!!!... i don't believe he took that into consideration, and his age shows on this play.. like WHERE IS HIS CONSULTING with other coaches.. It drove me insane

Instead of the ball on the 22, we got it on the 17 on the very next play on an average kick.. nice...

King Lear? Don Quixote? An Old Lion?

korey&dante4ever wrote:

Hambone wrote:If there was one decision that puzzled me it was when Sakoda shanked a 22 yarder and BC opted to make him punt again from 10 yards back. I think I'd rather take the gift of the net 22 yarder instead of giving a punter a chance to redeem himself.

That was a head shaker of a decision...equal to that of Paul Mc who decided to run for a long first down. Neither were good decisions.

That call should have been a no brainer. Take it the 22 for what someone notes was a net gainer of just 25 yards. Ball on the 17 would do nothing to fire up your offense. The risks were too great. A fumble, injury, a better kick - not worth it. He got off a better kick and the Lions lost yards.

These Canadian backs will both get a 1000 yards easily - running doggies in practice!

If Lee thought Wally was ever going to line him up and give him the ball he is a dreamer. Buck Pierce has more touches on carries in two games than these two will get in the season I suspect.

Wally said and he is one stubborn guy - the Lions will run less in 2010 than last year. He will only admit a problem other than if it is a bad player AFTER the season as we know.

hwgill wrote:I've been saying for years that Cahpdelaine needs to go. Yeah, I called him a fool and an idiot, but really...where has his coaching gotten us? Two QB's with health issues.

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