Sask 29 BC 25 Post Game Comments and Stats

[TheLionKing]

http://cfl.ca/statistics/statsGame/id/10715

The blame to me rest solely on the shoulders on Stubler for not making the adjustment to stop Durant on the quarterback draws. The most telling stat for me is the 97 yards rushing by Durant, most of them coming off the draw

[Toppy Vann]

http://cfl.ca/statistics/statsGame/id/10715

The blame to me rest solely on the shoulders on Stubler for not making the adjustment to stop Durant on the quarterback draws. The most telling stat for me is the 97 yards rushing by Durant, most of them coming off the draw

Ryan Phillips post game didn't point any fingers other than to say this very point about stopping Durant and failing.

[TheLionKing]

Hope they ask Anton McKenzie next week on Off the Gridiron how they failed to contain Durant on those draw plays.

[KnowItAll]

totally stunned at how the defense played in the 4th. couldn't believe it as it was happening. it was as if a sask fan was impersonating stubler.

[Toppy Vann]

These two statements are about the coaching (no one needs to be fired by the way).

As Wally Buono recently said - these young coaches need to earn respect that goes to those like Hugh Campbell with a long winning record. Nothing for me stands out more here than watching the Lion HC pace around with seemingly nothing to offer his coaches late in games when someone needs to be calm, cool, collected and at the same analytical to note what is going on and get things fixed.

This mid game or even half time correction seems to be missing with Mike Benevides. He needs to work on this and off the cheering and back slapping and get a role for himself. Looking lost on the sidelines. I am not talking about interfering but being on top of what is happening and speaking to coaches to stop something like Durant piling up the yards as they do nothing about it.

From the LU Story:

Defensively some questions about the coaching call from Phillips? He did add to this "no excuses" but he did say this about their defence:

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Ullri ... story.html

Ullrich: Lions ponder what could have been

BY LOWELL ULLRICH, THE PROVINCE NOVEMBER 10, 2013 8:02 PM

As was often the case this season, there was confusion in the defensive secondary on the second Dressler score, plus a bit on infighting too.

“I didn’t agree with the play-call 100 per cent,” said defensive back Ryan Phillips. “The emotion of the game gets to us and I’m not exempt from that. But they made the plays and we didn’t.”

The team that did not have the better numbers outside the final score prevailed. The veteran visiting team, which was built to close out important games, couldn’t deliver.

Phillips said this to the Vancouver Sun and 'play it safe' is coaching. A coach will make a few calls in a game that could impact an outcome and when the going gets tough you see the best coaches able to have their team prepared to play to win. Like Trestman does when he does a 4th down gamble in his own end of the field with the game still on the line. He makes his team believe in themselves if they do their jobs. This needs to be added to the BC HC repertoire as I'm not seeing it yet.
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/foot ... story.html

“As a team, and veteran group, you’ve got to reiterate the fact that you still have to have a killer instinct,” said Lions halfback Ryan Phillips. “Especially, in the playoffs, you have to have a killer instinct. The game is never over until the clock stops ticking. Those last minutes of the game, we didn’t make enough plays. We tried to play it safe. We were playing not to lose, not playing to win.”

And veteran Paris Jackson made this comment in The Province story by LU about getting "out of the game plan" just to balance the blame around:

“We shoot ourselves in the foot every year,” said veteran Paris Jackson, who also was brought out of mothballs offensively Sunday. “Sometimes, we get out of the game plan. Sometimes we overthink things. It was jelling today; all the way through the third quarter. You get tired of losing when you know you should win.

I always wonder if Chappy runs out of memory for the hand calls as he refuses to communicate with voice communications for some idiotic reason that other pro teams seem to get around with some mix of signals and voice calls to the QB.

[TheLionKing]

I noticed that teams such as Calgary and Hamilton are beginning to signal in plays. Meanwhile our coaches on the sidelines are gesturing like crazy trying to send in plays.

[MexicoLionFan]

A fitting end to a train wreck season for the Lions...blame should never be shouldered by one person, and this is the case with the Lions...there were lots of culprits...however, that said, the Lions players outplayed the Saskatchewan players over the 60 minutes, simply put, once again, the Lions were OUTCOACHED by the opposition especially when it counted...

First, Chapdelaine had a great game plan, and his players executed it wonderfully throughout the game...did their execution drop off in the 2nd half?? Was it the players fault that the offensive momentum went away in the 2nd half??? If you believe this, then you don't truly understand the game of football...and that's great, it takes all kinds to make up a fan base...but upon closer examination the reality today was that the Lions out played SSK, but SSK MADE THE IN GAME ADJUSTMENTS and the Lions didn't...sound like a broken record? That's because it is...all the Lions had to do today was change things up on first down in the 2nd half, keep the Riders guessing, and the Lions talent would have done the rest...just one play, just one drive...it didn't happen because SSK KNEW what was coming and the Lions simply didn't change...now, if you want these types of heart breaking losses to continue, then by all means bring back JC...he's your man...and why is it that no one here was angry at JC today??? Great game plan right??? OK, where was this all season? Sure we didn't have Logan all season, but designing aggressive run plays, where the OL simply push their man off the LOS and sticking to the run no matter what aren't late season changes...they are the core of successful offences...haven't any of you noticed the similar pattern with JC, that is only getting worse??? Teams KNOW our tendencies and stack against what we like to do, and changes ONLY come after consistent failure and calamity...then there are threats and then there are offensive changes...this year was NO DIFFERENT...why was Lulay 19 of 25 today? Because he was asked to do what was possible...to take what the defence was giving...not forced to force the football downfield against extreme pressure...BC's best 2nd half offensive play??? A broken play in the backfield and Lulay taking off with the ball...and if he were in better game shape he might have scored on the play...why??? Because SSK wasn't expecting Lulay to keep the ball...just like in the first half...but we didn't continue with this and exploit the weakness in SSK defence...NO SPY ON LULAY...and late in the game, when we finally got the ball back, you saw JC at his best...with an offence on the sideline for 10 minutes knowing they are going to get the ball back with little time left, JC sent the offence out with ONE PLAY CALLED!!! And I am biased in my criticisms of JC??? WTF???

One play called with 28 seconds left and it wasn't a 12 yard out...incredible...the SSK corners were playing 20 yards off the LOS...they were giving up the out, which would have STOPPED THE CLOCK FROM MOVING...then on 2nd down, JC is sending in F%CKING hand signals that Lulay needs 15 SECONDS TO UNDERSTAND...if you don't believe me, go back and watch the last minute again...the ball was snapped with only 11 seconds on the clock, the Lions had completed a 5 yard pass with 28 seconds to go with SSK's defence in massive prevent, and then let the clock run off 7 seconds before the ball is snapped...unfreaking believable...so who's fault is it? Lulay's because he can't read JC's hand signals??? EVERY other pro football team uses the QB headset, but not with JC...but Chapdealine doesn't have an ego or stubbornness problem...incredible...as I posted earlier in the year...its called Scotoma, the mind sees what it wants to see...

Out coached did I say? How about our defence, that seemed to have SSKs offence under wraps, except for the 2nd half when their offence made adjustments...Durant could not throw the ball consistently well, so they just decided to run the football, and continual, predictable runs...QB and RB draws...BCs answer to this weak adjustment??? NOTHING...no spy for Durant, until wait for it, on 2nd and 8 on our 25 yard line with 58 seconds to play...then we lined up in a new formation with only Bighill in the middle designed for him to SPY ON THE QB...and guess what? It worked...

What was Stubler thinking, or not thinking? How about our raw-raw HC? Engaged in the game? Making comments or suggestions to his ASSTs??? Nope...just the look of utter shock as SSK continued to have success doing the same thing over and over again...great coaching and leadership...

The fact of the matter is that the Lions have far more talent than SSK and were the better team...but BC lost because we were out coached, especially at crucial times of the game...credit MUST be given to both JC and Stubler for coming up with very good game plans...but this is professional football in the 21st century!!! Adjustments are being made on the fly, and you must be ready to adjust your game to continue taking what the opposition is giving...but we didn't do this and we lost the game. Didn't Stubler ever think to continue rushing 4 DLinemen if he wasn't going to spy on Durant, instead of continuing with only 3???

And one final comment...who were BC's two best players today??? Andrew Harris and Travis Lulay...the two players targeted by genius Wally Buono to send "messages" to in season...When Travis was taking a sh$t kicking during the first half of the season trying to throw to delayed routes with 9 players blitzing in his face, Wally was busy blaming Travis for not being a leader...

Yep, your right...no changes need to be made with the Lions...as part of a circus, their team is perfectly equipped!

[South Pender]

Are we sure we have this right about signalling in plays? In the game today, the TSN guys (might have been Rod Black) mentioned something to the effect that BC was getting their offensive plays in very efficiently (partly via radio).

[TheLionKing]

One play called with 28 seconds left and it wasn't a 12 yard out...incredible...the SSK corners were playing 20 yards off the LOS...they were giving up the out, which would have STOPPED THE CLOCK FROM MOVING...then on 2nd down, JC is sending in F%CKING hand signals that Lulay needs 15 SECONDS TO UNDERSTAND...if you don't believe me, go back and watch the last minute again...the ball was snapped with only 11 seconds on the clock, the Lions had completed a 5 yard pass with 28 seconds to go with SSK's defence in massive prevent, and then let the clock run off 7 seconds before the ball is snapped...unfreaking believable...so who's fault is it? Lulay's because he can't read JC's hand signals??? EVERY other pro football team uses the QB headset, but not with JC...but Chapdealine doesn't have an ego or stubbornness problem...incredible...as I posted earlier in the year...its called Scotoma, the mind sees what it wants to see...

Bang on MLF. Poor time management on the Lions' last possession. Precious seconds were lost.

[DanoT]

I noticed in an NFL game today that they had some large coloured signs on the sidelines that they were holding up as some sort of play or formation calling. I'm not totally against signalling in plays, it just needs to be less complex and convoluted. A new OC would probably fix that.

The old system from years ago was to send a player substitution guy in with a play. It would work well if the Lions continue to platoon Harris and Logan next year.

[SammyGreene]

Phillips' frustration and comments are interesting. He thought the defence was playing it "too safe" in the late going. I'm guessing that's dropping too many guys into pass coverage rather than putting extra heat on Durant or even having a frickin spy to eliminate the potential QB draw.
I would have thought Stubler would have learned his lesson in that Montreal road game debacle where they went into a prevent with the Als on their own 10 yard line with a rookie QB at the helm.

Phillips also didn't like the call on the 2nd Dressler TD. Not sure what he is referring too but on the replay the Lions send Larose on a safety blitz which might have left Bell on an island with the Riders most dangerous receiver and Bell looked bad trying to under cut the route.
Then again it beats Dressler's 1st TD where he is somehow matched up with Larose.

Still haven't watched the replay of this but it's going to be tough. Maybe I will watch just the 1st 50 minutes and figure there's is no way they are going to lose this game.

[Blitz]

As I look at it, almost 400 yards of offence, the running game explosive, good pass protection for Lulay, no turnovers, 9 point lead going into the 4th quarter...we did more than enough offensively to win. The Paris Jackson holding penalty hurt in the 4th, as we were in at least field goal range at the time of the penalty. The failed second down throw to Harris, when he was wide open, with space ahead also hurt.

But it was mostly defensive breakdowns and one special team breakdown that led to big plays that cost us the victory. Certainly we missed Eliminian, especially in the 4th quarter, with Durrant running. I'm not sure why we did not spy Durrant at that point. He did not run a lot this year but late in the 4th quarter you knew he was going to try to do it himself with his legs.

This was the second playoff game in 2 seasons where there was confusion and some in-fighting within our defensive secondary within the game.

It was our game and basically we gave it back to the Riders. It was one of the best running game performances in a playoff that I've ever watched.

The last 28 seconds is a red herring. The game was over. We let it slip away

Ullrich: Lions ponder what could have been
By Lowell Ullrich, The Province November 10, 2013

B.C. Lions head coach Mike Benevides can barely believe how his team lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western Semi-Final in Regina, Sask., Sunday, November 10, 2013.

REGINA — Mike Benevides rested the back of his head against a concrete wall outside the dressing room and it was all he could do to stop from hurting himself as he thought about what had just happened after the season ended.

The coach of the B.C. Lions had seen his team do everything that was required to win the West Division semifinal.

The running game was working. He hit the back of his head against the concrete.

The pass protection was good. He hit himself again.

A solid return game from Travis Lulay in his first start in nearly two months. It was starting to get painful to watch Benevides, whose eyes just glared at the ceiling.

“No turnovers. A big third-down stop. Execution,” Benevides said. If only the coach of the CFL team was able to talk about the Lions’ ability to stop Darian Durant, they might be still be playing this week.

In a game where the Lions rendered Kory Sheets to mere mortal status, they couldn’t reign in the quarterback and leader of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Durant rallied the Riders with 76 of his 97 yards in the fourth quarter, just enough for a 29-25 win Sunday.

And yes, no matter what the Lions said afterwards, the absence of middle linebacker Solomon Elimimian played a huge factor, especially down the stretch.,

“I’m still trying to figure out where we lost the game,” Andrew Harris said.

In so many ways, the end of the season was the compete reversal of the start, or at least the predominant stretch of the year when the defence was brilliant and the offence was constipated.

Lulay was masterful at times, engineering three touchdown drives with almost purrfect balance between rushing plays (27) and passing attempts (26). Saskatchewan had trouble stopping Harris, Stefan Logan and the Lions pivot on the ground.

Offensive coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine used Harris and Logan, but Rolly Lumbala and Tim Cronk in the backfield, too. On one play, the Lions were lined up in a four-deep I formation. The -20C temperature with wind chill was not effecting the Lions ability to be creative.

“The weather was fine; you just put on lots of Vaseline,” Harris explained.

You probably couldn’t even focus too critically at the Lions pressure defence either, which netted four sacks. But the Lions only had Adam Bighill to stop the run and the Riders were aware Elimimian was at home with a leg injury when his team needed him the most.

[pennw]

As I look at it, almost 400 yards of offence, the running game explosive, good pass protection for Lulay, no turnovers, 9 point lead going into the 4th quarter...we did more than enough offensively to win. The Paris Jackson holding penalty hurt in the 4th, as we were in at least field goal range at the time of the penalty. The failed second down throw to Harris, when he was wide open, with space ahead also hurt.

But it was mostly defensive breakdowns and one special team breakdown that led to big plays that cost us the victory. Certainly we missed Eliminian, especially in the 4th quarter, with Durrant running. I'm not sure why we did not spy Durrant at that point. He did not run a lot this year but late in the 4th quarter you knew he was going to try to do it himself with his legs.

This was the second playoff game in 2 seasons where there was confusion and some in-fighting within our defensive secondary within the game.

It was our game and basically we gave it back to the Riders. It was one of the best running game performances in a playoff that I've ever watched.

The last 28 seconds is a red herring. The game was over. We let it slip away

Ullrich: Lions ponder what could have been
By Lowell Ullrich, The Province November 10, 2013

B.C. Lions head coach Mike Benevides can barely believe how his team lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western Semi-Final in Regina, Sask., Sunday, November 10, 2013.

REGINA — Mike Benevides rested the back of his head against a concrete wall outside the dressing room and it was all he could do to stop from hurting himself as he thought about what had just happened after the season ended.

The coach of the B.C. Lions had seen his team do everything that was required to win the West Division semifinal.

The running game was working. He hit the back of his head against the concrete.

The pass protection was good. He hit himself again.

A solid return game from Travis Lulay in his first start in nearly two months. It was starting to get painful to watch Benevides, whose eyes just glared at the ceiling.

“No turnovers. A big third-down stop. Execution,” Benevides said. If only the coach of the CFL team was able to talk about the Lions’ ability to stop Darian Durant, they might be still be playing this week.

In a game where the Lions rendered Kory Sheets to mere mortal status, they couldn’t reign in the quarterback and leader of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Durant rallied the Riders with 76 of his 97 yards in the fourth quarter, just enough for a 29-25 win Sunday.

And yes, no matter what the Lions said afterwards, the absence of middle linebacker Solomon Elimimian played a huge factor, especially down the stretch.,

“I’m still trying to figure out where we lost the game,” Andrew Harris said.

In so many ways, the end of the season was the compete reversal of the start, or at least the predominant stretch of the year when the defence was brilliant and the offence was constipated.

Lulay was masterful at times, engineering three touchdown drives with almost purrfect balance between rushing plays (27) and passing attempts (26). Saskatchewan had trouble stopping Harris, Stefan Logan and the Lions pivot on the ground.

Offensive coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine used Harris and Logan, but Rolly Lumbala and Tim Cronk in the backfield, too. On one play, the Lions were lined up in a four-deep I formation. The -20C temperature with wind chill was not effecting the Lions ability to be creative.

“The weather was fine; you just put on lots of Vaseline,” Harris explained.

You probably couldn’t even focus too critically at the Lions pressure defence either, which netted four sacks. But the Lions only had Adam Bighill to stop the run and the Riders were aware Elimimian was at home with a leg injury when his team needed him the most.

Yet it is Chap that must go ... I agree with you Blitz . Until we get a better DC we're going nowhere .

[JohnHenry]

I thought the Lions offensive game plan and play calling were excellent, near perfection in the 1st half. The Riders made some key defensive plays in the 4th Q, like Anderson's jarring hit on Arseneux. He said Arseneux wasn't his man, but he looked over his shoulder, saw what was happening and broke up the play. Perhaps the Riders D "made adjustments at halftime" and we didn't, but if our D made one more tackle on a scrambling Durant in the final few minutes, we probably would have won the game. Then would we still be criticizing the offence or praising them? With a good lead and our running game being so effective, should Lulay have aired it out more in the 2nd half? In hindsight probably yes. But if Travis had thrown a couple of picks, would we blame Chaps for not being more conservative and protecting the lead?

It's easy to say we should of had a spy on Durant, but that defender would have been wasted for much of the game...with one less blitzer or DB available to cover the Rider receivers.

The Lions played a very good game. They gave it all they got and have nothing to be ashamed about. They were just beaten by a better team that day.

[SammyGreene]

As I look at it, almost 400 yards of offence, the running game explosive, good pass protection for Lulay, no turnovers, 9 point lead going into the 4th quarter...we did more than enough offensively to win. The Paris Jackson holding penalty hurt in the 4th, as we were in at least field goal range at the time of the penalty. The failed second down throw to Harris, when he was wide open, with space ahead also hurt.

But it was mostly defensive breakdowns and one special team breakdown that led to big plays that cost us the victory. Certainly we missed Eliminian, especially in the 4th quarter, with Durrant running. I'm not sure why we did not spy Durrant at that point. He did not run a lot this year but late in the 4th quarter you knew he was going to try to do it himself with his legs.

This was the second playoff game in 2 seasons where there was confusion and some in-fighting within our defensive secondary within the game.

It was our game and basically we gave it back to the Riders. It was one of the best running game performances in a playoff that I've ever watched.

The last 28 seconds is a red herring. The game was over. We let it slip away

Chapdelaine has driven me nuts at times too but we needed a fricken miracle to score a major from our own 35 with 28 seconds left. Bottom line is McCallum punted from the Riders 48 on 3rd and 6 with 3:07 remaining and BC didn't see the ball again until the game was essentially over after the Saskatchewan FG made it a 4 point game. Hell if Benevides knew the Riders would have been unstoppable (which they basically were for the entire 4th quarter) he probably goes for it from there.

All three of Durant's scrambles on their last drive came on 2nd and long situations where the Lions had the opportunity to get the ball back with no further points. It was gut wrenching to watch and a major letdown by the entire defence, including Stubler and company.

How bad was the BC defence down the stretch? Riders last 3 scoring drives started on their 35, 23 and 23 yard line. Didn't see the stat but time of possession in the 4th quarter must have been ridiculous.