From The Couch Archives | Page 3 of 7 | BC Lions Football

Burning the ship: Lions survive well in expansion draft, but plenty of work remains.

December 16, 2013 By Brian Wawryshyn

Thomas DeMarco will be playing for Ottawa in 2014

The 2014 Ottawa expansion draft has come and gone, and as a BC Lions fan you had to be happy with how the way the day went down.

The Lions of course lost backup quarterback Thomas DeMarco, along with guard Matt Albright and defensive lineman Andrew Marshall. I was surprised to hear DeMarco’s name called in the first round, just because of the names you heard leading up to the draft. But that pick helped the Lions immensely and allowed them to protect a player they were scared of losing.

According to Lowell Ullrich at The Province, the Lions had left non-import receiver SJ Haidara unprotected in the first round and they quickly utilized their extra protection slots received from the DeMarco pick to shelter him for rounds two and three.

Matt Albright was an unfortunate loss, with the Lions already needing to address Canadian depth on their offensive line, but they will look to sign last year’s pick Hunter Steward, and hope to have Kirby Fabien ready to go after a bad knee injury.

With the draft behind them the Lions won’t be done tweaking their club. They have still to name a new offensive coordinator, with Khari Jones, Jason Maas and Marcel Bellefeuille the latest names to be tossed around after both Paul LaPolice and George Cortez both declined offers from BC. I’m not sure any of those names will excite fans too much. Both Maas and Jones would be pretty raw coordinators, while Bellefeuille would be an experienced but somewhat of a recycled option. All three have enough CFL experience but pickings are pretty slim at the moment and both of the Lions top choices are off the table.

While several players today are probably relieved to still be Lions, that relief could be short-lived. When asked by Ullrich what was next for his club, GM Wally Buono replied, “Burn the ship”.

With Buono now on his annual Christmas vacation to Hawaii, there will no doubt be contemplation amongst the relaxation. The Lions are in preparation to host the Grey Cup, and with changes in the coaching staff already in motion, the club’s next order of business will be how to prepare for free agency.

Will the team opt to shed the contracts of older veterans and be players on the open market? How much turnover can the club withstand in a year when they hope to compete for the Grey Cup at home?

Buono has never been shy to say goodbye to veteran players and this off-season will likely be no different. The club has reshuffled its scouting department and will no doubt be looking for diamonds in the rough in the draft, tryout camps and free agency.

There are many questions to be answered in the coming months, but if the Lions survive those as well as they did this expansion draft, they should be just fine, even if they have to do a little ship burning along the way.

From the Couch: Riders 29 Lions 25

November 15, 2013 By Brian Wawryshyn

The BC Lions fought a good fight but in the end it was Darian Durant who put his team on his shoulders and led his Roughriders to victory. The Lions season is done, and they will be thinking about the one that got away for some time. Here is our final Lions game recap of 2013, From the Couch.

The Game

For three quarters it was the Lions that dominated the time of possession putting together three long and productive drives, chewing time off the clock and keeping the Riders offence shivering on the sidelines. The Lions showed the Riders looks they weren’t familiar with including a four man deep I-formation and you certainly couldn’t accuse the offence of being predictable.

The combination of Andrew Harris and Stefan Logan continued to have success while Travis Lulay looked to be on his game and confident. The offensive line played outstanding; pass protecting for Lulay and opening holes for Harris and Logan who built on their recent success racking up a combined 146 yards along the ground.

Defensively the Lions were containing the likes of Kory Sheets outside of one big run that set up a Rider score but it was Taj Smith and Weston Dressler doing the damage for the Riders. Smith stole a sure interception out of the hands of Josh Bell, then out-fought Dante Marsh on another deep ball following a questionable pass interference call just before the end of the half that kept a Riders drive alive. Dressler was Dressler, and when the Riders need him to get open he did with amazing ease. With those players keeping the Riders close, Durant then took it upon himself to lead the comeback in the fourth quarter.

Entering the final quarter with a nine point lead, the Riders noticed a vulnerability in the Lions defence and Durant killed them with draws up the middle, rudely reminding all that Solomon Elimimian was back in Vancouver nursing a hamstring injury that he didn’t feel would allow him to perform in the biggest game of the season. The offence dried up in the fourth and couldn’t muster any of the success they had for most of the game, the defence couldn’t get the stops and as a result, the Lions season is over.

Under Review

Every CFL fan can relate to the frustration of watching a game and tolerating CFL officiating and Sunday was no different. The Lions certainly weren’t on the favourable end of a few calls and that’s just the way it goes in the Canadian Football League.

The pass interference call near the end of the half, a very weak roughing the passer call on Durant on the same series and a curious decision by the command centre of the league on an apparent Lions touchdown all come to mind. These calls didn’t cost the Lions the game, but they also didn’t do anything to install confidence in fans who want to see the game decided by the players.

When I speak with fans around the league, it’s a constant topic that comes up. Officials have a very tough job, and I’m amazed at how many times they get it right at full speed, but we can only hope we won’t have anything to say about them in the final games of the year. Don’t hold your breath.

Where do they go from here?

Two exits from the playoffs for the Lions in the last two years will certainly mean changes are coming for the BC Lions and it may not be just player wise. The lack of consistency from the offence for the majority of the season has to be the focal point for the club moving forward, and it likely cost the Lions a home playoff game.

Despite what I felt was a great game plan by the Lions heading into the game on Sunday, I’m not sure it will be enough to save the job of coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine. Jacques has taken a lot of heat in BC over the years but the lack of a running game for much of the season may be the reason Wally Buono needs to go in a different direction in 2014.

I think that Mike Benevides will be back, but he will certainly be under pressure to return the Lions to the top of the Western division in a year when the Lions will be playing host to the Grey Cup. Of course it will be up to Wally Buono, Neil McEvoy and Roy Shivers to give him the team to do that and the Lions will have some tough decisions to make this off-season, beginning with who they leave exposed in December’s expansion draft.

Another question will be whether Travis Lulay will have surgery to clean up his problematic shoulder. He played like a warrior on Sunday, and injuries can never be predicted, but two seasons with the same problem indicate it should at least be considered. The Lions looked like a different team with Lulay back at the controls and they have to take every measure to make sure he doesn’t make it a shoulder hat-trick in 2014.

At 33 years of age, do the Lions bring back Stefan Logan? I hope they do, because I don’t think there is too much football mileage on that body. He provided a spark and a welcomed element to the Lions ground game and at the very least the Lions should be looking for a similar type back that can team up with Harris in the backfield and give them the same one two punch.

The offensive line will have changes as well and the Lions will need to hope that Kirby Fabien returns healthy. They seem to have an answer for replacing Angus Reid with Matt Norman, but the guard and left tackle positions need to be better. Defensively the Lions will be looking at an aging secondary and deciding whether they can get another year out of the group, while finding a way to start grooming others. The defensive line needs to be improved particularly at providing better first layer interior run support.

So it is over for another year. As always I will be heading to Grey Cup in Regina and hope to provide you with some insight from the festivities from the 101st edition of our great Canadian Football championship, both in this space and on BCLionsDen.ca and via Twitter, @BCLionsDen. My thanks to Lowell Ullrich and the folks at TheProvince.com for giving this fan a voice here and we hope to continue next year as Vancouver gets set to host the nation at Grey Cup 2014. Thanks for reading everyone, and enjoy the rest of the playoffs. Roar you Lions roar!

From the Couch, Riders 35 Lions 14

October 23, 2013 By Brian Wawryshyn

The BC Lions went into Regina and gift-wrapped a home playoff game for the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday thanks to an offence that simply cannot get on track. Here’s how I saw the game, From the Couch.

Turnovers

The Lions ran five offensive plays and committed four turnovers. Thomas DeMarco couldn’t be blamed for all of his four interceptions and would have had six had it not been for flags calling them back, but he can be blamed for missing open receivers. His protection has been good the last two games so you can’t blame it on the offensive line. Simply put, he has not been progressing since his first game and that has to be a concern for the Lions going forward.

It certainly wasn’t all on DeMarco; the Lions need to protect the ball better, period. You will not win many games in this league with eight turnovers, but you also won’t win many with an offence that simply can’t get into a rhythm.

Can someone tell me why the Lions acquired Buck Pierce? With DeMarco struggling so badly, it would have been a great time to give Buck a look. Instead the Lions decided to let Pierce, a QB with CFL and playoff experience sit on the sidelines. If I had a choice I would start Pierce against the Eskimos and see if he can get this offence going. The last two games mean nothing as far as the Lions and playoff positioning go, so you might as well get Pierce up to speed in case you want him to start the playoff game if Lulay is unable to return.

Stefan Logan

Logan showed flashes that he still has the speed and moves that caught the NFL’s attention after one season in the CFL. He averaged 27.4 yards per kick return, and had some decent runs from scrimmage, mostly on first down, but with the Lions down big after the first half they once again had to abandon the running game. Andrew Harris only had six carries and looked frustrated at the end of the game. It remains to be seen whether the addition of Logan will bring out the best in him in the final two weeks and into the playoffs.

Defence

This loss simply can’t be blamed on the defence with all the turnovers offensively. They started the game aggressively forcing two turnovers of their own but were barely able to catch their breath before being called on again and again. The defence held the Riders to just four points in the second half but the damage was done and they got no support from the other side of the ball.

That said, Kory Sheets ran for 145 yards while Jon Cornish racked up 130 the week before and the Lions definitely need to shore up that part of their game if they hope to have success in the coming weeks.

Where do they go from here?

The Lions have talked all season about the season being a marathon, not a sprint. How they want to be peaking at the right time. The injury to Travis Lulay hasn’t helped, but it appears the Lions are running on fumes as they approach the finish line.

I’ve already stated that I would start Pierce next week, and we’ll see if that happens, but the same problems on offence that plagued the Lions with Lulay in the lineup still exist today. The team has two games to figure their issues out, but you have to start to wonder if they simply don’t have the horses, or the coaches to get it done.

There is certainly no hurry to rush Lulay back now and all they can do is hope that in the next two weeks his shoulder improves dramatically.

To come out in such a big game like this and basically gift wrap a win for the opposition is concerning to say the least, but this is the CFL and stranger things have happened. They are in the playoffs and have a chance to redeem themselves in three weeks in Regina or Calgary.

It’s safe to say that if they hope to finish their marathon, they still have miles to run. The Lions are 3-6 on the road in 2013 and to win the Grey Cup they will have to equal those three wins in the playoffs.

I’d love your thoughts on the game and the Lions as they head into their final two games of the season. Do they have what it takes to get on a roll and get to the Grey Cup? Leave a comment for me and of course I’m always up for Lions talk on Twitter, @BCLionsDen

From The Couch – Stampeders 40 Lions 26

October 17, 2013 By Brian Wawryshyn

The BC Lions lost 40-26 to the Calgary Stampeders and with that result they lost the ability to finish first in the CFL West. The Lions started slowly and didn’t have enough to overcome a good Stampeders team at home and here’s how I saw the game, From the Couch.

Same old running game

We heard talk heading into the game that the Lions had worked a lot on their running game this week but they better work on it a whole bunch more, because once again it wasn’t good enough with just 9 carries and 31 yards for Andrew Harris.

This is now getting kind of silly, especially when you watch teams like the Stamps continually open up holes for Jon Cornish. At times it seems as if Harris is running right into the arms of defenders and to me he just doesn’t look confident out there. The lack of touches he’s received in most games this season seems to have taken a toll on the Lions running back.

Solid Protection

While the offensive line wasn’t exactly opening up big holes for the run, they were protecting Thomas DeMarco well most of the night, holding the Stampeders to just one sack. Ben Archibald and Jovan Olafioye each had strong games at tackle going up against Charleston Hughes and Cordarro Law, two of the best in the CFL this season.

Offence

DeMarco threw for his first 300 yard game in the loss, but he started slowly with off target passes and didn’t have much success until late in the first half. He engineered some nice drives but once again seemed to be tentative in his decision-making. There are still times when DeMarco would be wise to keep the ball and run and he struggled with accuracy when forced to throw on the run.

Nick Moore had a strong game for the Lions, including a couple of contested catches, something he has been criticized for of late. Courtney Taylor showed his value to the offence once again and Shawn Gore had a decent game as well, including a heads up play to knock the ball out bounds on a Marco Iannuzzi fumble.

Manny Arceneaux was not a factor again and the Lions could sure benefit from him making a contribution in the final three games of the season.

Special Teams

Tim Brown had a pretty solid game for the Lions, perhaps hearing the footsteps of Stefan Logan on his way to Vancouver. Despite Brown’s work, the Lions offence couldn’t turn the field position in the Lions favour until the second half of the game.

The Stampeders inserted newcomer Clifton Smith into the lineup as a backup for Cornish. He was replacing the always dangerous Larry Taylor but the Stamps didn’t miss a beat. The Lions special teams’ coverage struggled, especially in the first half.

Penalties (Or lack of)

I hate writing about officials. They shouldn’t be part of the discussion in game recaps but the CFL certainly gives you plenty of opportunities to do so over the course of the season. The officials do have a tough job and for most fans it’s the inconsistencies that are the big issue.

The roughing the passer call on Solomon Elimimian was a complete joke. Glenn had pulled the ball down and was leaving the pocket when he was planted by the hard-hitting Lions linebacker, only to draw the flag. It’s getting to the point now where you might as well attach flags to a quarterback and call them off-limits.

Then with the Lions punting from their endzone, McCallum was contacted leg in the air and knocked to the ground right in front of an official and there was no call. The return was a good one and it set the Stamps up for a touchdown.

Where they strive to be

Jon Cornish runs through the BC Lions secondary. Photo: CBC.ca

It was clear watching this game that the Stampeders are the class of the CFL right now and they can hurt you in so many ways. Their offence is balanced thanks to a strong running game, their defence can be dominant, and their special teams are outstanding as well. It’s really what the Lions are striving to be but they are hampered with a passing only offence. Lions fans who have witnessed the lack of a running game all season must be envious watching Cornish explode through gaping holes and around sealed off ends.

The road to the Grey Cup is likely to go through Calgary at this point and the Lions effort gives you some hope they could pull off an upset should they get there, but they have a lot of work to do offensively before they are on the same level as Calgary.

The Lions now head to Saskatchewan for one last hope at achieving a home playoff game. Lose that one and they’ll have to win two on the prairies in November to get to Regina for the Grey Cup. With a one-dimensional offence, the climb will be a steep one.

I’d love your thoughts on the game, and what lies ahead for the Leos. Leave a comment here or you can always find me on Twitter, @BCLionsDen.

From the Couch – Lions 53 Bombers 17

October 3, 2013 By Brian Wawryshyn

There are times when you love taking it to an opponent and there are times when you kind of just feel sorry for them. The BC Lions beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 53-17 at Investors Group Field on Friday night in a game which was a clear indication at just how bad the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are. With condolences to the Bombers faithful, here’s how I saw the carnage, From the Couch.

Never had a chance

The Bombers never had a chance in this game and that was evident on their first series and a Max Hall lateral pass to Will Ford who bobbled the ball which eventually ended up in the possession of Adam Bighill for a quick touchdown. It was a foreshadowing of things to come as the Lions racked up seven turnovers in the game for 34 of their 53 points.

The Bomber quarterbacks were terrible. Max Hall at least had small amounts of success, but despite a late 2nd quarter touchdown throw to Clarence Denmark, was yanked at halftime in favour of Jason Boltus, who threw an interception on his first play from scrimmage.

Defence

With how horrid the Bombers were on offence, it’s pretty tough to gauge just how dominant the Lions defence was. Bighill had a superb game for the Lions and led the team with 10 tackles. He was flying all over the field and his pursuit was outstanding all game.

The Lions got great pressure in the Bombers backfield and aided by the punting of Paul McCallum and turnovers they helped provide a great advantage in field position most of the night. The additions of Chris Wilson and Jermaine Reid continue to help the defensive line. Wilson will want to avoid the bad roughing the passer calls in the future, as the one he took early in the game was just that.

In the secondary it was more of the same from last week in Saskatchewan with players swarming the ball and making the tackle on first contact. Dante Marsh and Cord Parks continued to shine and one gets the feeling this defence is rounding into form just in time with the really big games coming up.

Offence

Judging by the score you would think the Lions racked up the offence. Thomas DeMarco didn’t exactly light it up but managed the game well and again didn’t make any costly mistakes. There were points left on the field though and times where drives stalled and the team settled for field goals.

Buck Pierce saw some action which drew one of the biggest ovations of the night from the Winnipeg fans. He didn’t do a lot with his time going 4-8 for 32 yards before giving way to Joey Elliott.

The Lions were modestly more successful at getting Andrew Harris involved, but a nod to goes out to Tim Brown as well who is getting more touches of late and being productive with them.

It was nice to see Paris Jackson back on the field in an offensive role and also to see S.J. Haidara get some more looks as well with Marco Iannuzzi unable to play. I’ve mentioned it before, but I am really looking forward to seeing Haidara progress to a bigger role.

Our ball, our ball, your ball

A weird sequence on the game occurred when after a Lions fumble; Harris recovered the ball, scrambled and found Paris Jackson downfield for a 29 yard game. A flag on the play however deemed that Matt Norman interfered with a Bomber trying to recover the fumble and the ball was awarded to the Bombers at the spot of the foul. It’s a rule that is rarely called but looking at the replay, it was about as textbook as it gets and the flag was legit.

Twitterverse

@JimTothCJOB: #Bombers Brandon Stewart called fans cheering for #BCLions sickening and disheartening“ Uhh…Brandon, I think the fans may say the same about your team’s performance on the field.

@VeganRottweiler: Section 236 – secret weapon being deployed next week. This is shot across the bow to all other sections of @bcplace #BCLions #letsgodefence

@ChrisJFoulds: #bclions were so good tonight in Winnipeg, they gave Dieter Brock a few snaps in the 4th just for the hell of it. #cfl #godsteam

It almost got to that with Pierce and Elliott playing in the second half.

@DarrinBauming: What a beautiful 33,500-seat stadium. I think they can hold concerts here. Final: #BCLions 53, #Bombers 17. Well…at least Bombers fans have that.

What were your comments on the game? I’d love for you to share them for me here. You can also follow me at BCLionsDen.ca and on Twitter, @BCLionsDen.

Burning the ship: Lions survive well in expansion draft, but plenty of work remains.

From the Couch: Riders 29 Lions 25

From the Couch, Riders 35 Lions 14

From The Couch – Stampeders 40 Lions 26

From the Couch – Lions 53 Bombers 17

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