Leos/Stamps Post-Game Thoughts!!

[Blitz]

This was a big game for both teams as our Leos wanted to end a two game losing streak and and Calgary was a desperateteam team who were really fired up. It was a very entertaining game with both offences making big plays. Kruck and Dorazio came up with an excellent game plan and Kruck called his second excellent game in a row. Cortez, under pressure for not using Reynolds in his offense, also was at his best.


OFFENCE

Buck Pierce engineered an excellent drive on our second series of the game, capped off by Pierce hitting Jason Clermont on a deep seem pattern in the end zone. In the second quarter, we finally ran the screen pass I've been waiting for...for a season and a half...and Joe Smith peeled off big yardage on the well-set up play but the drive bogged down as Buck was sacked.

We used play action a lot in the first half and it was very effective, after establishing that we would run the football with Smith. Followijng Ryan Phillips interception, Buck hit Geroy wide open on a play action boot for a 36 yard gain and then hit Clermont deep, with no safety coverage, and we took the lead. Calgary was squeezing off the inside running game and Buck's outside running and Kruck's bootleg play action calls caused Calgary headaches

Calgary scored another touchdown and we took the kickoff with a little over 2 minutes left in the hallf. We engineered an excellent drive from our 42 yard line, with Pierce hitting Geroy Simon twice on the drive. Smith then ran the football outside, on the weakside, on an excellent call. Rob Murphy seal blocked and Paris also threw an excellent block, as Smith ran skillfully into the end zone for our 21st point of the first half. Buck was 11/14 in the first half as our offence rolled for over 200 yards.

In the second half our offence took the football and drove 77 yards for a touchdown, again mixing run and play action very well. Geroy was hurt (hip contusion from an elbow) on a swing pass and run on the drive but Clermont was money and then Buck hit Tony Simmons deep in the end zone on a Calgary blitz. It was a beautiful throw to Simmons who was behind coverage for a 27-24 lead.

On our next drive, early in the fourth quarter, Clermont dropped a pass over the middle to end a drive. However he came back with an incredible 19 yard catch on our next drive to continue our drive with four minutes left. Smith rambled for a first down, took a face mask penalty. and then rambled for another first down. Pierce was then hurt on the Calgary 20 yard line, as he was tripped up, reinjuring his shoulder. Jackson came in on second and long, couldn't connect with a well covered Paris Jackson, and McCallum kicked a field goal to give us a 7 point lead, with 2:46 to play.

Jarious took over the offence, with 37 seconds remaining in the game. Jackson hit Clermont and then hit Joe Smith on a brilliant screen call, for 33 yards, that put us in field goal range and should have wonus the game. However, Rasouli's rough play call, at the end of the play, killed our opportunity to attempt to kick the winning field goal.

DEFENSE

Our defense struggled early in this game. Cortez and the Stamps finally did something we were hoping they wouldn't do...run a more balanced offence and give the football to Reynolds. Reynolds ran hard, kept our defense off-balance, and Calgary marched for a touchdown and a field goal on their first twwo drives.

Our defense tightened in the second quarter, forcing Calgary to a couple of two and outs and then Ryan Phillips came up with a key interception that gave our offence some momentum and they converted the turnover with a touchdown. However Burris hit Nic Lewis deep on an excellent throw inside our red zone. Hunt made a great play to stuff Reynolds for a loss but in was in vein as Burris hit Copeland to allow Calgary their 17th point of the half.

Calgary opened the second half with a 73 yard touchdown drive to take the lead again, 24-21. We shut down Reynolds effectively, after the first quarter but Burris was throwing bullets as he hit Rambo for 23 yards and then his throow to Copeland's set up Burris's second end zone plunge of the game. We had to move Pottinger into the middle in the second half as Glatt didn't return after halftime with an achilles strain.

Hunt came up with a big third quarter sack to shut down Calgary's next drive as the big guy played his second excellent game in a row. Hunt then beat Bobby Singh in the forth quarter for his second sack of the game, caused Singh to jump on the next play. Banks almost came up with a touchdown interception on the next play but couldn't hang on but we pushed Calgary out of field goal range. We shut down Calgary again on our next drive as Ritchie adapted, going to a three man line and then dripping nose tackle Hunt off to cover the middle.

Our defense really tightened down, in the fourth quarter. However, Calgary drove the length of the field in the final two minutes and tied the game as Nic Lewis made a short catch and fought his way into the end zone to tie the game with 42 seconds left.

SPECIAL TEAMS

In the first half our downfield punt coverage was not at it's best as we allowed too much yardage on a Howell punt return. Rodgers did not look agressivee on a couple of early kick returns but then ran hard on his third return. Smart couldn't break anything but took what he could get as O'Mahoney punted well and we couldn't open up initial space for Smith. Smith also didn't come up fast enough on a Calgary kickoff that had Wally fuming.

Midway through the fourth quarter Higgins called for a fake punt by O'Mahoney...an incredible dum call.. and Miles pressured O'Mahoney who got off a 9 yard punt, after the no yards penalty.

OVERTIME

Overtime featured a stone cold Jarious Jackson, who had 37 seconds of regular playing time im the game against a red hot Henry Burris! Calgary scored a touchdown first as Calgary ran Reynolds, hit Copeland, and then Burris scrambled and dove into the end zone, selling out for a great play.

Jarious Jackson was sacked on first down, as Reid got beat, and the play put us in a deep hole. Jackson then scrambled left and hit Paris Jackson deep, with a purrfect 47 yard throw, for the touchdown. It was a tremendous play by Jarious, in a tough situation!

In the second mini-overtime game Jackson hit Anderson for an excellent pass and run and then Joe Smith made an absolutely great cut and run to the one yard line and capped it off for a touchdown!

However Burris came back with an excellent throw to Copeland and then scrambled and hit mReynolds who ran it into mthe end zone!

WRAP

It was an outsstanding game, CFL action at it's best. Our offence was outstanding, Buck and Jarious more than did the job! Witjhout Geroy for most of the second half we still were able to really move the football. Joe Smith was impressive offensively and Hunt had a great game on defence but unfortunately our defense couldn't get it done against Henry Burris, who probably played his best game ever, with an inspired effort.

Our injuries mount, time to heal up! Our defence will get back to it's old self and the promise of our offence finally shone through tonight!!

[Dan_Payne_fan!!]

this game was a CFL Classic!

[squishy35]

The defence missed 2 or 3 interceptions that should have ended this game in the 3rd quarter. Thank God for Jarious' exceptional play in OT.


I hate Burris.

[Toppy Vann]

OFFENCE

I really think Steff Kruck had a super game plan tonight and the play calling is looking just fine to me. The learning curve is being climbed fast.

Buck Pierce looked great to start. Missed a couple of guys he could have hit but overall looked fine until he didn't get down and got hit in what appears to be a very bad shoulder - making you wonder if they should have risked this injury to him if he was bad before the game.

These guys picked it up tonight on offence. It was good.

DEFENCE:

Burris played as good as I have seen him play. He really seemed to be on his game tonight.

If there was one game the D for BC didn't make huge plays to save the game, the second half was that time. Too many guys out on D.

OVERALL

A pretty nice game to watch.

[Big Time]

As soon as I saw them rushing three guys in the final three minutes, not to mention in OT, I knew the best we could hope for was a tie. The Lions "prevent" defense doesn't prevent anything. Burris marches at will against the Lions when they do this. Just take a look at the 2004 Western final. Just like last week, this is now two (one and a half?) games they have now given away. This could bite them down the stretch.

Btw, the Lions injuries this year is almost comical. We're going to have an exhibition lineup if this keeps up.

[Area51]

You might hate him, but Burris sure made some guys look stupid tonight. Running over Wake for the tying TD, then stepping past him for that big completion in the 2nd OT.

How has nobody mentioned the incredibly stupid and even more selfish play of Rasouli? BC had this game won until he took that asinine 15 yarder. And then he has the balls to start yelling when he gets back to the bench. Fcuk off Rasouli, you cost the team the game. Everyone on the bench could have been in his face and he shouldn't have said one word.

[prairielion]

Definately a winnable game, but I am happy with at least a tie. Second and 22 from the 47 in overtime, I had almost counted them out. This team just keeps showing why they are the defending champs.
Is there another team that could use the bye mor than the Lions? The bye could not have came at a better time with all the injuries. Maybe they have finally reached their injury quota for the season.

[Larry Key]

You might hate him, but Burris sure made some guys look stupid tonight. Running over Wake for the tying TD, then stepping past him for that big completion in the 2nd OT.

How has nobody mentioned the incredibly stupid and even more selfish play of Rasouli? BC had this game won until he took that asinine 15 yarder. And then he has the balls to start yelling when he gets back to the bench. Fcuk off Rasouli, you cost the team the game. Everyone on the bench could have been in his face and he shouldn't have said one word.

No dissagreement there.

Lost a point and it's gonna bite us at the end of the season. Boys better be prepared for a very fair weather playoff.

[ThreeTimesOneMinusOne]

Joe Smith was awesome tonight. He was definitely a difference.

[No Ordinary Joe]

I'm personally pissed right now. A tie feels like a slap in the face. This game was our's for the taking and we blew it, or should I say our DEFENCE blew it.

Jay Pottinger played like crap tonight, he missed tackles, has hands of stone and couldn't make a pick if his life depended on it.

We couldn't get stops at crucial times. We made Calgary's offence look like the most dangerous thing in the CFL, allowed them to chew up yardage like they were buying it at a garage sale in bulk. Burris shredded us all night long and we had no answer. Once again our 3 man rush is completely ineffective and pointless. Dave Ritchie made no adjustments and the weight fell on our Offence to pick up the slack. If our Defence plays even remotely good tonight we come out of this with a victory. Instead, we kiss our sisters and come home without taking advantage of the best offensive performance of the year. So disappointed. We're better than this. This is going to be a hard game to have stick in your mind for 2 weeks. I just can't believe how bad our defence played, they were downright awful IMO.

....with the exception of Aaron Hunt who played great! He made some great stops and a couple of heads up sacks. Super impressed by his intensity and fire. Great game Aaron!

Our offence was lethal! Man that was nice to see.

Joe Smith played a fantastic game. He ran the ball with authority, scored a couple of timely TDs, made a great play on that screen and picked up some critical 1st downs.

Buck Pierce was on. Period. I know I've been hard on Buck this season but you gotta give the guy credit, he played the game of his life tonight. He threw the ball with authority. Read the field flawlessly and found open receivers and hit them when he threw their way. He was accurate and made a couple of timely runs when there was nothing downfield. I was very impressed. The pass he made to Tony Simmons was a thing of beauty. Great game Buck, get well soon, buddy!!

Jason Clermont was a beast. 2 TDs and many many clutch catches. Wally's gotta draw up a contract offer during the bye week, we cannot let this guy get away in the offseason.

Geroy Simon was a man on a mission as well. I nearly punched my wall though when he went down. The guy finally has a breakout game and then isn't able to finish. So very frustrating.

How big was Bret Anderson on that play in OT?

Paris Jackson! 'nuff said.

Jarious Jackson rebounds with a tremendous game. What a performance! I couldn't be happier for the guy either, he was taking so much heat and was pretty down on himself, this was a great pick-me-up for him and for his teammates.

Welcome back Tony Simmons!

Play calling was fantastic tonight. Major props for Dan Dorazio and Steff Kruck for drawing up a great game plan and for the players for executing it perfectly.

Still....I'm not happy. I'm stoked about our offensive performance, but when you score 45 points and you still don't win, it's not acceptable. We should be 6-2, instead we're 5-2-1. Not pleased.

[Area51]

When Jarius comes in they need to run nothing but deep patterns. He can put the long throws on the money but can't seem to make the completion on a five yard out.

Pott can be forgiven for not coming up with the picks - - had he not been leveled by Floyd he probably would have had that one - - but he's constantly being caught out of position. Thought it would be easier for him moving inside after Glatt left, but he still got pushed around there.

Other than Hunt wrecking shop up front tonight, they really got nothing from teh D-line again. How much longer will Ritchie et al continue to let Wake and BJ plod through the gamesand be neutralized with one blocker?

[No Ordinary Joe]

Other than Hunt wrecking shop up front tonight, they really got nothing from teh D-line again. How much longer will Ritchie et al continue to let Wake and BJ plod through the gamesand be neutralized with one blocker?

Good call, I was going to make mention of this as well and forgot. Our Front 4 with the exception of Aaron Hunt got no penetration tonight and haven't made much of an impact at all lately. What happened to our much talked about front 4?

Oh yeah, and Sherko Haji-Rasouli should be carrying everybody's bags tonight. What a completely idiotic play and then throws a hissy fit on the sidelines afterwards. Grow up Sherko! You blew it! Take the lumps like a man, your friggin' selfish play cost this team valuable field position and then you beaked off about it afterwards? Dumb, dumb, dumb. I've never seen a dumber move in a long time. Thanks for nothing Sherko.

[B.C.FAN]

It was a classic CFL thriller with lots of offence and little defence. The offence was great to see from the Lions' perspective. That was their best game of the year by far. Geroy Simon and Jason Clermont were tremendous, Joe Smith was made some great cuts to hit the open field and Buck Pierce made great reads and throws and had two scrambles for first downs, one on a broken play. The line blocked well. Calgary blitzed a lot and the Lions picked it up well. It was another great game plan by the Lions and solid play-calling for Steff Kruck.

On defence, Jason Pottinger is a huge liability. The TV commentators didn't even notice until the second half that Glatt wasn't playing tonight, but from the first Calgary play of the game the Stamps ran at Pottinger, they threw crossing patterns in front of him, Burris ran option passes and scrambles at him. Pottinger had a chance for two game-changing interceptions and dropped them both. I said in the game thread that 80% of Calgary's offence tonight was targeted at Pottinger. I don't think that's an exaggeration. The Lions have been hit hard by injuries this year, but tonight was a purrfect example of their lack of depth. With two starting linebackers out, the defence couldn't make any stops.

[smphantom]

Will Wally be making a call to the Kidd residence for some linebacker help due to injuries?

[No Ordinary Joe]

Will Wally be making a call to the Kidd residence for some linebacker help due to injuries?

Dear God I hope so. I would welcome Carl back with open arms. The sooner we can dump Pottinger down the depth chart and let him firmly plant his ass on the bench the better.