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From the Couch – Lions 24 Roughriders 22

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mccallum-ottawa-citizenPaul McCallum celebrates his game wiining field goal in Regina (Ottawa Citizen)

The BC Lions played their biggest game of the year Sunday at Mosaic Field in Regina, and it took the last-minute heroics of Thomas DeMarco and Paul McCallum to come out with a huge 24-22 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Here’s how we saw it through all the nail-biting, From the Couch.

Thomas DeMarco

Thomas DeMarco certainly had some struggles in the first half. After a strong first drive of the game, DeMarco looked to be a little off on many of his throws. He was facing second-and-long a lot and didn’t have a lot of success. Buck Pierce was inserted for a drive and helped move the Lions into Riders territory for a field goal, giving DeMarco a bit of a chance to calm down and take things in from the sidelines.

In the second half DeMarco played much better, converting on two passes for touchdowns and threading the needle on several key completions.

Even more important, DeMarco managed the game well and didn’t turn the ball over. On the final drive, he showed tremendous poise. All in all it was a great debut for the quarterback in a tough environment with huge ramifications on the result.

Offence

In addition to DeMarco the Lions offence as a whole struggled in the first half. Once again the running game was tough sledding and the Lions simply have to find a way to improve in that facet of their game. Andrew Harris did have a huge first down on the final drive of the game on a draw play, but to me he seems to be running a little tentatively at times perhaps as a result of a lack of touches for much of this season. It’s been a long time since Andrew Harris has dominated a football game and it remains a legitimate concern after this big win.

In the second half the Lions capitalized on Saskatchewan turnovers and receivers made big catches for a sharper DeMarco. Nick Moore beat his man deep for an easy one and Ernest Jackson made some nice catches in place of Manny Arceneaux. But once again it was Courtney Taylor who was the go-to receiver when the Lions needed those extra yards for the final field goal attempt and once again, he delivered.

Defence

The Lions defence was the main story of this game, despite all the other side stories. The secondary was outstanding, not only in coverage but on first tackles. Josh Bell had his best game as a BC Lion in my opinion but it didn’t stop there. Dante Marsh, Cord Parks, Korey Banks all had solid games and for the most part held the dangerous Riders receivers in check.

The Lions defensive line got good pressure on Darian Durant, who fumbled twice behind centre. Eric Taylor was giving the Rider offensive line all sorts of problems up front and the Riders for the most part abandoned their running game after the first half.

Several fans had an issue with the roughing the passer call assessed to Chris Wilson that gave the Riders another chance and led to their last minute touchdown, but unfortunately in today’s CFL any time an arm goes to the head of a QB it’s likely going to draw a flag. He Lions benefited from a questionable call in the second quarter as well.

Geroy Simon

He came close, but the all-time best BC Lions receiver didn’t get his receptions record against his former club and likely won’t with a game sandwiched in between their next meeting. It was clear watching the pre-game stuff that it was a great reunion between the Lions and their former star, and it still didn’t feel right watching him play against the Lions and it likely never will.

In a way it would be nice to see him break the record at BC Place, so all of his fans in BC could salute him but I’m sure a few bags of his chips will be making the rounds on the flight home.

Operation Orange

This game marked the start of three fan road trips that the club as named Operation Orange. Fans get to travel with the team, stay in the team hotel, eat with them and of course represent Lions fans in the stands. It’s a fantastic initiative by the club that they started last year. They will do it again next week in Winnipeg and again for another date in Saskatchewan. I’m sure they are in for a fun flight back to Vancouver in what must have been the road trip of a lifetime for many.

More Officiating

The Riders touchdown to end the first half was certainly a puzzling one to many. On the post-game show the official league explanation was that Garrett caught the ball, ran with it and then was knocked into the endzone. Because of the “running motion” he didn’t have to survive contact when he crossed the goal line. I beg to differ with that explanation as I think he was hit as he caught the ball by Adam Bighill. The frustrating thing was the time the league took to review the call, which was seemingly none. Mike Benevides threw the challenge play flag simply to ask for an explanation of why the play wasn’t being looked at more closely…and the beat goes on with CFL officiating.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the game. Leave me a comment or follow me on Twitter @BCLionsDen.

 

From The Couch – Ticats 37 Lions 29

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bc-ham
BC Lions quarterback takes one of many hits against the Ticats. Photo: Globe & Mail

The BC Lions road woes continued Saturday as they fell by a 37-29 score to the Hamilton Tiger Cats at their temporary home in Guelph. It was another head scratching effort from the Leos, and here’s how I saw it, From the Couch. (Originally posted on TheProvince.com)

Shades of Montreal

Like their earlier loss to Montreal, the Lions offence was unable to deal with Hamilton pressure for much of the game which meant Travis Lulay took a beating. That probably had something to do with the fact that many of his throws were off on the night. It would seem that the Lions protection schemes need to be looked at because at this rate,  Lulay probably won’t last the season.

Andrew Harris had 5 carries for 10 yards and 3 catches for 33 yards. That’s not efficient use of an asset and Harris was reportedly solemn and frustrated after the game. There has to be a way to get the ball in his hands more and these types of stats are happening too frequently for such a talented player. The Lions have had virtually no inside running game all season long.

But it all starts with giving Lulay time and whether its scheme or personnel, if a fix isn’t found soon the Lions will continue to sputter. People talk about Jacques Chapdelaine, but how about some adjustments from o-line coach Dan Dorazio?

No Pressure

On the other side of the ball the Lions defence got little pressure on Henry Burris, who was surgical when he had time to find the likes of Andy Fantuz and rookie of the year candidate Greg Ellingson.

CJ Gable was outstanding for Hamilton, making Lions tacklers look silly on multiple occasions despite the fact he started the Lions faint hope of a comeback with a 3rd quarter fumble. It was clear early the Ticats were going to test the middle of the Lions defence with Solomon Elimimian out.

The lack of pressure up front made life tough once again for the secondary, especially with the accurate Burris picking his targets. Two turnovers by the secondary resulted in zero points from the offence.

Cord Parks had a strong game for the Lions.

Confidence

It would appear to me that the Lions offence is suffering from a lack of confidence at times, and I found myself wondering why the Lions continually feel the need to go deep so often. With a struggling offence wouldn’t it be better to go with higher percentage plays? Let the offence get in a rhythm, get touches and more importantly, keep our defence off the field?

The Lions kicked off to start the 2nd half and the Ticats drove the field for a major. That was followed by a Nick Moore fumble that the Ticats also converted for six and the damage was done. It was a disheartening start to the half when they trailed by nine. Moore did the lead the Lions with 159 yards receiving and made key catches to give the Lions a chance.

There seemed to be rumblings after the game that the Lions were pointing to a couple of points in the game that cost them the win. In reality there were several. The start to the 2nd half wasn’t good, but neither was their start to the game.

Special Teams

For the most part special teams were fine in the game. The Lions had good starting field position for most of the game. In fact they probably had an edge in that department, but couldn’t take advantage of it.

Paul McCallum is now 2-6 on field goals over 40 yards, another luxury the Lions don’t have over other teams. His punting is fine, but the Lions are leaving points on the field. Something they can’t afford given the struggling nature of the offence.

Next Up

The Lions will return to action next weekend against the team that really exposed their protection issues two games ago, and one that is suddenly back in the hunt in the CFL east. I expect Montreal will try more of the same next week, and the Lions seven days to figure out a cure for what ails them.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the game tonight. Leave a comment below, or follow me on Twitter, @BCLionsDen

 

From The Couch – Alouettes 39, Lions 38

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lulay-als-570

Travis Lulay was under heat all game long from the Montreal defence. (Photo Vancouver Sun)
The BC Lions had all facets of their game fail them in a  last second 39-38 loss to the Montreal Alouettes. Pick your poison the Lions found a way to drink it. As a fan, frustration best describes this game for me, and here’s how I saw it, from the couch.

Offence

Heard that term enough tonight? The Lions lived it for most of the night against the Als and if it wasn’t their inability to gain meaningful yards off first down, it was penalties backing them up.

The Alouettes just lined up across the line of scrimmage and blitzed regularly and the Lions seemed to have no solution to the constant barrage from the Als defence leaving them in a hole and in bad field position for much of the second half.

As a fan I felt a lot of frustration tonight and I sensed that with Travis Lulay maybe feeling a little as well. There were drives where Lulay was getting hit on every play or was instantly running for his life. There were time count issues with the loud crowd.

Andrew Harris wasn’t effective (with what little touches he had) and when that happens the Lions offence just grinds to a halt.

There was frustration with play calls, like a 3rd and 1 hand off to Harris two yards deep and a parallel run to the line of scrimmage. Frustration with a sweep to Arceneaux that went nowhere because the Als simply had it contained from the get go.

There was frustration with the fact for every good thing that happened to the Lions it would be followed with a breakdown resulting in a bad thing.

With the midway point coming next week, it’s a troublesome sign that the offence hasn’t made much progress since week one. Something has to change heading into the game against Hamilton, because the current schemes are not working and haven’t been for much of the season.

Defence

The defence picked up six turnovers on the night, but the Lions offence didn’t take enough advantage of them, often just returning the defence to the field after another 2 and out. The defence was on the field way to much in the 2nd half and could have sued for non-support.

Despite the four interceptions by the defence, Tanner Marsh started to find a groove against a defensive unit that had to be getting tired. He was aided by great field position and fantastic protection for most of the night, especially on the 57-yard pass that set up the winning field goal. When protection did breakdown, he ran with the ball, something his veteran counterpart couldn’t seem to do.

Nine times out of ten the Lions win that game tonight with the opponent backed up to their own 5-yard line and any support from the offence. Dante Marsh had good position on Deslauriers on the Hail Mary but looked to try to adjust to the ball at one point and lost a step to the much taller Als receiver. Tanner Marsh had all day to wait for his man to get downfield and his throw was perfect.

Bitten by Bruce

The Lions gave up 167 yards to their former teammate Arland Bruce III who had a spectacular game for the Als. The veteran was even savvy enough to get down on the final drive after a catch, a valuable second that gave the Als the win at the end. Former Lions Jerome Messam and Sean Whyte also stuck daggers into the hearts of their former team.

The Good

Despite all the bad things that happened there were some positives on the night. Shawn Gore had his best game in a while with two touchdowns.

Tim Brown’s special teams groove is back, it’s just too bad the cover teams disappeared in the meantime.

The Ugly

Part of being a fan is having an opinion and feeling the emotions of a big win or a loss. It’s that roller-coaster we all love to ride each week. But judging by some of the comments I saw tonight, a few people out there really need to learn how to be respectful fans. There is no need for personal insults and name calling. Passion and emotion is one thing, insulting someone, usually behind a keyboard is another thing completely and certainly doesn’t make you a good fan in my books.

Where Do They Go From Here?

I said after the game that it was a fitting end to the game. The Alouettes were the better team in the 2nd half and were full value for the win. The talent on the Lions is there and it’s going to have to be a group effort to right the ship. Whether that is a roster shakeup or a change in schemes, if the Lions offence doesn’t get things figured out we’re likely in for more frustration in the 2nd half of the season.

With big games coming up against Western opponents there is still time to fix it, but time is running out.

I would love to hear your comments on the game, and feel free to hit me up on Twitter @BCLionsDen to talk Lions football.

 

From The Couch: Argos 38 Lions 12

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fromthecouch_570_thin
Originally published for the Fifth Quarter Blog on TheProvince.com

Earlier in the day I wondered if this game might be a bit of a trap game for the BC Lions. After all they were playing the Eastern Division Toronto Argonauts without future Hall of Famer Ricky Ray, starting running back Chad Kackert and seven new faces on defence. Earlier in the week, head coach Mike Benevides had to stop practice to refocus the team and I’m sure it will be all business around the Leos headquarters in Surrey in this short practice week.

Trap game or not, the Lions were kicked all over the field by the Argos Tuesday night, and here is how I saw it, from the couch.

The New Guy

Yet another new starting quarterback started his first CFL game in keeping with the theme of the week, and like a couple of his virgin buddies, Zach Collaros threw himself into the Ottawa RedBlacks expansion draft discussion.

Collaros showed tremendous poise in his first game and the Argos let him use his feet to make things happen. He got good protection all game long, but when it did break down, Collaros showed a great sixth sense to get out of trouble and make a play. He had a great night throwing the ball and unlike his veteran opponent, Travis Lulay, made his drives count in the red zone.

Red Zone Woes

The Lions were woeful in the red zone. They could only muster four Paul McCallum field goals all night, and stalled drives just helped the Argos as the Lions chewed up clock time but came away with basically nothing when they needed touchdowns. The Lions had the ball for over ten minutes in the 3rd quarter and were outscored 7-6. The offence moved the ball fairly well between the 20’s but they had nothing when it counted.

Lulay started the game fairly well, connecting on some nice passes, including a deep ball to Nick Moore. But as the game went on there seemed to be a lot of confusion on offence and a lack of creativity, something Lions fans have complained of before. We saw the same play or variations of it over and over. The Lions had some success going downfield, but Lulay wasn’t getting much time for those attempts very often.

Even Andrew Harris, who managed to rush for 107 yards, was off his game somewhat dropping a pass over the middle in the red one that may have resulted in a touchdown.

Then there were the three consecutive mental penalties on another deep drive…yeah, you get the point.

Dominated On the Line

As mentioned above, Collaros had good protection most of the night and the Lions defensive line was held off the sack sheet.

Travis Lulay was under pressure a lot, and was sacked three times by the Argos. The loss of Kirby Fabien to a knee injury is going to be a big hole for the Lions to fill. The rookie guard will be replaced by Dean Valli who had assumed a backup role coming off a knee injury himself. The Lions are going to have to get ready for next week quickly because despite the Bombers troubles, they have a solid defensive line.

Defence

With the Lions struggling to put points on the board, they needed the defence to step up, and unfortunately they struggled as well.

Adam Bighill managed six tackles and two sacks in his return, but also had problems with Collaros on a couple of occasions, falling for a pump fake and getting side stepped by the rookie QB.

The defensive line simply didn’t get enough pressure making it tough on the secondary at times, but with that said there were some rough nights all around. Josh Bell had a tough night and J.R. LaRose also continues to struggle at safety, especially on the Barnes touchdown, that seemed to get Collaros and the Argos rolling.

Penalties

The Lions took 21 penalties in their first four games and took 13 against the Argos, including three unsportsmanlike penalties to end the first half. Flags also reared their heads on special teams hurting the Lions field position on multiple occasions.

Twitter Fodder

Trevor Knapp: @Real_VSBNKnapp
“THE #BCLions SUCKED FROM HEAD TO TOE TONIGHT. ” -John Torterella

EA Spitzka: @Spitzka
It’s unfair to expect the #BCLions to play well when they come east. After all, a 730 start time is only 10 minutes after 4:20. #CFL

Fake Mark Cohon @FakeMarkCohon
The #Argos score any more and the SPCA is going to file an animal cruelty charge #CFL #BCLions #Rout

Sometimes folks, you just have to laugh at your problems. It’s a short week, I expect a very motivated BC Lions team come Monday against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Until then, that’s mercifully all I’ve got. We would love your comments on the game, and for you to give us a follow on Twitter, @BCLionsDen.

 

The BCLionsDen.ca Podcast – Episode 2

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We want to thank everyone who listened, downloaded and subscribed to our first episode and we hope you enjoyed it enough to check this one out!

In this episode, Brian and Mojo discuss Brian’s short jaunt up to training camp in Kamloops, TSN’s decision to cut their exhibition schedule, television blackouts and answer some of your questions from Twitter.

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