Jim Mullin
CFL.ca
Wally Buono has solved a myriad of problems by selecting Travis Lulay as his starter for Saturday night’s game at “Tempire” Stadium.
The doubters will no doubt point to Lulay’s three starts without a win early in the season and his underwhelming, non calamitous relief effort against Calgary, as a reason to keep him parked on the bench.
However, the Lions opened the season with a supposedly revived Casey Printers at the helm as the anointed number one who win games. Now, the Lions have realized that it’s about not losing games.
Big difference.
The key thing is that Lulay didn’t look completely incompetent. He looked like a solid game manager, in the same way Cleo Lemon has when he’s on the winning side of the ledger with the Argonauts.
Incompetence came in furious bursts from the now-benched Casey Printers. He frustrated all who witnessed his two fumbles – one in the red zone and another in the shadow of his own goal posts – at McMahon before he got the hook. Fresh in the minds of many was his fourth quarter turnover fest, when he drove the team off the cliff against Hamilton.
With Printers, it doesn’t matter if he throws for throws for 312 yards and two touchdowns – like he did against Hamilton – if he’s forgotten the basics of protecting the football.
Printers is a big play, out-of-the-box, break the system and make things happen kind of quarterback. When he tries to stay in a collapsing pocket and second guess his instincts, he’s dead in the water.
Printers at his best is not a game manager, he’s a wild card.
You use your wild card off the bench, when you’re trialing in a game.
Lulay may be the future for this team. He has been close, but just a play or two off as a starter. He reminds many in these parts of a younger, more durable edition of Dave Dickenson. In fact, Dickenson hails from Montana, while Lulay ran the show at Montana State a half generation later.
There is no better way for a developing pro to advance his game – especially a quarterback in the Canadian game – by facing live bullets in real time. And it’s not like he’s a rookie, either. Since 2006, he’s spent three years in the camps of the New Orleans Saints and the Seattle Seahawks, and played in NFL Europa.
The Lions defense, special teams and supporting cast were all outstanding against Calgary. If they can keep that up, they can still win with a guy who only throws for 175 yards, as long as he protects the ball.
If Buono plays this right he might actually have a good one-two punch. Do not forget that Jarious Jackson has slowly been on the mend and he happens to sport a 14-8 record as a starter.
If you’re in the ‘Dad’ position like Buono is, ask yourself this question: ‘Do I give the keys to the son who drove the family car into the ditch twice, or the son who carefully got home and took the learners “L” off his back bumper?’
The Great Haji Returns: The Lions will use their seventh different offensive line combination in 10 games. Sherko Haji-Rasouli returns at right tackle for his first regular season game of the year. Haji-Rasouli injured his knee in the final exhibition game of the year against the Edmonton Eskimos at Empire.
Close but not Quite: In games where the margin was seven points or less, the Lions are 0-5 in 2010. Lulay started in two of those games which were lost late in the fourth quarter (in Edmonton and in Toronto).
Take it to the Banks: Korey Banks has forced a turnover in four of the last five games with two interceptions and three fumble recoveries and over six of the last eight games has either a fumble return and/or at least one QB sack.
Safety Second: Safety David Hyland has been activated and Tad Crawford is out. Hyland set an NCAA I-AA record at Morehead State with 62 career pass break ups.
