Well, I thought I would be lonelier than a Maytag repairman on my thoughts on McInnis and Lucky.No. Cottoy has abilities as an in-line de-facto Tight End that McInnis does not. A lot of the offense is predicated around where Cottoy lines up and what he does/who he blocks. The two are very different players and are used differently schematically. Cottoy will beat you up in small areas in a way McInnis will not.
Blitz is right above on how Lucky has faded out of the offense as a lid lifter, and if he can't lift the lid with his speed he has no use on this offense. Personally, though, he's a really cool dude and I've appreciated him being here. This offense has no lid lifter, which is good enough to beat most teams but not good enough to beat either Winnipeg or Toronto. Starting McInnis was the correct move against Calgary and as good of a choice as any this week as well.
This defensive base alignment, which shifted to more of a Stubler style bend but don't break at mid year, which neither stopped the run nor stopped Winnipeg's passing attack late in the season. It's not a winning strategy this week either, especially when paired with this offense, which is chunk gain driven rather than TOP driven.
When Rick Ball was here a few years ago, he opined in one of the WDF losses that the Lions were a good team that lost out to a great one. Same thing is on deck here.
The Lions aren't winning this game. The defensive scheme isn't built to stop whichever of the two Bombers offenses show up, which I would imagine will be the run heavy one, and the Bombers O Line is better than the Lions D line. They can beat us by out muscling us in the run, or they can beat us by out scheming us in the air and in man to man battles. They've shown they can do both, and I believe they'll choose the former path this week.
cromartie
If our Leos dress Lucky for this game, it would make sense to use him for a six pack, empty backfield formation or to give a Leo receiver a breather after a long pass pattern or long catch and run.. I would even insert him as a change up on punt returns and kick returns. However, if we do rotate him in, there should not be an over inclination to get him some action.
However, McInnis deserves to start for the reasons you stated, the ones mentioned previously, and a few additonal ones. Lucky had 38 more receiving yards on the season and a 3% higher pass reception average completion, per pass attempt, than McInnins.
However, considering that Lucky started all season when he was healthy, that McInnis spent more time as our 6th receiver rather than being in the starting lineup, and that we used Lucky for a lot of short pass attempts and wide receiver screen plays, which should have a high completion rate, Lucky's numbers are deceiving in reception yardage and reception rate.
McInnins outperformed Lucky in yards per reception, yac yards, touchdown passes, and big plays. Lucky, with only two receptions this season over 30 yards and a penchant to hit the turf immediately after a reception did not make him a dangerous pass and run threat. He certainly is not a receiver who is going to win a 50/50 football very often.
As cromartie noted, Lucky has been a positive asset during his time as a Leo. Earlier this season he was in a pout over his lack of production but since then has been his more usual postive influence. He loves attention but its been a positive type of attention which has endeared teammates and fans and added to esprit. (now how about that word
)But Father Time is not an athletes friend and especially for a football player who has relied on speed and quickness more than any other asset. Sentimental attachment is a great thing overall but it doesn't win playoff football games. You gotta go with your best players and especially against a formidable opponent.
As usual cromartie, you have shown hesitancy and pause in your predictions with your comment "The Lions aren't winning this game"
No question, Winnipeg's defence can pin their ears back and rush the quarterback all game with no fear of our running attack, which also makes play action impotent. Sure makes playing defense much easier
The reverse holds true for our defense. A balanced Winnipeg offence, with a powerful run game only makes defending their passing attack much more difficult. With the ability to run so well, it makes their play action much more effective. Our defense has to defend their run game and their pass game and on most plays we won't know whether they are running or passing and play action will allow them to pass block even more effectively while also freezing our linebackers.
But there is a reason why they play the games and not just for ticket and television revenue. Its not all that unusual for a West Final to be lost by the home team. Wally proved that many times. Yes, the Bombers won the series 2-1 in league games this season, winning in OT in Vancouver last time, to claim bragging rights for the season series. The Bombers won convincingly at home. The Bombers are a balanced team on offence and defense in that they are very sound running and throwing, they run inside and outside well and in the pass game they can slice and dice or burn you deep.
On defence they are also well balanced. They have talent and a very experienced defensive coordinator in the understated Richie Hall, who knows how to game plan to take away an opponents strengths. The Bombers have lots of recent experience in big pressure games and Collaros is poised in pressure situations. Its going to take something special for us to win and we will likely need a break or two.
But a football does not bounce predictably, footballs get tipped, and all kinds of things can go wrong for a favorite in a football game. As Yogi said "It ain't over til its over' and at this point, we have a good chance, with those few breaks and a very good outing. That is why I will be watching and hoping on Saturday.
