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From the Couch: Lions 17 Tiger-Cats 19

October 9, 2014 By Brian Wawryshyn

antolin_740x300 — BC Lions Keola Antolin was in tough against Hamilton – Photo: TheProvince.com

If someone told you the Lions would go two games without allowing a defensive touchdown and would lose both games, you would have thought they were crazy. But that’s the reality facing a team that has lost any reasonable facsimile of an offence. It was the third straight loss for the Lions who have been unable to take advantage of the recent losses of foes in the West. Here’s how I saw the game, From the Couch.

Plenty of Blame to Go Around

With all the problems the Lions have encountered with their offence this season, expecting them all to be fixed overnight is somewhat unrealistic. That said, as a fan you at least hope for some signs of progress, yet sadly there were none to take solace in Saturday.

The offensive line has been the focal point for much of the season but perhaps that has been a little unfair, because this team is finding all sorts of ways to stall drives and stay out of the end zone. Whether it’s missed blocks, protection breakdowns, penalties, dropped passes, or the inability to get open and execute the proper routes, you name it the Lions are finding ways to make things downright frustrating offensively.

Keola Antolin was unable to generate anything out of the backfield, but it’s unfair to pin the Lions woes on a player playing his first CFL game. He received little help from those in front of him, often being smothered immediately in the backfield by the league’s best run defence.

With Antolin and the running game struggling the Lions needed their passing game to rise to the occasion but they couldn’t. In the third quarter, after a 42 yard Kevin Glenn strike to Ernest Jackson the Lions only offensive touchdown came on a pitch to Emmanuel Arceneaux who found Shawn Gore alone in the end zone. It was the Lions most creative play in some time, but it would be the last points they scored.

In the fourth quarter, going against the wind and hemmed deep in their own end, the Lions couldn’t manage a drive to tilt the field in the other direction. When they needed a field goal in the final minutes, SJ Haidara dropped two passes the Lions desperately needed to complete to give them a chance. It was the story of the night, and their season to date.

Once again the defence did their best to hold the fort, but keeping the Ticats out of the end zone wasn’t enough. Unlike the Lions offence, Hamilton were able to extend drives and keep the Lions defence on the field and were able to move the ball into Lions territory consistently enough to chip away at the lead.

It wasn’t just the Lions offence that struggled; special teams and coaching chipped in too. The Lions had problems dealing with Terrell Sinkfield and Brandon Banks who racked up 199 return yards. After conceding one safety, the Lions conceded a second, and Mike Benevides indicated on the post-game show the second was supposed to be a punt, but miscommunication at a crucial time saw Ricky Schmitt take a knee.

There is plenty of blame to go around, and with the injuries the Lions have incurred there is little help coming to resolve the issues they are having. They are running out of chances in to make up ground in the West and have blown two chances to do so. Solutions must come from within, and they must come quickly.

Let’s Pass On Interference Reviews

I’ve had it with the review of pass interference. It was an intriguing addition to the rules this off-season and I was willing to give it a chance but it’s not working. Teams are using it as a tool in their offence now, and why not? Even when calls go to the command centre it’s a crapshoot as to what they deem pass interference and what isn’t. Andrew Harris voiced his displeasure on Twitter, Jovon Johnson of the Redblacks retweeted yours truly when I voiced my frustration, so the players thinks it’s a joke too. It’s an experiment that has failed badly, and it needs to be turfed.

Home Sweet Home

Anyone else happy for the fans in Hamilton, who are undefeated in their new home? Ticats fans are some of the most long suffering yet loyal fans in the country. After being the equivalent of the CFL homeless for what seemed like an eternity, they finally have a place to call home. Tim Horton’s field sounded very loud on Saturday, and it’s likely to play host to a playoff game. A reward that fans in Hamilton are very deserving of.

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear your comments, and of course we’ll have plenty more to say on this week’s BCLionsDen.ca Pawdcast.

From The Couch: Lions 7 Stampeders 14

October 2, 2014 By Brian Wawryshyn

The BC Lions didn’t allow a touchdown Saturday night yet because their offence did nothing after the first 5 minutes of the game, they ended up losing 14-7 to the Calgary Stampeders. Here are my thoughts, From the Couch.

Usually when I do these articles for The Fifth Quarter, I attempt to describe the games from a fans point of view. You could probably take half a dozen of my blogs this year, replace the opponent with Calgary Stampeders, and you would have my view of this game.

It’s become a broken record for the Lions year, as week after week the defence plays a great game, but gets no support from an offence that has so many issues you don’t know where to start. Add to that the loss of Andrew Harris to a serious ankle injury and one has a hard time seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

We are literally talking about the same things on weekly basis and the Lions are what their record shows; a .500 football team. You simply can’t leave your defence on the field for most of the second half and expect to win football games, especially with Jon Cornish pounding the ball and grinding you down.

To Calgary’s credit their defence played just as well. The difference was their offence was doing enough to keep them off the field, while tiring the Lions defence down in the process. The score could have been much worse however, with Drew Tate overthrowing three wide open receivers deep. Cornish simply took the game over giving the Stamps key first downs.

On the first drive of the game the Lions chewed up close to five minutes of clock on a 9 play, 75 yard touchdown drive to open the scoring. But that would be it the rest of the way, and in the third quarter the Lions sputtered mightily.

Stefan Logan brought a missed field goal out of the end zone pinning the Lions deep in their own end and they never recovered field position wise. On the ensuing series they gave up a safety. And the tide had shifted.

harris_740x300 — Andrew Harris – Photo: O.Canada.com

With the offence sputtering so badly, and already having lost the promising skills of Bryan Burnham, it seemed like the football gods were striking down upon the Lions and their fans, when Harris went down with his ankle injury with five minutes remaining in the game.

Without Harris the Lions offence becomes even more one-dimensional. Emmanuel Arceneaux is being targeted on every down, because opposing defences aren’t too worried about the rest of the receivers, especially with Courtney Taylor out. Shawn Gore isn’t a factor, and has anyone seen Marco Iannuzzi and Kito Poblah?

The running game will now fall to Logan, but with Harris out it also affects the Lions ratio, which you guessed it, will likely mean more changes to the offensive line. Tim Brown will hopefully return as well, but the Lions may also have to activate Keola Antolin, who impressed in the preseason but has bided his time on the practice roster.

The bottom line is the two players that were supposed to be leaders on your offence are gone in Harris and Travis Lulay, three if you count the contributions of Courtney Taylor.

With another chance to extend their lead over Winnipeg missed and the prospects of going on without Harris looming large, what will change for the Lions? There isn’t anyone out there to bring in. We’re into the final third of the season and the offensive line hasn’t been able to gel and will likely see more changes yet.

Don’t be surprised if next week’s contribution in this space is eerily similar to this one.

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear your comments, and of course we’ll have plenty more to say on this week’s BCLionsDen.ca Pawdcast.

From the Stands: Lions 23 Argonauts 40

September 22, 2014 By Brian Wawryshyn

Header Image - Ricky Ray 740x300 — 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 – BC Lions 16 Roughriders 20

August 28, 2014 By Brian Wawryshyn

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.

From the Couch – Lions 33 Argonauts 17

August 28, 2014 By Brian Wawryshyn

In a week that once again saw the east giving western teams very little in the way of help, the Lions 33-17 win over the Argos Sunday in Toronto was important to keep pace in a jam packed CFL West. Here’s how I saw the game, From the Couch.

Offence

When this season began Lions fans were excited about the prospect of having Stefan Logan and Andrew Harris together for a full season. With Harris carrying most of the load so far this year accounting for about a third of their offence, Logan had taken somewhat of a complimentary role. But without Harris on Sunday, the Logan reasserted his value to the Lions offence.

Logan racked up 145 yards on 19 carries for a 7.6 yards per carry average and gave the Lions several key runs when they needed them, while adding another 49 yards on receptions.

Kevin Glenn, who passed Doug Flutie on the all-time passing yards list, had a decent game. The Lions quarterback connected on just 14 of his 25 passes, but had enough good moments to lead the Lions. The dagger to the Argos came via 53 yard Glenn to Manny Arceneaux pass for touchdown in the fourth quarter.

I wasn’t a big fan of the way the Lions attempted to get Travis Lulay into the game as I felt it gave him little chance to succeed. Out of the blue in the first quarter, with Glenn having decent success, was a strange time to bring Lulay into the game and I thought it kind of killed some momentum the Lions were building.

With Glenn walking off the field with an ice bag on his left leg, Lulay could be declared the starter early this week. A full week of knowing he’s going to start and taking all the first team reps will hopefully put Lulay in a better position to have success. Surely the Lions would have liked to get out to a big lead to get Lulay some more time, but they would have been better off just sticking with Glenn than the way they handled it, in my opinion.

Defence

Alex Bazzie continued his strong play on the defensive line and should be entering the conversation for rookie of the year. Last week on the BCLionsDen.ca Pawdcast I questioned whether Bazzie was benefiting from being an unknown and having three other veterans along the line that were commanding more attention from opposing teams. After this game, I’m pretty confident in saying that Bazzie is simply a really good football player.

Coming into the game there was some concern about all the changes in a battered Lions secondary, but replacements Torri Williams and TJ Lee stepped in admirably for Josh Johnson and Dante Marsh whose short side corner spot was occupied by Ronnie Yell. Yell’s pick six late in the fourth salted away the win for the Lions.

Anytime you can hold Ricky Ray to 181 yards, you’ve had a good day, no matter who his receivers are. The Lions also shutdown Argos running back Curtis Steele who had 49 yards on 10 carries.

Special Teams

Is there a guy on this team that makes you feel good for him more than Tim Brown? Brown is the consummate team player and no matter what his situation is, when he is number is called, he delivers. Brown’s 70 yard punt return led to the Lions first touchdown and he was a definite spark plug on special teams. How nice would it be for the Lions to get Brown on the roster along with Logan and Harris? It would relieve Logan from having to do kick returns, keeping him fresh, along with giving a really good guy the spot he deserves.

Miscellaneous

Playing their second game in five days was a challenge for Toronto, and you have to give them props for a solid effort. On this night Ricky Ray alone wasn’t enough, thanks in large part to the solid play of the Lions defence.

I don’t know what the command centre was looking at on an apparent no brainer pass interference penalty on Marco Iannuzzi in the third quarter. Branden Smith had a hold of Iannuzzi’s jersey for a good 10 yards but somehow the league saw things differently. Not only that, they penalized Kirby Fabien for a chop block he didn’t do.

The Lions spoke about modifications to their gun metal uniforms to make the numbers more visible, but to be honest I didn’t notice much difference and I don’t think complaints about that issue are going to for some. But that’s fine, they’re the best damn uniforms in football.

Kudos to the BC Lions who held their first viewing party of the season at The Pint in downtown Vancouver. There was a great turnout of Lions fans and prizes included, hats, footballs, game tickets and a Lions jersey. The club his planning to hold another one later in the year at the soon to be reopened Shark Club. If you weren’t able to check it out this week, try and make it out to the next one. It’s always great to watch the Lions with fellow fans.