Sep
Jackson – Simon finding groove together
Courtesy Calgary Herald:
The Pose is something you only see in highlight reels from the past.
And if there is a knock on Geroy Simon as he continues to fight through what is the most difficult season for the Lions slotback almost since he joined the CFL team, it’s that he doesn’t always fight for a reception in traffic.
But there was something in what he and quarterback Jarious Jackson accomplished, despite their 28-24 loss Sunday to the Montreal Alouettes, to make the Lions think that their offensive leader will eventually scramble out of his first-half funk.
Simon had a game-high seven catches for a season-best 128 yards and a touchdown, but it wasn’t the numbers that would lead the Lions to think there are better days ahead. It had more to do with the fact Jackson was prepared to wait a split-second longer than normal Sunday so the team’s most gifted receiver could work his way open.
“We’re starting to turn the corner,” Simon assessed after his first 100-yard game since July 16 in Edmonton. “Jarious is trusting me that if he puts it up I’m going to come down with it. We got into a rhythm.”
It’s a rhythm that will be necessary if Simon is to avoid the embarrassment of his first season since 2002 with fewer than 1,000 receiving yards. His effort Sunday put him just slightly over that pace.
But if the 4-6 Lions are somehow eventually able to at least to crawl to a level of mediocrity represented by a .500 record, it will be because Simon starts producing and his offensive teammates are freed up as a result.
B.C. made little attempt early to exploit an obvious area of potential vulnerability in the Montreal secondary represented by the fact short-side cornerback De’Audra Dix was making his first CFL start.
Jackson discovered Simon once in the first half with single coverage provided by Als safety Etienne Boulay, but a deep pass attempt went off his fingertips.
B.C. got Simon on Dix a bit more in the final two quarters, and eventually Jackson began to see ways he could get the ball to the Lions’ top playmaker.
There were no home-run strikes that used to be part of Simon’s portfolio on a nightly basis, just the short and intermediate routes that now have him within 158 yards of eighth spot on the all-time league receiving yardage tables.
He could be, if the Lions choose to think that way, their newest possession threat.
“He’s our top receiver,” said Jackson, as if he had to make the point that is not backed up by the Lions’ receiving numbers this year. “I definitely think this week and the week before I’ve stayed with him longer on my reads.”
It’s the only way out for the Lions, and with the trust of his quarterback, Simon showed he may eventually show up in a highlight reel some time in the future.
