Eskimos 27 - Lions 14, Post Game Stats and Comments

[DanoT]

Tim Brown does not impress me as a threat as a kick returner. Lacks breakaway speed characteristic of great returners. Benevides' decision to take the ball on the 35 yard line instead of having Eskies kick off speak volumes

Actually it speaks volumes about the leg strength of Esks kicker who was backing up the kick returner inside the 10 yard line or thereabouts.

[WestCoastJoe]

Wow. Some pretty amazing analysis, Guys.

I suppose the team is going through a Grey Cup hangover. Lulay is trying hard, possibly too hard. I suppose he has never been a pinpoint passer, a bit scattershot at times, but not far off. And consistent pin point passers are rare. As a fan I have lost no confidence in Travis Lulay.

It looks like people are not agreeing with me that Geroy should have caught that ball waist high to his right side, as he stands there waiting, facing his QB, like a receiving drill. It would have been a quick reaction catch, not easy, but I would say he makes it more often than not. And I cannot see the value in Geroy publicly saying Paris should get more playing time. Team leader and team Captain second guessing the coaches? It is a concern when I see some things differently than Blitz and cromartie, amongst others, but I will stand by my views for now. We can see some things differently.

Both of our losses were so close to victory. The Riders and Eskimos fully deserved their wins over us, but they also benefitted from us shooting ourselves in the foot. They had some good fortune. And they played their brains out against the reigning GC champs.

Andrew Harris is just awesome. All of those yards with the Raiders developed his instincts. He is the real deal.

Offence: lots of yardage, running and passing. Enough to win. Misfiring a bit at key times.

D: keeping the opponents out of the end zone, bend but not break. I don't like the poor tackling from some of the DBs. We miss Solo. But we are doing enough to win on D.

STs: How can we fix this? Give O'Neill a game or two? Dunno. I am not sure that we have the personnel to cover kicks. Apparently we are the oldest team in the league. STs are usually populated with hungry young guns. We don't have any of those. We lack speed on kick coverage. Arakgi, LaRose, not getting it done. Fire the ST coach? Well we would still have the same personnel. If you have to pass up field goal attempts of 40 plus yards, I would say you have to go with the alternative kicker, O'Neill. If PMc plays I would say you try those field goals anyway. Did time suddenly run out on Paul McCallum?

So we are facing some adversity. How we deal with that will largely determine our year.

18 and 0 is long gone. 1st place is fading. Complacency should be out the window. Over-confidence should be out the window.

And congratulations to Kavis Reed and Eric Tillman.

Blitz, I appreciated Tillman when he was here. I've always thought he could build teams and hire good coaches. About the time Cal Murphy name called him I started to see him differently, especially in his public pronouncements. I disagreed with the Ricky Ray trade, and still do, but it looks like he has the Eskimo team well on the way to success.

[TheLionKing]

Maybe it's time to have our defence cover kicks

[MexicoLionFan]

Wow, this group is being WAY TOO SOFT on the Lions and especially the some of the staff...TONS of thoughts on last night's game and not very many are good.

Here is the bottom line to the game...the Esks QB duo of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were FAR SUPERIOR to our MOP...here is a factoid for you...NO MOP QB has played 4 games this bad after winning a Grey Cup...NONE...the heart of soul of the problems with the Lions rest with Travis Lulay...yes, Stubler's D is FAR TOO SOFT and we have NO SPECIAL TEAMS...but in the CFL, if you have a QB, you can win football games, and we are losing these close games mostly because of Travis Lulay...and yes, his stats aren't horrible, but he has a TON of TALENT on his side, last night he had all day to throw, and he is MISSING WIDE OPEN receivers and making the wrong reads continually...

Now this is more than a little disconcerting...we are 4 games into his 2nd season as a starter and he is going BACKWARDS...his accuracy was better this week, and should continue to improve, but mechanics won't fix the fact he is not seeing downfield very well and is not reading Defences very well...they are confusing him, he is looking to the wrong areas, and is inconsistent with his throws...I can't tell you how many times the Esks simply released both Foster and more significantly Arland Bruce downfield with NO COVERAGE...and Lulay had time to let the play develop and make the proper reads, but he didn't, he isn't and he hasn't...

Another factoid, until Lulay starts earning his salary, this team is going to continue to lose close football games...

Unspecial Teams...it would be an oxy moron to call them STs...I called it last week and I say it again, Chuck McMann is out of his league as ST coach for the Lions...this years version, COMING OFF A FREAKING GREY CUP VICTORY, is the WORST Lions STs that I can remember...honestly...and not just the lack of discipline, hustle, tackling or hunger, but the penalties as well...BRUTAL...how any coach could allow McMann to retain his job after this body of work is beyond me...this unit is killing the Lions, and McCallum's punting isn't helping...

And one last thing...Rich Stubler is NOT going to get away unscathed...his D for 4 weeks has been predictable and SOFT...he is allowing substandard CFL QBs to gain their confidence and composure by having ALL DAY TO THROW...ALL DAY TO THROW THE BALL...Stubler didn't call more than 6 blitzes the entire game...how is this good enough??? And where is Eric Taylor? Where is Keron Williams? Where is Khreem Smith? #96 had the most pressure and penetration all night and he facing 3 blockers at times...WHERE IS EVERYONE ELSE???

And I told you about both Bighill and Yurichuck...they are NOT MLBs...I love Bighill's heart and passion, but they stand 6 inches off the ground, and you can't shuck 325 linemen from your ankles...the Lions need a MLB that can stand his ground and close holes...the first 2 weeks we were LUCKY that the opposition did not exploit or even test Bighill...the last 2 teams have...and I guarantee you Hufnagel will be giggling all week at the prospect of attacking the Lions middle...

So that comes down to coaching...and for the first time this year I will say something negative about Benevides...he was too SOFT all game, he was NOT in player's faces for making mistakes and the Lions played without intensity and passion and those 2 words described the Esks...their coach not only fires them up, he holds them accountable within the game...Benevides is NOT!

And it was MBs decision to play either Bighill or Yurichuck (who, I am sorry, is NOT going to make a starter in this league, as he is too soft) in the middle...Rich Stubler has a defence with #96 at DT, #42 at LB, and a secondary that is as good or better than any...and this D is giving away yardage like it was on fire...they can't give it away fast enough...WHY????

There were lots of good efforts last night...the OLine for one...Marco Iannuzzi for another...Andrew Harris is the BEST RB in the CFL...Khalif Mitchell is a beast...Anton McKenzie is an all star...the secondary is loaded with talent and Muamba gets better and better every week, but when your QB play is likely the worst in the league, short of Winnipeg, your MLBs are invisible, and your STs couldn't win a PeeWee football game, you are NOT going to win often in the CFL...and unless Benevides does something about these 3 things, the Lions are going to be 2-3 limping back to Vancouver in one weeks time...

Sorry to be so negative, but that is what was there...Travis Lulay is FLAT OUT struggling and he MUST get better!

[Blitz]

Wow, this group is being WAY TOO SOFT on the Lions and especially the some of the staff...TONS of thoughts on last night's game and not very many are good.

Here is the bottom line to the game...the Esks QB duo of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were FAR SUPERIOR to our MOP...here is a factoid for you...NO MOP QB has played 4 games this bad after winning a Grey Cup...NONE...the heart of soul of the problems with the Lions rest with Travis Lulay...yes, Stubler's D is FAR TOO SOFT and we have NO SPECIAL TEAMS...but in the CFL, if you have a QB, you can win football games, and we are losing these close games mostly because of Travis Lulay...and yes, his stats aren't horrible, but he has a TON of TALENT on his side, last night he had all day to throw, and he is MISSING WIDE OPEN receivers and making the wrong reads continually...

Now this is more than a little disconcerting...we are 4 games into his 2nd season as a starter and he is going BACKWARDS...his accuracy was better this week, and should continue to improve, but mechanics won't fix the fact he is not seeing downfield very well and is not reading Defences very well...they are confusing him, he is looking to the wrong areas, and is inconsistent with his throws...I can't tell you how many times the Esks simply released both Foster and more significantly Arland Bruce downfield with NO COVERAGE...and Lulay had time to let the play develop and make the proper reads, but he didn't, he isn't and he hasn't...

Another factoid, until Lulay starts earning his salary, this team is going to continue to lose close football games...

Unspecial Teams...it would be an oxy moron to call them STs...I called it last week and I say it again, Chuck McMann is out of his league as ST coach for the Lions...this years version, COMING OFF A FREAKING GREY CUP VICTORY, is the WORST Lions STs that I can remember...honestly...and not just the lack of discipline, hustle, tackling or hunger, but the penalties as well...BRUTAL...how any coach could allow McMann to retain his job after this body of work is beyond me...this unit is killing the Lions, and McCallum's punting isn't helping...

And one last thing...Rich Stubler is NOT going to get away unscathed...his D for 4 weeks has been predictable and SOFT...he is allowing substandard CFL QBs to gain their confidence and composure by having ALL DAY TO THROW...ALL DAY TO THROW THE BALL...Stubler didn't call more than 6 blitzes the entire game...how is this good enough??? And where is Eric Taylor? Where is Keron Williams? Where is Khreem Smith? #96 had the most pressure and penetration all night and he facing 3 blockers at times...WHERE IS EVERYONE ELSE???

And I told you about both Bighill and Yurichuck...they are NOT MLBs...I love Bighill's heart and passion, but they stand 6 inches off the ground, and you can't shuck 325 linemen from your ankles...the Lions need a MLB that can stand his ground and close holes...the first 2 weeks we were LUCKY that the opposition did not exploit or even test Bighill...the last 2 teams have...and I guarantee you Hufnagel will be giggling all week at the prospect of attacking the Lions middle...

So that comes down to coaching...and for the first time this year I will say something negative about Benevides...he was too SOFT all game, he was NOT in player's faces for making mistakes and the Lions played without intensity and passion and those 2 words described the Esks...their coach not only fires them up, he holds them accountable within the game...Benevides is NOT!

And it was MBs decision to play either Bighill or Yurichuck (who, I am sorry, is NOT going to make a starter in this league, as he is too soft) in the middle...Rich Stubler has a defence with #96 at DT, #42 at LB, and a secondary that is as good or better than any...and this D is giving away yardage like it was on fire...they can't give it away fast enough...WHY????

There were lots of good efforts last night...the OLine for one...Marco Iannuzzi for another...Andrew Harris is the BEST RB in the CFL...Khalif Mitchell is a beast...Anton McKenzie is an all star...the secondary is loaded with talent and Muamba gets better and better every week, but when your QB play is likely the worst in the league, short of Winnipeg, your MLBs are invisible, and your STs couldn't win a PeeWee football game, you are NOT going to win often in the CFL...and unless Benevides does something about these 3 things, the Lions are going to be 2-3 limping back to Vancouver in one weeks time...

Sorry to be so negative, but that is what was there...Travis Lulay is FLAT OUT struggling and he MUST get better!

I feel your passion and your pain mexicolionfan.

I've really looked at our offence and this is not a one dimensional offence but a multi-faceted one now. The running attack is multi-dimensional. The passing attack has lots of misdirection play action and moving the pocket for Lulay. The receivers are moved around for mismatches, there is tons of motion to help with pre-snap reads and to get receivers in good positions to begin their routes and the route patterns are very effectively designed for man and zone. There are also players free on almost every pass play.

I totally agree with you that Lulay is not making good reads or making good decisions at times and too often he has also missed receivers or put them in bad spots due to his lack of accuracy.

There is no way that Geroy Simon had any decent kind of chance to catch that football on the interception. Last night Lulay set up Harris for a couple of suicide passes against zone. He has constantly thrown behind Arland Bruce all season, who has come up with some tough catches. Lulay hits the crossing pattern well and the swing pattern well but he has not been consistent with his throwing on the intermediate and deep routes all season.

In terms of your comments regarding Stubler, we went into this season with a philosophy that worked in last years playoffs. We use six defensive lineman, with 5 imports and one Canadian. We take out linebackers for a dime back in passing situations, using both Shell and Reddick. In terms of Bighill and Yarichuk at middle linebacker they have not been bad but replacing Eliminian is a tough chore. What made Eliminian so good was his ability to scrape and explode upfield into the ball carrier and he was a very explosive tackler. That is not easy to replace.

I'm not sure I agree with you regarding Stubler..his defenses have been notorious for giving up the run to defend pass first but our rush defense has been ok. Stubler has also blitzed on most downs this year, either sending a linebacker or Reddick or Shell. There is no way to get to the quarterback on all those quick outs, hitches, etc that offences are running against us. If that is the way they are going to play us we would be better off to run more press coverage with three deep zone over the top to take away the long ball. Better to go with 8 or 9 defensive backs on passing downs and keep them in coverage reather than blitzing. I love the blitz but I believe right now we'd be better off to go with some double teams and get picks that way than trying to get them from additional pressure. That would allow the backs to play more aggressively than they can in blitzing situations.

I don't think our defense has been bad at all....considering the field position they've inherited most times they are out there and they have only given up two touchdowns in our two losses.

McMann should be under considerable heat...this is not acceptable. Benevedes was an excellent special teams coach and he needs to put more of his attention into this area. We need to be looking at bringing in more punt returners, especially after NFL cuts. We need some personell changes for downfield coverage but what do you do when your backups have to be in there in case of injury to a regular(eg: Arakgi, LaRose) and can't get the job done on special teams.

I remember a time back when we were struggling with downfield coverage and Carl Kidd became the captain of the special teams unit and things changed in a hurry. We need to find that kind of veteran to play that kind of leadership role on special teams. Korey Banks is a player who could play that role but its hard to have him as a sterter, with the amount of running he has to do out there, and also give him that role.

I really believe that if Lulay can get things turned around and our special teams units could actually do the job we are more than ok but these two areas have to get fixed. The CFL has always been a quarterback driven league and special teams, with the wide Canadian field have always been a significant component of the CFL game. Gotta have both going to win consistently.

[MexicoLionFan]

Blitz I agree with a lot of what you say, and I wanted to clarify a couple of things...

First, I LOVE Lulay...he is a great kid, and I KNOW with certainty he will turn this thing around...and really the best thing for the Leos is an early season malaise that requires EVERYONE on the team to take notice and step up to the plate...including Ryan Phillips, who might just try tackling someone this year...

I have to give the nod to Stubler because he knows a lot more about D than I do...and he could be very well challenging his players to get better by playing vanilla and saving his best schemes for the late season playoff run and the Grey Cup...so I do recognize Stubler's intellectual capabilities when it comes to designing his D...I just don't like passive systems...and when teams are nickel and diming you to death there is a way to take them off their game and that is ZONE blitz...regardless of a run or pass, zone blitzes can disrupt they development of the play and put the offence on edge...my biggest concern is that Stubler is allowing opposing offences to have EASY games with the Lions...easy in the sense that they are not under pressure or threat...but it is too early to tell so we will just have to wait and see.

As for UNspecial teams, it is NOT time to wait...this pathetic unit needs a major shakeup...and I loved the reminder of Carl Kidd, because when he turned around the STs, he turned around the Lions!

We will see what happens next week, but I do know that Lulay will turn things around, he is a prototypical pro...

BTW, I predicted this spring that Iannuzzi would have a break out season, and I am glad to see that he is well on his way...but I also predicted Foster would as well...and he is the Maytag repairman out there...I wouldn't be too hard on Nick Moore Joe...he did recover from the drop with more catches, and that drop, like Iannuzzis should sting in both of them for a while...Moore has big time potential.

And one last thing...Ryan Phillips play at the wide side HB spot is driving me NUTS...there, I had to say it...

Come on Leos, lets get NASTY!

[Hawkballer 14]

The loss doesn't bother me one bit, a week four loss to a pretty good divisional rival.

What will bother me will be a lack of punishment on Khalif Mitchell by Coach Benevides. Mike faces his first integral test as a HC here; a bush league move by one of the key guys in his front seven. Does he have the integrity to sit #96 for the next four games, to send a huge message that type of *poop* will not fly?

[Toppy Vann]

The loss doesn't bother me one bit, a week four loss to a pretty good divisional rival.

What will bother me will be a lack of punishment on Khalif Mitchell by Coach Benevides. Mike faces his first integral test as a HC here; a bush league move by one of the key guys in his front seven. Does he have the integrity to sit #96 for the next four games, to send a huge message that type of *poop* will not fly?

The TSN Panel are pumping for a big penalty for Khalif Mitchell. The more I see it the more I am shocked by what he did as it does seem out of character for him but what he did should not be a part of football at any level. Quite frankly that would meet the test for prosecution for an offense under the Criminal Code of Canada. What was this guy thinking as that was a disgrace to the game and his team.

Mitchell has to respond in writing and faster than normal as the League according to Climie on the Panel is going to review this earlier than the typical Wednesday.

I don't think the HC or GM should do more than to do what Mark Trestman did with his guy and simply denounce that type of play and commit to sending the right message. The trouble with HCs acting against their own is that when it affects the quality of your team the other players don't like that and it can be a problem a bit if there is not an equal backup.

I think the West will see no one incl. the Riders running away with the title of WD Champ this year. Not one of these teams is weak in any area incl. the Lions. The issue will be ensuring winning the games you should and how you lose. I honestly now feel that on any given day any West team can beat any other West team - no more sure games.

I don't blame Geroy for not making that catch - finger or whatever. Blitz might not agree but I still think Harris with the huge game that he had could get some runs like Charles got for the Esks where the run to the outside a bit more not just straight at them.

[notahomer]

Mitchell's 'arm bar' was something I missed in the stadium. Happened pretty much in front of my section. When I saw the replay during the sportscast, I was shocked. That type of play is something I don't like seeing, regardless of the uniform of the player executing it. Guess we'll see what happens.....

[Hawkballer 14]

The trouble with HCs acting against their own is that when it affects the quality of your team the other players don't like that and it can be a problem a bit if there is not an equal backup.

This argument doesn't fly with me.

If I'm Mike, this is a purrfect opportunity to send a message to the players in my locker room AND the rest of the CFL. If I sit Khalif for the next 4-6 games, I'm saying loud and clear that:

1) I do not condone this type of action,
2) I will provide appropriate punishment should one of MY players commit such an offense
3) the actions of my players do have REAL consequences, if we go 2-4/1-5/0-6 during Khalif's absence then you players better F'n think before pulling such a stupid move.

[Hawkballer 14]

I think it was made worse by the fact that Rottier was driving through Mitchell, stumbled, and then suddenly stopped moving. Rottier went from having his head at about one o'clock and then suddenly was facing about six o'clock. Mitchell, as he was driven down the line, was rotating in the opposite direction.

This is not to suggest that Rottier was at fault, but if he had continued cutting across Mitchell's front like he had been, Mitchell would have simply tossed him to the ground. That was probably his intent. That intent is still wrong, merits punishment, etc. But, I think we have to wait for an explanation and the league's verdict before we toss him under the bus.

C'mon man, to downplay the incident and suggest that Rottier affected his own injury in any way is *******. (edited by Mod Staff for disrespectful language to another blogger)

Khalif knew exactly what he was doing, he had Rottier's arm locked between his bicep/tricep and severely torqued it. If I'm Benny, this is an example to teach my players that we play aggressive but not stupid.

Four to six games in street clothes for Khalif, anything less will disappoint me.

[WestCoastJoe]

I took another close look at the Lulay to Simon pass intercepted for a TD. Here are some pix.

And I do agree now that it would be just about impossible for Geroy to make that catch. It looks like T.J. Hill makes a heckuva play. He leaves his man Iannuzzi alone, and moves over to Geroy. Lulay does not anticipate that move, and tries to force it in to Geroy. And meanwhile Iannuzzi is now wide open over the middle.

It also looks like Hill may have, or came very close to interfering with Geroy's left arm as he tries to make the catch with his right arm only. If Geroy could get his left arm and hand over to the ball, with his right, he has a pretty good chance to catch that ball IMO. Just like a receiving drill.

Unlikely to score when Hill doesn't take the bait. Bizarre that Hill just abandons Iannuzzi. Scouting I suppose. Too much focus on Geroy I suppose. It is obvious after the fact that Lulay should have gone to Iannuzzi, but no doubt the designed play did not anticipate the defender dropping Iannuzzi altogether and going to Geroy. Too far from the goal line anyway for this play to score.

Ball game.

[Hawkballer 14]

Bizarre that Hill just abandons Iannuzzi. Scouting I suppose. Too much focus on Geroy I suppose.

Because Travis is looking at Geroy the whole way. If he takes off the blinders, he sees Hill leaning and hits a wide open Iannuzi for a TD.

#QBmistake
#ithappens
#nextplay

[WestCoastJoe]

Pix ...