Lions 42 - Eskimos 32, Post-Game Stats and Comments

[B.C.FAN]

I don't think that there are many out there who think that Maas made the correct decision last night, especially Edmonton fans. Had it been 2nd down, sure but first and 10? Take at least one shot at the end zone. It might cost you 10 seconds and really what is easier to get; a TD or a FG? Better to get the hard bit first. Then you aren't forced to march the field again to try for the tie.

It was a stupid decision, and it could be the last straw that gets Maas fired. He took the ball out of the hands of Mike Reilly and the Edmonton offence at the B.C. 33 yard line to kick a field goal when they had momentum and had just picked up a first down. When they got the ball back , there were just five seconds left, and they were trailing by 10 points, exactly the same position they were in when they kicked the field goal. There was no urgency to score quickly, as evidenced by the fact Maas decided to kick the ball deep after the field goal. Better to take 30 seconds or more to try for a TD, then settle for a FG if necessary, followed by an onside kick.

[Sir Purrcival]

First you lose big.
Then you lose close.
Then you win close.
Then you win big.

We've reached Stage 3. And won on the road in Calgary for the first time in how many years.

Believe it. (As long as Travis is healthy).

I'd like to believe but sadly nowhere is that order of events carved in stone. They have some momentum for sure and I hope it continues but I can't turn off the sentiment that the coaching on this team was a problem.

A few wins strung together isn't going to be enough to make me forget all the frustration that I and many on this board were having with the coaching on this team. Making adjustments to scheme and personnel part way through the season has certainly helped turn this franchise around but it in no way makes up for the plain old bad decision making that led us to this point where basically the best shot in the post season is now likely to be via the crossover.

Nor does it excuse the previous seasons of frustrations and futility with a management team that seemed mired in inflexibility and failure to learn from past mistakes.

So I will enjoy the current ride as best I can but I can't forget about all the stuff that led us here. For me it is a bridge too far.

[TheLionKing]

First you lose big.
Then you lose close.
Then you win close.
Then you win big.

We've reached Stage 3. And won on the road in Calgary for the first time in how many years.

Believe it. (As long as Travis is healthy).

I'd like to believe but sadly nowhere is that order of events carved in stone. They have some momentum for sure and I hope it continues but I can't turn off the sentiment that the coaching on this team was a problem. A few wins strung together isn't going to be enough to make me forget all the frustration that I and many on this board were having with the coaching on this team. Making adjustments to scheme and personnel part way through the season has certainly helped turn this franchise around but it in no way makes up for the plain old bad decision making that led us to this point where basically the best shot in the post season is now likely to be via the crossover. Nor does it excuse the previous seasons of frustrations and futility with a management team that seemed mired in inflexibility and failure to learn from past mistakes.

So I will enjoy the current ride as best I can but I can't forget about all the stuff that led us here. For me it is a bridge too far.

Exactly. X2

[Roar87]

It was great being at Mike Reilly's final game at BC place as a member of the opposing team.

[Blitz]

This really isn't Wally's team anymore and while it is mostly Ed's personnel, it is in reality Lulay's team. It is sometimes said that a team's style of play reflects the personality of the HC. Well, the Lions reflect the personality of their QB, all grit and determination and resilience and self confidence to rise above any negativity directed at himself or his teammates.

When Lulay stood up to Buono, on two occasions earlier in the season and also stood up for Jennings, following Hervey's comments, those events demonstrated his confidence in his own leadership of this Leos team, as well as the support he has from his teammates.

Bryan Burnham is also viewed as an offensive leader.

Odell Willis and Shawn Lemon are also very strong leaders who are looked up to on defense. T.J. Lee plays a leadership role for the secondary.

Lumbala is the captain of the special teams but I'm not sure if he is looked to as their leader or not. Players can have a tendency to be a little wary of coach appointed leaders.

Remember the players on defense were able to get their scheme changed sooner than our offensive players were able to. As a group there is a lot of experience there and almost all of them arrived in B.C. this season.

An aside, Bo Lokombo is having an incredible season. He led our defense again, with 5 tackles and a forced fumble. I would be happy to see Herdman go all the way at middle linebacker but don't believe that will happen.

[Blitz]

The Lions may have just cost Maas his job. If the Esks don't make the playoffs and go on a run, I think Maas is gone. Edmonton has not had a home playoff game under Maas and clearly they are trending in the wrong direction. Maas maybe gets a mulligan in 2016, after Jones raided the defending Grey Cup champs on his way to Regina, but in 2017 and 2018 Edmonton was considered a legitimate Grey Cup contender at least at the start of each season.

Now on top of that, what happens if the Lions stop the Riders from hosting the WDSF? Considering how poorly the Riders have played of late, and how anemic their quarterbacking has been all season, will patience for Chris Jones finally run out in "the nation"? Could the Lions, with all the angst we have suffered over our coaching this year be coach killers for two of their rivals?

And if all this comes to fruition... the only two head coaches hired by Hervey will be looking for work at the same time Hervey is shopping for our next HC.

Belize City Lion

I have no doubts that both Maas and Benevedes will be gone in Edmonton. Maas has lost the locker room and both have lost the confidence of the fan base.

Both Maas and Benevedes are prima donna style coaches and have often lacked in emotional maturity. Their lack of poise on the sidelines too often was reflected in their team's play.

The Eskimos began the season at 5-2. But after their season opening win, they only won 1 more game on the road - against Montreal.

Edmonton was dominating our Leos in the first half. We only had 37 yds.of passing. Only our run game was working. Reilly had moved the football against our defense, scoring 22 first half points -two long offensive drives and two field goals off our turnovers (Rainey fumble, Lulay interception) and a safety, when Bazzie sacked Lulay near our own goal line.

We really were only in the game, down 22-17, due to Rainey's long kick return touchdown and Behar's self-created fumble, which Thompson recovered in Edmonton territory.

But the wheels came off Edmonton in the 3rd quarter and that can be looked at in two different ways. Our Leos were able to turn it around or Edmonton blew it.

In that third quarter, we came out very, very tentative on our first offensive series of the second half.

Jarious Jackson called four running plays in a row. We gave the ball on first down to Sutton for a gain of 1 yard. We then ran a draw play on second and 9 and Sutton got 10 yards.

On the next play, on first down, Sutton was stuffed for a loss of 1 yard. Jarious sent Rainey into the game, we ran another draw play for a loss of 4 yards.

There was an appearance that Jackson was afraid to pass the football after Lulay's late 4th quarter interception or reluctant to, due to our 37 yds of passing in the first half.

Benevedes must have determined that we would keep on attempting to run the football and throw short, when we eventually began passing the football again.

He blitzed, as he had done in the first half. One would think that he would have been more patient and observed if we had made any half time adjustments.

I'm not so sure that we did make any or many. Lulay just got time to throw on first down on the first play of our next series and he hit Burnham deep for 55 yds. on a double move.

Benny kept on blitzing and Lulay would hit Posey for two deep touchdown passes on our next two series.

In the meantime, Edmonton's offence went three and out, on their next 3 offensive series.

The game turned around and significantly in a fairly short period of time.

Our offensive explosion in the 3rd quarter (with Benevedes blitzing and not getting to Lulay in time, while Lulay got time to throw and exploited the Edmonton secondary deep) was one key to the victory.

The second key to the victory was our defense shutting down Edmonton's offence to three two and outs in that 3rd quarter.

What surprised me in that 3rd quarter is that Benevedes is usually a rush four, soft corner zone type of defensive coordinator. His defense, while ranked 7th, coming into the game, was leading the CFL in sacks.

His decison to keep blitzing for most of the 3rd quarter was surprising and Lulay exploited it.

But if we had been in our old RPO offence our 3rd quarter offensive explosion would never have happened. Lulay would never have had the time to throw those deep patterns nor would those deep patterns have ever been part of the play calls.

Benevedes dream of becoming a Head Coach again is stalled for sure. He will liklely have a difficult time of getting a defensive coordinator job with another team if he gets fired.

Benevedes best chance to have enjoyed a CFL career as a Head Coach was here in B.C. Benevedes was 13-5 and 11-7 in his first two seasons here. But he had two very experienced coordinators in Stubler and Chapdelaine in those first two seasons.

When Wally and Benevedes decided to dump Stulber and Chapdelaine at the end of 2013, for Washington and Khari Jones, I beleived it was a great mistake and posted so.

But many Lions fans liked the idea of two new coordinators who they believed would bring 'fresh' ideas. They didn't.

Benevedes was let go by Wally after the next season and Benevedes defense has ranked 6th and 7th in his two seasons in Edmonton. He will not get the patient treatment in Edmonton, that Mark Washington has gotten here in BC. from Wally.

So, its liklely goodbye Maas and Benny (and Sutherland possibly too - they made a big mistake in dumping Hervey).

It may also be welcome Mike Reilly to B.C. after this season.

[DanoT]

I don't think Reilly will be going anywhere next season, nor will Lulay either. Reilly and Lulay will get together in the off season and will decide between themselves who is going where, after they squeeze as much $ as possible (but there are limits) out of Esks and Lions.

[pennw]

Mark Washington doing an outstanding job ! One of the better DC in the league.

Amazing how much better DCs look when they can get pressure by only rushing four than when they can't, eh?

Isn't that always the case ? What DC looks good when they can't get pressure ? When a defense is terrible the DC gets the blame , so why is not the flip applied too ? When a defense plays great it's not the players calling the plays.

[pennw]

Whoa everybody. I am getting as excited as the rest about how they seemed to have slowly put the brakes on the downward spiral but I wouldn't be so quick to exonerate the coaching staff just yet.

While it is true that this team has quietly put together an impressive series of wins in the last few weeks, it also managed to create the backs against the wall scenario that they have been facing for the past few weeks. It isn't like they have been wiping the mat with their opponents either.

I do believe that prior to last night, they hadn't won a game by a margin of greater than 5 points. Let us not forget either that some of those wins came against juggernauts like the Argo's and the Al's. The Eskimo's too have been in a terrible slump that is on the verge of taking them out of the playoffs. So 6 out of 7 yes but 3 have come against likely non-playoff teams. Not exactly world beating.

Some were every bit as quick to condemn after the big Hamilton loss , but having just beat that same Hamilton team the week before . Expecting to have big wins against the best teams is not realistic. We just beat Calgary (how often does that happen?) Edmonton , trashed the top eastern team , Ottawa as well as avenging an earlier loss to the Argos . We should not give some credit ? Really ? BTW all play the same line up of teams .

[Larry Key]

First you lose big.
Then you lose close.
Then you win close.
Then you win big.

We've reached Stage 3. And won on the road in Calgary for the first time in how many years.

Believe it. (As long as Travis is healthy).

I'd like to believe but sadly nowhere is that order of events carved in stone. They have some momentum for sure and I hope it continues but I can't turn off the sentiment that the coaching on this team was a problem. A few wins strung together isn't going to be enough to make me forget all the frustration that I and many on this board were having with the coaching on this team. Making adjustments to scheme and personnel part way through the season has certainly helped turn this franchise around but it in no way makes up for the plain old bad decision making that led us to this point where basically the best shot in the post season is now likely to be via the crossover. Nor does it excuse the previous seasons of frustrations and futility with a management team that seemed mired in inflexibility and failure to learn from past mistakes.

So I will enjoy the current ride as best I can but I can't forget about all the stuff that led us here. For me it is a bridge too far.

Exactly. X2

Same with me.

[pennw]

Is posting x2 after someone's post kind of like being a follower on facebook and giving out "likes" ?

[Fred.Fonce]

This really isn't Wally's team anymore and while it is mostly Ed's personnel, it is in reality Lulay's team. It is sometimes said that a team's style of play reflects the personality of the HC. Well, the Lions reflect the personality of their QB, all grit and determination and resilience and self confidence to rise above any negativity directed at himself or his teammates.

Totally agree. He's never had the strongest arm, or the most accurate. He's a good runner but not the fastest. In other words his athletic skills are good enough to be a #1 QB but won't be confused with Damon Allen.
What he does have however is outstanding leadership, resilience and determination that is off the scales, and is extremely intelligent. I imagine he is two steps ahead of the offensive coordinator in team meetings. Listening to him speak, you can tell that is one smart dude.
As much as I love watching him QB the Lions, I can't wait for him to be a head coach one day and hope like hell its the Lions.

[DanoT]

This really isn't Wally's team anymore and while it is mostly Ed's personnel, it is in reality Lulay's team. It is sometimes said that a team's style of play reflects the personality of the HC. Well, the Lions reflect the personality of their QB, all grit and determination and resilience and self confidence to rise above any negativity directed at himself or his teammates.

Totally agree. He's never had the strongest arm, or the most accurate. He's a good runner but not the fastest. In other words his athletic skills are good enough to be a #1 QB but won't be confused with Damon Allen.
What he does have however is outstanding leadership, resilience and determination that is off the scales, and is extremely intelligent. I imagine he is two steps ahead of the offensive coordinator in team meetings. Listening to him speak, you can tell that is one smart dude.
As much as I love watching him QB the Lions, I can't wait for him to be a head coach one day and hope like hell its the Lions.

I agree Lulay will never be confused with Damon Allen but it is because Lulay is a better QB than Allen ever was. Allen was probably the best pure runner as a QB ever in the CFL, but rarely was he ever the best QB in the CFL during any single season of his career. Allen does get well deserved credit for the length of his career and the large number of stats that this allowed him to accumulate.

Lulay is a better passer than Allen and at this point in his career Lulay's arm is as strong and accurate as it ever was. If not for a long string of injuries, Lulay would have had a HoF career. And if he can stay healthy and have some more on field success, then he still might get some HoF consideration when retirement comes.

[BC 1988]

That was an anxious moment late in the 2nd quarter when TL14 slowly got up and they had to a take a quick look at him on the bench (to see if he was ok to continue). He's a warrior, but no doubt he's playing with a lot of pain right now. (No way that his injured non-throwing shoulder is back to 100% this soon.)

[Sir Purrcival]

Whoa everybody. I am getting as excited as the rest about how they seemed to have slowly put the brakes on the downward spiral but I wouldn't be so quick to exonerate the coaching staff just yet.

While it is true that this team has quietly put together an impressive series of wins in the last few weeks, it also managed to create the backs against the wall scenario that they have been facing for the past few weeks. It isn't like they have been wiping the mat with their opponents either.

I do believe that prior to last night, they hadn't won a game by a margin of greater than 5 points. Let us not forget either that some of those wins came against juggernauts like the Argo's and the Al's. The Eskimo's too have been in a terrible slump that is on the verge of taking them out of the playoffs. So 6 out of 7 yes but 3 have come against likely non-playoff teams. Not exactly world beating.

Some were every bit as quick to condemn after the big Hamilton loss , but having just beat that same Hamilton team the week before . Expecting to have big wins against the best teams is not realistic.

We just beat Calgary (how often does that happen?) Edmonton , trashed the top eastern team , Ottawa as well as avenging an earlier loss to the Argos . We should not give some credit ? Really ? BTW all play the same line up of teams .

I'm not going to start a flame war here but I have given credit where credit is due. However, that love isn't blind to the fact that this recent spate of success has come basically at knife point as it did in 2011. I am someone that would rather see a solid, quality, steady product rather than go though long periods of drought, followed by a struggle and long odds of success.

Sure it can be exciting but it isn't too much to expect a team to come out and put a solid effort together, shored up by good management. Losing I can handle, what I don't stomach so well is losing because the coaches and gm seemingly ignore avenues to advancement because of biases, favoritism or simple ineptitude.

I recognize fully how they have managed to turn things around but successes of today don't forgive the sins of yesterday. Do that and we end up with another "Wally" guy leading this team next year and I"m not very comfortable with that prospect.

In the present, congrats on the successes, in the long game however, there is much to be aware of and consider beyond the next few weeks.

As I re-read this, I will exempt the current GM from the woes of yesterday as he wasn't part of that. It takes time to make changes and generally things seems to be going in good directions.