After three straight wins and compiling an 8-3 record, the BC Lions head into their second bye week of the season. Brian and Mojo chat about the team so far and where they could be headed and hand out a few awards up to this point in the season. Freelance sports writer Cam Tucker joins the show for some expanded Lions discussion.
Cam Tucker
Twitter: @CamTucker_Sport
This show was recorded on September 14th, 2016.
Episode 56 aka our M.O.P. episode, features the current reigning CFL Most Outstanding Player and BC Lions linebacker Solomon Elimimian joins us in the Den to talk about his early football years, his relationship with team mate Adam Bighill and how he plays with controlled violence on the football Field.
John Fraser of the 2 and Out CFL Podcast joins the show for some Lions / Riders / CFL discussion and Brian and Mojo continue to sit in the basement of the BC Lions Den CFL Pickem Pool.
Follow our guests on Twitter:
Solomon Elimimian: @SolomonE56 :: John Fraser @2andOutCFL
This show was recorded on July 14th, 2015.
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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.
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.
Glenn 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.
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.
The 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.
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.
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.
When it comes to days at the office, Wally Buono can certainly say he had a great one as free agency opened across the CFL on Friday. After the firestorm of the Geroy Simon trade, it had to be a feel good day out in Surrey. Here is a recap and some thoughts on today’s activity.
The Lions started the day by announcing the re-signing of veteran receiver Paris Jackson and an extension for Korey Banks. As Lowell Ullrich of The Province tweeted, the extension for Banks was just part of the annual off-season routine for the Lions and the veteran defensive back.
The Jackson signing was news simply because there is a notion that after two years of accepting a lesser role, Jackson and the Lions are indicating that he’ll be given every opportunity to use his experience and get back on the playing field. Jackson had asked for his release from the Lions, but his leadership among the receiving corps could be the reason why the Lions had second thoughts, especially after the departure of Geroy Simon.
With those signings out of the way, the Lions turned their attention to their most high profile free agents. Free agency began with the news that Solomon Elimimian had decided to remain in the CFL. Farhan Lalji from TSN modified partner Dave Naylor’s tweet by saying Elimimian would not be signing in BC.
That set off some excitement on Twitter, with fans of other teams wondering how Elimimian would fit into their team’s plans. Shortly after that, reports began to surface that the Lions had re-signed Elimimian, though it took a while for all sides to finally confirm. The Lions had Elimimian take a medical prior to the deadline, and obviously feel there are no serious issues there. It’s believed that Elimimian received a similar deal to that of Adam Bighill, who he will have a whole training camp to get in sync with heading into the 2013 season.
The news got even better when the Lions announced (before Elimimian was confirmed) that they had signed 2012 most outstanding offensive lineman Jovan Olafioye to a new deal. It was widely known that Olafioye would explore his options in the NFL, but after last year’s experience and the lack of a real commitment by anyone this year, he appears to have made the decision to carve out a nice career here in BC. That’s great news for the Lions (and for Travis Lulay) who would have had a big hole to fill on the offensive line, particularly with the question marks at the guard spots heading into training camp. In fact the only downer on the day was the fact the Lions weren’t able to add any depth for the offensive line, thanks largely in part to teams re-signing their own players and the crop being rather thin this year.
The Lions also plucked defensive lineman Julius Williams from the Edmonton Eskimos to add to their stacked defensive line corps. Williams, listed at 6’2 257 pounds, is entering his third year in the league and was deemed expendable by Edmonton GM Ed Hervey after his club signed Odell Willis away from Saskatchewan moments after free agency opened. Williams has compiled 25 tackles and 7 sacks over his 24 regular season and 3 playoff appearances. The signing could give the Lions two Williams as defensive ends, with all-star Keron the other bookend.
The Lions did lose James Yurichuk to the Toronto Argonauts on Friday. The Ontario native chose to sign in his home province rather than re-up with the Lions and you can’t blame him. His work on special teams will be missed, but Yurichuk wasn’t going to see much playing time behind McKenzie, Bighill and Elimimian.
Defensive back Cauchy Muamba also entered the day as a free agent but as of this blog had not signed with anyone yet.
So all in all it was a great day for the Lions and their fans and who knows, there could be another tweak or two in the coming days.
We’ll leave the last word to the boss:
The BC Lions will be looking for a new middle linebacker in 2012, as the agent for Solomon Elimimian announced on Twitter Wednesday that his client had signed with the Minnesota Vikings.
Lowell Ullrich of The Province reported that the Lions may have had the chance to make an offer on Wednesday to the all-star linebacker but no offer was made. If that was the case, one has to wonder how good the NFL offers were. According to the Ullrich report, the Lions say no official request for an offer was made.
The off-season loss is the second in as many seasons to the Vikings, who plucked wide receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux from the black and orange last year.
Elimimian recorded 175 tackles and 9 sacks over his two seasons with the Lions and in 2010 was named the leagues defensive player of the year.
