Printers Will Start Our Next Game

[Blitz]

Aaaaah...ain't hindsight a wonderful thing.

We started off the season with Casey Printers as our starter and we won our first game and Printers was playing well in the first half of our next game when he got hurt.

Of course Printers was not playing as well as last season (heck he had Chap coaching him up for a whole training camp...you gotta expect some deterioration) but looking back at things Printers was playing better than he was given credit for..at least prior to his injury.

Some Leo fans thought that Lulay was the answer, that he was better than Printers, had a better training camp, and was the guy who would get it done. Thrree games later, Lulay was getting that 'look' a quarterback gets after playing a few games in the Chap offence...the eyes glazed, the body bruised all over, the confidence shot, the natural instincts gone!!!

Enter Jarious Jackson, sore shoulder and all. Jarious had done it before and he looked good in the brief time he replaced Lulay. However, Jarious Jackson was mauled, bashed, thrashed, and sacked into almost oblivion. His face at the end of the game said it all.....bewildered, exhausted, and overwhelmed by the hits, pressures, and sacks he endured.

So now its back to Casey Printers. Seems like other teams at least feel they have to prepare especially for him. However, the only way that any quarterback is going to get it done is if we give him the tools to be able to create, to dissect, and to score.

Rest up Casey. The 'brain trust' is preparing a game plan for your next game. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.

[The_Pauser]

This is excellent news. Casey gives us the best chance to win, although it's obvious he can't do it alone. He looked OK in his two starts this season, which is a lot better than what can be said for the other two QB's. Not that I'm putting the blame on them, Doug Flutie in his prime would have looked merely OK with the way our offense is set up.

Still...here's to hoping that something will be done over the bye-week and perhaps Casey will be given the green light to use his legs and improvise a little bit more than we've seen so far this season.

[WestCoastJoe]

Yes, in retrospect, one can see that Casey was better than his statistics show early this year. Running for his life, until his legs gave out. Saddled in the pocket. Trying to make those lightning quick reads demanded by the pocket passing scheme, with minimal pass protection, before the avalanche arrives in about 1.9 seconds. Not even 3 steamboats, let alone 4.

Listened to Wally on the radio.

He met with the coaches for 3 hours the day after the debacle. He sent them away with the instruction of finding improvements. LOL Yes, yes. Ask the addict what cure he needs. More of the same stuff, but better is the answer. So the assistants will go away and come back with their ideas for improvements. We can expect some little tinkering effects, with no change in philosophy. After all, if the players would just execute better, all would be well.

And whatever happened to that Travis Lulay, who looked so good in TC, but then became a bum as a starter? And what happened to Jarious Jackson, with all his experience? I guess he couldn't execute well enough in the almost 2 seconds he had before the avalanche hit him.

How come all these QBs look so bad? None of it could be the quarterback coach's fault, could it? Nah. None of it could be the pocket passing offensive scheme, with little or no pass protection built in, could it? Nah. If only the QBs could execute better. And why can't they see the open man that Wally finds on the film? Could it be that they might need just a second or two more? Just a fraction of a second more? Or they could hang in that half second more and take the hellacious hits that Dave and Buck took, game after game?

And how come Casey Printers was passing for over 300 yards per game at a clip late last year? And now he looks like all our other QBs? Dazed by the ferocious avalanche coming on every passing down. What a relief it must be for our QBs on those 9 running plays we run. No hit for one play, and then it is back to: "Snap, 1st read, throw the ball up, get crunched." But if only they could execute better, and find that 4th or 5th read who is open (meanwhile the D has keyed on our 1st read tendency, and the 2nd, etc.).

On any passing play, looking at the film, in the safety of your office, one can see at least one open receiver. But try it with an avalanche of pass rushers, usually more than can be blocked, steaming in to smash you, giving you perhaps 2 seconds to find that guy the coach can find on the film. Any passing play: someone is open, with enough of a gap or a position that you can say they are open. But an effective offence provides pass protection to give the QB a reasonable amount of time to go through the reads. And the best passing attacks actually deceive the defence a fair amont of the time, and succeed in disguising their intentions, so that the defenders cannot sit on routes that look open to the pressured QB.

[notahomer]

Well it will be fun to watch in person. Printers may show some magic. I love watching football it is just tough to watch this version of the Lions. What I'm trying to say is what Simon has said about the Lions brand. I've been spoiled, I'm used to my team hosting Western Finals. I'm happy with what I'm getting entertainment wise from the defence but it is really hard to watch this offence. Hopefully Printers will change that.

[WestCoastJoe]

As bad as the offensive schemes are, the O-L has to be accountable also. Game after game the pass rushers were running right by the linemen, and they often blocked nobody...just standing there not understanding who they should block or why they are there. It's like the O-L is running a different play than the rest of the offence? That was initially attributed to new centre Valli, who had struggled at making the right call for the O-L...but they haven't seemed to improve much with veteran Reid back at centre.

Good post, JH.

Re the O Line ... I agree their skills are not good at pass blocking. That is why I have posted that they need to practice their pass blocking skills Live every day, until they improve.

It seems some pro teams assume guys who get to their level have all the necessary skills: blocking, tackling, et cetera. It ain't true. Look at our O Line. Plus we allow defences to overload against us, creating confusion and destroying confidence.

Plus, like a lot of observers, I am thinking that Dan Dorazio is not on the same page as his players, not in the same area code. And I am thinking there might not be a good working relationship between our OC and our O Line coach. Their players do not seem to be working from the same playbook. And when a guy is demoted and still has to work with his new boss, that is difficult.

[tigerrr22]

Maybe John Henry can be the OC of the Lions! lol Good points made re: Lulay in the Toronto game. That game was won and the Lions were the better team on the night. Lulay passed the ball very well and showed he has a good deep ball pass. Lulay can become a terrific starter in this league but he needs the offensive "coaching" to be changed and to find better teachers of the game. (The younger guys all do on offence.) Nobody is an overnight starter in the CFL without some struggles. (Casey Printers may be the only exception in 2004.) Lulay needs an offensive game plan that can allow for development too from week to week. Not allowed over excessive physical punishment, no pass protection and only running on first down to make sure you forget about what's working well in a game. Lulay, and all of the QB's are getting crushed by this gap that sits between the O-Line and the play calling. I hate watching good players being wasted by a lousy game plan. Confidence shot. An overdose of pain to deal with. A plan that puts you behind the eight ball from the start that guarantees that your team will never blow away an opponent.

Let's hope Casey Printers can show us why he's the starter. He's been as steady as we've seen this season but I will lose my lunch if he gets injured because of another blown blocking assignment or tries to find a deep receiver with no back in the back field and another blitz to make sure he doesn't get back up. Move the pocket, throw on the run by design, delayed draws, sweeps to the wide side, screens, swing passes etc to utliize Casey's athletic strengths and beat the blitz enough to open up the big plays down the field because of time and space created to throw the ball deeper. I hope Lulay can survive the regimes' chosen offensive staffers. He'll haunt this team down the road if he doesn't.

Dominic In Vancouver

[cromartie]

That game was won and the Lions were the better team on the night.

No it wasn't, and no they weren't.

Like the Lions, the Argos were in position to score twice and turned the ball over. All things considered, that was two evenly matched teams playing an evenly matched game, a game that ultimately turned on two very good reads by experienced veterans in the Argos secondary, the result of one bad play call by Chap and one bad read by Lulay late.

[B.C.FAN]

That game was won and the Lions were the better team on the night.

No it wasn't, and no they weren't.

The game would have been won if Arceneaux and Robertson hadn't put the ball on the ground in scoring position with B.C. leading the game. I still think the Lions are a better team than the Argos. Statistically, the Lions and Argos rank near the bottom of the league offensively but the Lions rank near the top defensively while the Argo defence ranks last in many categories. Yet one team is tied for first place in its division and one is tied for last place.

The Argos have been getting the bounces, and not only against the Lions. In the Montreal game on the weekend, a Calvillo pass on the opening drive went off the hands and helmet of a Montreal receiver to Byron Parker for an INT. Later Calvillo fumbled a snap and an Argo defensive end picked it up on the bounce. Still later an Argo pass went off the hands of the intended receiver and into the hands of a second receiver who happened to be in the same area. The Argo bounces will probably even out as the season goes on. Let's hope the Lion bounces do the same.

[joe kapp22]

WEll, Casey has played the best of all 3 starters at Qb, the problem is his health.

If he cannot due to his knee then we can expect a steady diet of blitzing..again..only this time with a reshuffled offencive line..again.

I did read that Casey was working with O'Neil Wilson and Black during this bye week, hopefully that will lead to more explosive plays from the Wr corps as right now, the only explosive plays are coming from Jamal Robertson..whose green zone fumblitis has been quite costly.

And THAT has been another culprit, a different player makes a huge mistake every week, from Robertson's goal line fumbles, to Lulay's pick sixes, to missed blocks.

Even still, 1 game behind Wpg, 2 behind Hamilton..go Casey go.

[DanoT]

Casey will do fine only if his knee allows him to run out of the pocket to escape the rush.

There is only one QB that I can think of that could make this offence work and that is Peyton Manning, because he calls his own plays.

[Hutch85]

Casey will start, the question is who will finish?

I ask that not because of ill will towards him, but in terms of what the 'brain trust' will do if he's ineffective for the same reasons that happened to Jarious and Travis: "Huh, we're not getting the results we desired... hmm... I have an idea! Let's switch the quarterback!"

Lions, please surprise us and make me retract my question above.

[hwgill]

I've been saying this from the beginning. Our O-line su.cks horribly. is it the talent, the coaching, the plays? All three? I don't know. All I know is that until the O-line plays better, the Lions will continue to lose, regardless of who is behind center. Though that being said, I still think Casey is our best option as QB, I never thought Lulay was that good. Ok as a backup, but not as a starter. IMO, Lulay and Jackson are equivalent, neither is a bona fide starter.

The only good think I can say about the Lions? Regardless of the Week 8 Power Rankings, is that we are NOT as bad as the Eskimos. All of our games were close, most of the Eskimo games were not close, and the way Calgary embarrassed them on Sunday...holy crap, I would not want to be Richie Hall right now.

[joe kapp22]

I've been saying this from the beginning. Our O-line su.cks horribly. is it the talent, the coaching, the plays? All three? I don't know. All I know is that until the O-line plays better, the Lions will continue to lose, regardless of who is behind center. Though that being said, I still think Casey is our best option as QB, I never thought Lulay was that good. Ok as a backup, but not as a starter. IMO, Lulay and Jackson are equivalent, neither is a bona fide starter.

About the Oline, that raises a good question, would it be better to shuffle it again, and risk losing whatever cohesion they currently have?

I'm not so certain that it is, did Valli magically become a better Center than he was in the first couple of games?

Didn't most of the pressure come off the edge of the Oline and not the G/C/G box?

1/2..Go Leos...

[TheLionKing]

I hear the coaching staff is thinking of converting Dean Valli into a tight end. Good hands and of course the good girth.