Lions 55 - Argos 32 Post Game Stats and Comments

[WestCoastJoe]

PASSING
Name CP/AT YDS TD INT

J. JACKSON 11/16 156 3 0

B. PIERCE 8/15 101 0 0

Z. CHAMPION 0/1 0 0 0

RECEIVING

Name REC YDS TD LG

G. SIMON 7 105 1 33

P. JACKSON 5 91 1 33

O. WILSON 2 20 1 12

L. GREEN 1 12 0 12
R. GRICE-MULLEN 1 10 0 10
C. COLEMAN 1 9 0 9
B. ANDERSON 1 6 0 6
C. ROBERTS 1 4 0 4

RUSHING

Name ATT YDS TD LG

C. ROBERTS 9 38 1 10

I. SMART 5 89 0 42

J. JACKSON 4 25 1 20
B. PIERCE 1 2 0 2

FUMBLES
Name NO LST REC YDS
C. WAKE 0 0 1 1

FIELD GOALS
Name FG LG XP PTS
P. MCCALLUM 1/1 22 7/7 10

PUNTING
Name NO AVG NET LG
P. MCCALLUM 7 44.4 306 59

PUNT RETURNS
Name NO YDS AVG LG TD
I. SMART 7 68 9.7 29 0

KICKOFFS
Name NO YDS LG SG
P. MCCALLUM 8 474 63 0

KICK RETURNS
Name NO YDS AVG LG TD
I. SMART 3 45 15.0 40 0
L. GREEN 2 11 5.5 11 0
C. ROBERTS 1 18 18.0 18 0

DEFENCE
Name TK SKS INT FF
D. MARSH 8 0 0 0
K. BANKS 6 0 0 0
R. PHILLIPS 4 0 0 0
J. GLATT 4 0 0 0

A. HUNT 3 3 0 1

J. JOHNSON 3 2 0 0

L. GLOVER 3 0 1 0
T. WILLIAMS 3 0 0 0
T. CRAWFORD 2 1 0 0
B. MILES 2 0 1 0
B. JOHNSON 2 0 0 0
C. WAKE 1 0 0 0
R. FOLEY 1 0 0 0
J. DENNIS 1 0 0 0
M. KIRK 1 0 0 0
B. TUCKER 1 0 0 0

..................

Interesting game.

Nice to see Jarious get some good work in. Hope Buck is OK.

Geroy had a normal game for him. In other words, a monster game.

Another superb game by Paris Jackson.

O'Neil Wilson is looking like a great pickup for the Lions.

Nice running game contribution by Ian Smart. I wish they used him more often on O.

Cam Wake finds a new way to make a major contribution.

3 sacks by Aaron Hunt. And 2 by Jamall Johnson. Very nice.

[MacNews]

I thought it was Hunt's best game of the year

Tad Crawford had a nice sack in the end-zone!

Question of the night: Buck gets hit and can barely get up, but instead of putting Jackson in right then and there, Wally waits until the next series. Why get Buck hit 2-3 more times when he barely get up as it is?

[TheLionKing]

I was wondering the same thing.

[Ravi]

O'Neil Wilson's career appeared to be all but over after his short stints in Winnipeg and Hamilton. He doesn't even look like the same receiver out there in B.C.

[ThreeTimesOneMinusOne]

It was nuts, just nuts, to see Cam score! He's now done it all this year.

[lion24]

It has become obvious that the Lions are going to have to overcome poor DB play and missed tackles if they are going to get anywhere in the playoffs which may be a tough task I don't understand how these guys became such a major weakness this season; I thought it would work itself out at some point but it just seems each game more big plays are killing the secondary and when receivers catch short balls no one is tackling the receivers properly It seems that teams should just abandon the run against BC as they cannot cover anyone???

On a positive note I thought the O did very well again missing Logan, Clermont, Pierce and Roberts. Jackson looked as good as any game this season and Smart had some really nice runs and ran the ball the way I wish he would on returns with quick bursts up the field. One last note, I have to congratulate the 36,000 fans that showed up at the game on Canucks night. I guess people across the country may see that, yes, Vancouver does care about the CFL

[SammyGreene]

I thought last night’s game capsuled the Lions’ season to date.

It looked like a laugher against a disinterested non-playoff team in the early going after the Wake TD and the Miles INT set up the Roberts major to make it 14-0.

But then the Lions started to show their warts again — secondary giving up some huge plays, namely Ryan Phillips on Arland Bruce and the offence sputtering for 4-5 series. It’s going to be a short and sweet playoff run if these distrubing trends continue and, honestly, there is nothing to suggest it won’t.

One play that did a great job of exposing the Lions defensive struggles was about a 15-yard pass over the middle to Tolbert in the 3rd quarter. It’s bad enough that play seems to be open all season but 2 or 3 Lions tried stripping the ball from him rather than wrapping him up. While that’s happening, Tolbert turns a 15-yard play into a 35-yard gain. Basic fundamentals that are being ignored to try and be the hero.

It was apparent Buck’s ankle was bothering him just by how many of his throws were sailing. Jackson came in and looked terrific — throwing lasers and standing in the pocket with poise. Why is it you’re not holding your breath worrying about the big hit like the ones Buck and DD have taken in the past when J-Jack is in there?

Terrible news about Roberts and unforunate to think that’s the way his brief career as a Lion will end. Nice to see Smart get the opportunity and thrive.

Now they will likely need a win in Calgary where they benefit from Burris playing no more than a half. Still, he could do plenty of damage during that time and Calgary’s receiving core is good enough to thrive even with Nealy and Sankey throwing passes.

[Solar Max]

O'Neil Wilson's career appeared to be all but over after his short stints in Winnipeg and Hamilton. He doesn't even look like the same receiver out there in B.C.

For further reference, see Peterson, Kamau. 8)

[Wakesbetterthanyou]

lil update on those stats, wakes fumble recovery went for 45 yards not 1. jarious was great. smart picked up the slack after roberts season ending injury.

[WestCoastJoe]

lil update on those stats, wakes fumble recovery went for 45 yards not 1. jarious was great. smart picked up the slack after roberts season ending injury.

Good eye for detail, Wakes.

It's amazing to me that Wally does not choose to run Ian Smart more often. He is like a bigger Roberts or Logan, but more of a straight-ahead runner. Smart had incredible stats as a running back in college. He absolutely exploded for a touchdown run in the Grey Cup.

[ziggy]

The last part of the game was somewhat disturbing. How do you build confidence in a young QB, when you put him in crappy field position and then immediately take two penalties. The team looked totally disorganized and that has to fall on the coaches.

Once again the DBs looked of overmatched by the speed of the Argo's receivers and often seemed 5 yds out of the play. The secondary tackling was horrible. Whats with the all shoulder, no arm form of tackling?

We seem to start out good, loose interest and then come back in the 4th quarter. I think JJ looked great in relief, but overall if there is such a thing as an ugly win, that poses more questions than it answers, this was one.

[Blitz]

It was a decisive victory by our Leos and sets us up for the opportunity to host a home playoff game. While the best odds of getting to the Grey Cup game favored a fourth place finish and the cross-over to the East there is no doubt that Braley, Walley, and Company want that home playoff game and the revenue it will generate. Players just want to win so we have the opportunity to go into Calgary and clinch second place with a huge victory.

OFFENCE

I thought Buck threw with some authority early in the game, even with his tender ankle but it was obvious after the first huge hit he took that he needed to come out. I was surprised when Buck came back in after being down on one knee and needing attention. I expected him to come out for at least three plays. However, our Leos coaching staff left him in and it finally was Buck himself who took himself out of the game. That was admirable. Buck's footballs were sailing on him, he was in obvious discomfort and we didn't need another game for him to prove his courage. Like other posters have already mentioned...I was frustrated to see our Leos coaching staff keep Buck in while he was in obvious pain and it sure makes me question their judgement. We entered either the Grey Cup game in 2004 or the Western Final in 2005 and 2007 with a rusty quarterback coming back from injury. The last thing we needed to have was Buck both seriously last night and again we took an unnecesary risk with our starter as we've done in the past.

Buck Pierce and Jarious Jackson both want to start but both support each other tremendously. You could see it on the sidelines last night with Buck encouraging and congratulating Jarious. You could read about it this week when Jarious said he couldn't have taken the hits buck took last week. The team likes both quarterbacks a lot and both bring different strengths to the football field. Buck has been struggling in the first half of football games now for his last four games, generating approximately 100 yards passing in the first half of those games. Buck is normally a fast starter as a quarterback but defenses are working very hard to take away his underneath stuff early. You saw that on his first pass to Paris Jackson...it was only a five yard pass but the Toronto defensive back was all over Paris and knocked the football away. We're going to need to strategize differently for Buck in the first half of games in the future.

Jarious Jackson came in last night and really was on his game. He immediately threw two completions and we were in the end zone. Our offence scored 38 points with him as quarterback in only a little more than a half of play as Jackson threw for three touchdown passes and was very accurate with his throws both deep and underneath. The pump and throw deep to Simon was a thing of beauty. He found Simon and Paris Jackson often and his throws were purrfect spirals, both short and deep. Jarious also showed his escapabilty and running ability. It certainly provided confidence that we have excellent depth at the quarterback position. Both Buck and Jarious have sat out stretches of games this seasona and when called upon have come in and performed.

I was surprised that Matthews didn't come with the blitz more against Buck in the first half. Instead he crowded up the underneath game with extra backs in zone coverage, forcing Buck to throw deeper. Defenses know that we are seventh in the league in average gain per pass as we've moved to the dink and dunk game more often in the second half of the season. However, that strategy didnt' work against Jarious, who throws the deeper intermediate pass and deep ball very well. I've always thought that we should use both our quarterbacks if necessary. A defense that is giving up the underneath stuff can get picked apart by Buck. However, if a defense decides to overcrowd the underneath stuff Jarious can kill them deep. I hope we give Buck a chance to heal up this week and play both against Calgary because we may need both in the playoffs, especially with Buck hurting, so neither is rusty for our playoff games.

This game also emphasized again why I have always wanted Paris Jackson to play slotback across from Geroy. This is a slotback league and Paris Jackson has better speed than Clermont and is a bigger target. It's hard for defenses to double both when they are in the slot and creates major headaches for the opposition safety. I also really like this receiving lineup and when Clermont returns we would be wise to use him as a tight end or the middle receiever in our trips formations and leave Paris in the slotback position. In many ways I'd hate to change this receiver lineup right now and would be tempted to only use Clermont as the sixth receiver for our remaining games.

This game also emphasized why I have wanted Ian Smart to be our backup tailback and why we didn't need to trade Joe Smith for Charles Roberts. We would have been so much better off to have kept Smith. We used Smith and Smart last season in the two back set and rushed Smart 36 times last year, very effectively, with blasts and counter tosses and pitches. This season we had used Smart only 2 times rushing. With Lyle Green in there lead blocking for Smart he ran for 87 yards on only five carries. Roberts is now gone for the season and his career is now in jeapordy after his achilles injury. Smith would be even more of an asset now as we head into cold weather and enemy territory at some point in the playoffs. In the meantime we have never needed Roberts. Even without Smith (or Roberts) Logan and Green could have more than gotten the job done with Smart coming in. Lyle Green becomes even more valuable now, in terms of his depth because he can play tailback if we need him to.

It was an excellent offensive performance again last night and for two games in a row we've scored a lot of touchdowns while also looking after the football.

DEFENSE

There are still obvious concerns with our defense, especially our pass defense. However, last night's performance also showed the depth of our defensive line. Toronto shut down Cameron Wake but Aarron Hunt was a monster. Our use of linebackers in blitz packages, which we have been using more in the second half of this season, also paid dividends. Aaron Hunt's forced fumble, which was picked up by Cameron Wake for a touchdown, set an early tone. Barrin Miles was in the right place at the right time again for a first half pick and Glover, who along with Marsh, have been our two best defensive backs this season, added an exclamation point with his interception touchdown.

However, there were stretches again where our pass defense stuggled. Phillips, a great cover guy was burned a few times and Banks was burned for a touchdown in the end zone. It's mostly been at the inside halfback position and safety position where teams have exploited us this season and it's got to get corrected. We generally play well at the corners and at the nickel position now with Dennis in there but it's in the middle of the field and on corner routes that we're being exploited. Our haflbacks may be compensating for the post pattern and getting beaten to the outside as well as deep. That indicates a safety problem to me. We gave up 32 points to a Toronto team that is not that good offensively.

We've been living off big plays and turnvoers on defense but we just have to find a way to be more consistent on pass defense. I know that many fans will just look at Banks and Phillips being beaten and think it's just a personell problem but the fact is we play a lot of zone defense and zone defense is a team approch to pass defense. I just don't believe that Banks and Phillips have slid that much in one season and I believe they are overcompensating for other weaknesses.

We focus a lot of attention on our defensive backs for improvement but once again Brent Johnson is having a second half of a season which is less than spectacular. Brent Johnson seriously tailed off in the second half of last season and he is in the same position again. Johnson has 10 sacks, which will be his worst season since he's been a starter at defensive end. I really believe we should be using Ricky Foley more often on second down in Johnson's place and sliding Johnson inside to defensive tackle, besides Hunt, in our four man defensive rush. A revitalized Johnson could be the difference in the playoffs because pressure is the key to our defense playing big in the playoffs.



It's also important to recognize how much offences have improved this season. Three CFL teams are averaging over 400 yards of offence a game this year...Montreal, Calgary, and Edmonton. Trestman, Hufnagel, and Worman have made offences more dynamic and scoring is up this season. Defenses dominated the CFL for the past three seasons. It's time for defenses to begin to become more innovative again and that's something Benevedes needs to do. The days of nickel, dime, and eighth back zone defenses shutting down offences is over. Offences have adapted and a more pressure game is starting to become necesary again. We're third in the league against the pass, so we're not as awful as everyone thinks. However, our defense has lived on sacks and interceptions and those might be harder to come by in a playoff game and we can't rely on them. We have to tighten down on pass coverage if we want another Grey Cup victory.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Our special teams downfield coverage was excellent again this game as our three Assassins-Arakgi, Jamal Johnson, and Pottinger were outstanding again.

McCallum was on the money on his field goal attempt and his 44 yard punt average showed he still has a lot of leg. He also made an excellent punt that pinned Toronto down inside their ten yard line. Ian Smart showed some burst speed again on some returns.

WRAP

It is disappointing that we will not win the West for the fifth season in a row. However, winning the West has not meant a lot of Grey Cup victories so perhaps a different route will be more successful. However, we are going to need to beat Saskatchewan and Calgary to get there and that is a very tough task. At the start of the season I said Hufnagel would make a huge difference to Calgary and he has. However, the Riders defense is also proving that a strong defense is the key to winning, as they showed against Edmonton.

It's going to be exciting and our last game of the season against Calgary could be very meaningful.

[West Coast Blue Fan]

Spot on about the DB's....many here criticize their play, particularly that of Banks and Phillips, as it looks like on tv they are the ones being burned. The zone defence we are playing isn't exactly helping them, nor are they getting any safety help in that coverage.

Bruce made an outstanding catch for his first TD as Phillips had him blanketed in man coverage. TO's other receiving tds both came from poor zone coverage and Kerry Joseph improvising on the fly. Let's not forget that he was the MOP last season and is a great QB in the right system. If Hunt sacks him instead of him breaking free on Bruces 2nd TD, do some of the posters on here perhaps change their minds? I would bet on yes.

I, for one, would rather see Lockdown U return with their swagger playing man coverage (their strength) rather than playing zone to help our linebackers, which IMHO are why we are looking weak against the pass in certain situations.

Great analysis by both Blitz and WCJ

[Sirona]

Pottinger and Arakgi are now tied for first place in the league for special team tackles. 5 special team tackles recorded for Jay Pottinger in this game. Nice to see two young Canadian linebackers at the top.

[ziggy]

If it is the "zone" that is allowing the recievers to get so open then we best go back to man before we get it handed to us in the next two games. I can't help but notice the difference in our coverage this season. It seems that our recievers are usually blanketed, while the opposition often are wide open, we are giving up a lot of long balls as well as YAC yards. I think putting blame on the Linebackers may be a stretch, but appreciate that in a team game one weakness may cause an adjustment somewhere else. Why is it we are playing zone if we keep getting burned? Is it because we don't have faith in our talent to play man or is just stubborn coaching. Whatever the answer we sure need to tighten up if we want to go anywhere in the playoffs