Stampeders 33 - Lions 16 Post Mortem

[notahomer]

TSN speculating that Reilly may not be able to play next week. If anyone on the LIons wanted to go through the east they may be regretting hoping for that to happen. Edmonton without Reilly could be quite beatable, meanwhile both Hamilton and Montreal looked very capable today. Neither the Riders or BC look good enough to come out of the east.

Edmonton would be in a world of hurt if Reilly can't go. Matt Nichols and Doege looked lost out there tonight.

Those Esks just looked awful compared to how well they played versus the Lions. SLoppy game by both teams....

[Blitz]

For the fans who were expecting more offensive production this season, with Chap leaving and Khari Jones becoming our new offensive coordinator, here is the result: Our offence scored the LEAST POINTS in the last 26 YEARS.

Even more worrisome is how we finished the season. Last year, our offence had its mid-season struggles, mostly due to a lack of effective run or pass blocking, but we finished the season strong with three games in which we rushed for over 200 yards per game. We went into the semi-final playoff game and played very well offensively against the Riders, who went on to win the Grey Cup. Had our defense been able to play well in the fourth quarter of that game, we could have been playing in the Grey Cup game last year.

That is not the scenario this season. We've lost our last two games in brutal fashion. Our offence goes into the playoffs struggling, as it has all season and our defense has given up over 1,000 yards of offence in our last two games.

Limping into the playoffs is not a good scenario. Can we win the playoff game? Of course we can. But we won't win if our defense can't get more pressure on the quarterback. MLF has nailed our pass defense. We've used 8 pass defenders all season, mainly using Bighill and Josh Johnson as pass defenders and we did a good job of clogging up the inside pass lanes. But CFL offences have caught on.

Offensively, defenses know all they need to do is to overplay our running game on first down and take away our inside slot backs.

We need different strategies on both offence and defense, going into the Semi-Final next weekend. Same old is not going to cut it.

[DanoT]

For the fans who were expecting more offensive production this season, with Chap leaving and Khari Jones becoming our new offensive coordinator, here is the result: Our offence scored the LEAST POINTS in the last 26 YEARS.

Even more worrisome is how we finished the season. Last year, our offence had its mid-season struggles, mostly due to a lack of effective run or pass blocking, but we finished the season strong with three games in which we rushed for over 200 yards per game. We went into the semi-final playoff game and played very well offensively against the Riders, who went on to win the Grey Cup. Had our defense been able to play well in the fourth quarter of that game, we could have been playing in the Grey Cup game last year.

That is not the scenario this season. We've lost our last two games in brutal fashion. Our offence goes into the playoffs struggling, as it has all season and our defense has given up over 1,000 yards of offence in our last two games.

Limping into the playoffs is not a good scenario. Can we win the playoff game? Of course we can. But we won't win if our defense can't get more pressure on the quarterback. MLF has nailed our pass defense. We've used 8 pass defenders all season, mainly using Bighill and Josh Johnson as pass defenders and we did a good job of clogging up the inside pass lanes. But CFL offences have caught on.

Offensively, defenses know all they need to do is to overplay our running game on first down and take away our inside slot backs.

We need different strategies on both offence and defense, going into the Semi-Final next weekend. Same old is not going to cut it.

The Lions have shown zero ability to come up with strategies that keep the opponent guessing or looking unprepared as it is the Lions who are unprepared and get caught by trick plays, or take too many penalties or just play boring unimaginative football.

They better be prepared for the Als all out blitz, but probably won't be.

[ballhawk]

Greatly enjoyed watching the game at the stadium with 34,000 upbeat fans. Too bad so many Lionbackers missed the game. Tough loss, disappointing, but someone's got to lose; the fact is that the Stamps are a better team than the Lions this year - so be it, but the team put in a great effort which is all you can ask of your team, win or lose. Great atmosphere at the stadium, fantastic half-time show with the troops. Of course I would have liked to see the Lions win all 9 home games, but this year it was not in the cards.

Two plays may have made the difference: 1) the interception deep in the Stamps end when the Lions were threatening to keep it very close; 2) the gamble on third down when the Lions brought out their field goal unit only to bring back their regular offense (a fake field goad would have been the ideal trick play at this juncture of the game IMO.) A further note, the PA against Parks was definitely a good call by the officials.

It's too bad there isn't some sort of medium ground between the unbearably negative and over-the-top personal criticism of the Lionbackers (Lionhaters?) and the soft, very weak constructive criticism of 1040 radio. Nevertheless, I will be back next year. Anyway, as usual, just my opinion.

Looking forward to a Lions win against the 9-9 Als.

[David]

You raise an interesting point, ballhawk. I've attended virtually every home game since 1995 so I have a pretty good pulse on their crowds. The people that attended Friday seemed to be having a really good time (still scratching my head though to figure out why Game Ops waited 'til very late in the 4th qtr to pull out their "If I Wasn't A Football Player" and "Kiss Cam" party tricks. Most people were either leaving or getting ready to leave at that point).

Apart from the one lunatic that apparently called Kevin Glenn out after the game and an angry open line call-in show post game Friday night (and several times this season), fans seem to enjoy themselves at Lions' games. I think our view of things is slightly skewed as hard-core fans because we are more emotionally invested in the outcome. We assume that every paying customer feels the same way. I am not convinced that many Lions fans could make a cognitive connection between our sub-par season and sub-par coaching. Most would attribute it to playing without Lulay and Harris.


DH

[Rammer]

Greatly enjoyed watching the game at the stadium with 34,000 upbeat fans. Too bad so many Lionbackers missed the game. Tough loss, disappointing, but someone's got to lose; the fact is that the Stamps are a better team than the Lions this year - so be it, but the team put in a great effort which is all you can ask of your team, win or lose. Great atmosphere at the stadium, fantastic half-time show with the troops. Of course I would have liked to see the Lions win all 9 home games, but this year it was not in the cards.

Two plays may have made the difference: 1) the interception deep in the Stamps end when the Lions were threatening to keep it very close; 2) the gamble on third down when the Lions brought out their field goal unit only to bring back their regular offense (a fake field goad would have been the ideal trick play at this juncture of the game IMO.) A further note, the PA against Parks was definitely a good call by the officials.

It's too bad there isn't some sort of medium ground between the unbearably negative and over-the-top personal criticism of the Lionbackers (Lionhaters?) and the soft, very weak constructive criticism of 1040 radio. Nevertheless, I will be back next year. Anyway, as usual, just my opinion.

Looking forward to a Lions win against the 9-9 Als.

"Lionhaters" is an over the top criticism in itself, making your point rather moot. What you fail to understand is that this board represents the passion of a varying range of Lion fans, perhaps you are at one end of that spectrum. The coaches don't get a free pass this year, it is year three with the main components still in place, while the team continues to head in the wrong direction. This board tells it like it is, from a fans perspective with a good grasp on all aspects of the team. Yes after losing games in the fashion the Lions have this season, you are going to see the coaches get called out on it. If they wren't, what kind of fans would we be? One only needs to look at the overall talent to see that this team is vastly underachieving. Once the Lions understand that fans are going to pull their investment, they seem to react. Too bad that it takes the Lions that long to make the moves that is turning the fans off from the team.

[sj-roc]

For the fans who were expecting more offensive production this season, with Chap leaving and Khari Jones becoming our new offensive coordinator, here is the result: Our offence scored the LEAST POINTS in the last 26 YEARS.

Even more worrisome is how we finished the season. Last year, our offence had its mid-season struggles, mostly due to a lack of effective run or pass blocking, but we finished the season strong with three games in which we rushed for over 200 yards per game. We went into the semi-final playoff game and played very well offensively against the Riders, who went on to win the Grey Cup. Had our defense been able to play well in the fourth quarter of that game, we could have been playing in the Grey Cup game last year.

That is not the scenario this season. We've lost our last two games in brutal fashion. Our offence goes into the playoffs struggling, as it has all season and our defense has given up over 1,000 yards of offence in our last two games.

Limping into the playoffs is not a good scenario. Can we win the playoff game? Of course we can. But we won't win if our defense can't get more pressure on the quarterback. MLF has nailed our pass defense. We've used 8 pass defenders all season, mainly using Bighill and Josh Johnson as pass defenders and we did a good job of clogging up the inside pass lanes. But CFL offences have caught on.

Offensively, defenses know all they need to do is to overplay our running game on first down and take away our inside slot backs.

We need different strategies on both offence and defense, going into the Semi-Final next weekend. Same old is not going to cut it.

And this is EXACTLY why I was so dead set against us going the crossover route (well, it was one of SEVERAL reasons I'd given), in spite of some differing views that had been voiced here. I felt that it would pretty much by necessity mean we'd be going into the playoffs on a rather weak note and this is EXACTLY what happened. Not that things would have been any different for us from 3rd place had Ssk lost yesterday, but I felt 3rd place at least had a better chance of having been a more meritorious finish, plus for quite a while we still had a shot at 2nd, however slim, until the Nov 1 loss to Edm.

[sj-roc]

You raise an interesting point, ballhawk. I've attended virtually every home game since 1995 so I have a pretty good pulse on their crowds. The people that attended Friday seemed to be having a really good time (still scratching my head though to figure out why Game Ops waited 'til very late in the 4th qtr to pull out their "If I Wasn't A Football Player" and "Kiss Cam" party tricks. Most people were either leaving or getting ready to leave at that point).

Apart from the one lunatic that apparently called Kevin Glenn out after the game and an angry open line call-in show post game Friday night (and several times this season), fans seem to enjoy themselves at Lions' games. I think our view of things is slightly skewed as hard-core fans because we are more emotionally invested in the outcome. We assume that every paying customer feels the same way. I am not convinced that many Lions fans could make a cognitive connection between our sub-par season and sub-par coaching. Most would attribute it to playing without Lulay and Harris.


DH

You're right on that point, David. There have been some nights the Lions barely have any business even being on the field, then they get the fan participation stuff going between plays and I'm just sitting there astounded that so many people can still be in such a good mood when we're playing so badly. Then I have to remind myself of this point.

Nonetheless I think crowds will continue to shrink in 2015. Our average in 2012, our first full year with the new roof was 30,356. It dropped 6.7% to 28,311 in 2013, and dropped 1.1% this year to 28,011, although I think the GWN comps mitigated a % loss that might otherwise have been as large as last year. League-wide, attendance was down 6.4% this year. Part of the problem is the on-field product was sub-par this year and there's also the HD no-blackout issue that will continue to be a drag on the gate. For us, we'll be coming off a GC-hosting year which normally sees a drop in attendance.

We'll probably still be middle-of-the-pack as we were this year (5th of nine teams in per-game average attendance) but it seems to be a shrinking pack. Some of the challenges are at the league level and others are more specific to the Lions but they both have the same effect.

As for the whole If-I-Wasn't-A-Coach thing Fri night — man, that was bordering on gallows humour.

[Toppy Vann]

Greatly enjoyed watching the game at the stadium with 34,000 upbeat fans. Too bad so many Lionbackers missed the game. Tough loss, disappointing, but someone's got to lose; the fact is that the Stamps are a better team than the Lions this year - so be it, but the team put in a great effort which is all you can ask of your team, win or lose. Great atmosphere at the stadium, fantastic half-time show with the troops. Of course I would have liked to see the Lions win all 9 home games, but this year it was not in the cards.

Two plays may have made the difference: 1) the interception deep in the Stamps end when the Lions were threatening to keep it very close; 2) the gamble on third down when the Lions brought out their field goal unit only to bring back their regular offense (a fake field goad would have been the ideal trick play at this juncture of the game IMO.) A further note, the PA against Parks was definitely a good call by the officials.

It's too bad there isn't some sort of medium ground between the unbearably negative and over-the-top personal criticism of the Lionbackers (Lionhaters?) and the soft, very weak constructive criticism of 1040 radio. Nevertheless, I will be back next year. Anyway, as usual, just my opinion.

Looking forward to a Lions win against the 9-9 Als.

You might have missed the call in show with the Moj and Chris Burns post game. Once again callers so negative including one on the game day boredom he felt ended up with Moj cutting callers off and both of them having to explain why they sounded so defensive.

I thought I had woken up after being in a coma as I might be wrong but I haven't heard that level of negativity in fans for many years. No one was getting through to say it was good.

A few things coming out suggest it is not negative posters who aren't happy:

> Marsh made comments about why he was being questioned after all his commitment while "others" ... and he never said who or what exactly he was questioning.

> GM hammers his HC for not coaching well.

> Glenn breaks up a dispute between Sol E and a back up long snapper. (Maybe this is the 94 team all over and those guys were dysfunctional but won the GC via Alberta).

Burns said early on post game that he hears things coming out of this Lions team that you don't hear out of a championship teams.

[jwbavalon]

Hi all, I'll add my 2 bits worth. I'm a seasons ticket holder and go to all the games and watch the away games on TV. I guess you could call me a Lions fan. I listened to the Moj post game show on Friday and have to agree with the frustration of the fans. Moj and Burnsy might be correct from a football sense, i.e. Benny is not the problem but injuries were but from a paying customer, I don't feel I'm getting my monies worth. From Moj's point of view if he was selling blue doors and I want a red one, he has to decide whether to stick to his guns and make blue doors or start making red doors. The customer is right in the business world and the Lions are a business. Whether it is management (i think it is) or injuries is not the point. The point is, the fans are not happy. Improve the product or they will go elsewhere.

Having said all that, I'm routing for the Lions till the fat lady sings.

Go Lions Go.

[sj-roc]

Having said all that, I'm routing for the Lions till the fat lady sings.

Go Lions Go.

Speaking of routing I'm reminded of our last playoff game in Mtl.

[video][/video]

[peeby]

Enjoyed the comments here. Usually do. I didn't call the Moj show after the game, but listened to a couple callers. I think they both said they were through buying season tickets. I didn't find they were unreasonable in what they were saying. To the contrary, the broadcast team angered me so much, I had to turn off the radio. They were, to me, defending the indefensible.

Caller one said something about always throwing short on 2nd and long. It was pointed out that the defence takes away everything else and gives up the short gain to force a punt. It was also stated that Kevin Glenn would have gone through five to six 'reads' before settling on the short throw. My own take was that Kevin Glenn was panicking excessively throughout the game. Yes, there was pressure, but I thought he panicked. When I heard the five or six reads thing on the radio, I immediately thought, Jeez, that Kevin Glenn's a lot quicker than most quarterbacks. I mean, he went through those reads real quick.

The other caller was on the coach for not changing QB's. In his defence, the host or the other guy said he stayed with the guy who they thought would give them the best chance to win. I guess the caller was supposed to say, "Oh, I see. That's okay, then. The coach thought the one QB could win it despite the team being down so much and having no palpable heartbeat."

Not changing QB's kills me. It's like they're afraid to try anything. John Beck comes in and throws a couple interceptions? So what? At least, it looks like the coach is trying everything he can to get results. Leaving Kevin Glenn in that game was ridiculous. They were losing badly and going nowhere most of the night.

The one forum member, or more, noted the atmosphere at the stadium was pretty good. I agree. There seemed to be more families there than normal, plus all those people in the bands that did the half-time show. Maybe other freebies too?

I am an ex-season ticket holder. That was the last of my season ticket. Had decided this quite a while back, and for a number of reasons. That ticket has gone up and up and up in price, yet I was not finding the entertainment value matching it. In the Sun, there was a headline to the effect that a lackluster season had come to an end. Lackluster summed it up for me.

A long time ago, I heard some rich guy's philosophy on getting people to part with their money. People don't mind putting out some money, but they expect value in return. To me, the Lions need to think about that and look at making sure their product is good on the field and a lot better in the corridors. A cold coffee 40 minutes before the game?

Sorry for the rambling.

[dupsdell1]

Enjoyed the comments here. Usually do. I didn't call the Moj show after the game, but listened to a couple callers. I think they both said they were through buying season tickets. I didn't find they were unreasonable in what they were saying. To the contrary, the broadcast team angered me so much, I had to turn off the radio. They were, to me, defending the indefensible.

Caller one said something about always throwing short on 2nd and long. It was pointed out that the defence takes away everything else and gives up the short gain to force a punt. It was also stated that Kevin Glenn would have gone through five to six 'reads' before settling on the short throw. My own take was that Kevin Glenn was panicking excessively throughout the game. Yes, there was pressure, but I thought he panicked. When I heard the five or six reads thing on the radio, I immediately thought, Jeez, that Kevin Glenn's a lot quicker than most quarterbacks. I mean, he went through those reads real quick.

The other caller was on the coach for not changing QB's. In his defence, the host or the other guy said he stayed with the guy who they thought would give them the best chance to win. I guess the caller was supposed to say, "Oh, I see. That's okay, then. The coach thought the one QB could win it despite the team being down so much and having no palpable heartbeat."

Not changing QB's kills me. It's like they're afraid to try anything. John Beck comes in and throws a couple interceptions? So what? At least, it looks like the coach is trying everything he can to get results. Leaving Kevin Glenn in that game was ridiculous. They were losing badly and going nowhere most of the night.

The one forum member, or more, noted the atmosphere at the stadium was pretty good. I agree. There seemed to be more families there than normal, plus all those people in the bands that did the half-time show. Maybe other freebies too?

I am an ex-season ticket holder. That was the last of my season ticket. Had decided this quite a while back, and for a number of reasons. That ticket has gone up and up and up in price, yet I was not finding the entertainment value matching it. In the Sun, there was a headline to the effect that a lackluster season had come to an end. Lackluster summed it up for me.

A long time ago, I heard some rich guy's philosophy on getting people to part with their money. People don't mind putting out some money, but they expect value in return. To me, the Lions need to think about that and look at making sure their product is good on the field and a lot better in the corridors. A cold coffee 40 minutes before the game?

Sorry for the rambling.

You are not alone no matter what the lions do in the playoffs to me they snuck in the back door not even excited if they win it , until this organization steps it up and makes a lot of changes with marketing , the atmosphere at bc place, give me a reason to come to the games, season tickets are going to drop a lot next year and before we know it the lions are going to be getting 15,000 a game again . if you are reading this Skulskie put your big ego aside and do some thing next year.

[notahomer]

I disagree with labelling people here 'Lionhaters' too! Not that it matters but I was the FIRST person in this thread to talk about how many in the crowd seemed to be having a good time. Others have said similar things about how the crowd was too.

As David mentioned, the gameday stuff seemed a little sloppy in terms of balancing out what they normally do. IMO, perhaps that was in part due to the fact that quite a few (five at least, IIRC) lucky Lions fans won large 50inch plasma TV's. I've been going to the games not nearly as long as some but IMO, Lionbackers posters are usually more balanced/reasonable that many who get out to the games to watch. Again, just my . For e.g. Pierce comes in for a few series and people are cheering for Jackson to take over. Jackson takes over and they're booing him.
______________________________________________________________________
Lots of my frustration is simple dissappointment too. BC Place USED to be a feared place (in theory anyways). Coming in here probably meant your team was going home bruised and with a loss.

Lately, I'm wondering if the #1 injury is from oppossing CFL players pulling a cheek muscle from laughing so hard Obviously I'm exagerating somewhat, but I sit on the oppossing side and some players LOVE rubbing it in.

I hope to see a future version of the Lions return more to the 'Lionsden' type scenario like is portrayed in the film they show during player intros. Actually it hasn't been played for at least one game maybe more?

[TheLionKing]

I agree with the poster that the Lions broadcasting team tend to defend the Lions always making excuses for their lackluster play.