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From the Stands – Lions 16 Stampeders 33

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With two tune up games against West Division contenders to end the season, the BC Lions still have knock, pings and stalls in the engine that need to be addressed. The final game of the regular season saw the Lions drop a 33-16 decision to the first place Calgary Stampeders and here are my thoughts, From the Stands.

The Plain Truth

This team just can’t seem to put together a complete game this season. If one part is going well, two other parts breakdown. The way the Stampeders so easily picked apart the Lions defence Friday was impressive if you’re a Stamps fan, depressing if you cheer for the orange and black.

Whether it was Drew Tate or Bo Mitchell, the results were the same for Calgary, while Kevin Glenn and the Lions couldn’t translate yards into points to keep pace with the Stamps.

Glenn, who had another two drive killing interceptions, took a lot of heat in the section I was sitting in and once again I sat and wondered why John Beck was not given a chance later in the game. This is a guy you may need to use in Montreal and you give him zero time in a game you clearly were not going to win?

Unless Mike Benevides knows something he’s not sharing about Travis Lulay, this approach makes no sense. I get that you want Glenn to get on a roll and get some confidence with the offence, but at the same time, his play has dictated you may have to go to another option when you’re playing for your season next week.

On a good note Stefan Logan showed what he might be able to provide next week and Shawn Gore and Manny Arceneaux looked more involved in the offence but again, those performances didn’t result in enough points.

The defence was solid against the run yet brutal defending the pass. Calgary’s aerial attack routinely found wide open receivers over the middle of the field, partially due to the fact that the new look defensive line the Lions fielded was nowhere near Tate or Mitchell all night long.

After impressing with a solid run of not allowing touchdowns the defence has now allowed 70 points in two games, not exactly the stat you want to see heading into the playoffs, nor are the 19 points for either.

Right Where They Belong

So the Lions now head to Montreal to take on the Alouettes in the East Division semifinal and really they ended up where they belong. Unable to advance themselves any further up the West ladder, the Lions showed the differences between themselves and the contenders in their division. Edmonton and Calgary disposed of them easily, leaving the progress we saw down the stretch against Ottawa and Winnipeg with a solid asterisk.

But this is football, and on any given day in this league, anyone can beat anyone. Let’s not be fooled to think the East is an easy route to take to the Grey Cup. Don’t let anyone tell you that the Lions have simply been playing possum these final two weeks because if they were they deserve an Academy Award.

The same issues that have plagued the Lions all year still remain, and then comes this little gem via Lowell Ullrich from Paul McCallum following Friday’s game.

“We lack a lot of mental focus. We’re not organized. In the real world, there’d be a lot of fired people.”

The concerning part to me in that quote is the “we’re not organized” part. The job of organization belongs to the coaches. This is a 22-year veteran who would seem to be more than qualified to have such an opinion about his organization. Another veteran, Dante Marsh also made reference earlier in the week to the fact that there were bigger problems on this team than what he found himself in the doghouse over.

It doesn’t exactly sound like the Lions are one for all and all for one heading into the playoffs. And unless they can sort some of this stuff out, their season is likely to end in Montreal next week.

Some Positive Stuff

Those that mocked Dennis Skulsky for his guaranteed win night proclamation should now be able to see that the result were larger crowds down the stretch. In the four games prior to the guarantee the Lions averaged 24786 fans per game, versus 30,591 over their final five at BC Place. Many of them were freebies because of the promotion, but the hope is that some of those folks will come back next season.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on the game. Post a comment, or hit me up on Twitter @BCLionsDen. Make sure to check out BCLionsDen.ca for all of our Lions coverage and our weekly Pawdcast as well. This week Lowell Ullrich of The Province will join us along with Jamie Pitblado, chair for the 2014 Grey Cup Committee.

From the Stands: Lions 41 Redblacks 3

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How do you spell relief? For the BC Lions and their fan base, relief was spelled O-F-F-E-N-C-E Saturday at BC Place Stadium. Kevin Glenn had arguably his best game as a BC Lion and got support from his receivers as the Lions went on to thrash the Ottawa Redblacks 41-3. Here is how I saw the game, From the Stands.

Rising to the Challenge

When Glenn appeared to injure his throwing hand on the first play of the game, my first thought was, “Sure, why not?” The way Lions have been falling by the wayside of late it only seemed fitting that another player would be added to the pile. But thankfully Glenn not only returned, but went onto a 20-27, 345 yard, 3 touchdown performance.

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Ernest Jackson had plenty to celebrate against the Redblacks. Photo: The Province.com

 

Glenn wasn’t the only performance to be thankful for on Thanksgiving weekend. The Lions receiving corps needed to step up to help a struggling offence and they were led by the 195 yard effort of Ernest Jackson. Jackson was in the zone Saturday, with big plays and timely catches all night long. I’ve often wondered why the Lions haven’t attempted to use Jackson more, and after this performance he may have forced them to consider it, even when injured receivers return.

Jackson wasn’t alone as Lavasier Tuinei turned in a strong game and Shawn Gore made some key catches as well.

The running game also came to life with Keola Antolin looking much more comfortable in his second start and the offensive line opening the holes the diminutive running back needed. Antolin also gets high marks for the surfing routine he did to celebrate his first professional touchdown, a result of a 56 yard run on the same drive. Stefan Logan will likely return after the bye week, but the Lions now have some comfort without Andrew Harris in the running department.

Credit to the Coaches

No one escapes criticism when things aren’t going well and the Lions coaches have received their fair share over the last few weeks. But not only did Mike Benevides and his staff have to find ways to generate offence with so many starters injured, they had to keep the team united as one. They accomplished both. After the game Lions players spoke of the fact that no one believed in them, but as Gore said earlier in the week, that doubt and criticism was deserved from outsiders. So too is the praise they should receive for rallying as an organization, and hopefully this was the tonic the teams needs to play out the final three games of the season and enter the playoffs on a roll.

Special Teams

After a poor outing in Hamilton the Lions did a much better job on special teams. Tim Brown looked maybe a half step behind speed wise coming off his groin injury, but the coverage downfield was solid all night long and gave the Lions much better field position to work with defensively.

Better Call Sol

I spent a lot of time watching Solomon Elimimian Saturday, because not only is he my favourite player, I just wanted to watch and see what makes him so good. His pursuit of the ball on every play is relentless, he’ll go over, through or around any obstacle in his path to make a tackle. Elimimian has really settled into the CFL game and it shows. Solomon became the Lions record holder for tackles in a season, and the league record will be next to fall if Elimimian can stay healthy.

Props to Paul

Paul McCallum was also in the spotlight Saturday as he moved into second place on the all-time CFL scoring list. It’s unlikely that McCallum will catch Lui Passaglia to take over the number one spot, but it’s pretty cool that two BC Lions are one/two on the list.

Speaking of Passaglia, it was great to see him at BC Place on Saturday night as the club’s honorary captain. He’s been in Lions fans’ thoughts since his recent battle with cancer was made public, but Lui looked good and it was great to see the Lions bring him out to a standing ovation and chants of Luuuuu for the coin toss.

Looking Ahead

The Lions were finally able to take advantage of their position and move four points ahead of the Bombers. But the Riders are in a freefall as well and got spanked by the Alouettes, meaning that the Lions are now just two points out of third in the CFL West and they hold the tie breaker over the Riders.

The Lions should be getting some bodies back following the bye week, and now have some confidence in their pocket when they head into Winnipeg in two weeks. That game could be the defining moment of the season for BC, who close out the season versus Edmonton and Calgary.

Going through the West or the East doesn’t matter, because in the end the Lions will have to beat two good teams to get to the Grey Cup. However, travel wise the club would be better off to keep their playoff streak alive by qualifying in the West.

What are your thoughts? Your comments are always welcome. The Pawdcast will be taking a break this week along with the Lions, but we’ll be back with a show before the Lions take on the Bombers.

From the Stands: Lions 23 Argonauts 40

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Ricky Ray – Photo: TheProvince.com

When the BC Lions handed out white towels to 10,000 fans Friday night, little did fans know they would be surrendering to the precision passing attack of Ricky Ray and the Toronto Argonauts Here’s how I saw the game, From the Stands.

The Ricky Ray Factor

Just when you think the Lions might be figuring things out and ready to play some consistent football a game like Friday happens. All week long, including on our weekly podcast, people had been praising the BC Lions defence, and with good reason. When the Lions have won games this year, and even when they’ve lost they have been the rock that has kept this team in the hunt for a playoff spot.

But there have been games when the defence hasn’t been able to offset the lack of production from the offence, and when Ricky Ray was on like he was on Friday, asking the defence to bail the team out again was an unrealistic expectation.

Working with most of his starters again, Ray was surgical at picking apart the Lions defence. Screen passes, crossing routes or deep balls, it didn’t matter what the Argos wanted to do because for the most part they did it with ease.

Outcoached

Mike Benevides - TheProvince.com
Mike Benevides – Photo: TheProvince.com

Argos head coach Scott Milanovich and his staff put together an outstanding game plan, a plan that his counterparts on the BC sideline had no answers for. Yes you can point to a lack of execution, mental breakdowns and 131 yards in penalties, but the Lions were outcoached, period. There were no successful adjustments after the first half. The offence under Kevin Glenn continued to sputter along with Mike Benevides refusing to see what John Beck could provide. The defence was unable to adjust and Ray and the Argos continued to do what they wanted.

Too many times this year this team has been unprepared to play which is unacceptable, especially at home where wins by the Lions used to be pretty much automatic.

Offence

It didn’t take long for the Lions to show the fans what type of night it was going to be offensively. On the opening drive of the game, aided by a 40 yard pass interference penalty, the Lions were in a position to open the scoring. But Glenn threw behind an open Bryan Burnham, who could only get a hand on the ball, deflecting it into the arms of Alex Suber.

Once again the two and outs piled up and the defence was asked to keep the Lions in the game, but against the precision and execution of the Ray led Argos, it was too much to ask.

The Kito Poblah experiment has produced nothing for the Lions and it’s time to see what others like Whitman Tomusiak and Steven Adekolu can bring to the table.

The Lions aren’t getting enough consistency from their receivers and while Burnham showed what he can contribute filling in for Courtney Taylor, when is the last time Marco Iannuzzi had an impact on a game? Shawn Gore is hot and cold, Manny Arceneaux is keyed on by opposing defences and the Lions are unable to find ways to get the ball to Andrew Harris and Stefan Logan in space.

Discipline

Sitting in the stands, fans voiced their displeasure over the flags being thrown against the Lions, but they should have been disgusted by the lack of discipline shown by the home side. Torri Williams won’t be having a fun breakdown day when his brutal face masking penalty is pointed out. He’ll also be featured again on a contacting the kicker penalty.

Khreem Smith who should be a leader on this team was fortunate to not be flagged, never mind not tossed for throwing a punch early in the game.

Sure there was a soft roughing the passer penalty on Ray, who seems to be protected more than any other QB in the league, but the Lions were their own worst enemy and the coaches better be reading the riot act this week.

Now things get tough

Friday’s loss was huge missed opportunity for the Lions who now must travel to Calgary to play a cranky Stampeders team that dropped a game to the Alouettes. The following week they travel to Hamilton to play the Tiger-Cats who are playing good football and are undefeated at their new stadium.

They blew the game they had in hand on Winnipeg, and could easily find themselves fighting for their playoff lives once again. The good news is the Lions are 4-1 on the road this season, but this team needs to find consistency, creativity and the ability to adjust if they hope to make any noise down the stretch.

Happy ending

It was nice to hear that the Grey Cup ring of Mike Pinball Clemons was recovered after a fan made off with it Friday. The always friendly Clemons tossed his ring in the crowd for a fan to look at when a woman made a run for it with his valued possession. It goes without saying that Pinball is one of the most genuine, classiest and passionate guys this league has ever seen, so it’s nice that this story has a happy ending.

The woman who took the ring, claims it was a misunderstanding and that she feels terrible about it. That’s a tough story to swallow, but knowing Pinball, he would just flash that trademark smile and give the woman a big hug for returning it. That’s just the Pinball way.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on the game. Post a comment, or hit me up on Twitter @BCLionsDen. Make sure to check out BCLionsDen.ca for all of our Lions coverage and our weekly Pawdcast as well.

From the Stands: Lions 26 Blue Bombers 9

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Did Andrew Harris and the BC Lions pull a fast one on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers? After publicly declaring that the goal was to rush for 250 yards on the Bombers, the Lions passing game was the dagger that delivered a 26-9 win for the Leos that gave them some breathing room in the quest for a play-off spot. Here’s how I saw the game, From the Stands.

Offence

It wasn’t the dominating rushing attack that Harris set goals for prior to the game, but instead a fairly balanced attack that got the job done for the Lions. Kevin Glenn didn’t put up huge numbers but make key completions at various points in the game, and more importantly, protected the ball well.

kevin_glen_740x300Glenn spread the ball around to no fewer than nine targets on the way to a 20-27, 261 yard, two-touchdown night. There were still breakdowns on the offensive line and penalties that killed drives, but for the most part Glenn was efficient at getting rid of the ball quickly and showed what he can provide as the starter.

Emmanuel Arceneaux and Shawn Gore had nice games for the Lions, the former with a big third quarter catch and a fourth quarter touchdown that put the exclamation point on the win.

The running game was much better than a week ago, especially in the fourth quarter where the Lions were able to kill some clock with key runs from Harris and Stefan Logan. They fell 90 yards short of Harris’ goal, but there was no doubt the offensive line responded to Harris’ challenge and gave the running game a chance against the Bombers suspect run defence.

There is still room for improvement of course with the offence managing just a single in the third quarter, but there were some positive steps taken. Not taking a step backwards against Toronto next week will be key to ensure the Lions keep the teams in front of them close, while putting Winnipeg in a tough spot in the West.

Defence

There haven’t been too many games this season where you could really question the effort of the defence and Saturday was just another day at the offence for the Lions, who for the second game in a row denied their opposition a touchdown.

elimimian_homeThe tandem of Adam Bighill and Solomon Elimimian were punishing in leading the way for the Lions. The secondary bent on some medium range passes before Drew Willy left the game, but didn’t break.

Elimimian is simply the best player on this Lions team right now and it’s shocking how many people are just handing the most outstanding defensive player award to John Chick. There is no escaping the pursuit of Elimimian this year and while Chick’s sack stats are sexy, Elimimian is the complete package and can hurt you in multiple ways.

The Lions inside run game was outstanding, holding Nic Grigsby to just 27 yards on seven carries and the defensive line was effective picking up three sacks. Khalif Mitchell may have had his best game of the season picking up a sack and getting a big push at the line of scrimmage.

Special Teams

Lions fans got a glimpse of the talent that the Bombers’ Troy Stoudermire brings to the table, but the Lions stopped him from doing too much damage and leading the way was Bighill with five special teams tackles, including a beauty in the fourth quarter when he came from a long way away to drag down Stoudermire when it looked like the speedster had an open sideline staring him in the face.

It’s been mentioned earlier this season, but it’s worth mentioning again what a valuable addition that Ricky Schmitt has been kicking off and punting for the Lions. His kicks allow the cover teams to get downfield, while also sparing mileage on the leg of Paul McCallum. McCallum had his field goal streaked snapped but he’s also trying field goals he may not have at times last season, and a fresher leg could be the reason why.

Random Rambles

Is a football culture finally settling in at BC Place? It seems to me that over the last couple of games fans have been a lot more involved and willing to participate. Even the old BC chant is starting to become noticeable and you have to give some credit to the Lions game day ops team for working hard at this the last couple of seasons. Here’s to a day when the blaring music and make some noise prompting is a thing of the past.

Want some evidence that there was a method behind the madness of Dennis Skulsky’s “guarantee” against the Riders a couple of weeks ago?   Using my minimal math skills, the Lions averaged 24,808 fans over their first four home games before the Saskatchewan game bumped that up to 26,484. Saturday night on a beautiful bonus summer night in Vancouver, and following a week where the Lions laid a big egg on the offensive side of the ball, 27,784 took in a game that didn’t involve the Riders. Many of those were probably fans that took advantage of the Lions offering. The game was entertaining enough that a few of them might decide to come back on their own dime.

There’s a long way to go, but all of a sudden the Lions are one game behind Saskatchewan and Edmonton. They’ve passed the Bombers, and the Riders have yet to play the Eskimos or Stampeders and won’t have Darian Durant when they do. The Lions have a lot to work to do themselves but all of a sudden, things are looking a lot better for BC then they did even a week ago.

What are your thoughts? Did you see positive signs from the Lions performance on Saturday night? More thoughts this week on the BCLionsDen.ca Pawdcast.

From the Stands – BC Lions 16 Roughriders 20

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Guarantees in sports get thrown out the window as soon as the first whistle blows, and after three quarters of tough defensive football, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were the team that found the plays they needed, coming from behind to defeat the BC Lions and give 33,196 fans a free ticket to another game. Here are my thoughts, From the Stands.

No Offence

The Lions exploded out of the gate thanks to the spark plug known as Tim Brown, but sadly he was the only player could provide a Lions touchdown on the night on a first quarter punt return. Kevin Glenn and the offence had no response to a Riders defence that contained Andrew Harris and Stefan Logan. There were slips on receptions that looked promising, dropped balls and untimely penalties. In a game that featured no turnovers for either side, the offence failed to deliver the points the Lions needed.

The offensive line did a decent job protecting Glenn for the most part despite giving up three sacks, none of those to John Chick who was held to just one tackle. What they were unable to do was open holes for the running game which was stymied all night. Andrew Harris had just 11 yards on 8 carries, while Logan only had just 1 carry for 1 yard, a stat that is hard to fathom after Logan’s success last week. But with Glenn and the Lions unable to sustain drives, there wasn’t many opportunities to establish the run, much to the credit of a stingy Riders defence.

Second guessers are wondering if the Lions should have given Travis Lulay the second half but with the bye week coming up, now is the time to hand over the torch. Glenn didn’t have a strong game and the Lions playoff hopes are starting to look in doubt in the tough CFL West. Lulay has to return and return ready to go when the Lions take on Ottawa on Sept. 5th.

Big Plays Given Up

In the second half it was Riders backup Tino Sunseri that ran on the field after an injury took Darian Durant to the bench. Sunseri almost made an immediate impact but had a sure touchdown pass dropped by a wide open Rob Bagg. But Sunseri made multiple big throws to keep Riders drives alive and the Riders started to have success with their running attack, which was often gaining solid yards on first down. A huge run by Will Ford setup the touchdown the Riders needed and they rode it out for the win.

The Riders running game really took hold with the loss of Solomon Elimimian, and Lions fans hope the bye week will be enough to mend whatever took him out of the game.

The Riders made a few big plays, the Lions didn’t make any, and that was the difference in the game.

Random Thoughts

Whenever the Riders come down the atmosphere is always ramped up and Lions fans were ready to their part. Riders fans were there as usual but were fairly quiet until the final two minutes of the game, but certainly had a lot to say outside of the stadium after the game.

Officiating was in no way the reason the Lions lost this game, but there was more mind boggling stuff on pass interference reviews, as a play very similar to what was deemed pass interference in the Bombers/Alouettes game was ruled as insufficient evidence in this contest. It’s become a crapshoot for coaches and the league is going to have to really look at whether this experiment is helping or harming the game.

Just how many yards does a receiver have to be offside before a linesman throws a flag? If anyone has the answer, please let me know.

The Lions are doing a good job establishing the “Roar Factor” among the fan base. Fans are making noise on their own most of the time, or at least they were on Sunday. It was also great to see the B-C chant slowly returning to BC Place, a tradition that has been lost for several years now.

The guarantee aside, 33,196 football fans will get a free ticket courtesy of the home side and if that turns a few more onto the game on a regular basis, a positive can be taken from the loss.

The Lions may have lost the game, but they secured the season series against the Riders on point differential. It could be a valuable tool to have in their back pocket, but they’ll have to rely on other teams to bring the Riders back to the pack, and they’ll have a lot of work of their own to as well.

It was the best tailgate of the season in Tailgate Empire. The lot was packed and a great time was had by all with many football traditionalists getting to the lot around 10:30 am. Kudos to all who attended for another great party, and another spotless lot after the game.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on the game. Post a comment, or hit me up on Twitter @BCLionsDen. Make sure to check out BCLionsDen.ca for all of our Lions coverage and Pawdcasts as well.

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