Post Game thoughts & Game Balls

[B.C.FAN]

Football is a simple game. The key is to play hard and don't turn the ball over. Calgary played hard, winning the battle of intensity on both sides of the ball, and didn't turn the ball over aside from a deliberate turnover on downs in the final minute. B.C. lost the battle in the trenches and committed turnovers and special-teams mistakes that gave Calgary 24 of their first 38 points, turning a close defensive battle into a rout.

You can't fault the B.C. defence for this one. Burris was only 16 of 29 for 163 yards and added only 21 yards rushing. The Lions took away all of his bread-and-butter plays and made him look confused in the first half before the turnovers started mounting. The B.C. defence couldn't have executed the game plan much better aside from the fact they didn't force any turnovers. B.C. just kept giving the ball to Calgary in excellent field position, and eventually it paid off. The Stamps started only one of their first 12 drives inside their own 37 yard line, and that was on the last possession of the first half. They started four drives in B.C. territory, scoring 17 points on those drives.

Give Calgary full credit for the way they played. The B.C. offence needs to be better at controlling the line, moving the ball and keeping the defence off the field.

This has been a wild and unpredictable start to the CFL season. Calgary and B.C. both lost their first two games. Edmonton beat Winnipeg, Winnipeg blew out Calgary, B.C. blew out Edmonton and Calgary blew out B.C. Add it all up and it suggests anything could happen next week and the week after that. The Lions started 1-3 in 2004 and went to the Grey Cup. It's a long season.

I agree with WestCoastJoe. Throw out the game tape. Just come out next week and play hard and don't turn the ball over. It's a simple game. The tough part is doing the simple things consistently well.

[TheLionKing]

Perhaps David Braley will cancel his annual barbecue to show his disgust at the Lions' performance.

[Dan]

Can someone please explain to me why Travis Lulay didn't get into the game. With 8:30 left in the game they went back to BP, now I can understand they want to keep BP's confidence up but come on. Both BP and JJ were brutal beyond belief. Why did TL not get the 4th quarter? By that time the game was pretty well out of reach and he would have got some real game time action with bullets flying for real so we could see what this kid is really made of.

[Lions4ever]

I agree with WestCoastJoe. Throw out the game tape.

I don't get this "throw out/burn" the game tape stuff. If you can't learn from your mistakes you are doomed to repeat them.

[Tighthead]

Two thoughts:

1.Our Canadians are no longer a strength. How much will we get out of #97 this year? Reid seems to be in decline.

2. LT Heersprink looked pretty poor last night. How many games does he get?

[ziggy]

You can't fault the B.C. defence for this one. Burris was only 16 of 29 for 163 yards and added only 21 yards rushing. The Lions took away all of his bread-and-butter plays and made him look confused in the first half before the turnovers started mounting. The B.C. defence couldn't have executed the game plan much better aside from the fact they didn't force any turnovers. B.C. just kept giving the ball to Calgary in excellent field position, and eventually it paid off. The Stamps started only one of their first 12 drives inside their own 37 yard line, and that was on the last possession of the first half. They started four drives in B.C. territory, scoring 17 points on those drives.

An excellent breakdown. Face it we gave them a short field plus the confidence to know if they turned over the ball we would not be able to make them pay. The defence will be the scapegoats on this one but in my mind had we been able to put together a couple of drives the outcome would have been different. There comes a point when even professional athletes start to lose faith in their ability to win and I think our defence finally hit that point after watching the Offence continually falter. That being said if we had held the Stamps to 9 points or less we might have won.

[cromartie]

You can't fault the B.C. defence for this one.

After a game in which the defence gave up 217 yards rushing, I can't believe you typed this with a straight face.

You can't fault the BC secondary for this one, aside from their tackling. But the front six? Plenty of blame to go around.

This was only one game.

No. This is three poor performances out of four. Once (Sas) is an accident, twice (Hamilton) is a trend, three times confirms there are fundamental problems that need to be addressed.

[Rammer]

You can't fault the B.C. defence for this one.

After a game in which the defence gave up 217 yards rushing, I can't believe you typed this with a straight face.

You can't fault the BC secondary for this one, aside from their tackling. But the front six? Plenty of blame to go around.

This was only one game.

No. This is three poor performances out of four. Once (Sas) is an accident, twice (Hamilton) is a trend, three times confirms there are fundamental problems that need to be addressed.

But we only gave up 196 to the RB's (Yes Nealy is a glorified RB, who didn't know he was going to run half the time besides our D?). To be fair, the majority of the running yards were given up after the game was in hand and the D had been over extended. On the flip side, Burris's numbers were likely down just due to the Lions not being able to stop the run, why play the risk game if you don't have to.

[ziggy]

Agree the rushing yards were mercy yards. Stamps didn't want to run up the score anymore and they were tired of doing touchdown dances.

[B.C.FAN]

To be fair, the majority of the running yards were given up after the game was in hand and the D had been over extended.

True. The first-half stats were equally poor for both offences. By the end of the game Calgary's offence had been on the field for 15 minutes more than B.C.'s offence.

[WestCoastJoe]

Burn the tape. It is of little value in analyzing why the Lions played so poorly. X's and O's are not relevant to the outcome of this game. Personnel is not all that relevant.

This game was about the Lions not being mentally prepared to play. Not physically ready either. Nor emotionally. That brings it down to coaching. IMO this one is on Wally.

What could be learned from making the team watch the film and see their abysmal play in this game? The lesson would not be about X's and O's.

The lesson would be about effort and professionalism. The malaise that is troubling this team was already in place prior to game time. The game was just the place where it showed.

I said burn the tape. That is one way that coaches deal with a stinker. And sometimes that is the right way. Throw it out, and start fresh. Other coaches, Lombardi for example, would make their players sit through extra long film sessions, going over in painful detail each player's transgressions. (It's all there in the books written about and by Lombardi). There is some merit in that approach also.

As I said earlier, IMO this one is on Wally, and his coaches. The team was not ready to play. The only game we have won this year was against Edmonton, a team which was not ready to play on that night.

Aside from 3 or 4 positions (where Wally sees something in players others don't see), I don't think the team's troubles are about personnel, or even play design or play calling. I think they are about a more fundamental aspect: leadership and motivation. IMO this year the leadership is lacking, and that starts and ends with Wally.

No doubt Wally misses the guidance and wisdom of Bobby Ackles. No doubt the team misses the confidence Dave Dickenson exuded, and its effect on the other quarterbacks over the years.

But that does not account for the team's lack of fire, lack of passion. Even prior to this year, there seemed to be a country club atmosphere around the team. (There has been so much talent on the team, the lack of passion did not always matter). I can't help but wonder if Wally still has the hunger, the passion in himself. Or perhaps Wally has just temporarily forgotten how to push the players' buttons. He has not been considered a great game day coach or motivator. But his teams over the years have almost always had longer term passion, commitment and motivation. They played hard and were formidable opponents. It was always a physical battle to play against a Buono-coached team.

With Wally's resume, I would not count him out. He could fix this thing. Growing pains this year for a young team? Or a more serious problem? We will see.

[The_Pauser]

This has been a wild and unpredictable start to the CFL season. Calgary and B.C. both lost their first two games. Edmonton beat Winnipeg, Winnipeg blew out Calgary, B.C. blew out Edmonton and Calgary blew out B.C. Add it all up and it suggests anything could happen next week and the week after that. The Lions started 1-3 in 2004 and went to the Grey Cup. It's a long season.

I agree with WestCoastJoe. Throw out the game tape. Just come out next week and play hard and don't turn the ball over. It's a simple game. The tough part is doing the simple things consistently well.

We started 1-3 that year with Spurgeon Wynn as our starter. After that we went with another guy...and with the way both our QB's have played, bringing him in couldn't lead to much worse results, so I'm on the bandwagon of giving him another shot. It can't be any worse than what we saw last night, so why not?

[notahomer]

I really thought both teams started out awful. IMO, the Stamps were proof of the 'fake until you make it' cliche. Once they got going this game was painful to watch. You are sitting there watching your favourite team put through the meat grinder.

I admit I thought things were looking good when the two Stamps had a nice scrap after JJ's TD run. I thought the door was opening for a good game. The Stamps had some big problems tonight (losing a key receiver too) and it was still a walk in the park.

There was a lot of action in the one corner of BC PLace near my seats (somewhere near Sec 22-23 I think) and the fights were so good I saw some players from both teams sneeking a peak.

I have whined about this before, but... I want to see EVERY play on the replay screen. There were a couple that I wanted another look at and those are often the ones they don't show. Like Buck's terrible throwaway that led to a INT at midfield for e.g. I tried to catch that replay but I didn't see one.

[hwgill]

I hate the fact that BC Place doesn't show ALL the replays. IMO, it should be automatic.