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Receiving Rec YDS TD LG
S. GORE 7 96 0 24
G. SIMON 4 50 0 30
D. COLLINS 2 51 0 45
S. BLACK 2 17 0 9
A. FOSTER 1 54 1 54
A. HARRIS 1 11 1 11
Rushing ATT YDS TD LG
T. LULAY 4 28 1 18
J. ROBERTSON 3 1 0 3
A. HARRIS 2 2 0 1
T. BROWN 1 6 1 6
S. BLACK 1 5 0 5
Fumbles NO LST REC YDS
T. BROWN 1 1 0 0
S. GORE 1 0 0 0
K. BANKS 0 0 1 0
S. ELIMIMIAN 0 0 1 0
Field Goals FG LG XP PTS
P. MCCALLUM 2/3 35 2/2 8
Punting NO AVG NET LG
P. MCCALLUM 7 41.4 225 50
Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
T. BROWN 5 49 9.8 37 0
A. HARRIS 2 44 22.0 39 0
Kickoffs NO YDS LG SG
P. MCCALLUM 7 374 65 0
Kick Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
T. BROWN 6 128 21.3 39 0
Defence TKL SK INT FF
E. TAYLOR 8 1 0 0
S. ELIMIMIAN 5 0 0 1
S. FRANKS 3 0 1 0
A. LAROSE 3 0 0 0
J. YURICHUK 3 0 0 0
A. HUNT 2 1 0 0
D. MARSH 2 0 1 1
R. PHILLIPS 2 0 1 0
A. LEONARD 2 0 0 1
T. BROWN 1 0 0 0
G. SIMON 1 0 0 0
D. SANCHEZ 1 0 0 0
J. HAMEISTER-RIES 1 0 0 0
B. JOHNSON 1 0 0 0
K. MITCHELL 1 0 0 0
K. WILLIAMS 1 0 0 0
Passing CP/AT YDS TD INT
H. BURRIS 19/36 298 3 3
Receiving Rec YDS TD LG
N. LEWIS 4 100 1 61
L. TALLEY 4 55 1 16
J. FORZANI 4 39 0 14
R. BRYANT 2 37 0 22
J. REYNOLDS 2 36 0 29
R. COTE 2 20 0 15
J. CORNISH 1 11 1 11
Rushing ATT YDS TD LG
J. REYNOLDS 8 41 0 16
J. CORNISH 4 22 0 19
H. BURRIS 3 28 0 14
M. BISHOP 3 4 1 2
L. TAYLOR 2 2 0 8
Fumbles NO LST REC YDS
H. BURRIS 2 1 0 0
J. REYNOLDS 1 1 0 0
N. LEWIS 1 0 0 0
A. ANTWI 0 0 1 0
Field Goals FG LG XP PTS
R. PAREDES 2/2 50 4/4 10
Punting NO AVG NET LG
B. DALES 7 41.1 195 48
Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
L. TAYLOR 4 65 16.2 48 0
Kickoffs NO YDS LG SG
R. PAREDES 6 347 66 0
Kick Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
L. TALLEY 5 150 30.0 41 0
L. TAYLOR 1 22 22.0 22 0
R. BRYANT 1 2 2.0 2 0
Defence TKL SK INT FF
B. SMITH 4 0 0 1
J. TURNER 3 1 0 0
K. RAYMOND 2 0 1 0
G. TISDALE 2 0 1 0
J. SIMPSON 2 0 0 1
B. ISAAC 2 0 0 0
R. MCCUNE 2 0 0 0
K. DIXON 2 0 0 0
G. FASSITT 2 0 0 0
D. CLAYBROOKS 2 0 0 0
J. FORZANI 1 0 0 0
J. PHILLIPS 1 0 0 0
S. BRYANT 1 0 0 0
N. LEWIS 1 0 0 0
J. REYNOLDS 1 0 0 0
H. BURRIS 1 0 0 0
Rushing Stampeders 20 for 97 - Lions 11 for 42 yards
So how did we manage to lose this game?
We win the penalty battle.
We win the turnover battle.
Calgary is ripe for the picking, but we do not take advantage.
................
Not converting touchdowns, settling for field goals.
Breakdowns at inopportune times.
Poor tackling in the secondary again.
Not much pressure on Burris.
Game management brain farts.
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I would put the results as a consequence of expectations. Does the organization expect to win? From the coaches on down to and through the players? Do we find a way to win? Or do we find a way to lose, despite heroic effort by many, many players?
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I'm not going to rag on familiar themes. Ummmm just one: Good thing Wally is mentoring Jacques.
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Lulay played well. He took a beating. He made many, many great plays. A couple of interceptions hurt.
The young receivers showed some good stuff. Gore especially.
Black was much like Moore IMO. Equally good and bad.
No running game to speak of. Running backs 6 carries for 9 yards.
- boring 1st half with only 39 yards total offence
- drop passes by every receiver on the field. Why Chapdelaine insist on throwing the ball is beyond comprehension. A good offensive coordinator will try to find somthing that works. A running game perhaps ????
- poor tackling on special teams
- poor tackling on running plays
- tendency of our defensive backs to tackle low. Calgary receivers seem to know this tendency and is breaking the tackles.
- Stamps lining up to 8 people on the line of scrimmage and is coming full bore at Lulay. No draws or screens to counter the blitz.
- very questionable call by Buono to go for a 2 pt. conversion with 9 minutes left in the game (Wonder if Buono is going to apologize for this bone head call ??)
- Lulay lost valuable seconds on the 2nd to last play of the game setting up. Thought for a moment that Damon Allen was in the Lions lineup tonight.
Running game lacked any imagination. Just run between the tackles. The difference between Dave Dickenson's running game and Chapdelaine is astounding. Calgary runs wide, delays, draws keeping the Lions defence off guard. Honest to God, I've seen more complex running attack in high school football.
1. Drop passes. Lots of them. Six, eight, 10? At least four deep ones, possibly two on two-point conversion atempts (I didn't get a good look at the second one.)
2. Fail to capitalize on turnovers. The Lions scored three points on five Calgary turnovers. That's unbelievable. The Stamps scored 10 points on three B.C. turnovers. The Lions won the turnover battle, which usually results in victory, but kept giving the momentum right back.
3. Fail to establish a running game. The Lions tried. Last week they faced second and short five times and passed every time, converting on four of them. This week they faced second and short twice in the first half when they had momentum on their side, handed the ball to Robertson and he lost a yard each time, forcing the Lions to kick it away. It wasn't until the fourth quarter, on Robertson's third and final carry, that the Lions converted a second-and-two opportunity. This team, for several years and through several changes of personnel, has failed to get any push up front or open holes. I don't know why. Drives died because the Lions couldn't gain at least a yard on second and two. This year they've tried several wide receiver sweeps and tosses to try to run the ball outside because there are no holes up the middle.
4. A 15-minute defensive lapse. Shades of Week 1, when the Lions were burned early for three long TD passes in 15 minutes and didn't give up another TD in the game. This week the Stamps scored four TDs on four consecutive possessions in 15 minutes beginning at the end of the first half and didn't score another TD in the game.
5. Bad game management. It has a thread of its own, but there is no reason to attempt a two-point convert with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Lions outscored the Stamps 12-6 in the fourth quarter and would have at least been able to force overtime if they had simply kicked the extra points on both TDs. They had four possessions after the first missed two-point convert, and they might still have won the game if they hadn't blown a timeout on a Calgary field goal attempt, especially since the Stamps ran down the play clock before the B.C. timeout.
It's early in the season and the Lions are breaking in four new receivers. They need to maintain their confidence. They'll get better. But they have blown two winnable games. That can become a habit.
Lions aren't likely to get another better opportunity to beat Calgary than tonight with their depleted roster. The Stamps were missing several of their front line players.
Despite a seemingly disastrous stat line -- three completions on 17 attempts for just 19 yards in the first half -- Lulay gamely tried to create something behind a line which didn't offer stout support, a running game which butted its collective head against the proverbial wall, and a young, inexperienced receiving crops brimming with rookie mistakes.
Lulay did throw a pair of interceptions -- but Burris tossed three in a game which had eight turnovers in total.
In the first half, Dobson Collins dropped an excellently thrown deep ball from Lulay that had touchdown pretensions -- and the virus spread. Gore, who has made more progress than any Lion receiver since the start of training camp, twice fumbled the ball after making a catch and dropped another. The same for Steven Black.
The Lions lacked finish. But certainly, in Lulay's case, not heart.
"Lulay gamely tried to create something behind a line which didn't offer stout support, a running game which butted its collective head against the proverbial wall, and a young, inexperienced receiving crops brimming with rookie mistakes."
Lulay
Lulay's competitive desire almost overcame the handicaps he faced ... both of the player variety and the coaching variety.
Lots of effort by the players. Just enough mistakes, by players and coaches, to cost us the game.
A depressing loss, for players, fans and coaches alike.
On the bright side, Eric Taylor showed why he was a key free-agent acquisition in the middle with eight tackles and a sack, helping stuff the Calgary running game for most of the night. That's the best Tyrone Williams impersonation I've seen in three years.
Travis Lulay had a slow start, in part because the receivers couldn't make plays against Calgary's man coverage in the first half, but like last week he got better as the game went on. If the receivers had caught more of the balls that were dropped, he could have had 400 passing yards in two straight weeks against the the two first-place teams from last year.
Akeem Foster caught only one pass but it was his second touchdown in as many weeks and it got the B.C. offence rolling in the third quarter. Shawn Gore had a number of drops, but still led B.C. receivers with seven catches for 96 yards. He has all the tools to be a 1,000-yard receiver really soon. After two weeks, he's on pace for over 100 catches and 1,300 yards.
Tim Brown and Andrew Harris are threats to score every time they return a kick, and give the B.C. offence some great starting field position. Brown had a 39-yard kickoff return and a 37-yard punt return. Harris had a 39-yard punt return. Pick your poison.
You make a compelling argument why we had every reason to win this game, but found a way to lose instead WCJ, but of all the statistics you have reported on, here is the one stat that jumps off the page at me.
I have rarely seen any team in this league, (in any league) that failed to win a game in which its opponent committed 5 turnovers, even in a game where that team had 3 themselves!
Well, personally I think the coaches, Wally, Chap, did a good job this game.
I suspect we are seeing what it is to start so many young players at Wr, also suspect that until they convert their opportunities we are not going to run the ball very effectively.
Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things. As if it were a straight road mapped out on the ground ... These things cannot be explained in detail. From one thing, know ten thousand things. When you attain the Way of strategy there will not be one thing you cannot see. You must study hard.
Exciting game but too common a result now for far too long now.
A few post game thoughts...
WE STILL CAN"T PICK UP A YARD ON SHORT YARDAGE
In the first quarter, inside Calgary's 10 yard line, we line up on second and one and we get stuffed. On third and one, we kick a field goal. Over the past few seaons, our inability to pick up a first down on second and short has been more than dismal. Its been blamed on the offensive line or the running back or even the quarterback. However, we've had different offensive line personell and different running backs over that time period as well as a vareity of quarterbacks and still we can't execute short yardage. Its obvious that it's a scheme and play call problem from our Leos coaching staf and still hasn't been fixed. This has gone on for far too long with no remedy in sight.
WE DON"T HAVE AN EFFECTIVE RUNNING GAME (NOR WILL WE)
We have not had a consistent, effective running attack since the 2007b season, when Kruck was the offensive coordinator and Joe Smith lined up in the backfield. Since Chap returned in 2008 and was effectively our offensive coordinator from that time forward, our running game has been underutilzed, predictable, inconistent, and ineffective. We lost one yard in total rushing in the first half. Wally can't say we didn't use the running game against Calgary in the first half because we were behind, like he said after the Montreal game. The CFL may be a passing league but you also have to be able to run the football effectively to be able to be a successful offence.
Right now we have Jesse Newman, who started for Calgary in his first year in the league and won a Grey Cup sitting on the bench..that's how talented our offensive line is and yet we are not fully utilizing their talents with the type of running attack that would be able to take advantage of their skill set.
NO QUARTERBACK IS GETTING IT DONE
If Casey Printers had been the quarterback last night, instead of Lulay, even with all the dropped footballs, there would have been many who would have been fundraising to give him a plane ticket out of town immediately. Lulay and his receivers combined for a 3/17 and a miserable 37 yards of totol offence in the first half, while our defense played great, created turnovers, and we could have jumped out to a good lead that would have changed the dynamic of the game. Yes there were dropped footballs but Lulay missed some passes that should have been thrown better as well and could have been husge plays. when he had receievers wide open too. I like Lulay as a quarterback but he is also 4-7, I believe, as a starter. The reality is that we haven't got it done conistently with him as a quarterback yet. However, whether is was Buck Pierce, Jarious Jackson (after 2007), Casey Printers, or Travis Lulay, we haven't been able to get the football into the end zone enough. The fact is that it takes incredibele quarterbacking on a conistent basis to overcome our offensive sheme and play calling.
GEOY SIMON
For all the articles on Geroy Simon being the role model for our young recieves, Geroy is not setting the standard. He has dropped way too many footballs over the past two seasons and last night was another example. Simon's worst drop was when he didn't squeezwe the football on our two point convert attempt late in the game when he needed to. One ccould understand Simon losing a bit of speed at his age but there are no excuses for his numerous drops he's had now over the past two seasons.
CHAP< CHAP< CHAP
We know that Chap is not going to effectively use the running game and we know his offence is going to struggle in short yardage. We know that we will put up a lot of passing yards in most games but stuggle in the red zone. We know that our offence will mostly be predictable, wtih the odd reverse running play using a receiver 'thrown in' on occasion bu that's like adding a single peanut to a big bowl of ice cream snd trying to call it a peanut buster parfait.
In the past, when teams zoned us, Chap ran an overdose of crossing patterns, almost geting our receivers killed during the process. Last night, when we faced man defense from Calgary, we needed to use more crossing patterns and pick plyys and skinny posts and instead, we rarely used two or three receiver combination patterms effectively to create rub routes or to stretch the field horizontally. We did stretch it vertically but Lulay either couldn't hit open recievers, taking too long to get the ball there or our receivers dropped footballs.
However, our offence is ineffective. We don't run when we shuold, we do not adjust quick enough during games or do not have good game plans to begin with, we have too manyt two and outs, we can't execute short yardage, and we stuggle too often in the red zone. We don't take advantage often enough ofrom defensive turnovers or great stretches of outstanidng defenisve play or punt returns. OUr defence and special teams have given our offence great field position often now for a long period of time and we have not taken advantage of those opporuntiies on offence the way we should. The passing yardage stats don't mean much after losses.
If Wally is mentoring Chap, he needs to start doing more homework.
POOR GAME MANAGEMENT
Poor game management has gone on for so long now, that we almost accept it. As mentioned in a previous post, we have puntdd when we should have kicked field goals, kicked field goals when we hsould have gambled, gambled in our own end when we should have punted, etc. for way too long. Wally finally took responsibily for the first time last week, rather than blame his players but again we had poor clock management against Calgary, using a timeout on our last touchdown drive when we needed to keep it and not running out the clock in the first half, giving Calgary their opporunity to socre, when they had been stgugling offensively. B.C. Fan, in his post above. lists other numerous poor game management calls against Calgary in his post above.
The patterns are all there. An inconsistent and underutilied running game, inability to convert on short yardage, ineffective offensive red zone strategy, questionable offensive game planning and inability to adjust our offence duruing games, and an offensive sheme that just isn't getiing it done. We pin our hopes on a new quarterback each time but each one is hamstrung by our schemes. Our special teams come up with big plays and our defense goes for long strethches of great play but eventually breaks down due to an offence that can't sustain drives and score when we really need them to. Poor game management decisions at various times only add to the woes.
The games may be exciinng at times but the fact is that the patterns remain and will continue to remain unless they get fixed and they haven't been fixed even thoug the problems are obvious for a long time. We're 0-2 and once again we're out of the gate behind the eight ball, as wev'e been the past two seaons before. Things need to change!!!!!!!!!!!!
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
Despite a seemingly disastrous stat line -- three completions on 17 attempts for just 19 yards in the first half -- Lulay gamely tried to create something behind a line which didn't offer stout support, a running game which butted its collective head against the proverbial wall, and a young, inexperienced receiving crops brimming with rookie mistakes.
Lulay did throw a pair of interceptions -- but Burris tossed three in a game which had eight turnovers in total.
In the first half, Dobson Collins dropped an excellently thrown deep ball from Lulay that had touchdown pretensions -- and the virus spread. Gore, who has made more progress than any Lion receiver since the start of training camp, twice fumbled the ball after making a catch and dropped another. The same for Steven Black.
The Lions lacked finish. But certainly, in Lulay's case, not heart.
Nothing "proverbial" about it. The Lions running game involves the ball carrier putting his head down and running straight ahead into the 5 yard long wall (on a 55 yard wide field) consisting of the Lions O line and the opposition's D.
Robertson's third run, where he actually gained a few yards, could have been much longer: if he'd actually been looking where he was going he might have seen around the tackle and gone 10-15 yards more on the wide open left side.
