Geroy often says all the right things..its not about me, its about the team, all I care about is winning and not my records...etc, etc.
Well, the Riders won, Geroy had four footballs thrown his way, but he is upset after the game. Why would he be upset??? The Riders ended their four game losing streak. They came into B. C. Place, where we were undefeated this season and won a huge game and moved back into a tie for second place.Oh...Geroy only got a token pass at the end of the game to keep his streak alive.
The impression is that his return to B.C. Place, in a Riders uniform did not play out as well as he had hoped for himself. No Superman pose in the B. C. end zone to rub it in for Geroy. No post game potential for Geroy to talk about how he led the Riders to victory and how B.C. made a mistake by not wanting him to continue to be our 'go to reciever'
The Riders are basically using Geroy on a lot of out and in cuts and also using him to block at times. Guess his role in Riderland is not much different than the one proposed for him here in B. C. and likely less.
But its 'all about winning' as Geroy says.....seems like his words don't match his actions.
But onto more important matters. Its one thing to have the inside of our offensive line go from pathetic to putrid as Harris had 6 carries for 10 yards. For those who would have liked us to run the football more we could have given Harris the football 12 times for 20 yards or 18 times for 30 yards. Actually, take away DeMarco's scamper and Williams fly sweep and Harris and Brown ran for 14 yards.
However, its another thing when our two offensive tackles, both considered the best in the league at their positions only a short football time ago are vaporized in a game. Olofoye and Archibald were also MIA against Regina.
Posted below is a Province article on our offensive line. Its becoming a bigger and bigger problem as the season continues. We are becoming more and more a one dimensional offence because we cannot run block. We can't even open up holes now against four defensive lineman and no blitz.
We can't pass block even when a defense sends four rushers. We are not going to win a playoff game if we cannot do those two things. We used Myddleton at guard against Regina and then inserted Valli at guard and Myddlton at tight end in our power formation. It made no difference.
Valli returns to full time guard against Regina.
An offence can only do so much if the offensive line is below par. You can only scheme so much. You can only run so many quick passes or rollouts or deceptive plays. Play action is mostly useless when a team cannot run. You are always in second and long when you do run. You are often in second and long if you do pass on first down because first down success is also affected by defensive pressure and what a defense can do when they get pressure.
Kirby Fabian was our best offensive lineman this season and he was a rookie. We did not go into this season with the personell and talent we needed for the offensive line. That is obvious and the interior of our offensive line was our most serious off-season issue needing to be addressed. No we did not anticipate Reed getting hurt but we should have had someone prepared to take over his role long before. We knew that Kabongo was a journeyman who was more suited for a backup role and Valli's issues were not going to be easily addressed.
We got ourselves into this positon and there is no quick fix in sight. The article is below.
Leos’ Offensive lLne Living on a Prayer
Andrew Harris had a season-low 10 yards on six carries vs. the riders, but it’s not his fault
By Lowell Ullrich, The Province October 5, 2013
B.C. Lions quarterback Buck Pierce hands off the ball to Andrew Harris during a third quarter play against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at B.C. Place on Friday.Photograph by: Gerry Kahrmann , The Province
The biggest issue with the B.C. Lions offensively this year was evident the first day Andrew Harris lined up in the backfield at training camp and saw the brick wall of an offensive line he had to break down in order to run the ball.
It got worse on the second day of camp when centre Angus Reid went down, right after the CFL team gifted him a year’s salary when they passed his physical.
Reid will receive a date for season-ending back surgery Friday, but the problems haven’t changed. At no point during the Lions’ 31-17 bleaching by the Saskatchewan Roughriders at B.C. Place Stadium Friday was it more obvious how their year will end in the West Division semifinal Nov. 10 if their offensive line can’t do something for Harris, who is desperately needed to help the rest of the attack.
Thomas DeMarco is being asked to run a one-down offence, because against the Riders, the first-down inside-run plays called by offensive coordinator Jacaues Chapdelaine looked more like some kind of sadistic practice drill.
Take away a 41-yard run on a broken play by Korey Williams and a 21-yard scamper by DeMarco, and the Leos did nothing on the ground. Harris only saw the same brick wall he’s seen all year. The running game has gone from putrid to pathetic.
B.C. was 5-19 on second-and-long. Harris had six carries for 10 yards, equalling a season low. Five of those runs went for a yard or less. Teammates are talking.
“Andrew can’t do it all on his own,” said receiver Paris Jackson, who is as forgotten in the Lions offence as Geroy Simon has become part of the witness protection program in Saskatchewan.
“He has to be frustrated, but when you’re a star player on this offence, you’re going to get a lot of attention. It should open up for other guys and it’s up to them to make plays. We’re not executing. We need to run the ball better. If we can’t it’s going to create problems. We need to make them one dimensional defence and we’re not doing that right now.”
Truth is though, it’s been all year, or at least the last nine games, which is how long since Harris last had a run longer than 20 yards. The frustration isn’t mounting with the player counted on to make the offence work, because it’s been there all along.
“It’s Groundhog Day; every time we lose I end up feeling this way.” Said Harris. “It’s frustrating, but you can’t point fingers. We had a week of prep. We have to be accountable.”
B.C. actually tried something different Friday by replacing Dean Valli with Steve Myddelton at right guard, but the effects were minimal, and Valli will return to face the Calgary Stampeders, said coach Mike Benevides.
Both import tackles, Ben Archibald and Jovan Olafioye, were vaporized by the Riders. Reid’s replacement, Matt Norman, still plays as might be expected of a rookie at his position.
“It’s small stuff that messes us up,” said Olafioye, who wasn’t referring to the fact Myddelton’s name on his road jersey has been spelled wrong for nearly two months until it was pointed out to the Lions a couple of days ago.
One import lineman will be among the group of players who will be added to the practice roster Monday. But if injured rookie Kirby Fabien ends up being their best offensive lineman this season, the Lions will know they did not sufficiently address the part of their game that is hurting them the most.
Jon Bon Jovi was a guest of the Lions Friday. The rocker once had a hit single called Livin’ on a Prayer. DeMarco has a new theme song.
. Nothing wrong with that........
