BC DEFENSE--

BC Lions
#1

Watching ZAC COLLAROS play vs CALGARY, it became crystal clear to me --

Collaros pretty much had his way with the BC DEFENSE going 21 for 25 and dominating--

If you look at COLLAROS vs CALGARY he looks like a rookie--

The real truth about the BC defense is that it is actually one of the worst units in the CFL-- IT can play well vs teams in dissaray like Edmonton and WInnipeg but overall they are not a good unit--

Good units can easily handle rookies and not allow rookies like COLLAROS and Tanner MARSH to move the ball all over the field--

STUBLERS defense by scheme is among the worst in the CFL- BC is the only team that does not aggressivel attack the line of scrimmage and blitz the entire unit because their dbs like Ryan Phillips and Marsh cannot cover anyone-- Both PHILLIPS and MARSH were routinely abused by TANNER MARSH--

Keron Williams is washed up- he is way too small, I dont see Khreem SMith being as good as the TSN panel and commentors are talking about--

What I do see is a team that has a lot of people talking about how good they are--

You always hear this one-- BC defense is #1 in pass defense-
BC defense is ranked #1 blah blah--

You always hear some useless stat that convinces people that this unit is good- This unit is not good- JR LAROSE is the worst starting safety in the CFL-

The BC defense is basically 2 players- ELIMINEAN and BANKS-- BIGHILL is ok but he can easily struggle also--

IF BC does not generate a pass rush they will give up over 30 points every time and lose-

This talk about this CORD PARKS being the best corner that RICH STUBLER has ever coached is laughable- He got burned many times in the ALOUETTE game and if hes so good maybe he should be short side corner instead of wide side corner--

BC DEFENSE is simple- Attack the QB, and rely on the QB not being able to pick thier ZONE APART- WHen there is no pass rush, thier Defense does not work- Receivers are wide open vs this defense- Look at The last play in the ALS game, why didnt STUBLER send more pressure to make MARSH throw a quick pass?

Because STUBLER COACHES TO LOSE_ HE is scared and is not agrressive--

Okay and BENEVIDES is a nice guy, but for a head coach he is MAXIMUM a HIGH SCHOOL COACH at best_ He is way out of his league in the PRO GAME---- He knows nothing about offensive football which is clear since he took over look at the offense-
He does know something about defense, but he is not on the level of a CHRIS JONES -- Benevides and Stublers Defensive Philosophy is to make the opposing QB make the reads and beat their ZONE defense- What happens is that most QBs in the CFL cannot read defenses and cannot do it- BUt now teams are learning and are easily able to pick the LIONS defense apart-

The offensive futility is on BENEVIES- He has made no changes, He is not doing anything to make it better or bench LULAY-

Benevides is another TIM BURKE- He is not head coach material- The losses to CALGARY from the ridiculouos effort to beat CALGARY- I mean did he think they were playing the GREY CUP last week vs Calgary- He does not preach consistency, he picks and chooses which teams to play hard against and he has no clue how to get the short yardage team going--

It really shows that BENEVIDES does not know how to run a PRO PRACTICE and how to actually work on things in practice- I wonder if anything usefull is even being done in practice.

#2

Wait, is it BC's defense that can't be effective without a pass rush? Or just ... every defense since the dawn of time?

No D is going to work without a good pass rush.

As for Phillips and Marsh getting "abused" by Tanner Marsh, the latter completed only 14 passes against BC, with at least four of the deep-shot variety. So he chucked the ball up and some receivers made plays. I'd hardly call that getting abused. Or maybe you're forgetting the four interceptions and two fumbles BC caused?

And if you don't want Keron Williams, we'll take him back! :slight_smile:

Stubler's philosophy on D has always been the same. Zone match D and you have to be smart and patient to beat him. He's been consistently successful in the CFL as a DC, so he must be doing something right...

#3

After Wally left a lot of the EXPERIENCE and BRAINS behind the LION LEFT--

The combination of BENEVIDES and CHAPDELAINE and STUBLER is not a good combo- They lack football acumen and are not on par with other smarter coaching staffs--

They are routinely outcoached and do not understand the game enough to be successfull--

This is what happens, the team starts to regress and soon they get worse, and now its to the point that BC will be Calgarys little brother for a while now-- CALGARY is much smarter than us in the coaching.

#4

Im not sure why we havent tried KOREY BANKS at safety yet? 2 years ago we tried RYAN PHILIPS back there for a few games--

Since Baron Miles has retired we have not had a quality safety back there--

For some reason we seem to be completely unable to properly assess the safety position--

Tad CRAWFORD, Jr. Larose and Muamba are all NOT CFL CALIBRE safeties- They never make any interceptions, they all couldnt tackle- They basically are useless back there--

Im thinking its time to have an IMPORT at safety--- We need the stability on the back end---

#5

If you replace a NIP S by an IMP S, you have to exclude/play with less than an IMP player elsewhere. Where will it be/which position will play with 1 less IMP? WR? LB? OL?

Waiting for your answer.

Richard

#6

While I've often felt that the Lions have a solid D I cannot help but remember it was the D that allowed the Als to pull off an upset victory this past weekend. Though the offence wracked up 38 points, which is more than enough to win most games, it was the D that allowed a whopping 39 points by a team that was riddled with injuries and led by a 3rd string QB. What is that saying about the Lions D and the defensive coaching? In my opinion there is no way the Lions should have lost that game but they found a way of doing it. I take nothing away from the Als when I say that.

I agree with you Gridiron about Collaros, QB for Toronto. He "appeared" to play brilliantly against the Lions in their previous meeting and many thought "wow" where did this guy come from? And yet the Stamps in this weekend's meeting made him look mediocre. He really did look mediocre.

Somehow the Lions beat the Stamps a few games back. Did we out play them? Outsmart them? Out coach them. Or were they a little flat? I've no idea. But I do know that the Stamps beat an excellent Toronto team this past weekend and the Stamps did it without their star player Cornish. I figured without Cornish the Stamps would have struggled. The Argos losing Ray did not help the Argo's cause but it goes to show that perhaps Collaros is not everything he was cracked up to be.

#7

This is how BC does it on Defense--

They have played RICKY RAY, Burris, Durant, Calvillo, Pierce, numerous times, probably over 40 times each. So its clear that the BC secondary and Linebackers and D line understand where these QBS like to throw the football--

What happens is that BC doesent really play any Defense on the receivers- They play a ZONE defense where they rush 4 and hope that they get a good pass rush-- When the front 4 can generate a pass rush they leave ELIMINEAN in the middle to take away all the short dump off passes to the running backs and anything over the short middle--

Banks and Bighill are free to cover short inside on defense and sometimes BANKS covers the slotback--

The rest of the secondary already knows all the patterns that the RAY's, Durant's, Burris's will throw to.So basically the defense cant cover any single receiver- They just line up in a formation (zone) and rely on the pass rush getting there--

other teams that have real db's like Calgary- They line up man to man press coverage and run with the receivers downfield and are in their hop pocket- When is the last time you have seen BC even for 1 play line up 2 yards off the line of scrimmage and run with receivers--

So what happens is they know exactly where the RAYS and DURANTS want to go with the football- They know that RAY and DURANT like the deep corners, so they take that away- They then take the middle of the field away by parking useless defenders in the middle to basically just stand there-

So why do they struggle with rookie Qbs? Because they have not seen the opposing qb play they are not familiar with where they want to throw the ball- For ex- They are not sure if the rookie will go deep or short or a mix or deep outs--
Collaros and Marsh both went deep, ran a lot, the LIons didnt do thier homework on COLLAROS< they acted like he couldnt run, same with MARSH- They did not scout the QBS properly--

The sad reality is that MARSH is 23 and is from TEXAS- But I have always said receivers are so open vs the LIons but the QBS dont seem to find the receivers--- BUt when you bring in a QB who is willing to throw deep and short and run a bit, the LIONS are toast--
Lions are toast because they dont play defense- They just line up and stand in spots on the field-
Dont believe me? How many times do you see the SAFETY of the LIons come up to make an INT or a tackle or even a HIT? I have not seen 1 bone crushing HIT from MUAMBA or LEROSE the last 2 seasons- They have yet to come up from their safety spot and nail a receiver--

That right there says a lot about this defense-- This Defense is old- They cannot run- The secondary is primarly over 30 years old-
Stublers defenses are garbage- West final- Game 1 vs Calgary- Vs Collaros, Vs Marsh--

Wally is slipping- Despite fluking out a Grey Cup victory in 2011 when there was the worst competition in that season- Burris was benched haflway through the year- Edmonton was in rapid decline- Sask was terrible that year- Montreal was starting to SLIP that season- Winipeg lost 10 of thier last 12 games and backed into the GREY CUP- Hamilton was Hamilton-

Wally was premature in signing LULAY to the big contract- LULAY is not a 400,000$ player- He is just not that good- Its pretty clear he is not a good thrower- That is why his stats are weak- STATS DONT LIE and are telling the truth with LULAY-

Im predicting that LULAY will be the next PRINTERS-- Lulay will continue to struggle because he cant read the blitz and his football intelligence is very low- Lulay is not a smart QB period-- He is not developping--

Wally will CUT LULAY if this continues- WALLY will not pay LULAY 400k a year and accept these bad performances--

Again since LULAY has been here, he has not shown an ability where he scares other teams- Calgary, Sask, Toronto and now MOntreal are not scared of LULAY- they know they can shut him down easily-

The LULAY of today is exactly the same LULAY of 2010- He hasnt improved in any facet of the CFL game- Maybe the pressure is getting to him-

ALso its crystal clear that ANDREW HARRIS is a kick returner or a LARRY TAYLOR type of receiver for the LIons- Playing in vancouver Island vs skinny kids and amateurs is one thing but he is not a starter in the CFL---
Look at JOHN CORNISh adn KOREY SHEET, KACKERT, Cj GABLE-- Whats the difference here?

Cornish played at KANSAS who plays in TExas's division- Sheets played at PURDUE- played Ohio state michigan- Cj GABLE played at USC- Played oregon, ucla, stanford--

Harris played who? The Sanich Monsters? The Nanaimo Nobodies?

Andrew Harris is not a PRO CFL RUNNING BACK- Do you think for a second there is not better canadian running backs who played in the CIS and they didnt make the CFL-

We need an import running back- A big THICK LEGGED powerfull runner- Look at the top teams, they have physical powerfull running backs--
Harris is too small- His stats are because the league has film on him, and he has no power at all running-

#8

BENEVIDES will be fired at the end of this season-

Wally will need to find some new coaches-- Wally is getting lazy- He is not recruiting any secondary players- He is relying on the BANKS, MARSH, PHILIPS, combo to work every year- MEMO TO WALLY-- BRING IN YOUNGER SECONDARY GUYS- These guys are too old--

Also bring in some new O lineman- What is Wally thinking by thinking FAT OUT OF SHAPE players like Kabongo, Archibald, Valli and NOrman are going to work? Bring in some real LINEMAN Wally- Stop being lazy-

Also Wally for the love of god, bring in a SAFETY that can hit- Im pretty sure JR LAROSE and MUAMBA are 2 of the worst players in the entire CFL- THey are both complete rubbish and liabiities on the field.

#9

Question for BC fans who follow the team much more closely than do I.

Is Stubler running a 3/4 defence as his base set (as he traditionally has) or is it a base 4/3?

If it's a 4/3, who's at MLB between Elimimian and BIghill, and who are at SAM and WILL? Seems to me with the quality the team has at LB with Elimimian, Bighill, McKenzie, and Banks, a 3/4 makes sense.

#10

You really topped yourself with that slanderous and insulting tirade.

#11

Gridiron as usual makes really good observations game to game. He knows what he's looking for, but seems to over react on EVERYTHING.

#12

I don't agree with Guru at all, but:

The word you are looking for is libel (written), not slander (spoken).
Neither slander nor libel describes his post, which is just an opinion. You may not like it, but it's not libelous in any way.

Libel would be accusing Andrew Harris of being a wife-beater without any public evidence to back you up. What Guru is doing is offering (hysterical, overheated, at times comical) fair comment on a matter of public record. So, not libel.

#13

Any coach with a 6-3 record is likely to retain his job. 5 other coaches would love to be in Benevides position. BC defense is still one of the best because other teams are worse. BC defense is top in fewest yards allowed. Two most important defensive stats are points and yards allowed. As assessment, Points against is less reliable because it includes scoring by opponent when BC defense is off the field. Since BC offense often struggles, BC defense might be better than it seems to be.

#14

Why on earth would he be fired? He is presently 18-8. Only a Gridiron Fool would say such things.

Further, Collaros looked good because he took 1st team reps, and came off the bench against the Stamps. Some guys are great off the bench, some guys need first team reps. Watch him and pass judgement after he starts 3 or 4 games.