Good Win for Lions but improvement still Needed-

BC Lions
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This was a good WIN for the Lions beating SASKATCHEWAN. The Lions are clearly a better team than Sask who is clearly the worst team in the CFL-
What was impressive with the Lions is the EMOTION they displayed particulary with the PASS RUSH- Lions won 1 on 1 battles on defense and on offense with Simon, Gore, Robertson, all winning their battles routinely.

It was a good win for the team and there were some positives with the offense.

-Lulay actually was more decisive and throwing short passes faster and thus got easy completions all game for 8 yards.
-Receivers caught most of the balls thrown to them- Nick Moore looked smooth catching a nice short post route--
-Running Sean Gore in motion is a good play to run as Lulay has option to hand it off or keep the ball and throw or hand it to Robertson-
-Short yardage was effective-
-Macalum LEG is as accurate as any in the World these days-

I think the Lions can improve though in a few areas-

-Akeem Foster- This guy is absoutely ridiculously TALL- He looks about 6'5 and HUGE- I can't believe we are not getting the ball to this guy on quick screens or intermediate routes or deeper balls- This guy looks like he would be scary in the NFL with his size-
-O line did not play as well in the 2nd half and collapsed, the INTERIOR of the Line does not provide LULAY with a clean pocket to throw- Lulay rarely has time to set his feet and not look at the PASS RUSH- When the O line interior gets pushed back LULAY stops looking downfield and gets sacked and is staring at the RUSH which means no chance of a good play-

-Closing halves and starting halves have always been a problem with Benevides defense- SASK was shut down all game long but then SOMEHOW before the 1st half they allow SASK to drive down the field and get a TD- You need to close the half at 20-3 and cannot let them score a MAJOR-

-Lulay has to be more accurate on the deep ball- Teams are going to start adjusting now to the Lions shorter pass routes and if they run into a team LIKE winnipeg who will get into PRESS MAN COVERAGE Lulay has to make deeper accurate throws-

Ritchie Halls defense in SASK is all ZONE defense which is making every QB look amazing- Calvillo and RAY completely ripped apart SASK defense as did GLENN and Burris last week- So in reality this is the worst defense that BC will see this season-

The Defense is showing better pass RUSHING with Williams and Taylor playing better- Secondary is looking better now probably due to a better pass rush also-

Offensively I would like to see more pick plays being attempted and more intermediate throws, with our receivers and BRUCE in town, we can work the 15 yard area like we did last night with tremendous success- We must use Foster, Moore on the deep dig routes--

One last thing anyone see when SASK safety JAMES PATRICK blitzed early in the game on the 1st drive and LULAY outran him to the sidelines- That means LULAY is running in the 4.6 range in the 40 yard dash perhaps even faster--

ROLLOUTS? Why are we not rolling the SPEEDY LULAY OUT? Give him a rollout package to either THROW or run, I think Lulay might be the fastest QB in the CFL, even faster than Buck, he runs like a HORSE, super POWERFULL stride. Evidence is when he caught the Edmonton Db from behind after throwing an INT--
We must use LULAL on rollouts, it will make him more relaxed and easier for a young QB to rollout and throw passes--

Anyone notice since DURANT stopped rolling out this season he has been very average in the POCKET? Vince Young Mike VICK all use rollouts early in their careers so its EASIER to read the DEFENSE and gives you an OPTION to tuck the ball and RUN-

Lulay is improving in the pocket, but he could be absolutely LETHAL on the ROLLOUTS, because he has shown he can OUTRUN Db's and safeties which means no D lineman or linebackers will be able to tackle him when he is ROLLING OUT as he is way too quick for them--

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This was a good WIN for the Lions beating SASKATCHEWAN. The Lions are clearly a better team than Sask who is clearly the worst team in the CFL-

Not much argument there Gridiron but Saskatchewan did knock off Montreal back on July 24 and on July 30 Calgary did not exactly blow them out. They narrowly won by only 4 points. They cannot be that bad. Let's also not forget that before last night's game B.C. was the "worst" team in the CFL having no wins all year.

What was impressive with the Lions is the EMOTION they displayed particulary with the PASS RUSH- Lions won 1 on 1 battles on defense and on offense with Simon, Gore, Robertson, all winning their battles routinely.

What a sight for sore eyes. It was like watching the Lions of '06. Winnipeg isn't the only team showing some swagger.

Macalum LEG is as accurate as any in the World these days

This guy amazes me given his age. Unlike some of his counterparts when McCallum is within his range he's deadly. Add to that his accuracy in picking the sidelines inside the 10 yard line and it's an added bonus.

Closing halves and starting halves have always been a problem with Benevides defense- SASK was shut down all game long but then SOMEHOW before the 1st half they allow SASK to drive down the field and get a TD- You need to close the half at 20-3 and cannot let them score a MAJOR

Allowing the opposition to score almost any points in the last couple of minutes of the first half means an instant momentum shift. The opposition takes that into the second half. For a few minutes at the beginning of the second half I thought that was going to happen.

Lulay has to be more accurate on the deep ball- Teams are going to start adjusting now to the Lions shorter pass routes and if they run into a team LIKE winnipeg who will get into PRESS MAN COVERAGE Lulay has to make deeper accurate throws.

One of my biggest criticisms about Travis is that at times he seems to have tunnel vision and is unable to see everything going on compared to other more experienced QBs. He is thinking about a certain play and wants to complete it even though there are other guys wide open and his original plan is high risk/low percentage. I've seen it several times. Last year was a disaster in some games. I do not know if it is because he simply panics or it is a lack of experience. Maybe it's a cognitive thing. I'm sure this is going to change as he matures. Well, at least I'm hoping it does. Some guys can think faster like in split second time. This isn't something that can be coached.

The Defense is showing better pass RUSHING with Williams and Taylor playing better- Secondary is looking better now probably due to a better pass rush also.

What is the latest on Taylor. Does anyone know?

ROLLOUTS? Why are we not rolling the SPEEDY LULAY OUT? Give him a rollout package to either THROW or run, I think Lulay might be the fastest QB in the CFL, even faster than Buck, he runs like a HORSE, super POWERFULL stride. Evidence is when he caught the Edmonton Db from behind after throwing an INT--
We must use LULAL on rollouts, it will make him more relaxed and easier for a young QB to rollout and throw passes

Personally I think this needs to be balanced with the potential threat of serious injury. It will only take one significant tackle or cheap shot to sideline Travis. He's resilient but he's not infallible. Every time he scrambles out of the pocket it's open season no matter how fast he can run.

Anyone notice since DURANT stopped rolling out this season he has been very average in the POCKET? Vince Young Mike VICK all use rollouts early in their careers so its EASIER to read the DEFENSE and gives you an OPTION to tuck the ball and RUN

Watching the opposition try to bring Durant down is like watching someone try and take out a brick outhouse with a pea shooter! But the more the QB runs around or tries to make good yardage, with or without the hook slide, he sets himself up for possible serious injury. Yesterday, I watched how Buck Pierce escaped the vice grips of his adversaries. He managed to run the ball in all by himself for a major. It think it was a 50 yard run. It was a Kodak moment but man, what a chance he took.

Lulay is improving in the pocket, but he could be absolutely LETHAL on the ROLLOUTS, because he has shown he can OUTRUN Db's and safeties which means no D lineman or linebackers will be able to tackle him when he is ROLLING OUT as he is way too quick for them

I don't know Gridiron. You have a few thousand pounds of muscle to protect your QB. That's why they're there- to protect the QB and to open up holes for the run. I get very nervous when I see Lulay or any other QB running around like that. You're thinking Lulay will be able to outrun and out maneuver the opposing linesmen. Perhaps he can but unlike other players who can play with casts or have fingers taped together and still remain in the game, if Lulay gets injured he's out.

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Some good, well thought-out comments about the game. Nothing profound to add - just happy to see a W; happy to see Geroy have a great game, and happy to see the D step-it-up - especially in shoring-up the corners. Gore is sure emerging among the newer receivers as a keeper. I wonder if the signing of Bruce might spell the end of Paris Jackson(?). Travis looked good at times, but appears too nervously aware of the pass rush; it distracts him too often from reading his receivers. Cavillo, Ray, and Pierce have a lot more experience, sure; but they’ve learned to take the hits to get the pass off. Travis seems to over-react - too often dodging than reading. I remember Geroy alluding to that last year - subtly commenting something to the effect of wanting the quarterback to “…have confidence in his receivers”. However, I do think that trust is growing, and can’t wait to see what difference Bruce’s presence might make within a couple of games. I was a bit surprised that Brown wasn’t used more in the running game; I thought the previous game revealed some hidden potential. One more thing: I stand corrected re my comment a couple of weeks back about the crowd being a sellout. Sorry about that, but truth is, I wasn’t at the game; it was called that by one of the sports reporters, and I just took his word for it.
Well, here’s to a great comeback in teh weeks to come! Here, here!!

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Good to see you again Pastasteev. Don't worry about the "sell out" comment. Most of us knew what you meant. The sports reporters don't get it right all the time and sometimes tend to exaggerate.

Tim Brown as Wally has said is one blocker away from breaking his punt returns wide open. This guy is built like a small tank. He packs a wallop when he runs. I think we will see some great stuff from him.