What did we Learn after the Winnipeg Loss

We learned what Coaching and a Great GM can do for an organization. Consider Winipeg was also struggling the past few years and hired MIKE KELLY who almost drove the team down into the ground.

The result of the game was clearly obvious in that from a physical standpoint BC was not in Winnipeg's league, all the fumbles, hard hits, and sacks, and speed mismatches were sickening to watch--

First of all we learned the following things --

1- REID and VALLI have no place in the CFL- There are better guys available whether it be import or even non import- These guys cannot match the type of athletes that Winnipeg and Calgary have. They are way too slow, not strong enough, and not good enough- This is a major problem for the team-

2-Fire Neil MCEVOY director of Scouting- The Lions have to understand to win in PRO SPORTS you need PRO COACHES and PRO SCOUTS-- MCEVOY is potentially the worst scout in the CFL- His background is with the local SUrrey Rams? Is this some kind of joke? Benevides experience is from HIGH SCHOOL To CIS to the LIONS? Is this some kind of comedy?
On the other hand look at Bombers defensive coordinator TIm BURKE- Coached the Alouettes to a grey cUP and best defense statistically- BURKE has spent over 20 years in AMERICAN UNIVERSITES such as PURDUE, Ball state, Tenn Chatanooga, this guy has been a DB coach and Defensive coordinator everywhere imaginable-
MCEVOY has clearly shown his only connections are local and with local CANADIAN running backs such as MESSAM, LEE, and ANDREW Harris--

3- Sorry to break the bad news but BRUCE is washed up- He has lost 2 steps on his SPEED, Hamilton knew this, watch the film when Bruce was with Toronto, then Hamilton, Bruce is not the same guy, he is average speed now-- He is 33 years old, and the db;s in the league except for BC are mostly around the 25-28 year old range- Plus Bruce is a stockier receiver who was a physical receiver with a good BURST-- That Burst is GONE-- I doubt it at 33 that the BURST comes back--
Not surprising as when you take others teams players you are gettting guys that are on the DECLINE-

4- 2011 Start of the Season to NOW- A good evaluation of a GM is how consistent his team is and how the ROSTER develops during the season-
Let's look at Winnipeg- How many new players have they added on Defense- 0 players added from opening day starting lineup-
Let's look at Winnipeg Offense- How many new players added on Offense- 1 receiver Clarence Denmark

I wanna know why so many BC players were CUT and why the Gm in this case WALLY missed so badly on evaluating talent. What happened with DOBSON COLLINS? Wasnt he a future star? Lulay is not progressing as he was supposed to. Stephen Black GONE- TRADED away Messam a future star likely- Where is Hyland? Why was Davis Sanchez a starter on the team in week 1 and then essentially cut after week 6?
What was Wally thinking starting so many rookie reeivers in the first place? Why is KAMAU INCOMPLETERSON on this team? He cannot catch and is OLD--
Kornegay was beaten so badly on a deep corner but was saved by LAROSE- I think that was the Lions first Defensive Knockdown of the season--
Who was responsible for bringing in TRAVIS WILLIAMS from east carolina? Was that the BRAINCHILD NEIL MCEVOY's find? Nice find as he was cut after 2 games lol-- WHy are they missing so badly on talent?

CALGARY has maintained the same lineup through the start of the season- The only way a BACKUP gets in is through INJURY-

Wally has to start answering some questions pretty fast here- Again BRALEY is now 2-12 combined-

5- Football is about consistency- The Lions have no consistency and are an OPEN REVOLVING door of faces- That is not the players fault that is the GM's fault-
NO other CFL team is making many changes, the Lions are in complete dissaray at this point-

I mean 119 yards to -5 yards in the 3rd qtr means 1 thing- Your team is clearly not a PRO TEAM, and if this continues no ONE is going to go to the games next season- BRALEY has essentially said Deal with it you are stuck with WALLY- Ottawa Roughrider GM told the fans the same thing when the team was losing and we all know how the Ottawa fans reacted to that Stance by Management-

Losing is not the issue here, its the complete mismanagement of the team- One with absolute NO FOOTBALL knowledge can Tell everything they need to know by Looking at the opposing team and then looking at the Lions team- Opposing teams are all much more muscular, Toned, Faster, Taller, Quicker, Meaner Looking, more athletic-- You can tell just by looking at the SIDELINES-

I was calling for the Lions to FIRE WALLY in week 2 because I saw this coming, this is only the Beginning, the Lions will regress even worse at this point as there is NO YOUTH TALENT on this team--

The LIons are in need of a TILLMAN type of REBUILD-- Or Wally will start putting adds in Craiglist-

Wanted- Football Players wanted for PRO team- Must have played High School football, NO age restrictions, Tackling not mandatory, Pro Experience an Asset especially if you have been CUT or released Multiple times by a PRO TEAM- Catching not mandatory-

Like serious this is how they are recruting- I would like to sit down and speak to BRALEY- People act shocked that this is happening- Its not a shock, thousands of companies go UNDER and DOWN the tubes with bad management-
Wally is a TOXIC leader with a ME FIRST attitude and will blame others openly, That is not what a REAL LEADER is all about-

IF I was BRALEY and this is what he needs to DO--

He needs to hire an INDEPENDENT EXPERIENCED former CFL GM or someone with a GREAT understanding of the CFL to come in here and Evaluate things-

This Independent evaluator would evaluate the LIONS and write a detailed report on the STATE OF THE LIONS- Basically the report would be something similar to my 5 or 6 writeups on the LIONS. It will detail the issues and main PROBLEMS and what is needed to CORRECT the team--

The Lions are not far off, in the CFL you can turn it around really quick provided you have the right PERSONNEL- Players will come, we need the RIGHT THINKERS in charge-

I may even perhaps print all my writeups and send them personally to David Braley in hopes that he reads them and sees the light- We deserve as fans a PRO TEAM- We currently don't have a PRO team on the field- Other teams are ONLY going to get better as we are DEGRESSING--

If we start OVER its our only chance- We cannot compete vs MUCH SMARTER coaches and organizations--

To show how things are consider if the Lions folded how many players coaches would land jobs with other CFL teams--

NO COACHES on the Lions staff would even make it as an Assistant Coordinator in the league- The phone would not be ringing off the hook for WALLY, for CHAPS, for BENEVIDES, Neil Mcevoy might get a call for the Surrey RAMS but thats about it-
Eliminean would get a call, Simon, Gore probably even though he cannot catch- Eric Taylor, Keron Williams, Mcallum and that's it-- The other players have either BEEN CUT this season by other teams or released- The rest are too old and slow like Phillips, Kornegay, Banks---

One player who looks to be a little resurgent is DANTE MARSH- As always I give credit where credit is due- This man has stepped his game up- He is at least on his man most of the time, and makes the receiver catch hard passes--
Good to see Marsh playing and trying hard-

So we have a team with about 6 players who would get picked up from other teams- Oh my that is just ridiculous--
TIme to clean house asap- Its the only logical solution here-

How about having your players concentrating on the game and Not talking smack .... Last game in WPG Paris Jackson guaranteed a win and the dude didn't even play, this week it was Brent Johnson and Bruce .... Seriously you thought trading for MR.EGO was a smart move? Reason we didn't resign him here is because that guy is so full of himself and always needs the spotlight (ADD perhaps) .... Well changing his name and running his mouth got him what? You don't need that crap on your team ... Just my observations

Blue and Gold Nation you are correct, good coached teams control their players. You don't see the Bombers, Als, or Stamps players making such stupid comments.

In BC there is NO CONTROL of what the players say or do, that is why ARLAND BRUCE fits in perfect here with BC. I agree BRUCE is not worth it, he is too old, too slow, and his play this season is showing he may be done.

On the issue of players giving guarantees that is not smart from a team that is 1-6 and clearly not a good team. The players need to focus more on football, and less with their mouths..

BC teams in general canucks included are known for being poor sports and terrible sportsmanship and a cocky attitude. That is why Paris Jackson feels the need to talk. Every player here in BC thinks they are amazing and they can do no wrong. GEROY does a superman pose after every catch it seems, and he talks a big game and claims he is the best but what happened yesterday when he went up against a super physical fast aggressive DB like HEFFENY? Well Geroy looked like a child out there trying to catch passes vs HEFFNEY--

Odell Willis walked the walk- He let his play do the talking on the field--

Paris Jackson should just retire and go on to his business ventures and stop collecting a pay cheque for doing nothing along with Davis Sanchez, brent Johnson, Dean Valli, Angus Reid, Kamau Peterson, Kornegay, Jason Arakgi, Ryan Phillips, korey Banks (not worth his salary)--

"I may even perhaps print all my writeups and send them personally to David Braley in hopes that he reads them and sees the light- We deserve as fans a PRO TEAM- We currently don't have a PRO team on the field- Other teams are ONLY going to get better as we are DEGRESSING--"

You have my vote Gridiron. However, I do want you to watch more Lions football games cause I've no idea where you get the idea that Geroy does his superman pose after every pass completion. He only does it after he scores a TD.

Getting back to your earlier comments about the coaching/scouting staff. After witnessing last nights fiasco I'm in your corner. I respect Wally, I believe he is a gentleman and has a proven track record but business is business and the CFL is in the business of entertaining. The field is the stage and the players are the characters. We go to the games to see what they have to show us. We get entertained or the fans get discouraged. Some even stop buying seasons tickets. It is all about selling a product.

If it is a mismanagement problem then for sure management needs to take the heat. Last night there were I think 5 fumbles by the Lions. I think they lost 4 of them. How do you coach that? But then again, maybe it has to do with the quality of the players fumbling the ball which comes down to the scouting personnel as you have suggested.

Last night a huge gain was wiped out because Bruce wasn't on the field when he was suppose to be or something like that. Coach's fault or player's? I felt Bruce's play was mediocre at best.

The Lions had a TD wiped out because of a holding call. What a price to pay! It could be argued that if it were not for the hold there may not have been a TD. Possibly but perhaps there would have been.

The game last night was not what I was hoping for. I was totally disappointed and frustrated by the way the Lions played resulting in the loss. They may still have lost regardless but to lose the way they did is frustrating. Winnipeg was by far the better team but B.C. is a better team than we saw last night. Just how much better I'm not sure.

What amazes me that of the 8 teams in the CFL, almost 40% have a record of 1-6. Almost 40% of the teams in the CFL have so far lost 83% of their games and the season is almost half over. It would really be nice to see some parity this year.

I never thought I'd see the day when a Wally Buono team would be mostly composed of other teams' rejects. Sanchez was washed up when he left Montreal. Acquiring Peterson and Bruce just reeks of desperation.

And I never thought I'd see Wally retain two coordinators who have consistently proven, again and again, that they aren't good CFL coaches. Since Benevides took over from Ritchie, has BC's defense ever been any good? Minus the year when a healthy Dickenson took the Lions to the Cup, has Chapdelaine had success running an offense anywhere in this league? I mostly remember him as the guy who turned Ricky Ray into a dink-and-dunk mediocrity. Now he's the guy calling deep corners and posts play after play with seemingly no understanding that most defenses are going to take away deep routes and force you to put together longer drives with underneath passes.

It's time for Buono to go. He's the GM and the head coach; the buck stops with him and he has failed to put together a quality on-field product, both in terms of players and coaching staff. I respect and admire all of Wally's past accomplishments, but much like Don Matthews a few years ago, he is out of touch with what it takes to succeed in today's CFL.

D&P~

I don't know how many "rejects" the Lions have on the payroll and I'm not so sure that acquiring a reject is necessarily a bad thing. Look what Buck Pierce is doing in Winnipeg. He's having a career banner year. Of course that could all change with just one more concussion. It appears that the Lions did well in acquiring Paul McCallum from Saskatchewan a few years ago. He was excellent last year and appears to be picking up where he left off. Montreal appears to have done well acquiring Sean White though maybe one would not think of Sean as a "reject". I'm using the expression in the sense of one team "getting rid of" another and that player being picked up.

I've not analyzed the coaching performance of Benevides or Chapdelaine as much in the past as I have this year, especially in light of what several of the more knowledgeable posters have been saying. They've converted me. Gridiron appears to really know his stuff though he does make one or two odd ball comments.

As far as making acquisitions is concerned and whether such players are washed up it may be that they're better than what the Lions had when it comes to filling in holes. It also could mean that they will fit in better elsewhere. But this may only be a band-aid approach rather than a solution. One has to wonder what kind of a team the Lions would be if they still had Wake, Logan, Smith, Mallet, and Arceneaux.

If people are convinced that a coaching staff change is what is needed because it will bring fresh thinking and make a difference in player performance then I'm all for it. My question is do you do it now in hopes of salvaging the season or wait until the 2012 season? And if you do it now who is available? Or...... do you go with the coaching staff you have presently and hope that it can take the team to the next level before it is too late?

I'm still reeling after watching the Winnipeg game. I've never seen a team come out of the gate with such authority and then fall to pieces like that. It is not like the Lions blew it. They simply were not in the game. More power to Winnipeg. They're on a roll. That would be a nice team to watch in the Grey Cup.

As far as B.C. is concerned I do hope they become the Cinderella story of the CFL for 2011 but at this rate it doesn't look that way. I just hope we did not see our one and only win of the season a few weeks ago when the Lions beat Saskatchewan.

It’s not so much signing other teams’ rejects, I guess. It’s more the philosophy. If Sanchez is your man, why has he now been replaced? They signed Peterson but didn’t play him early on; now he’s a fixture. Then they acquire Bruce. It just feels like panic, like Buono doesn’t have a plan and is just trying to patch things over with whatever ‘proven’ name he can find.

Ryan Phillips is too old to be a starter, yet he made the team. Robertson has lost a step, forcing them to go with other running backs. With Whyte, McCallum, and Pierce, the teams (BC included) made calculated decisions to bring in players at key positions to help out their squads. But it wasn’t a wholesale airlift. What confidence do the coaches have in the young receivers if the receiving corps is composed mostly of guys on the wrong side of 30? And if those acquisitions were better than you what you had in-house, what does that say about Buono as a GM?

Buono, Chapdelaine, and Benevides need to go, but I wouldn’t pull the trigger now. I would wait until the end of the regular season before canning them. A new GM with a fresh perspective is needed to rebuild this franchise. The new GM can then bring in a head coach who can hire his own people.

D&P~

I agree with you. It seems there is no middle ground. They are either bringing in guys who are past their prime both in age and in talent or if they do get a keeper they lose him to the NFL: guys like Wake, Arceneaux, Logan, Mallet. I have more questions than answers. I can see replacing Chapdelaine and Benevides and even Wally but it begs the question, would new coaches be able to do any more with the current roster than is already being done? If the guys are playing up to their potential then maybe that "potential" is simply not good enough for the CFL. Are there that many plays in the play book to make a significant difference or is it simply a case of the players just not having the talent to keep up with the CFL? Look at Saskatchewan. Is the coaching staff taking a siesta in Regina this year? The Rough Riders knocked off the league leading Stampeders to have a rematch against Montreal last year. The year before, Saskatchewan should have won the Grey Cup except for a brain fart. Have there been significant changes on the team roster from last year and the year before to plunge the Roughies into the cellar this year? And yet that is where they are.

The Lions it seems have a whole lot of problems to solve. It just isn't a QB issue. It just isn't guys who can't hang onto pin point passes or guys who for some reason don't understand that you must not fumble the ball. It isn't just Wally, Benevides, or Chapdelaine. There are a whole lot of individuals within the Club who have all in some way or another contributed to the Lion's poor showing. But I guess it's time to get the ball rolling and start moving some individuals out- but like you say, not this season but certainly after the season is over.

don't fumble/turnitover 6 times or you lose. no biggee.
maybe we should give up the safety instead of punting from inside our endzone and giving up td's.
otherwise this was in the bag baby.

Good posts Beaglebound and Disclipline and Punish-- Well thought out good thoughts in both of your posts..

I agree with Discipline that you make the change at the end of the season because this way it gives you TIME to actually look for that good GM and Coach who will transform the team to meet the current model of the CFl.

One thing that I believe has happened, is did WALLY all of a sudden become a BAD COACH and why are the Lions losing? I believe the answer lies within the FACT that the rest of the LEAGUE has brought in Better Talent on their teams in terms of Players and both Management and Coaches--

Remember before the arrival of Trestman,Huffnagel,Lapolice, that Buono was beating Calgary routinely with Tom HIggins, Winnipeg we beat them with MIke Kelly and Doug Berry as Coaches, we beat Montreal when they had Jim Popp as coach and Don Mathews. These sub par coaches and GM's are all gone and now we have seen Coaches and Gm's with NFL experience and more importantly NFL connections and NCAA connections-

As DISCIPLINE and PUNISH has stated the problem lies with Wally the GM- SInce taking over the GM he has missed really badly on many players who were let go and players who were brought in and then CUT or traded away. You simply cannot have that much turnover in any industry whether it be fast food, restaurant, corporate, university, industrial sectors. The band aid solution is never a good long term solution.

Wally is a good guy, he means well, however he is a Pessimist by nature, when the team wins he takes credit, when they lose he says its all the players. Football is like FAMILY, if a team is not close knit they will simply not peform well. You cannot be an effective leader if you are NEGATIVE in nature--
A friend of mine who played for Calgary stated that when CALGARY is losing that Huffnagel rallies the team together and says, I did not put us in the right positions to make plays, We will adjust and we will reload and we will come back and we will WIN- Hence the persistent NOTE TAKING that he takes during the game-- Players love it when the COach puts himself in front of the BUS for the TEAM, instead of blaming the players--

In reality Wally is somewhat justified in blaming the players as many BC players are not good enough to be CFL players, however HE RECRUITED most of them and signed them, so he should look at himself and realize he is accountable for bringing these guys here.

A key issue I see is the fact that when you look at the Lions Coaching staff and Scouting personnel, their previous experience is HIGH SCHOOL to Cis to the CFL--- Ever wonder why the LIons are good at finding good CANADIAN running backs like MESSAM, Andrew Harris, Jamal LEE, its because their SCOUT is NEIL MCEVOY whose previous experience was with the Surrey RAMS- This is a guy who knows LOCAL canadian players but does not have the AMERICAN connections-- Hence why we are stuck with aging Ryan Phillips, Davis Sanchez and have basically Brought in FREE AGENTS for almost all of our IMPORT spots such as KERON WILLIAMS, Anton Mckenzie, Eric Taylor.

Having watched College football for over 20 years and being familiar with the College game I can tell you first hand there are really good players in the states who can play for the LIons-- Winnipeg's backups are better than our starters, that is FACT- Winnipeg was playing with 2 backup D lineman and look what they did to our starters?

Boise State, Oregon, Tennesee, Florida, Texas all have players who are better than what the Lions have here. I am not sure if this Neil Mcevoy knows anything about the American College game--

The issue is that whoever is doing the EVALUATION for talent is completely FAILING at assessing talent- Dobson Collins was the next great thing and was cut in 5 weeks? Travis Lulay was supposed to be another DICKENSON , but Lulay for a PRO QB looks to me to be inadequate in many areas including deep accuracy, throwing on the run, release is too slow and footwork is poor in the pocket, his read progressions are slow also. I am going to the Lions practice tomorrow to take a closer look at the team and LULAY and will be able to see first hand how good he is.

If the Lions so desired I can assure you that I could find a list of potential players from the schools that I listed above that would be on the level of other CFL teams--
Its not hard, we are offering GOOD SALARIES, football players are hungry for jobs in the States, I honestly feel the LIons really take no EFFORT in scouting, as is evident by the fact that WALLY is perhaps one of the worst GM's in the league in the last 20 years--

We need to look at BENCH pressing 225 pounds and note how many reps players can do. The more reps one can do the stronger the player is and the better tackler he probably will be. Bringing in fast looking skinny players who may have straight line speed is not a RECIPE for success in PRO FOOTBALL--

How did that strategy work for the Oakland Raiders who have Track stars as receivers? Its football, we need football players not guys like Dobson Collins who are fast, but are not natural football playmakers.

Wally has fallen in love with speed, and in general the LIons are very undersized on Defense and slow on the O line and receivers are too old and too weak- How many YAC yards do Lions receivers get after the catches? Other than GEROY not many other receivers get any Yac yards--

If we are not going to use our BIGGEST and most physical RECEIVER AKEEM FOSTER, then why is he on the team- The man is huge, he looks like he could be used as a huge INSIDE short guy who could be a possession type of receiver, however we use him on DEEP DEEP passes which is funny.

Gore while he is fast, he is not ready to be our #2 option- Gore would not be starting in Calgary or Montreal or Winnipeg or Hamilton-- AT the end of the day GORE is shaky, he is fast, but he cannot catch it seems and he appears very RAW as a receiver but will improve in a few years--

What was Wally thinking going with only GEROY and 3 rookies at the start of the season? If they were proven rookies with a good College track record it could work, but Dobson Collins has been cut, GORE is really erratic and not consistent and Foster has only 12 catches on the season.

Gridiron, you make a great deal of sense in your posts and I enjoy reading them. Please do a favor and be more precise. When you make comments like the one I will highlight it drives me nuts:

One thing that I believe has happened, is did WALLY all of a sudden become a BAD COACH and why are the Lions losing? I believe the answer lies within the FACT that the rest of the LEAGUE has brought in Better Talent on their teams in terms of Players and both Management and Coaches–”

When you say the “FACT” is that the rest of the league has brought in better talent in terms of players, management and coaches how do you account for Saskatchewan and Toronto’s dismal 1-6 record? Saskatchewan has been in back to back Grey Cups these past two years. They were almost Cup champions in 2009. Now look at them.

By the way…what time do the Lions practise tomorrow? I might go and watch them myself.

Gore while he is fast, he is not ready to be our #2 option- Gore would not be starting in Calgary or Montreal or Winnipeg or Hamilton-- AT the end of the day GORE is shaky, he is fast, but he cannot catch it seems and he appears very RAW as a receiver but will improve in a few years-- by Gridiron

Excellent appraisal!

Sheesh, this thread has some long ones.

We might not have the winningest team but we certainly have the wordiest fans.

I don’t think there is any overnight fix. But I do think that better coaches would be able to get more from the current group of players. It might only translate to a couple more wins, but those extra wins could be the difference between making and missing the playoffs.

By and large, players don’t give 100% when they’re asked to do things they don’t believe in. It’s one of those dirty little secrets that nobody will talk about. But if your boss is incompetent and keeps putting you in a position to fail, you’re not going to give it your best effort all the time. We’re all human beings, after all.

I think back to the catastrophe of 2007 in Montreal when Jim Popp was an unqualified head coach and Marcel Bellefeuille was OC. We gave up a crazy number of sacks that year (65+, I believe), the offense was awful, and there were a number of people, myself included, who thought that Calvillo would and should retire at the end of the season. Trestman took over the same essential team the following summer and the rest is history. :wink:

If the guys are playing up to their potential then maybe that "potential" is simply not good enough for the CFL. Are there that many plays in the play book to make a significant difference or is it simply a case of the players just not having the talent to keep up with the CFL?
Well, as I think we can both agree, the problem is twofold (personnel and coaches/management). So fixing one isn't going to make everything better. That said, I have seen enough of Chapdelaine's playbook to know that it's not going to succeed at this level, and that the Lions, though questionable in terms of recruiting, aren't so lacking in offensive talent that we should expect nothing from them going forward. Regardless of the talent on your team, you simply can't keep calling deep corners and posts against CFL defenses that, in this day and age, have been trained to take away the big play until and unless you can change their mind by succeeding in the intermediate and short passing game.

Gridiron Guru made a point about Akeem Foster – he’s exactly the kind of bruising, Nik Lewis-type big body that BC needs inside as a possession receiver, in order to allow the ball control game to thrive. Why is he stuck at wide receiver, where his physical attributes aren’t maximized?

I also see very little complex pre-snap motion from Chap’s offense, not very many picks and rubs to allow receivers to come free in space without them having to dogfight their DB every second of the route. Those unstacked seam routes may be easy for Lulay to read, but they’re also correspondingly easy for defenses to defend.

Look at Saskatchewan. Is the coaching staff taking a siesta in Regina this year? The Rough Riders knocked off the league leading Stampeders to have a rematch against Montreal last year. The year before, Saskatchewan should have won the Grey Cup except for a brain fart. [b]Have there been significant changes on the team roster from last year and the year before to plunge the Roughies into the cellar this year? [/b]And yet that is where they are.
In SSK, I think Taman is part of the problem too, as he failed to improve his defensive line sufficiently. But SSK also has two new coaches (Marshall, Hall), unexpected long-term injuries (Hawkins at DE, Bagg and Koch at receiver), and significant departures (Fantuz to the NFL). BC doesn't have any significant injuries that I know of (please correct me if I'm wrong, though). The Riders are also going through some issues in terms of their offensive playcalling -- if you check out the Rider forum, you'll see a lot of criticism of Berry and his approach to offense and to Durant as a quarterback.
The Lions it seems have a whole lot of problems to solve. It just isn't a QB issue. It just isn't guys who can't hang onto pin point passes or guys who for some reason don't understand that you must not fumble the ball. It isn't just Wally, Benevides, or Chapdelaine.
Agreed, but if you could hold one person responsible here, it has to be Wally, because he is both head coach and GM. If every unit of the team is in trouble, Wally is accountable, because he built this team, and is in charge of coaching. If his coordinators are incompetent, that's on him too, because he retained them going into this season. If only one area of the team were a concern, I wouldn't advocate getting rid of Buono at season's end, but the underachievement of this team in every phase of the game points to a failure at the top.

Saskatchwan's problems are due to a severe drop off in talent due to the NFL and injuries and losing players in free agency and via retirement. Tillman built the SASK team very well and Taman inherited this team. Losing Steve Baggs, John Chick, Rey Williams, Eddie Davis, Marcus Adams, Scott Schultz, and Fantuz, Coke, Bagg is too much to overcome.

Sask was able to hide it last year but the fact that perhaps they have equally incompetent coaches like Ritchie ( I will play 15 yards off receivers Zone- HALL as a coordinator doesent bode well for SASK. People defend Hall and claim he has no pass rushers, while this is true to a certain degree it does not exuce the fact that his DEFENSE is completely not showing up for at least 1 half per game. You could argue that any COORDINATOR can look good in the CFL with pass rushers like WAKE, CHICK and BAGGS, thats a given, even a HEADSETLESS Wally could coach a defense with rushers like that.

Doug Berry must be Chaps long lost brother or they must talk during the week because they seem to run the same offense, they love the deep ball, and are trying to stuff it down teams throat play after play. You cannot throw deep deep corners anymore in the CFL because the safety is usually standing 25 yards off the ball playing CENTRE field- So predictably Doug BERRY and CHAPS say ok then we have to throw deep to the CORNER-- This might be the most predictable thing I have ever seen in football-- SASK runs 2 plays in BERRY's offense- Deep corner to DRESSER or GETZLAF or a screen pass--
Your QB will take viscious hits if you keep throwing deep because no O LINE in the CFL can hold protection that long and if your QB gets the throw off he will take a HARD hit from guys like ODELL willis and the CGY front 4---

Sask has a UNQUALIFIED head coach in Greg Marshall- He is not head coach material- ITs written all over his face--

Toronto although they have some decent talent are guilty of hiring pathetic COORDINATORS as well and A DUAL GM and head coach in BARKER-- BARKER has missed many challenges, and bizarre decisions-- Barker missed a challenge that IMO was a NON CATCH BY STALA when he dove at the 5 yard line and made a spectacular looking CATCH. However the ball hit the ground and was incomplete- Barker was wearing a headset but seemingly no one told him to challenge it? They should have someone watching on TV and have a DIRECT line to Barker to TELL him to challenge the play- I can bet you TRESTMAN or HUFF would have challenged that play--
Toronto has some good offensive talent for sure, LEMON is improving rapidly and is smart at reading and when throwing confidently he can get the job done I believe--
Beaglehound the Argos are struggling due to the fact their defense is allowing 35 points plus a game lately- If you ask me the Argos Defense is extremely overrated and they are doing what BC did and taking guys based on their REPUTATION and PAST accomplishments- I think they are getting too old on defense- I thought Jordan Younger was too slow 3 years ago and he is a starter? Has anyone seen BYRON PARKER making an INTERCEPTION this season? Kevin EIBEN has seen his better days?
The Defensive backs cannot cover very well either anymore--

THe Vaunted FRONT 4 of the Argos have been annointed this Great 4 with RICKY FOLEY- Kevin Huntley, Claude Wroten and Ronald Flemons- They all are BIG STRONG and look like NFL players-- However if you watch closely none of these guys can tackle at all-- They missed Ray many times and the dimunitive KEVIN GLENN was running circles around them looking like MIKE VICK out there breaking free of many sacks-- Its the truth, just watch the ARgos front 4 generated hardly any push at all, I cant recall them making a QB sack and a turnover. So in reality I believe the Argos Front 4 with these big NFl type FRONT 4 are not really good at this point- Every other team's Front 4 except for SASKATCHEWAN's are better, BC even generates more rush than the Argos--

A correction to my earlier post:

"I wouldn't advocate getting rid of Buono until season's end. The underachievement of this team in every phase of the game points to a failure at the top."

Chaps and Doug Berry's offense with the DEEP BALL is not working for 1 simple reason also. Both Durant and Lulay are simply NOT THINKING QB's.

Both Durant and Lulay are in need of QB coaches asap. Both have good speed, good arms, good characters, however they both lack the POLISH of a PRO QB--

TO throw deep in the CFL you need to be able to LOOK OFF defenders. The safety is standing in the middle of the field, he will go where the QB is looking. Durant and Lulay when they throw deep, they stare right at the receiver and dont even look anywhere else-- This is why the deep balls are not completed--- LULAY's interception to Heffney was a perfect example--
There was 2 bombers DB's vs 1 lions receiver-- Both Javon JOhnson and HEFFNEY were all over the Lions receiver- That is a mistake by the QB-- ANYTIME there is 2 db's on 1 receiver thats an error by the QB-- AND since Heffney cheated off his man to help JOHNSON why didnt LULAY see that and throw to the OPEN receiver that HEFFNEY LEFT?

The LIons coaching staff appears to be operating at a High School level these days--

Watch RICKY RAY, he knows how to look off safeties, when he throws deep to STAMPS and BARNES, its 1 on 1 and his guys make the catches- RAY looks off the safety by taking the SNAP and looking the opposite direction to MOVE the safety then he THROWS the other side to the 1 on 1 matchup-- Its nothing complex---

You dont see RICKY RAY deep balls getting intercepted, and he throws it when the coverage dictates it. The fact that Durant and LULAY stare right at receivers suggests they both need QB coaches ASAP--

It would make too much sense for Wally and company to review game FILM and notice these things happening week after week and identifying that teams are cheating off receivers. Instead Wally and his crew review game film and look at BC players who made mistakes so he can BLAME the players in the PROVINCE on MONDAY or tell PRESIDENT DENNIS its all the players fault and he is not on the field--

A deep corner is good for clearing the underneath routes , as teams will double cover the deep receiver-- Take the SNAP look deep to the corner, the defender closest to the play will leave his man as he sees LULAY staring at the deep receiver, then hit the open 15 yard receiver who will have at least another 15 yards of YAC.. This is how the CFL QB position is played--
You win with your HEAD, not your ARM--

Discipline I agree with Akeem Foster-- They should use him like they used to use CLERMONT--

This is a sure fire play and I cannot believe the LIons have not employed this play as of yet-- IT can work in the REd zone or midfield--

Put BRUCE and GEROY together on the short side of the field-- Have them both run Streaks where they run deep and straight through-- Have Akeem Foster from the other side delay and run that 7 yard Crossing route to the vacated side where BRUCE and SIMON were lined up. There should be no defenders there as they both went with SIMON and BRUCE, especially IN MAN to MAN defense which a lot of aggressive teams are playing-- If one of the short DEFENDERS stays at home then either BRUCE or SIMON is open in the SEAM, like we see in the NFl all the time- The QB has a window before the next level of defenders in this case it will be a deep safety-- Either way someone is open on this play unless the O line blows a coverage assigment.

This is a great play--- Not sure why the LIons are not running it?