Stampeders 14 - Lions 7 Post Game Stats and Comments

[leo4life]

Just listened to Farhan Lalji on 1040 and he said Jones in over his head....said he has good game plans but hasnt adjusted....its Bennys job to see that it happens...which is not happening

[WestCoastJoe]

Just listened to Farhan Lalji on 1040 and he said Jones in over his head....said he has good game plans but hasnt adjusted....its Bennys job to see that it happens...which is not happening

Farhan saying that is a very significant comment. Yikes. Farhan knows. He is a successful, very knowledgeable coach himself. And he maintains some kind of relationship with the team. So his comments tend to be guarded.

Of course, Jones is saddled with Dorazio as well. Run game? Pass protection? O Line skills? O Line schemes? O Line personnel schmozzle?

And it is on Benny. He cut JC loose, saving himself from the glare of judgment. Benny was hoping to get LaPolice. Dreaming. Then hoping to get Cortez. Pie in the sky dreaming. Reality bites.

This is a clear example of the advantage of having a top notch HC with an OC background. Hufnagel. Trestman. Austin. They can dial up the offence themselves. And they can mentor a young OC. And that is on Wally. He did not scour North America seeking a highly qualified HC. Wally's mistake was a kind of nepotism. Benny made him think he was looking at a younger version of himself.

Mark W is doing pretty well, except for the inability to blitz effectively.

If this season plays out as it has gone so far, big test for Wally. Eat a big contract? If not, I expect Benny will sacrifice some more assistants.
......

Re the game, one or two questions ...

For which team did the game matter more? I would say for the Lions. And which team had more resolve? I would say the Stampeders. And I would say resolve is an issue related to the leadsership of the Head coaches.

[swervynmerv]

Lots of great insight and opinions on the Lions on the post game show by the announcers and fans. Many of the same comments have been made on this forum many times:

1. The Lions have been on a 3 year slide after their 2011 GC.

2. In an entertainment business, the Lions have been offensively challenged for the past two season in particular. If not for a a solid defence, we could be in Ottawa territory.

3. When does Wally become accountable? Benny is his hand picked successor and he has not gotten the job done. In any other franchise, Benny walks the plank at year end.

Have Wally and McAvoy done enough to bring in talent on the offensive side of the ball. Farhan pointed out that this my be the first time in his career that Wally doesn't have a QB "in waiting". If Travis is done and Glenn has already shown he is, who is our guy going forward.

4. Our recieving core is very average. Drop balls, unable to get open and provide a deep threat. No real game breakers. Has Wally ever replaced Geroy?

5. Liked the comparison to the Canucks this past year and how the fan base had lost faith in the GM and direction of the team. Someone mentioned the "arrogance" that Wally and Benny seem to have. Does Braley see what is going on and decide that a change must be made? Wally is a legend, but has he gone stale as well. Do we need another reboot like we did in the early 2000's when Wally and Ackles took over.

[TheLionKing]

Buono has a reputation of getting rid of players before their expiry date. Going to be real interesting to see if he has the cajones to jettison his hand picked successor who obviously has not lived up to expectations.

[Ravi]

Buono has a reputation of getting rid of players before their expiry date. Going to be real interesting to see if he has the cajones to jettison his hand picked successor who obviously has not lived up to expectations.

One has to wonder if Wally's best-before date hasn't passed.

[dupsdell1]

Lots of great insight and opinions on the Lions on the post game show by the announcers and fans. Many of the same comments have been made on this forum many times:

1. The Lions have been on a 3 year slide after their 2011 GC.

2. In an entertainment business, the Lions have been offensively challenged for the past two season in particular. If not for a a solid defence, we could be in Ottawa territory.

3. When does Wally become accountable? Benny is his hand picked successor and he has not gotten the job done. In any other franchise, Benny walks the plank at year end.

Have Wally and McAvoy done enough to bring in talent on the offensive side of the ball. Farhan pointed out that this my be the first time in his career that Wally doesn't have a QB "in waiting". If Travis is done and Glenn has already shown he is, who is our guy going forward.

4. Our recieving core is very average. Drop balls, unable to get open and provide a deep threat. No real game breakers. Has Wally ever replaced Geroy?

5. Liked the comparison to the Canucks this past year and how the fan base had lost faith in the GM and direction of the team. Someone mentioned the "arrogance" that Wally and Benny seem to have. Does Braley see what is going on and decide that a change must be made? Wally is a legend, but has he gone stale as well. Do we need another reboot like we did in the early 2000's when Wally and Ackles took over.

Please not what all fans went through from 96-2002 that would kill the lions out of existence.

[leo4life]

Wally needs to step up to the plate or retire...this dowslide continues in a Grey Cup host year...Benny is not up to the task...last 5 games could get ugly

[Toppy Vann]

Hey all,

I decided to go grocery shopping in the third quarter and on the way home heard Beck was put in. Obviously he didn't light it up, but was there anything positive about his play?

I think we should cut Glenn. Ride the two kids for the rest of the year; they, at least, can offer hope for the future.

Has the decision to sit Tim Brown ever worked to our advantage?

James

Beck looked great in his mittens.

Imagine if he had to play in the snow and ice in Calgary that Danny McManus did in the 94 WD Final after watching starter Kent Austin play until he got hurt.

[DanoT]

Khari Jones is in way over his head as a play caller. If Lulay was playing I'd be calling for the QB to do the play calling. Maybe they should get Joe Paopao to call plays.

Of course Coach Benny is also in over his head. How can he allow Logan to preform his signature brain fart in the end zone for the 2nd game in a row? Some players, in order to be at their best, need to believe that they can bust one on every play. A HC coach needs to know what is going on with his players and give specific instructions, such as "If the FG is wide, give up the single so we can get the ball on the 45 yard line".

As others have already mentioned: the only fix for this team is and end of the season firing of the HC, OC and O line coach. The the Lions need to open Braley's wallet and hire LaPolice as HC and play caller and make Kelly Bates the O line coach.

I usually buy a 3-pak of tickets but I don't think I will bother next season. I still might go to a few games if there is even a hope of some O, but the 3-pak won't be necessary as there will be a ton of very good unsold seats next season.

[MexicoLionFan]

Lots of great insight and opinions on the Lions on the post game show by the announcers and fans. Many of the same comments have been made on this forum many times:

1. The Lions have been on a 3 year slide after their 2011 GC.

2. In an entertainment business, the Lions have been offensively challenged for the past two season in particular. If not for a a solid defence, we could be in Ottawa territory.

3. When does Wally become accountable? Benny is his hand picked successor and he has not gotten the job done. In any other franchise, Benny walks the plank at year end.

Have Wally and McAvoy done enough to bring in talent on the offensive side of the ball. Farhan pointed out that this my be the first time in his career that Wally doesn't have a QB "in waiting". If Travis is done and Glenn has already shown he is, who is our guy going forward.

4. Our recieving core is very average. Drop balls, unable to get open and provide a deep threat. No real game breakers. Has Wally ever replaced Geroy?

5. Liked the comparison to the Canucks this past year and how the fan base had lost faith in the GM and direction of the team. Someone mentioned the "arrogance" that Wally and Benny seem to have. Does Braley see what is going on and decide that a change must be made? Wally is a legend, but has he gone stale as well. Do we need another reboot like we did in the early 2000's when Wally and Ackles took over.

Swerve, I see it as a 5 year decline...the resurgence during the 2011 season was due largely to the arrival of Mitchell on Defence and Arland Bruce on Offence...and with the coaching, Chapdelaine changing from his empty backfield passing game to power formations and running the football, and Stubler largely taking over the defence. Take away Chaps offensive system that protected Lulay and featured Andrew Harris, water down our defence by taking away Mitchell in his prime, lose Bruce and Simon from the slots and we are right back to 2009-10...Joe laid this out for us during last season, the rest of the coaching in the league has reeled in the Lion's talent advantage, and are now leaps and bounds ahead of us as the talent around the league has evened out.

As I noticed and spoke in great detail after WEEK ONE, Chris Jone's team in EDM looked light years ahead of us and that was the first game for a brand new staff, with tons of new players, coming off a disastrous run in EDM, where COACHING was the problem. EDM suffered until such time as they got a great coach...CGY suffered until Hufnagel came along...TOR suffered until such time as they got a great coach...MTL suffered until such time they got Trestman...even our beloved Lions were struggling to find any consistency until Wally showed up. To win at the professional level it takes TOP COACHING STAFFS and we simply don't have one, in fact, now that MTL has made all those changes on their staff, the Lions have the worst coaching staff in the CFL...you can guess where our record is headed if this doesn't change! Its really that simple...

I strongly believe that Wally's ever stronger religious posture has been at the root of our decline. I have nothing against what anyone wants to believe, but religious or not, it is still just a personal belief, and does NOT have a place when you interact with others outside of friends and family. This is a business...winning is hard enough that you can't handicap your decisions based upon a narrow set of beliefs and judgements. I think that Benevides was chosen as our HC because of this...and its the same reason why Wally stubbornly holds to Dorazio and McMann as well.

[pennw]

Jcalhoun ,To your question regarding Beck , that guy couldn't even complete a pass to a wide open receiver 10 yards in front of him with out hitting the ground 5 yards up field . I don't even know why he's on the roster as he does seem to be able to throw for more than 5 yards in a game . Partridge should be moved to the # 2 spot and a new guy brought in for the # 3 .

[Rammer]

Lots of great insight and opinions on the Lions on the post game show by the announcers and fans. Many of the same comments have been made on this forum many times:

1. The Lions have been on a 3 year slide after their 2011 GC.

2. In an entertainment business, the Lions have been offensively challenged for the past two season in particular. If not for a a solid defence, we could be in Ottawa territory.

3. When does Wally become accountable? Benny is his hand picked successor and he has not gotten the job done. In any other franchise, Benny walks the plank at year end.

Have Wally and McAvoy done enough to bring in talent on the offensive side of the ball. Farhan pointed out that this my be the first time in his career that Wally doesn't have a QB "in waiting". If Travis is done and Glenn has already shown he is, who is our guy going forward.

4. Our recieving core is very average. Drop balls, unable to get open and provide a deep threat. No real game breakers. Has Wally ever replaced Geroy?

5. Liked the comparison to the Canucks this past year and how the fan base had lost faith in the GM and direction of the team. Someone mentioned the "arrogance" that Wally and Benny seem to have. Does Braley see what is going on and decide that a change must be made? Wally is a legend, but has he gone stale as well. Do we need another reboot like we did in the early 2000's when Wally and Ackles took over.

Thanks for the summation swervynmerv, I couldn't put myself through that. I think that the fanbase has a very astute hand on the problems, plus they are the pulse of the engagement that the Lions need to guage on their entertainment level.

Lions play 5 receivers, but only throw to two 90% of the time, then Beny comes on and places the fault with the players. He needs to do some self scouting on our O tendencies. As a former DC I get that he doesn't comprehend the O, but at least he can reason why D's are able to cover Arceneaux and Burnham and not focus on anyone else.

For anyone asking for Paopao has to have forgotten the king of the 5 yard play during his time as an OC. Great guy, but not very much of a risk taker and he may be less than Beny and company now. The fans want to see some excitement, it is time to clean house on the offensive side of the ball, but at the end of the season.

As I have said before, I think that Wally gave Benevides a golden contract this season, knowing that it could easily be his last as a Lion, even at the end of this season. As for Wally himself, he may look towards retirement, but I don't think that this is the season the way it played out so far, it would leave a sour taste for too many years into his retirement. I expect to see him leave when the ship is righted, or it won't be on his terms.

[Blitz]

Slogans and quotes on the dressing room wall, ice cream treats at practices, Benny Belly Bumps (absent for a while now) snarling poses, pre-game speeches filled with empty words, sideline rants, and platitudes don't win football games. SoundLeadership, good schemes, well thought out game plans, play callinng, and half-time adjustments are the substance of winning.

Our B.C. Lions players went out on Saturday night and played some very tough football against the best team in the CFL. We played hard and inspired. But in the end it was like going to war with a team with one arm tied behind our back. Our defense held Calgary out of the end zone. But our offence, after an opening series in which we marched down the field to score, layed a giant egg.

Our defense was on the field for far too long and especially against the type of offence that Calgary used, banging Cornish at us time and again, attempting to wear us down. If our offence could have given our defense any kind of reprieve, with some extended drives, it would have been motivating for our defense. But our Khari Jones led offence stuggled once again and with the injury to Andrew Harris, the light at the end of the tunnel just got a lot dimmer.

Here are some post game thoughts, along with my Benny Belly Bump rankings (5-Excellent, 4-Good, 3-Average, 2- Below Average 1- Poor

DEFENCE ( Benny Belly Bumps)

This was a very inspired defensive performance. We did an excelent job on Cornish on many handoffs, fightiing off blocks, and gang tackling the powerful runner, Westerman played a good game and Lohr had an impressive performance.

However, Cornish would eventually peel off some big runs. Two of those big runs came when, for some reason, we stunted Eliminian to the outside, rather than have him key on Cornish in the box. Cornish, who saw the rock on 14 of Calgary's first 21 attemtps, would eventually get rolling against a very tired B.C. defense.

We held Calgary's passing game to under 150 yards, with some excellent coverage. But we also blew a deep zone assignment that allowed Drew Tate to go deep in the first half, leading to a field goal and Tate also missed another two deep attemtps in which Calgary receivers were wide open.

Still, holding the Calgary offence to four field goals at home, while on the field most of the game, deserved a much better fate.

OFFENCE Benny Belly Bump

It doesn't matter who is quarterbacking this offence, its not going anywhere. Glenn has had his stuggles but Lulay couldn't score quarterbacking this offence agaisnt Ottawa or in the series he ran in the two games previous to his first start, and Beck, an NFL vet, is not ready and looks like he's a deer in headlights.

Khari Jones, Dan Dorazio, and Joe PaoPao are simply not good enough to coach our offence. Jones is over his head, Joe PaoPao is not the guy to be coaching receivers, and Dan Darazio has a proven record of mediocrity.

It doesn't matter if we start 3 Internationals or who starts at quarterback or left tackle or left guard, This is an offence that is disjointed and out of sync, with a passing attack that is one dimensional and unable to protect the quarterback.

Andrew Harris ran hard agaisnt Calgary and it was tough sledding at times. His loss is huge, especially with Logan starting to sputter this season.

When Burnham went down it exposed our one dimensitonal passing game, which is completely slotback/Andrew Harris oriented. Shawn Gore is struggling. Iannuzzi continues to be underwhelming. Adekolu finally got some game action and looked good on his reception but our offence just does not integrate the wide receivers nor are they playing well either.

Calgary mostly went with a 3 man pass rush after the first drive but still got great pressure on Glenn. Stubler keyed on Arsenault and Harris and it worked very successfully.

But there is no question that the issue with this offence is coaching, scheme, play calling, and adjusting.

In most games we don't adjust to the bltiz. In this game we didn't adjust to Calgary dropping nine players into pass defense often. We are the worst third quarter offence in the CFL. That is a very good eample of poor coaching.

I was one of few Lionbackers who was concerned when we let Chap go. The stands are not filling up because he is gone. We won at home a lot last year too.

SPECIAL TEAMS Benny Belly Bumps

Logan was bashed and smashed on punt returns and had no blocking but he also looks anything but dangerous. Schmid punted very well. Our downfield coverage was inconsistent and Calgary did a much better job of covering punts and kicks.



WRAP

In this game, Benevedes would not even gamble on third and less than a yard. He laid it all on his defense. In the fourth quarter, when a third down gamble, with less than a yard could have extended a drive and given our defense a chance to catch their breadth, he punted, as usual.

Its so sad to see the inspired play of so many Leo players wasted by inadequate coaching. Something has to give. This cant' keep going on.

[DanoT]

Jcalhoun ,To your question regarding Beck , that guy couldn't even complete a pass to a wide open receiver 10 yards in front of him with out hitting the ground 5 yards up field . I don't even know why he's on the roster as he does seem to be able to throw for more than 5 yards in a game . Partridge should be moved to the # 2 spot and a new guy brought in for the # 3 .

Agreed. Beck has shown nothing. I would rather see a QB with too much adrenaline going and over throw some receivers (like Tate did), then watch Beck throw the ball at a receiver's feet.

From the beginning of the season I have been preaching patience for our rookie co-coordinators and young HC. However Jones has shown no improvement and Benny brings nothing to the table except ice cream bars. Both are in over their heads.

Washington gets a pass and will likely get better in the future.

Speaking of the future, the best thing that can happen now for the Lions, imo, is to continue to get out coached on O and continue the loosing streak so that Wally at season's end has no other option but to make coaching changes.

[Sir Purrcival]

Benevides has got to go. Wally made a mistake giving him the reigns. There is always an element of chance with these things and one supposes that Bene might just as easily have soared. But after almost 3 seasons, we have seen a slow stead progression downwards both in the standings and confidence in this team. At the rate things are going, even if Bene is gone at the end of the season, it might take several years to rebuild this team.

We are old in the back end. Larose, Marsh, Phillips. I have seen too many plays where receivers seem to have a buffer of at least 3 or 4 yards when hitting our secondary. The questions re: Larose at safety have long circulated and yet our coaching staff seems unable to solve it. Sadly, I think Marsh is overhyped these days. He covers his lost step and questionable tackling with game experience (sometimes). But nobody really seems to fear him either which should tell the coaches something. Phillips is as he always is. Pretty quiet most of the time but he whiffs on tackles too. All of them are at or past their best before date.

Linebackers - probably our brightest light on this team. Won't talk about it as it is known to all just how good they are.

DLine - have thought they were weak for the last couple of seasons. Constant failure to get steady pressure from the front four on opposing QB's. 2nd last in the league in sacks. Have a couple of brighter lights there and maybe an area where things will be better. Bazzie has shown up, Westerman has settled down. Mitchell has done little and Taylor probably isn't too long for this game at his age although he seems to be playing like a younger man.

On the Offensive side of the ball, where to start. Obviously with QB. Unfortunately, our QB of the future is now probably our QB of the past. Bad luck? Poor protection? Reader's choice I guess. As mentioned above, unlike past times, we really have no heir apparent in the QB dept. Lost Reilly and DeMarco and now are stuck with Glenn who I think is playing awful generally. Our BU looks to be a gap filler and our 3rd, no one really know what he may have. Could be in for some long cold nights in this dept.
Receivers. - also been called. No game breakers (even Arceneaux). Gore seems poorly used, Ianuzzi seems to be an occasional player only. We have some young talent that may be able to bring some good things down the road but will all the injuries, it is really hard to tell.
Offensive line. - again a bit nebulous. We have some young talent (some injured) and a couple that probably should be backups only. Again this may be brighter in the future but we have to figure out a way of cutting down on the losses to injury or have some better talent waiting in the wings. We can't continue to plug in aging players or those with limited talent into full time game action. Our QB's continue to suffer under continual mediocrity at this position.
Coaching here has been identified as highly suspect.
RB's. I see trouble here too. Logan and Harris could easily be one of the most dangerous RB Duo's in the league. They aren't because of blocking primarily but Logan is aging and Harris seems to have lost some of that swagger and confidence. They both have looked pretty mortal and Harris seems to be back sliding somewhat. Our premiere back is 5th in rushing. Maybe not his fault but there seems to be something missing. I hope he gets it back but I am wondering if he can under the current regime.
Special Teams - Paul has got to go! We constantly pass up opportunities to try FG's because he no longer has the leg. We are also using up 2 roster spots because he can't punt and kick anymore either. He is money (not so much this year) at shorter distances but when an inept Offense constantly struggles to move the ball and often fails to penetrate deep, you need a money kicker and Paul isn't it any longer. He has done yeoman service but this has to be his last season. This team can't afford him anymore.

A lot of questionables on this team but the challenge seems to be that there appears to be little effort to change them. I know that isn't likely the whole truth but we have identified on this forum several areas of concern for literally years. Have they even tried to find someone else for the safety position? How many QB's have we had go down to injury? How long has our Oline been suspect? Every team has weak spots but you might think this would change year to year somewhat. Not this team and maybe that is the frustrating part. How long can you watch a product on the the field where the same ugly problems rear their head repeatedly? Some of it predates Bene for sure but it certainly seems to be ably propagated by him since taking over. Too well in fact with the added cherry that he doesn't seem to have that personality that Wally had that got the best out of players more often than not.