Lulay, Defense Outlast Game Bobmer Squad

BC Lions
#1

While few would say it was an oil painting, I guess a win is a win is a win. We get the bye this week to heal some bumps and bruises and get guys like Moore healthy for the next game: at home to the Stamps on August 17th. So far, the Lions have beaten Edmonton twice, Winnipeg and Toronto once. That's food as far as it goes, but kind of like kissing your sister. "I still, haven't found what I'm looking for."

In the next six games we start at home to the Stamps, go on the road to Montreal, play a back-to-back with Hamilton, home to Montreal and meet Saskatchewan for the first time in Mosaic. Plenty of opportunities for wins in that stretch.

The last six games sees the Leos playing western opponents in five of those games. First they go on the road to Winnipeg, back home against the Riders, two weeks on the road to Calgary and Saskatchewan an finish up with two home games against Edmonton and Calgary. This stretch is where we'll find out whether the 2013 Lions are contenders, or pretenders.

You might say:"Well, we can slide into the playoffs in third place, with Edmonton being so bad." Well, maybe, but what we want is a home playoff game, in BC Place.

Areas where the Lions must improve going forward, if they hope to beat Calgary, Saskatchewan or both in the playoffs::

  1. Better pass protection and run blocking
  2. More success reading and reacting to the blitz, especially up the A-gaps
  3. Have the QB run the ball a bit more, to keep the defense off-balance
  4. Catch the damn ball when it's thrown to you. Harris dropped two catchable balls against the Bombers
  5. Better run stopping on first down
  6. Get Keron Williams going
  7. Better punt and kick coverage
  8. Break some big kick returns, maybe using Isi Sofele and reduce blocking fouls
8) Take the physical game to the opposition
  1. Less predictability in our offensive play calling
  2. Make the blitzes count, by wrapping up the QB
  3. Tackle, don't just hit someone and hope they'll go down
  4. Better first down production
  5. Better red zone production

Some may say that's a kinda tough assessment. I don't. All of these things I've identified have been, to one extend or another, areas of inconsistent play this year. They are costing us yards, points and field position. Not to mention adding grey hairs to coach Bene every day.

What do you guys think?

Dooger in Surrey :cowboy:

#2

Also when a team is crowding the line of scrimmage like Winnipeg was we have to stretch the field and stop trying to get just the 10 yards needed for a first down-

Furthermore BENEVIDES has to decide whether he has CONFIDENCE in the SHORT YARDAGE unit or he doesent- He is inconsistent in when he goes for 3rd and 1 and when he decides to kick-- Too many times iMO he decides to kick where other teams would just go for it and get the 1 yard needed to move the chains--
He did it vs CALGARY in game 1 and then also vs Winnipeg in the first half where he decided to not go for a MAKEABLE 3rd and short--

Also Benevides needs to be more aware of the CLOCK and dont snap the ball with 17 seconds left on the playclock in the last minute of play- This was a huge error- There is no EXUSE for such poor decision making by the long snapper- THE ONE thing that the coaches should be screaming to the long snapper is SNAP THE BALL with less than 5 seconds on the playclock-

Also we need a more MENTALLLY stronger PUNTER and FGOAL KICKER_ Macalum has provided us with great service but I feel that his time is done now, and ONEIL should be the kicker- I dont like MACALUMS body language and he is very prone to choking when he is OFF-- Last game missing fgoals left and right and then punting 10 yarders--

I watched SOFELE play, he is twice the player that TIM BROWN is- Its clear that BROWN is not fast anymore and is basically useless out there-- Why do you think hes not on offense anymore- When the LIons were at their best they would use BROWN as a running back with HARRIS and give him some carries- BUt now he gets none becasue I feel he is finished-

I think in terms of upgrades these are the key positions that need help--

We need an intimidating SAFETY out there- I have not seen LAROSE hit anybody this season- hes not bad, but not great either- I would like to see a solid import safety out there who is a PLAYMAKER_ LAROSE is not a playmaker- A good hitter and playmaker back there would hide some of our weaker non physical dbs that we have--

We need a better pass rusher- Keron Williams is getting older and is less effective without KHALIF MITCHELL taking a double team-- I am not impressed with Jabar Westerman basically, I dont see any push upfield much- Kreem SMith also is not getting any sacks-- Eric TAYLOR is getting old also ---

We also need a better halfback in there- The combo of JOSH BELL and RYAN PHILIPS has to be the worst starting combo in the CFL- Neither of them are good cover guys- You could see even vs WINNIPEG that if the blitz didnt get there that Winnipeg receivers were getting open easily-
When you watch a guy like BELL or Philips try to cover teams when BC doesent have a pass rush its downright ugly- In the game vs CALGARY and at TORONTO the LIONS did not have a pass rush and receivers were running open all day vs the LIons in both of those games--

We need 2 running backs in the backfield - Harris and Sofele and then LULAY also is an option to run- We can run that misidrection play where one of the running backs runs wide and LULAY has the option to run throw or keep- The read option basically--
When we have HARRIS in the game as are our LONE BACK we are predictable and we are not moving the ball much- This way with SOFELE in there we can also use Harris as a receiver from the backfield where he can get into open space-
Memo to BENEVIDES- Harris is not Jerome Messam, stop trying to run him up the middle for short gains- Get him outside where he can make people miss more- Use SOFELE- HE was a stud at CALIFORNIA and has fresh legs unlike TIM BROWN-

Also this KOREY WILLIAMS looks like a good receiver,better than he was a punt returner- Watching him last game, he looked pretty comfortable, Has good quickness and looks like he belongs out there- HIs TD catch was amazing-
He was an ARENA all star, he had 1200 yards receiving in ARENA football- I think this guy should be in the lineup, because who knows he could be another TERRY VAUGHN out there for us- We have too many receivers who are the same size- All 6 feet to 6 feet2, and I think we could use the slippery and quicker KOREY WILLIAMS on different routes--

Also get the ball to ARCENAUX on the end around at least once a game where he can run it wide with his speed--

ALso get GHORE the ball more, he catches it every time and good things seem to happen when LULAY throws to him, he also seems to be able to get open DEEP when he goes deep- Not sure why we dont throw to GORE deep more?

#3

Finally I believe to be successfull vs other top teams we need to ATTACK all 9 zones in this league--

Currently BC attacks only 6 zones--

They throw short to all 3 areas of the field and also throw to all 3 intermediate areas of the field--

However they are not throwing too many deep balls to the middle or to either corner of the field-- This is critical as teams will figure out that CHAP BALL is about hititng the intermediate 3 areas and the short 3 areas-
What will result is teams BLITZING us and dropping linebackers into the intermediate areas and DBS squatting on the 10-18 yard areas where they know BC will throw the ball-

With all the speed we have in ARCENAUX, GORE, Taylor, Williams now, I am not sure why they are not throwing deep more- You have to make defenses respect the deep ball to make the intermediate game work-

We need more corner routes from the slotbacks- We also need 1 or 2 deep balls to the wideouts and also some deeper throws down the seams-- We are not stretching teams out deep enough--

#4

I move that we put to a vote the following:

Dooger for virtual Lions Head Coach
Gridiron Guru for virtual Lions Offensive Coordinator

...Seconded!

All in favor say Yey....

:thup: :thup: :thup: :thup: :thup: :thup: :thup: :thup: :thup:

Opposed?

Congratulations Dooger in Surrey! Congratulations Gridiron Guru! Well done to the both of you. All that remains to be seen is whether or not you guys can work well together as a team. :rockin:

#5

IF this could really happen I'd vote in favour just to see how much of a disaster it would turn out to be in placing arm-chair coaches into real coaching positions.