WEST FINAL LEOS BOMBERS POST GAME THOUGHTS

[Blitz]

WEST FINAL LEOS BOMBERS POST GAME THOUGHTS

Our B.C. Lions had a great chance to play in this year’s Grey Cup game. With holding the Bombers to two field goals in the second half, the game was there for the taking. But our offence fired blanks and the Bombers walked away victorious. It was a heart wrenching loss and as I read the numerous posts on Lionbackers, the frustration and disappointment of die hard Leo fans was more than obvious.

It was torturous to think, if only Adams had played an average game, if only our defense had been more prepared for the Bombers opening drive, if only we had not allowed a blocked punt for a touchdown, if only the refs had made a few 50/50 calls differently, if only Macinnis had not slipped. But championship teams find ways to win and pretenders don’t.

Here are some post game thoughts, in the morning light with the pain less sharp but still lingering. We look forward to reading yours.

FOR BETTER AND FOR WORSE

OFFENCE

Our offence only scored 13 points in the West Final and one of those scores was a touchdown on the last play of the first half on a Hail Mary pass. Without that fortunate play, our Leos would have been down 19-3 at the half and things would have looked dismal. With our defense playing a hell of a second half and the score 18-13, in the fourth quarter, all we needed was an offensive touchdown to take the lead. Considering how badly our offence had played in the game up to that point surely, there were some plays in our offensive arsenal, considering how productive our offence had been during the season but it didn’t happen.

Instead of going down with a bang, we went out with a whimper. There was no ‘Roar you Lions roar, just like you did in ‘64’ or “From the mountains to the sea, you are the pride of all B.C.” Instead, on the cold tundra of IG Field, the song turned into “There will be no football fame, once again we won’t be playing in this year’s Grey Cup game!"

I’ve been a Leos fan since ’63. Its been a long haul. Our Leos have only won 6 Grey Cups in our 60 year history. There have been many lean times. So when an opportunity is lost, as it was on Saturday, when the opportunity was there, it resonates. So what went wrong?

Vernon Adams

Football is a team game so no one player is the reason for a victory or a loss. But quarterback play is so very important and especially when one enters a playoff game with the best passing attack and the worst running attack in the CFL. A one dimensional offence means as your quarterback goes, so does your offence. The biggest reason most analysts said our Leos would lose this game was based on our lack of a balanced offence. We had an entire season to make an attempt to address an obvious issue and we didn’t.

Pressure can do a lot of strange things to people. Prior to the West Semi-Final, I posted that Adams needed to be decisive and not be John Travolta in the pocket, as he was during the first half of his final regular season contest. Adams came out slinging in the West Final. He was decisive. He went through his reads quickly. He had great pocket presence and dumped off or took off quickly if no one was open.

He was the Good Adams and during the West Semi he was the Great Adams. Yesterday, he was the BAD Adams and in fact he was the Very Bad Adams. Most of our nine sacks were caused by Adams holding the football too long and then trying to disco dance out of the pocket. When he was sacked by blitzing defensive backs, the issue was mostly poor pass blocking by Mizzell or Adams not dumping it quickly. Adams has a hot receiver or a safety valve on every passing play. Its designed into our passing attack.

In the West Semi, Cottoy had 6 receptions and Mizzell had 5 receptions as Adams used his underneath receivers often. In this contest Cottoy had 0 receptions and Mizzell had 2 receptions. Adams never saw them nor looked to them. Why? Because Adams was in a fog. Wally Buono would use the word discombobulated to describe this type of football play. He understood the notion well for a good reason.

In pressure games, Buono was often so discombobulated he was in an alternate universe. You could see it in his eyes on the sidelines. Yesterday you could see it in Chad Kelly’s eyes in the East Final as he threw 4 interceptions, two returned for touchdowns, fumbled and looked like a complete different quarterback. It was very unexpected from Kelly.

However, the Bad Vernon should not have been unexpected. Vernon Adams has had games in the past this season where one thinks something has taken over his body and his mind. Its like the Football Gods disappear and instead we are watching the football version of the Exorcist. However, most of the time this happens during a game. Vernon will be great for one half and horrible the other half.

However, one never knows which half it will happen in or whether it will happen at all. But one can always anticipate that the Jekyll Hyde quarterback persona lurks. There are good reasons why Vernon Adams was not able to establish himself as a CFL starter before this season and its certainly not his talent level. But the quarterback position is such a mental game too.

Stress can create a fog for a quarterback or any player or coach for that matter, and when it happens to a quarterback, their usual field awareness seems to go absent, the clock in their head does not seem to work, and they go back to the sandlot mentality of their childhood football days. Whether its unconscious fear of failure that drives the fog, its hard know, but yesterday, Vernon did not see the field, had no internal clock, and his pocket presence was gone. He began the game in a funk and stayed in that funk all contest. He was operating in a surreal world. He had 'deer in the headlights' syndrome to the max.

We only had 189 yards of offence In this game and that includes the long Hail Mary pass. It was a horrible offensive performance made even more agonizing because Vernon would not throw the football and just let the pocket collapse on him time and again.

Maksymic, overall, did a great job with Vernon Adams this season. But we should also have prepared our offence for Adams inconsistency, as well as for defeating a Bomber team in November. We did neither. We needed a much better run game, and that is both a personell and a football strategy matter. We needed a different coaching approach to our offence, so that when Vernon is off, we pull him from the game for a couple of series and have him watch from the sidelines. We needed a coach on the sidelines who could help get his mind right, when it was off, as it was yesterday or at least try to.

A Different Approach

However, think about the difference between Collaros and Adams in terms of pressure. Collaros knows he has a run game to rely on if he is struggling. That takes off a lot of pressure off. The tailback position is much more than just a running game position. As an ace back in a CFL offence, the position requires not only the ability to run inside and outside and also to be a good receiver out of the backfield. The position is also a pass blocking position and pass blocking is about 50% of the equation.

The ability to break tackles is also important, as well as find holes in a zone blocking scheme. Winnipeg’s Olivera gained most of his yards this season after contact. A scatback who can’t pass block, struggles to find holes, and who is mediocre after first contact is not what our offence needed. That is on the coaching staff.

Mizzell began this contest with a couple of excellent runs. But the Bombers basically pinned their ears back and ignored our run game anyway. They were smart to do so, because Maksymic had such little faith in it that we only ran Mizzell 5 times, even with Bighill out and Adams struggling badly.

We just didn’t lose because of Adams and Mizzell. We lost last year to the Bombers with Rourke as quarterback and James Butler as our tailback. Its time “to make a new plan, Stan, no need to be coy Roy’ on offence for next season.

DEFENCE

All week long, it was no secret that the key to stopping the Bombers offence was to minimize their running attack and play action off it when they run successfully, which they do. Our defense prepared for it in terms of dressing extra defensive lineman but without run blitzing on the first Winipeg drive, the Bombers handed the football off to Olivera 9 times on a 10 play opening drive that led to the Bombers only touchdown. It looked like men playing boys on that first Bombers drive and we were ill prepared for it it seemed. Olivera had 70 yards on that drive but in the second half, with effective run blitzing by our defense, we held him to 9 yards on 8 carries - impressive!!

Our defense held the Bombers to three field goals after that opening drive, even with our three interceptions and often dealing with terrible field position. It was a defensive effort worthy of a Grey Cup bid and especially when one considers we went with Mike Jones at corner, with Lee injured early and going with Bagayogo, as well as playing Greene at safety. Without three of our starters for most of the season not out there and with Peters having to attempt to cover Lawler one on one, with all the extra coverage issues that created, our defense, after the Bombers opening drive, played one hell of a game.

They gave our offence chance after chance but our offence was 4 of 19 on second down attempts in this contest. Still, if MacInnis had not slipped, there was still a chance we could have pulled the rabbit out.

Ryan Phillips, other than that opening drive, coached a hell of a game and our defense played their hearts out. However that opening drive should give us insight that we cannot go into next season with two defensive ends who are as light as ours. One yes, but two, no. We also need a stud defensive tackle who is a run stopper first and can disrupt.

PURGATORY

While our special teams made a first down on a fake punt and throw, the Winnipeg punt block was the key play of the game. It resulted in a touchdown for the Bombers and made things much more of an uphill battle. The Bombers just overloaded one side. Benevedes should have had his punt team better prepared for that type of siuation. Mackie tried to come over from the opposite side of the formation but was too late.

WRAP

Ah, the agony of defeat. It creates a bad gut feeling that takes time to go away. But hope is eternal. Here is to a successful off-season and lessons learned, I hope.

Go Leos!!

[Toppy Vann]

We just didn’t lose because of Adams and Mizzell. We lost last year to the Bombers with Rourke as quarterback and James Butler as our tailback. It's time “to make a new plan, Stan, no need to be coy Roy’ on offence for next season.

Great summary and conclusion as usual.

Jim Barker pre-game said something along the lines of BC being undersized against guys on their line who haven't seen 350 lbs since grade 5 and that they would have to bring people up to stop the run. Should have started like that. He's also said as a premise in football that
"you need to be able to run the ball when you want to" and "stop the run when you need to."

VA held the ball too long and didn't seem to look for outlet passes.
Why not get VA rolling out and shift the pocket more?

They didn't quit is what I liked even after losing key pieces on both sides.

I'm not saying we'd have won if we challenged a potential call but I thought why not. They did lose the 50/50 calls to the Bombers and O'Shea's challenge.

[B.C.FAN]

Good summary, Blitz. Rather than lay blame at the feet or mind of Adams, I prefer to attribute it to coaching. What the Bombers did on defence confused Adams to the point that he couldn't find an open receiver. That's a credit to Winnipeg defensive coordinator Richie Hall but it's also something that should have been addressed by B.C. offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic in his play calls and in-game adjustments. Instead the second half played out much like the first half for the B.C. offence, while the defence of Ryan Phillips played well enough for the Lions to win.

Maksymic's offence is based on quick reads based on pre-snap and post-snap reads, and systemic progressions through various routes. Opposing defences that have had the most success against B.C. did it by taking away the QB's first read and making him hold the ball long enough to be pressured in the pocket. Exactly how Winnipeg shut down B.C.'s high-powered passing attack remains unclear. Adams and Rick Campbell both offered no answers after the game, saying they'd have to study the game tape. I speculated in the game thread that the Bombers were sitting on B.C.'s underneath routes. Those are often Adams' first reads and checkdown options. Jevon Cottoy was targeted only once by Adams, and that was on a deep corner route in the third quarter that was underthrown and broken up by Jamal Parker. Taquan Mizzell had only 2 catches for 3 yards. I saw Adams look at David Mackie on a shallow crosser that was well covered by a Winnipeg linebacker. Dominique Rhymes, who had been quiet since his return from injury, had only one catch for 5 yards.

One of the focal points of the B.C. offence since long before the arrival of Maksymic is the short-side slot position. That's the same position played so well over the past two decades by Geroy Simon, Manny Arceneaux and Bryan Burnham. In 2023 that position belonged to Keon Hatcher, who led the Lions with 78 catches for 1,226 yards in just 14 regular-season games and added 9 catches for 195 yards in the WSF. Hatcher left the Western Final early with a non-contact injury that the Lions couldn't overcome. Lucky Whitehead came in and caught all 4 passes thrown his way for 61 yards, while Justin McInnis, who filled in for Hatcher for 4 regular-season games, led the Lions Sunday with 4 catches for 110 yards, including the 50-yard Hail Mary TD at the end of the first half. It wasn't enough, and the offence was never in sync. I look forward to learning more about why that happened, because it's bound to happen again next year if the Lions don't learn from it.

[Blitz]

B.C. Lion Fan wrote:

Good summary, Blitz. Rather than lay blame at the feet or mind of Adams, I prefer to attribute it to coaching. What the Bombers did on defence confused Adams to the point that he couldn't find an open receiver. That's a credit to Winnipeg defensive coordinator Richie Hall but it's also something that should have been addressed by B.C. offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic in his play calls and in-game adjustments. Instead the second half played out much like the first half for the B.C. offence, while the defence of Ryan Phillips played well enough for the Lions to win.

Maksymic's offence is based on quick reads based on pre-snap and post-snap reads, and systemic progressions through various routes. Opposing defences that have had the most success against B.C. did it by taking away the QB's first read and making him hold the ball long enough to be pressured in the pocket. Exactly how Winnipeg shut down B.C.'s high-powered passing attack remains unclear. Adams and Rick Campbell both offered no answers after the game, saying they'd have to study the game tape. I speculated in the game thread that the Bombers were sitting on B.C.'s underneath routes. Those are often Adams' first reads and checkdown options. Jevon Cottoy was targeted only once by Adams, and that was on a deep corner route in the third quarter that was underthrown and broken up by Jamal Parker. Taquan Mizzell had only 2 catches for 3 yards. I saw Adams look at David Mackie on a shallow crosser that was well covered by a Winnipeg linebacker. Domonique Rhymes, who had been quiet since his return from injury, had only one catch for 5 yards.

Most pro passing attacks rely on pre-snap and post snap reads and systematic progression, which are pass strategies of attacking a defense and involve more than just combination routes. They also include route adjustments, checkdowns, hot reads, etc. All pass plays are "concepts." When a QB goes through a progression, they are executing the reads of a pass concept. What those reads are will vary team to team, from concept to concept, and from system to system.

Some systems simply have QB's looking at receivers in a certain order. Some other systems or concepts rely on reading a specific defender. Others focus on reading areas of turf and throwing based on whether a defender is there or not. San Francisco in the NFL does this a lot. They throw to areas and the receiver is expected to get there.

The type of pass play will usually determine how the QB is to decide how to read the play. Most pass plays can be broken down into 1) standard pass plays 2) quick pass plays and 3) 'hot' pass plays.

I am not discussing RPO plays in this discussion.

A lot of quick passes for example, involve the QB reading the defense pre-snap and choosing which side to read. With a "quick pass," the QB won't often have time nor the choice of going through progressions. Its usually a primary route and a check down on a quick pass play. That differs from a standard pocket pass play from the pocket, where there is most often progression is a primary route, a secondary route, a third route, and a check down. However, for blitzes, when there is no blocker for the blitzer, a hot route is used and the 'hot receiver’ adjusts his route in preparation for an immediate pass.

For a rollout type of pass play, the progression usually involves a clear out route, a primary route, a secondary route, and a check down or a primary route, secondary route, and a check down if the rollout is only towards a two receiver side.

The reality for our Leos offence this season has not been for Adams to hit wide open receivers. Adams has mostly thrown into tight windows all season or what has looked like tight coverage. Even in that tight coverage, our receivers have made receptions because its difficult for a defender to break up a well thrown football. The advantage goes to the receiver, as he adjusts to the thrown football.

The Hatcher injury was obviously not a good thing but we have played well with Hatcher out of the lineup. Hollins, Rhymes, Whitehead, and McInnis is a receiving corps most teams would still love to have. I believe we have seen this scenario one too many times with Adams to think its just a defense taking away quick first reads, although I do agree that Richie Hall would have focused on doing so. Taking away our short reads quickly does not make sense to me as we are an offence that throws medium and medium long often. Those types of routes are most often our primary routes.

Our offence is not structured so the taking away of a first read should be an issue and the quality of our receivers is such that they are difficult to cover and have the option to make route adjustments on each play. Its a lot of field to cover in zone and in man, Adams had a lot of time back there in the pocket on many plays and ended up dancing and eating it for huge losses. If he had even thrown the football away, we would not have suffered through so many second and long situations.

The reality is that even if the Bombers had taken away Adams first post snap read, that would only have taken one second. He should be able to go through his three progressions in less than 3 seconds. Its not uncommon for a first read to not be available or preferable. Adams did not throw to his second or third reads or his check down. Adams was often sitting in that pocket for 5 seconds and still hanging onto the football. I think that had a lot less to do with his first read being taken away and more to do with his reluctance to throw an interception, which he ended up doing anyway, but those were due to tipped footballs and a receiver slip at a terrible time.

I respectfully differ. I see this as much more on Adams, in terms of the passing game yesterday. The Leos brain trust wears the lack of a running attack.

[OV:54-40]

Did VA injure or re-injure his knee/leg early in this game? or was it injured during that Stamps game ? Cause the play-off game against the Stamps he looked quick & agile and was able to run for yardage and first downs. And this would have been most beneficial IMO against the Bombers D and make them think twice about their D focus.

And Chad Kelly should have done this yesterday against the Als - have your mobile QB run early and present a threat there. And Maas should have Fajardo do this right out of the gate against the Bummers in the GC.

But there is so little diversity or smart game planning out of most CFL offensive thinkers/coaches these days, that they often expect to just hope their basic 70 some per cent pass play calls with their groovy route tress and QB reads are going to work fine - against soft zone defences sitting waiting for that AND D-lines able to pin their ears back in pass rush. Myopic, same old CFL offences are dumb, boring and limited, IMO, and often can't score near enough.

[maxlion]

It seems to me that it is very difficult for a defense to prevent a quick 5 yard pass where the passer and receiver are on the same page and the throw is well executed. This is what we needed--those quick hitters to keep drives alive and keep the Bombers defense on the field. This is the bread and butter of Maksymic's offense. In hindsight, we should have put Evans out there when Adams was struggling because Evans is very good at those quick passes. But it was hard to find the right time because the score was so close, and Adams showed throughout the year that he can usually rise to the occasion.

[Blitz]

It seems to me that it is very difficult for a defense to prevent a quick 5 yard pass where the passer and receiver are on the same page and the throw is well executed. This is what we needed--those quick hitters to keep drives alive and keep the Bombers defense on the field. This is the bread and butter of Maksymic's offense.

In hindsight, we should have put Evans out there when Adams was struggling because Evans is very good at those quick passes. But it was hard to find the right time because the score was so close, and Adams showed throughout the year that he can usually rise to the occasion.

maxlion

I agree that we needed to simply for Adams as a way once it became more than obvious he was struggling and holding the football far too long. Nine sacks, over 75 yards in losses, 3 interceptions, 183 yards in total offence, 3 points in the second half - it was a dismal offensive performance.

We really could not roll Adams out because he was struggling a bit with his knee injury. But we could have run some quick hitters, as you noted, and split the field for him and reduced his reads to a primary receiver and a check off (or throw it away) in an attempt to get him out of his funk. A few screen plays were also in order.

We should have pulled Adams early in the fourth quarter and given Evans at least one series to see what he could do. But the game was close and despite Adams poor play, it would be difficult to pull him in that situation. Hindsight makes things look different. I posted during the game that we should pull Adams with 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter so I was thinking the same way as you but that is easier said, as a fan, than as a coach deciding to pull the guy who got you to the West Final due to his play all season.

Just a miserable way to play offence in such an important game!!

[TheLionKing]

Did VA injure or re-injure his knee/leg early in this game? or was it injured during that Stamps game ? Cause the play-off game against the Stamps he looked quick & agile and was able to run for yardage and first downs. And this would have been most beneficial IMO against the Bombers D and make them think twice about their D focus.

He was injured in the game. Saw him getting up hobbling.

[TheLionKing]

Adam holding on the football too long should have been addressed by the quarterback coach (Maksymic) a long time ago but was not. Adams lead the league in the number of times he was sacked.

[DanoT]

Adam holding on the football too long should have been addressed by the quarterback coach (Maksymic) a long time ago but was not. Adams lead the league in the number of times he was sacked.

Maksymic is fairly inexperienced as a OC and play caller, so hopefully he soon starts to learn from his mistakes.

[Toppy Vann]

Did VA injure or re-injure his knee/leg early in this game? or was it injured during that Stamps game ? Cause the play-off game against the Stamps he looked quick & agile and was able to run for yardage and first downs. And this would have been most beneficial IMO against the Bombers D and make them think twice about their D focus.

And Chad Kelly should have done this yesterday against the Als - have your mobile QB run early and present a threat there. And Maas should have Fajardo do this right out of the gate against the Bummers in the GC.

But there is so little diversity or smart game planning out of most CFL offensive thinkers/coaches these days, that they often expect to just hope their basic 70 some per cent pass play calls with their groovy route tress and QB reads are going to work fine - against soft zone defences sitting waiting for that AND D-lines able to pin their ears back in pass rush. Myopic, same old CFL offences are dumb, boring and limited, IMO, and often can't score near enough.

Yeah on Chad Kelly, taking off earlier. Dinwiddie is putting some blame on himself for failing to adjust play calling and help his QB.
Kelly just looked off. Shawn Lemon told Stegall, Argos not playing a meaningful game in two months would bite them. In fact all the Argos looked off and I saw nearly all their games this year.

I'm guessing Adams was too banged up to run or that too would have been a good move for BC.

Both VA and Kelly did not have their best days but will bounce back.
VA had to know his O-line weren't holding them up so something needed to change there.

[Blitz]

But there is so little diversity or smart game planning out of most CFL offensive thinkers/coaches these days, that they often expect to just hope their basic 70 some per cent pass play calls with their groovy route tress and QB reads are going to work fine - against soft zone defences sitting waiting for that AND D-lines able to pin their ears back in pass rush. Myopic, same old CFL offences are dumb, boring and limited, IMO, and often can't score near enough.

OV54:40

Your sentence, 'same old CFL offences are dumb, boring, and limited' sure hits a home run with me OV54:40. I have more than reached my limit of the spread offence shotgun, five pack and six pack receiver set, ace back, inside zone read running play with zone blocking and occasional fly sweep. For the most part, we have been watching essentially the same offence, with every CFL team for more than a couple of decades. The Bombers offence has had the most variation and balance over the past few seasons under two offensive coordinators and the results show.

Maksymic has been described as a West Coast style offensive coordinator, having been mentored by Trestman but I see very little West Coast offence in our offensive system. The West Coast offence passing attack is based on timing and characterized by quick passing routes that stretch the field horizontally. That is not our offensive system at all. The West Coast offence also used a fullback and a tight end for the running game, with the tailback and fullback often lined up as split backs whereas the spread offence either uses an ace back in the backfield or an empty backfield.

As a CFL fan for decades I never thought the day would ever arrive where I would find NFL offences more interesting and more dynamic than a CFL offence but that is the case today. In the NFL they use direct under center snaps and shotgun and pistol snaps, use one, two, and even three tight ends in a formation, as well as ace back and empty backfields, use two backs in split, off-set, and "I" formations, use a wide variety of screen plays, etc. They incorporate some RPO concepts when wanting to throw quickly. They are multi-formational and multi-dimensional offences whereas most CFL offences are stuck and have been stuck for a long time in some version of a vanilla spread with a simple inside zone read play with zone blocking. Its become like watching paint dry.

But the spread offence was never just meant to be a passing offence. The concept was also for it to be an excellent running offence, even though its more restricted by an ace back, no tight end setup.

We had the weakest run game in the CFL this year and it came back to haunt us. We have to decide whether we want to be an exciting regular season team or a team designed to win in the playoffs. We've lost to Winnipeg in the West Final twice now with two very good quarterbacks and some excellent receivers. As I recently posted..."Its time to make a new plan Stan, no need to be coy Roy, just listen to me and to you and to a whole bunch of Lionbackers all season long and to J.C. too.

J.C. Abbott nailed it with his recent article on 3 Down Nation

Opinion: B.C. Lions made playoff fools by unbalanced offensive attack

https://3downnation.com/2023/11/13/opin ... ve-attack/

[Blitz]

For the posters who wished we had not let Butler go in the off-season, (yes he was a 1.000 yd. rusher during the 2002 regular season) in the West Final last year, with Rourke struggling until late in the game, we handed off to Butler 6 times for 4 yds.

This year, in the West Final, we handed the football off to Mizzell 5 times for 37 yds. although 22 of those yards were on his first carry. He averaged 3 yds per carry over his next four handoffs.

Obviously with a 1,000 yds runner like Butler or a scatback like Mizzell, who 'smoked' his way to the worst rushing attack in the CFL in 2023, it makes no difference in a West Final. Its been pass, pass, pass but neither Rourke or Adams could get us to the Big Dance the past two years. Outside of the opening drive, we also wasted an excellent defensive performance in this year's West Final. (yes the Bombers had injuries but we also had to go with three defensive backs who were backups for most of the season).

But change wont' come easy. Quarterbacks and receivers love pass and catch football. Its what they do, its what they love to do and most don't like to block. A balanced offence will not fatten their stats for next contract time either. I remember when Kruck took over calling the plays in 2007, with Hufnagel consulting. We ran the hell out of the football with Joe Smith and Ian Smart (Joe Smith rushed for over 1500 yds)

We finished first in the West with third string quarterback Jarious Jackson, winning 9 or our 11 games with him at QB. Regardless of that success, Geroy and Company, with support from the Players Council, were not happy and went to Buono and asked for Chap to come back run the offence. Was it because they loved Chap so much? Nope. It was because Chap loved to pass a lot and they could run routes and be in the limelight more, rather than block for Joe, It was about ME, ME, ME rather than having a balanced offence.

Much easier to make the quarterback and receivers happy than a very replaceable import tailback.

[Gridiron Ernie]

I just completed watching the full batch of "Post-Season Media" interviews posted up on the Lions' website. I have to say the one I found most rewarding to spend time listening to was the one with Garry Peters. He was honest and forthright and made some subtle mentions of significant areas for the team to address.

I personally found some of the others somewhat evasive and somewhat skirting the issues in their replies to media questions. But perhaps that's an unfair comment. It is only a couple days after the grim loss, after all. Still, I felt Neil McC. in particular was skirting the issues somewhat, or vague in repsonses. And VA's responses still seemed as cloudy as they were post-game.

I wish some member of the media would have asked for further clarity on the West Final problems with the passing game; i.e for instance, was VA slow on the trigger due to our receivers failing to get separation from the Bomber DB's, or what other explanation for no course correction there. How both Cottoy and Rhymes could both all but disappear from game stats remains a mystery to me. Although perhaps Cottoy was kept busy as a blocker. That said, I appreciate the coach and the players making themselves available. I wish them well in the off-season work ahead.

[B.C.FAN]

I just completed watching the full batch of "Post-Season Media" interviews posted up on the Lions' website. I have to say the one I found most rewarding to spend time listening to was the one with Garry Peters. He was honest and forthright and made some subtle mentions of significant areas for the team to address.

I personally found some of the others somewhat evasive and somewhat skirting the issues in their replies to media questions. But perhaps that's an unfair comment. It is only a couple days after the grim loss, after all. Still, I felt Neil McC. in particular was skirting the issues somewhat, or vague in repsonses. And VA's responses still seemed as cloudy as they were post-game.

I wish some member of the media would have asked for further clarity on the West Final problems with the passing game; i.e for instance, was VA slow on the trigger due to our receivers failing to get separation from the Bomber DB's, or what other explanation for no course correction there. How both Cottoy and Rhymes could both all but disappear from game stats remains a mystery to me. Although perhaps Cottoy was kept busy as a blocker. That said, I appreciate the coach and the players making themselves available. I wish them well in the off-season work ahead.

Yes, I was hoping for some answers from Rick Campbell and VA but didn’t hear any. VA said he hasn’t watched the game tape. He said the Bombers were taking away his first read, which was no surprise, and maybe he could have gone to his checkdowns sooner. They faced a lot of second and long situations, and it’s tough to convert those against a good defence. Campbell said the Bombers applied pressure and the offence never got any traction. He said the game was still there for the taking in the fourth quarter with the score 18-13 and the Lions with the ball at midfield but the Bombers made plays and the Lions didn’t.