Eskimos 33 - Lions 6 -- Post-Game Comments

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WestCoastJoe
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We see the usual divide regarding Duron Carter. Support and criticism. Fans see him about the same way coaches see him. He always gets another opportunity. Then it goes wrong, and he moves on from a team. As Blitz notes, it is not even necessarily about his behaviour. For some observers it is doubts about his talent level. Yes, he can make some flashy plays. But he looks like anything but a disciplined receiver. He is athletic, but not a burner, imo. He does not get separation.

Do Burnham and Carter, as the INT mainstays of our receiving corps match those of Edmonton, for example? I think our INT receiving corps is badly undermanned. It seems to this fan that a CFL team needs at least 3 INT game breakers at receiver. We do not have that. Not sure we even have 2 INT game breakers at receiver. IMO Burnham and Carter, at their best, are possession receivers. They can catch some deep balls, with their athleticism and their ability to sometimes snatch the contested ball. IMO neither is a burner, and they do not get good separation. Cottoy is a project. As noted by BCFAN, he is often used to block. On short routes he is oftentimes not available to his QB, as he does not look at his QB at the right time. Shaq is under-utilized. Durant has been all that one could hope for.

Carter is our guy for now. Can he have a breakout game? We will see.

This fan sides more with all those coaches who have let him go from teams in the past, and those that would not want him on their team.

There have been behaviour issues. And more recently, there have been lack of productivity issues. I think that a coach, team or fan can opt out, without it being a bias against the player's style or personality.

He has had a troubled career, both in college and the pros. He attracts a lot of attention. He is a lightning rod for adulation and criticism. He seems like a nice young man. As Toppy notes, he is good with the fans. Five games in, his productivity here is almost nil.
..........

Many issues.

Passing game. Playbook, game plans and play calls do not allow good pass protection. Routes too deep, too easily covered, not enough routes to relieve pressure on the QB. RPO plays easily defended.

I expect Reilly gets the offence he wants from his OC. Pass heavy, with a seemingly reluctant use of the run game. Why do they allow Reilly to stay in for every offensive play? It is like a conceit or a superstition, and it is a good way to get him injured. Then what do we have?

Too many sacks, for a variety of reasons. 5 sacks in the first half.

Defence. Stubler and Claybrooks tell us the guys are on a learning curve. We are 5 games in to a dismal season. No pass rush. Vulnerable run stopping. Steam rolled on short yardage. Missed tackles. Busted coverages. Inadequate coverage by guys trying hard.

Coaching leadership. Too many penalties. Missed assignments. Confusion.

Personnel issues. Rush ends. LBs? DBs? Or do the guys just need to learn the system, as suggested by the HC and DC? INT receivers.

STs. We got tricked by Calgary. I expect all the opponents welcome the chance to trick us again.

We are 1 and 4, and seemingly in a fog about how to break the spell.

Lots of good opinions here, from the fans.

Just imo as a long time fan.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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Toppy Vann
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There is a divide on Carter - and if you look at what team mates have said about him - he's a good team mate. Nik Lewis and Kevin Glenn both have always said that.

If you look at teams dumping Carter closely you'll not see a correlation between specifics or his play - just dumped and we know that coaches and teams have biases. I like Duron Carter as an athlete and we need these guys in the game as he's fan friendly.

Something in the recent Blitz post about players being sacrificed to Jarius Jackson's offensive scheme make me wonder if Carter is the decoy in this offence more often due to something between a coach and him rumoured back in Saskatchewan.

When I hear players mirror the comments of coaches and other leaders like Mike Reilly like I have heard from Duron Carter this year and last night post game, then I know that player buys in to what they are doing.

Actually in a situation like the Lions are in, it's incumbent on the entire organization to do some serious SELF-EVALUATION from the GM on player selection through the coaching ranks to the players.

IF your QB is being dumped on his rear over and over and you're not looking at what plays you're running and when then something's seriously wrong.
"Ability without character will lose." - Marv Levy
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David
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Lion Guy wrote:
Fri Jul 12, 2019 7:40 am
I will ask again this week; how does Jarious Jackson still have a job?
I admit, I went to the well for JJ last week after what I viewed as progress against the Stamps. While we weren't productive against Toronto, I was more inclined to blame personnel as I saw at least a semblance of pass/run balance. But after watching last night's debacle in person, I have no confidence in his play-design or tone deaf play-calling, and see ours as a vanilla offence that fails to make adjustments.

It's like he has a vendetta against Mike Reilly.

(just kidding of course). :wink:


DH :cool:
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David
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cromartie wrote:
Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:37 am
I'll add one more thing to this I noticed last week, and this is on Reilly; he has to do a better job with his head and eyes. Whether that's the burden of learning a new scheme or just a limitation, he isn't looking off defenders and that's murder on a passing game that takes a long time to develop.
I agree. Plenty of blame to go around with a 1-4 start. There have been times (not enough, granted) that Reilly has had time in the pocket he has been telegraphing his passes, while hanging on to the ball too long/not throwing it away when some pressure has been evident. Other times he's been surprisingly inaccurate.

MR is the least of our worries right now. He's performed admirably given the horrendous amount of pressure he's faced, but when you're making $725K per, some criticism relative to performance is valid.


DH :cool:
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WestCoastJoe
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https://www.bclions.com/2019/07/10/coac ... locked-in/
COACH CLAY | “THE GUYS ARE LOCKED IN.”
JULY 10, 2019
Head coach Devone Claybrooks says his players have bought in on a short week and are ready to take care of business in their big divisional showdown with the Eskimos on Thursday night.
Um. The reality was that the guys were not locked in. We were not ready. Not prepared. Out gunned. Out fought. Out planned. Out coached. Pounded. Embarrassed. Made to look like a team from a lower league, getting shellacked by a team from a higher league.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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WestCoastJoe
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https://www.bclions.com/2019/07/11/bake ... -6-edm-33/
“I hope so. Like you said, I don’t think it can get any worse than that”, said Reilly in an angry Lions’ locker room.

“That’s an embarrassing game. That’s one of the most embarrassing games I have ever been a part of. (We were) just getting physically manhandled, all 12 guys on the field, offence, defence, special teams. It can’t get worse than that. so it has to get better. It’s up to us to make the changes necessary and figure out how to get better.”
"make the changes necessary" -- Mike Reilly

"figure out how to get better" -- Mike Reilly

Thus far, necessary changes have not been made. And they have not figured out how to get better.
“We got our asses kicked in all phases and it was definitely not the style of football we want to play and not something anybody in this room can be proud of,” added Reilly.
“We’ve got two choices; either stay flatlined or get a hell of a lot better than we were tonight.”
“We’re going to have to do some self-reflection on ourselves as a staff and everything and we’ve gotta decide and determine who is executing and who is not,” explained head coach DeVone Claybrooks.

“If guys are not executing, this is professional football, so if they’re not executing then we’ve gotta revisit that and we’ll explore those options as well. It’s an embarrassment to us and it’s an embarrassment to our organization to put something like that out on film. You give up two touchdowns on some BS and then you’re still in the game despite all the things you’ve just played. If you just tackle, then we’re still in the game. That’s still on us. We’ve gotta tackle better.”
“Now we gotta decide on if we’re going to get up off the mat, dust ourselves off, re-load or feel sorry for ourselves and have a pity party,” explained the head coach.

“I know myself, I’m going to dust myself off, my staff is going to dust itself off and I know 80-90 per cent of the players are going to dust themselves off. We understand that. We’ve gotta rally together and we’ve got to stay together, especially in this trying time right now. This is one of the tipping points of your season. It can either rally you together or it can tear you apart. And if I’m a betting man, which I am, I’m going to bet that we’re going to rally and stay together.”
"80-90 per cent"

You better have 100% going all out, or it will just not work. To this fan, it sounds like cliches coming from DeVone. It is like his head is in the clouds, and the team is getting destroyed on the ground.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
Reggiemac
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Morale looks poor and tats on Clay.
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Belize City Lion
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If we were 9 or 10 games in and the Lions looked like the did last night, I would be saying they had quit on their coach. It's not likely that bad yet, but man few guys seemed to give 2 craps about what was going on. They were sleepwalking.

Reilly's body language was showing more than just frustration. He looked like a guy who was 3 months into a relationship with a woman he knew he should never had asked out in the first place. Now he's trying to make it through the date while figuring out how to dump her without looking like a jerk. He looked shell shocked at the end of the win in Toronto. At the time I thought he was just relieved that they didn't blow another one but now I wonder if that's the moment he questioned just how badly he screwed up by signing with BC?
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WestCoastJoe
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From Ed Willes in the Sun:
Things might get better before this CFL season is over, but right now the B.C. Lions are a poorly managed, poorly coached team whose players aren’t nearly good enough to compete with the CFL’s best.
Their issues are so deep and widespread, in fact, it’s hard to see a way out for this team as they’re currently constructed.
So where do the Lions go from here?

Well, they have eight days before they meet the Roughriders in Regina next Saturday and there will be changes. GM Ed Hervey’s plan to start four Canadians on the O-line hasn’t worked, and that’s putting things as diplomatically as possible. The problem is left tackle Joel Figueroa, the Lions’ best offensive lineman, went down with an ankle injury on Thursday night. His status was unknown after the game.

Elsewhere, right tackle Brett Boyko struggled mightily again and appears to be overmatched. The good news is the Lions have flexibility with their ratio. The more realistic news is they’ll have to use that flexibility to change the makeup of the offensive line.

Wide receiver Duron Carter is another player under the microscope. The former all-star, who was signed for big money by CFL standards this offseason, caught three passes on seven targets for 27 yards. The problem with Carter, as it’s been elsewhere, isn’t his personality. It’s his production. He was brought in to be a big-play threat and he hasn’t delivered.

Defensively, rookie end Mat Boesen went down with an undisclosed knee injury in the first half and didn’t return. You can add a pass rusher to Hervey’s to-do list.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
BeaverSports
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I still think your offence isn’t entirely on JJ. Reilly led the same predictable, ineffective offence to Edmonton’s demise last year. He needs to make quicker reads and vary the calls.

I don’t know if I get Stubler on D either. The bend-not-break defence has been replaced across the CFL with more aggressive schemes. I don’t think Claybrooks ran that in Calgary, did he? Or is it also that Hervey didn’t give them talent.

As much as some Esks fans worshipped Hervey, I still haven’t been convinced. It’ll be interesting to see what he does to fix the team.
JohnnyMusso
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I would cut Boyko. He cannot get it done. There is a reason he played very little these last few years and he is 27. He has to go.

I would bring back Rolly. They could use his leadership and likely would not cost them much to ask him to return.

I would cut Carter. He is lazy and to me has been a big disappointment.

Lastly, Jarious Jackson needs to be fired immediately.

What will happen? Nothing. They will make a few minor changes and give this group one more chance to rebound.

Changes likely will happen after the 2 Rider games. By then the season could be lost.
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David
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Check out this analysis of the game by one JC Abbott. This guy does a first-rate, bang-up job of capturing the on and off-field woes of Thursday's game under the dome.

I highly encourage all of you to read it.


DH :cool:
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SammyGreene
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David wrote:
Sat Jul 13, 2019 12:46 am
Check out this analysis of the game by one JC Abbott. This guy does a first-rate, bang-up job of capturing the on and off-field woes of Thursday's game under the dome.

I highly encourage all of you to read it.


DH :cool:
Excellent read. Also formerly known as "RatioBreaker" who did that fine job on the Lions' woeful o-line performance in the first Edmonton game as well.
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DanoT
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I have little to add to what has already been said, but for those calling for Jackson's firing, who would be his replacement and how does the new OC install a new O one third of the way into the season?

The only hope for the O is for Reilly to step up and take a more prominent role in game planning and play calling.
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Belize City Lion
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BeaverSports wrote:
Fri Jul 12, 2019 7:16 pm
I still think your offence isn’t entirely on JJ. Reilly led the same predictable, ineffective offence to Edmonton’s demise last year. He needs to make quicker reads and vary the calls.
Reilly threw for over 5,500 yards and 30 TDs in 2018. The Eskimos offence was hardly ineffective last season. He is on pace to throw for 1,000 LESS yards and 12 less TDs this year. The problem is not Reilly, it's the O-line and OC.
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