WestCoastJoe wrote: ↑Sat Jun 09, 2018 2:04 am
Coleman is a beast.
Different looks on D. 9 men at or near the LOS. Any of those guys can get to the QB. Close cover at times. That has to be the influence of Ed Hervey.
Lots of good blitzing. Disguised, not obvious, from near the LOS.
It was an interesting to watch our new look Leos in this game against the Bombers. An offence with a focus on a short, quick passing attack, an aggressive defense, and a variety of punt return strategies is not the style of football team we have become used to watching in the Buono era here in B.C.
Here are some post game thoughts:
OFFENCE
First of all, I don't believe it will be possible to judge Jarious Jackson's new offence until at least 8 games into the season. Its going to require patience from everyone, including fans.
The most positive aspect of the new offensive system is that its designed to get the football out of the quarterback's hands quickly (or as Jarious said during training camp, he does not want the quarterback in the pocket 'patting' the football before throwing downfield.
In this game, our offence looked out of sorts in the first half of play. We didn't establish the run, by not establishing the run, we didn't establish play action, and by overfocusing on the short game, the Bombers played our recievers tight.
We had no rythym to our offence in the first half. It looked disjointed.
In the second half, after we began running the football and completed a couple of long throws, our offence was able to open up more, as well as get into sync more.
Quarterback Play
Quarterback play tends to get an overdose of attention on Lionbackers so I'll begin my thoughts on quarterback play. Jonathan Jennings was 17/24 (71%) for 182 yards and threw one touchdown pass, with no interceptions.
I thought that was a positive outcome for a quarterback learning a completely new offensive system that also requires a different style of quarterback play. Jennings also threw a couple of pin point deep crossing patterns that most CFL quarterbacks cannot make with that type of velocity and accuracy.
Ricky Lloyd was 7/11 (63.6%) for 80 yards, no touchdown passes and no intercpetions. Almost half of Lloyd's passing yards came off one pass completion. Lloyd looked poised and confident, considering that he he is not only learning a completely new offence but he is also a rookie at the pro level.
My initial thoughts are that a quick passing offence does not favor Jennings style of quarterbacking. He has been a quarterback who was very poised In the pocket, while surrounded by defenders, often going to his third read and throwing pin point deep intermediate and deep passes as a strength (or as Jarious said 'patting the football in the pocket). Last season, there was no opportunity to 'pat the football in the pocket but instead be buried quickly in it.
Jennings can make every throw. He has an incredible arm. But he is going to have to adjust his style. Jennings has not been a quarterback who threw quickly off his first or second read. Quite frankly, at this point in time, I see this offence being a much better fit for a Travis Lulay.
Lulay is a very good first read quarterback. Lulay was usually not a quarterback comfortable going past his first and second reads. He often bailed from the pocket if his second read was not open. Lulay is excellent at finding his tailback out of the backfield.
This new offence does not favor scanning the entire field and going through a lot of progressions. Its a quick read, quick throw offence one of the reasons for the cut blocks we saw in this game WCJ.
Offensive Line
In reflecting on our pass blocking in this game, it was awful and especially considering our offensive line was playing against the Bombers second tier defense. Figueroa, Olifioye, and Husband all took penalties that put our offence in first and second and long. Jennings also took an unnessary sack.
Foucault missed a block on third down that resulted in a turnover. No running attack in the first half, poor pass blocking, and too many penalties did not help our offence at all.
Our offence looked much better in the second half, once we began running the football. They also pass blocked better once our second offensive line unit got into the football game. Godber played well at both guard and center and Greaves also looked good at left guard. Knevel also played well.
Dorazio has been handed two very proven all-star offensive tackles this season. He has an experienced center in Husband who has proven he can play. Steward is a beast at left guard -powerful, talented, and very athletic. He has tremendous depth as well as talent, size, and athleticism on his offensive line.
Our staring offensive line against Winnipeg averaged 320 pounds (Figeuroa-320 llbs, Olifioye- 325 llbs, Husband - 307 lbs, Foucault -323 llbs, Steward - 325 llbs).
We should be running the football a lot in 2018, setting up second and short, which favors a short passing attack, and then going over the top should the defense decide to cheat up.
Another reason to favor a quick passing attack is this: As long as Dorazio is here, there is no way that our quarterbacks will ever have the normal 3 seconds, on most downs, to throw the football. Poor blitz pickup, poor timing and coordination against defensive stunts and loops, and poor assignment pickup have been the brand of a Dorazio coached offensive line.
RECEIVERS
Our recievers looked good in this game. Arseneaux led the way with 6 catches for 72 yards. Burnham, Shaq Johnson, and Ricky Collins all played well and confidently. William Watson looked good enough to potentially see Vandervoot traded, if Hervy can swing a trade.
Vandervoot, who I questioned being selected with our first round pick in 2017, does not look like he is going to be the player Wally and Company thought he would be, at least at this stage.
Running Backs
When Ed Hervey signed Brandon Rutley and Trevon Van in the off-season, some assumed that he just wanted International depth at the tailback position. After all, we had Jeremiah Johnson, who had played well for us for two seasons as well as Chris Rainey as a rotational tailback.
But Hervey actually wanted a competition for the tailback spot. Rutley is a very different runner than Johnson. Johnson likes to deke in the open field. Rutley likes ton over or through people. Quite frankly, I think Hervey prefers Rutley's style of running better. Hervey tends to prefer blue collar type of football players with character.
Johnson only had 2 carries in the first half for 10 yds (5 yd. average). Rutley carried the football 6 times for 41 yds (6.8 yd. average) and Shaun Wick mostly ran out the clock with some tough running, ending the game with 8 carries for 40 yds (5 yd. average).
It would not surprise me to see Rutley as our starting tailback at some point in this season.
Offensive Play Calling
|n the first half of this game, Jennings had the following scenarios on second down. First drive - second and 7, Second drive - second and 20, Third drive - second and 11, Fourth drive - second and 10, Fifth drive - second and 10, second and 14, second and 10. Sixth drive - 1st and 20, second and 30.
I realize that it was an exhibition game but if we want our new look offence to be succesful in the regular season, we will need much better production on first down. That will mean running the football and successfully on first down to set up second and short or completing first down short passes for positive yardage to set up second and short. There is no way that a short passing game is going to be successful on second and 15 and second and 20.
We finished this game with a 99.94 quarterback efficiency. What one hopes for in the future is that we will run the football more on first down or get more positive yardage on first down, which will set up our new look offence much better.
DEFENCE
Ed |Hervey, as was stated in the TSN telecast, did things very differently this off-season than Wally Buono has traditionally operated as GM, in the past.
In this game, we not only saw some very different personnel but also a new look defense. I have never seen our corners play up so tight, since Rich Stubler coached our defense. I have never seen so many defenders as close to the line of scimmage since Dave Ritchie coached our defense.
In the first quarter, Davon Coleman, a defensive tackle Wally would never have likely traded for caused a fumble with a sack and an alert Odell Willis, whom a Buono would very, very likely never have signed as a free agent, alertly picked up the football and took it to the house. Willis also added a sack and almost had an interception, making a very positive impression in his first game as a Leo in front of a home crowd.
In the second half, Otha Foster, an experienced defender signed by Hervey in the off-season to play nickel back this season, picked off a pass and returned it 62 yards for a second defensive touchdown. Gabriel Knapton had 4 defensive tackles in this contest.
What that meant was that our linebackers were not forced to make most of the defensive plays. Our defensive line shut down the Bombers run game, holding the Bombers to a 3.2 yd. run average. Sol E. had two defensive tackles during his playing time at linebacker. Dyshawn Davis was solid, with 3 defensive tackles.
Other than giving up a couple of big plays, our defense played solid and confidently, playing the Bombers recievers with tight coverage and making most throws difficult. We had good pressure on the Winnipeg quarterbacks for most of the game, forcing pin point throws under pressure.
Two quarterback sacks, lots of quarterback pressures, two forced fumbles, three pass knockdowns, shutting down the Bombers run game, and a fumble return and an interception return for touchdowns meant a second solid defensive outing in a row, based on aggressive play.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Chris Rainey returned one punt back for a touchdown that was called back and a second huge return was wiped out by a penalty that no one on the Lions could figure out who or where that penalty took place.
The positive was that Rainey returned punts like he was shot out of a cannon, displaying the form that he showed in 2016.
In the kicking game, Long firmly established that he is our kicker for 2018. Long continued his high percentage field goal kicking, going 2/2, including a 46 yarder. Long also outpunted Maltos. Long averaged 45.7 yards per punt compared to Maltos 40.8 yd. average. Long also had a 64 yd. average on kickoffs compared to Maltos' average of 58 yds. Long is also a proven player, as his excellent play in 2017 proved.
WRAP
Our Leos won their second game of the exhibition season, as defensive turnovers were the key to our victory once again. Our offense looks to be a work in progress while our aggressive defense once again paid dividends. Our speical teams play, with a partially blocked punt, solid downfield tackling, and two exciting Rainey returns (even though called back by penalty) showed the positive influence of Rinebold.
Exhibition play usually does not mean much but for 2018, I thought it was important that our Leos got a couple of wins because building confidence is important to a team that missed the playoffs in 2017.
Our Lions were playing againt a lot of Bombers reserves. There is no way that our Leos should have given up 3 quarterback sacks or taken 14 penalties for a whopping 171 yards.
Many analysts had our Leos either fourth or last in the West this season, prior to Nichol's injury. Last season, most analysts had our Leos either finishing second or first in the West and a number of them picked us to win the Grey Cup.
My hope is that our Leos can play wel enough to make the playoffs while developing the type of team that can win in the playoffs, rather than being wiped out in the playoffs, as has happened too often for too long. This Leos team is a different team than the teams we've seen over recent seasons. It looks like a more mature team and more of a blue collar team that is tough and seasoned.
How that will turn out is anybody's guess at this point, as we begin the 2018 football regular season.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
They shoot at the legs, then are on the ground as the men run past after Jennings. Stay on your feet. Lock on. You cannot lock on when you are on the ground. ''Look out, Jon, here come the cut blocks.''