Which side of the ball are you most worried about? Offence or Defence?

[David]

Some may see it differently, but for me it's offence. I'd say we arguably have more talent on that side of the ball but no cohesion, a suspect O-line, few dangerous weapons to throw to, and an O-coordinator that seems patently unable to cover up any of our shortcomings.

D isn't ideal and yes, I can show examples of shoddy tackling, but for the most part they are in the right spot. They aren't getting torched deep too often and seem to gang tackle well early in games (before some 2nd half lapses that I at least partly attribute to so many 2 and outs on offence).


DH

[SammyGreene]

Offence for sure. Probably the highest priced unit in the entire league and nowhere near worth the value.

[WestCoastJoe]

Cannot pick just one area to worry about.

O. Fail. Receiving corps not top level, or even near it. O Line? "This is another fine mess you've got us into, Ollie."

D. Fail. No pressure on QB. Breakdowns in coverage and tackling.

STs. Fail. Very big returns by Jackson. I expect we will still be vulnerable to trickery.

I thought Maas actually called off the dogs. They could have gone for it on 3rd and 1 at least twice more. They were steam rolling us on short yardage.

Most worried about? Leadership. Claybrooks does not crack the whip. The team is loose as can be, unguided almost. And it looks to me like the players have given up on the coaching staff. It looks to me like the players can smell a very bad season in the making.

Can a miracle happen, and the season gets turned around? I do not see how that can happen. 5 games in. 1 and 4. All games basically stinkers.

If a miracle happened, as may have happened in 2011, this fan would be as happy as any long time fan.

[B.C.FAN]

Definitely offence. All units have made too many mental mistakes but I have more confidence in the defensive personnel and coaching.

[KnowItAll]

which ever side the lions are on

[TheLionKing]

Tough choice

Defence: can't tackle worth a hill of beans, no pass rush. Eskimos killed us tonight with screens and passes to the flats

Offence: what pass protection ? Questionable game plan. The book is out on how to defend the Lions. Bring heat, bring more heat. Jackson has no idea how to neutralize the blitz

Special Returns: no returner. Poor coverage. Tonight the Edmonton returner gain some huge yards by reversing the field and catching the Lion defenders out of their lanes.

[Dusty]

I say Defense..... primarily the lack of a pass rush. There is no pressure on the opposition QB who has time to go through all his reads..... hells bells, last night Harris had enough time to chug a beer AND go though his reads before throwing the ball.....

I agree that the O-line has "issues", but if we had a better pass rush, we would not be relying on the linebackers being in a 10 yard deep zone on second down and rushing just 3. We would not be picked apart and lose the field position battle.

BTW, Dozer is a keeper.

[Toppy Vann]

The poll might have had an option for both and even all of it including coaching and STs.

As WCJ said above, this could have been worse as I agree that Jason Maas on several 3rd downs etc could have rolled on.

COACHING

Not sure why the OC has had such an easy time of it from his HC whose defences typically had no problem beating the BC offence and play calling.

Not sure yet how to describe the HC's philosophy other than he's a delegator and thus a talent developer as that is the model he worked in in Calgary as a coach there. That was one of the reasons Dave Dickenson gave when he promoted internally his new DC.

I'm not seeing Jarius Jackson's offence open to any new ideas nor play call suggestions as he's so predictable in his use of the run. It's like he tolerates versus uses to fire his offensive line up and give them success.

We're even worse on pass blocking as the QB we have isn't much of a runner at this stage of his career than we were with the high risk Travis Lulay or Jennings.

OFF STRUCTURE, OLINE AND PLAY CALLING - get that working better. Use two backs more consistently.

Get Nik Lewis and Drew Tate more involved in play calling. Nik is on the sidelines no head set.

DEF:

Start benching those not making tackles on DEF.

Get a pass rush.

STs

Fix the coverage problems.

[Don Miller]

Both sides of the ball are an issue. OLine not good enough Boyko is not ready for the CFL with the yard away. Horrible tackling no wrapping up on defenders. Linebacking crew much weaker than last year. NO pass rush. Our De's are not getting it done. Jackson should not have been maintained as OC. He was at best an average QB who didn't read defences well. Big changes need to be made. HC is green as grass and obviously not hard enough on his players. Sask will not be an easy place to play and they get them back to back. Hervey better find some replacements and soon.

[mws]

I’m worried more about the decision making upstairs, not paying to keep Bighill, letting Roh go, letting Solly go. Admittedly, I’m just a fan and know nothing but I just don’t get Hervey’s mind set. Perhaps you knowledgeable members can riddle me this.

[swervynmerv]

Three things worry me as I sit down an watch some CFL a doubleheader:

1. Does anyone think we are actually better than the team we had last season?

2. Montreal looks like a better team than the Lions right now. Let that sink in for a moment. Thank god for Toronto.

3. We go into a home an home with the Riders who are led by Cody Fajardo who was nothing more than 3rd string, short yardage guy for us. That should be two “almost guaranteed” wins. I say almost cause in the CFL anything can happen.

Credit to Fajardo, he has played OK against some lesser teams, but if someone had said that the Lions led by Mike Reilly would be playing home and home against the Riders with Fajardo as their starter I would have been expecting two blowouts.

Such is the state of the Lions right now I don’t know if the offence is gonna stink this week or if the D is gonna make Fajardo look like BLM.

[CardiacKid]

Offense.
I don’t think it is a coincidence that the team fades after the half. The defence is overworked due to lack of possession.

But IMO, this team has the stink of a locker room that simply doesn’t give a f*ck what coaches or leaders amongst the players say.

Checked out. Gone home. Last one turned out the lights.

[B.C.FAN]

Hughes beat Foucault again for a strip sack.

[KnowItAll]

cant remember a worse lions team. Maybe back in the 70s sometime