Offense without SIMON

BC Lions
1

Simon is a great hall of fame player and as great as he is at drawing couverage and attention from opposing defenses I think its clear in the losses that he was LULAYS main target as LULAY did not see the entire field and forced the ball to SIMON.

Yesterdays game was a perfect example. Young promising guys like GORE who are the future and also very good at this point are not getting the ball when SIMON is in the lineup.. IN MY OPINION one has to look no further than SIMON's persistence and insistence to NOT MISS a single regular season game--

When Simon gets hurt he is going way overboard attracting attention to his injuries. When Jamal RIchardson was hurt, it was quiet, you dont hear much news, when SIMON gets hurt all you hear is ME FIRST media reports from SIMON-- I'm going to play, I;m not missing a game, etc- Then you hear about DETAILED plasma replacement treatments and all this special medical treatment he is receiving? Name me another CFL player that gets their injury status reported daily in their local newspaper and on TSN? This strikes me as a ME FIRST MOVE and not good for the team--

ITs clear that a receiver like SEAN GORE is very good and IMPROVING, also a guy like ERNIE JACKSON needs more touches, even NICK MOORE looked very dangerous in SIMONS spot-- Now its pretty clear that with the depth on our team that SIMON knows if he misses a game he may not find his place back in the lineup when KIERRE JOHNSON comes back from injury and a guy like NICK MOORE who is much younger can replace him eventually..

I just find that the attention should not be on a single player and on the team, in this CASE I BELIEVE that in the huddle that LULAY feels OBLIGATED to throw the ball to SIMON becauase of his arrogance...

Look at BRUCES productivy when SIMON is not playing, look at GOREs also? Every other receiver has good games when SIMON is out of the lineup---

SIMON can help a team but he is no more than a 3rd receiving option at this point in his career-- He could be a 4th receiving option on BC after BRUCE, GORE, JACKSON OR JOHNSON are all better targets than SIMON is.

I feel that LULAY's struggles have been as a result of a combo of poor O line protection, SIMON demanding the ball and forcing LULAY to not spread the ball around--

Notice in all games that LULAY has struggled he has targeted SIMON as the main receiver-- IN games where the ball has been spread around and SIMON has either been hurt or not targeted the LIONS have played well offensively and won the game--

Im not pinning all the losses and problems on SIMON, but its clear that the LIONS have good receivers but when you focus on a 36 year old DECLINING receiver as your main target and ignore stars like BRUCE GORE JACKSON and JOHNSON.

Thoughts?

2

Thoughts on the win vs the ALS----

Tim BROWN is amazing, he may be our single most dominant offensive player, he is instant field position, he is good when he is used as a running back also…

Lions defense played well especially the linebackers… A concern is still the bad tackling by the secondary… MUAMBA cannot tackle, Banks and Phillips can be burned if the pass rush does not get to the QB–

Front 4 played well as they dominated the ALS o line–

Receivers all played well and all stepped up-- It was a balanced attack and they mixed in good runs by Harris also… LULAY played well when he spreads the ball around…

Im thinking our only real weakness is at HALFBACK-- Both Banks and Phillips cannot cover other star slot receivers, this will hurt us when our pass rush is not in full force-----

Full credit to the Lions for the win, as when they are spreading the ball around they are dominant–

WHEN JOHNSON comes back from injury what are the Lions going to do??? SImon JOhnson and JACKSON probably wont all 3 play on the same time… Who sits? OR does Foster sit down and then JACKSON JOHNSON and SIMON can all play, but then the import ratio has to be adjusted–

3

“Tim BROWN is amazing, he may be our single most dominant offensive player, he is instant field position, he is good when he is used as a running back also…”

Gridiron~

What games have you not been watching? Only in the last game or two has Brown actually done serious damage to the opposition. I have been disappointed in his play all year. When he is able to break out returning a punt or kick off he is lethal but in most of the games the opposition has been able to throw a wet blanket on the guy where his gain is either zero or less than 5 yards. This has been happening repeatedly. He has not been giving the Lions instant field position. Not by a long shot. if I picked a most dominant offensive player it would be a toss between Harris and Bruce.

4

Gridiron~

Your comments about other receivers Lulay can go to has merit. I agree. Gore, Bruce, E. Jackson, Moore and Iannuzzi are great receivers. Simon is still a threat but I do not think it is always Lulay's decision to go to him nor do I think Simon is always the best choice. I would not agree that the media exposure Simon is getting is because Simon is always talking abouthimself nor do I think he's full of himself. He gets the exposure because that sort of news sells and generates ratings. Though he is 36 he holds the record for most passing yards, will be going for his 100th TD reception and is working on setting the record for pass receptions. Correct any of the above as I've not verified it but I think I'm correct. When a guy like that gets injured the media is going to stick on my like a fly to honey. Simon may be slowing down but he is still considered a premier receiver, he can still do some serious damage and he is still big news.

Can the Lions still use Simon? You bet. Trade him to another team and he will do damage to the Lions D. Can the Lions get into the Grey Cup and win the Grey Cup without Simon? In my opinion, absolutely. They proved that yesterday by demolishing one of the best QBs in the business a team that may well get into the Grey Cup in 2012.

5

BC Lions love playing mind games by spreading false news to give confidence to opponents. Despite being injured, Simon repeatedly reassures the media that he would return. No surprise when he didn't return to rematch as planned.

6

Gridiron Guru, that analysis of the character of Geroy Simon was nothing more than baseless slander.

He responded to questions about HIS health and HIS prospects of playing and gave an answer from HIS perspective as asked.

The order of QB reads are dictated by the play called by the OC, not Lulay.

That the Lions have talent beyond Simon is unquestioned and this injury gives the other guys a chance to show that they can be given more prominence in the receiving game. That's football and has always been the way it works - prove that you can be reliable AND capable of the big play and you'll get the ball.

7

I think "guru" needs to lie down and rest a while, he is seeing conspiracies everywhere..

Like any other pro QB, Travis Lulay tries to get the ball to wherever the weak spot in the defence is. The simple truth is that every defence leaves part of the field uncovered on every play, and they try to double cover one or two opposing players on every snap. What is quarterbacking 101? Start with a good play called by the offensive coordinator, get up to the line and make as good a pre-snap read as possible, then go through the progressions until someone is open. In the first second after the snap the QB is looking to see if the defence did what he thought they would do in that formation. If so, get the ball away as quickly as possible and always throw the rock away from coverage, eve if your receiver has to catch it behind him a bit. If nobody's open, run out and buy time to try to improvise a play and hope your receivers are coming back towards the quarterback. Trying to feed one receiver is something the QB and receiver might talk about during the week, but when the game starts QBs focus on finding the open guy, the guy sitting down in a zone, the guy who had his DB trip and fall, the guy quickly going to the middle if there's a safety blitz..

As for Simon, he is at the stage of his career where he uses his experience and depth of understanding of the offense to make plays, now that he can't get behind those 25 year old halfbacks nearly as often. So he is less a big play guy now, as evidenced by his not having a single TD pass in the first half of this season, and more a possession guy Lulay would look to to make a big second down catch, move the chains, chew the clock while keeping guys like Calvillo and Ray off the field.

Great effort by the guys on Saturday afternoon, as they kicked the holy sh#t out of the Als. The visitors from la Belle Province looked so discombobulated by the end of the third quarter that AC was missing guys by fifteen yards. My advice to the Als: next time you see a road game in BC: "save the cost of the air fares and just mail us the two points".

Dooger in Surrey :cowboy: