Brian Wawryshyn, BCLionsDen.ca

The BC Lions held a 21 point lead in the second half and ended up losing in overtime to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 47-35, and missed a huge chance to put a stranglehold on a playoff spot in the process.

What was responsible for the Manitoba meltdown? Untimely penalties, undisciplined play, poor special teams and the inability to move the ball in the 4th quarter all played roles in the most disappointing loss of the season to date.

Both teams started slowly on offense, and for awhile those suffering from an overdose of turkey induced comas had little hope for a remedy from watching this game. With the score 11-8 at halftime, and the Winnipeg faithful having little faith in QB Alex Brink, the Lions started to put some things together, an were spraked by yet another highlight return by Yonus Davis, who gave the Lions a 15-11 lead with a 73 yard punt return. A botched fake punt set the Lions up in the redzone and Travis Lulay found Geroy Simon in the endzone and then found Emmanuel Arceneaux to put the Lions up 32-11 heading into the fourth quarter.

Travis Lulay evades Winnipeg tacklers. Photo: BCLions.com

But with Lulay finding a rhythm, he was forced to leave the game with an injury to his right hand, and Casey Printers entered the game to hopefully take the win home…yeah, no.

Trailing 32-11 heading into the fourth quarter it was Winnipeg QB Steven Jyles who entered the game, and who would guide his team to a win with his team on playoff life support. The fans had been calling for Jyles after Brinks was continually ineffective. Jyles got the team in position to get a 45 yard field goal, then found Terrence Edwards in the endzone to cut the Lions lead to eleven points. Following that TD, Davis Sanchez lost it and racked up 25 yards in penalties  and the Bombers easily added a single on the ensuing kick off cutting the lead to ten.

You could feel the game slipping away from the Lions, and Casey Printers had no response leading the offense. Jyles would find Greg Carr in the endzone late, cutting the lead to three at 32-29 with under a minute to play. All the Lions really needed was a deep kick, some solid special teams and a stop or two and the game was over. Instead, Jovan Johnson took the kick off into Lions territory, setting up a 43 yard Justin Palardy field goal to send the game to overtime and sending the Winnipeg crowd into a frenzy.

The Lions could only manage a Sean Whyte field goal after procedure penalties hindered any progress the Lions could make. Then, with the Lions defence on the field, the Bombers appeared to be taken out of field goal range on a sack, but Khalif Mitchell was ejected from the game after losing his cool and punching a Bomber player in the pile. The mental mistake cost the Lions dearly, as the Bombers tied the game with a field goal of their ow and the teams went to the second half of overtime tied at 35-35.

The Bombers had the ball first and drove for a touchdown, missing the two point convert. The pressure was on the Lions, and QB Casey Printers, and more penalties hampered the offence. In the end facing a second and long, Printers threw an ill advised ball that was picked off by Deon Beasley and returned for a touchdown, also returning the playoff hopes of the Bombers in the process.

One would hate to be a player in the Lions locker room following the game as they have no one to blame but themselves for the meltdown. What was more disappointing was the people taking the penalties. Veteran’s like Sanchez who need to be leaders have to be smarter and more composed.

Quick Hits:

• Travis Lulay started slowly, but used his feet well. He was 13/22 147 yards and no interceptions. He did have a couple of fumbles.
• The Bombers started Alex Brink in a controversial move, and they nearly paid for it. They gave the QB plenty of time to find his way, much to the displeasure of the Bomber faithful. He finished 4/18 for 61 yards before being pulled.
• Angus Reid left the game in the 4th quarter, an injury that could have huge ramifications to the offence next week if he can’t go. Being a short week, it appears Justin Sorensen could be the centre against Edmonton.
• The Lions missed a huge chance to secure a playoff spot with the loss. Had they won, they would have been two games up on Edmonton and three up on the Bombers in a crossover scenario, making next week’s home game versus the Eskimos huge.
• Geroy Simon’s touchdown was the 90th of his CFL career.

Vanya Tucherov – BCLionsDen.ca

The BC Lions’ venture into McMahon Stadium to do battle with the CFL-leading Calgary Stampeders was fraught with many of the same horrors which have plagued the Lions all season – sloppy execution, shaky play from the offensive line and turnovers, but, as a direct result of a resolute defence and some stellar special teams play, the result was a 29-10 triumph over the Stampeders.

The game started well for the Leos as Yonus Davis took the opening kickoff 73 yards and Geroy Simon caught an eighteen yard strike from Casey Printers. Suddenly the Lions had the ball at the twelve yard line looking to make an emphatic statement early in the game. Instead of punctuating the statement with the exclamation mark that a touchdown would have been, after two Casey Printers overthrows of Simon, Paul McCallum came on to draw first blood with the field goal.

Henry Burris would take two plays to throw his first interception of the game, finding Dante Marsh to give the Orange and Black the ball again in Calgary territory.

Second verse, almost the same as the first. This time, the chosen receiver was Paris Jackson, who caught a seven yard hitch and was then overthrown on second and three, leading to McCallum’s second of the game, this one from forty-two yards, and the Lions were up 6-0 less than five minutes into the game; but with the feeling that perhaps it should have at least been 10-0.

Given the way the year has gone, it was hard to stay positive. Watching the Twitter feed of Lions’ fans talking about the game, there was more than a little fatalism, as viewers wondered how long it’d take for the failure to convert the majors to come back to haunt the Leos.

The Stamps weren’t getting anything established with the ball either, which led to generally positive field position for the Lions on both sides of the ball. A pair of punts later, the Lions D held the red and white to a two-and-out down in the shadows of their own goalposts, and Yonus Davis’ twenty-nine yard return of Burke Dales’ punt from the Calgary ten netted twenty-six yards and gave the Lions a third possession in Stampeders’ territory. Like the previous two, though, this one stalled quickly and ended up with a third McCallum field goal on the board, rounding out the scoring in the first frame with the Lions out to the 9-0 edge.

When Printers fumbled at the Lions’ thirteen on the team’s second snap of the second quarter, the collective groan seemed to be that the tide was about to turn with the Stamps this time having excellent field position. The groan grew in timbre when Burris found Romby Bryant to move the ball down to the one-yard line. Two rush attempts later- and two times Calgary players were credited with recovering the ball after putting it on the carpet- the Lions had taken ten of those twelve yards back, and forced Rob Maver and the kicking team onto the field for the Stamps. Maver banged his attempt off of the top of the right upright, and suddenly, the Lions weren’t the only team leaving points on the field.

Three non-descript possessions and ensuing punts later, the Stampeders were deep in their own end again when Burris made another mistake, throwing an interception to Korey Banks and giving the Lions possession at the Calgary six-yard line after Banks’ pick was initially returned into the end zone for an apparent touchdown- which was overturned after Calgary coach John Hufnagel challenged the ruling on the field.

Again, the Lions would fail to capitalize on the gift. Tearrius George would break through the BC line and tally the sack on Printers, knocking the ball loose in the process. George would also come up with the recovery, and more potential points were orphaned. Printers would be benched for the balance of the evening, winding up four of nine for 62 yards, but losing two of three fumbles and often overthrowing his receivers badly on the incompletions.

Travis Lulay wouldn’t have an exceptional evening on in relief, winding up five-of-twelve for only eighty-five yards, but would manage to guide BC into McCallum field goal range on the final two possessions of the half, aided in the first by a 27-yard pass interference penalty on Calgary’s Brandon Smith and in the second by an unnecessary roughness flag against Brandon Browner as the Lions took a 15-0 lead to the locker room at the half.

Receiving to open the second half, the Stampeders moved the ball downfield, but the Lion defence stiffened and forced the Stamps to settle for a twenty-yarder from Maver to break the shutout bid.

Andrew Harris took the ensuing kickoff twenty-six yards to give the Lions a first down at their own 41 yard line, but the offense could only muster a single first down before kicking the ball back to Calgary, but pinning them at their own 4 yard line.

The Stampeders would take to the ground and gain the first down on a Drew Tate plunge on third-and-one from their own thirteen. Burris would break loose on the next play for twenty-eight yards, but lost the ball at the end of his run, with Dante Marsh pouncing on the loose ball at the Calgary 42.

The offense would move the ball, racking up two first downs- one by penalty, but would again bog down and settle for McCallum’s sixth of the night from 28 yards to run the score to 18-3. The BC defence would flex its muscle again, breaking up a Burris pass attempt to Romby Bryant and following it with a huge sack by Solomon Elimimian for a loss of 26, leading to Burke Dales conceding the safety on 3rd and 42.

Yonus Davis would come within a shoelace of breaking another return on the free kick, bringing it back 58 yards to the Calgary 32 moments before the end of the third quarter. McCallum’s magic would miss this time, registering just the single point.

Drew Tate would come in to relieve Burris, whose stat line would read an uncharacteristic 11 of 26 for 136 yards, two interceptions and a lost fumble. McCallum would have a rare miss- hitting the right upright from 38 yards after the teams swapped two-and-outs.

After more offensive stagnation, McCallum would tally another rouge on a 61-yard punt with under four minutes remaining. Calgary would use a minute and fifty seconds of that before turning the ball over on downs as Tate was unable to connect with Ken-Yon Rambo on third and sixteen from midfield.

Jamal Robertson would provide one of the few bright spots for the Lions offense, breaking loose for the touchdown with a gallop from there. The conversion made the score 29-3 with 1:45 remaining. Calgary would get a late touchdown, Tate finding Landan Talley from twelve yards out, but it was far too late as the Lions locked up the win.

Game Stats

Quick Hits:

• Yonus Davis had two kick returns for 131 yards and seven punt returns for 108.
• Jamal Robertson’s 140 yards rushing amount to seven fewer than Printers and Lulay managed through the air.
• Paris Jackson and Geroy Simon each had three catches for 69 and 55 yards respectively.
• Solomon Elimimian led the defence with ten tackles and a sack. Keron Williams and Anthony Reddick also added sacks, while Dante Marsh and Korey Banks had interceptions.

Vanya Tucherov, BCLionsDen.ca

Should the BC Lions miss the playoffs this season, there will be a number of significant points during the season at which they can look back, but few would seem to encapsulate the year-that-could-have-been as neatly as Saturday’s loss at Empire to the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 35-31.

After three quarters, the Lions had the edge, leading 28-16, but were again unable to hold the lead as the clock counted down, tallying solely a Paul McCallum field goal in the closing frame while surrendering nineteen points to their feline foe.

As has been the case for entirely too much of this season, it was inopportune penalties, poor execution, and turnovers which led to the Leos’ lurching loss, as five BC turnovers in the second half opened the door with an invitation the Ti-Cats couldn’t refuse.

The fourth quarter opened with Hamilton driving the ball on the ground, with DeAndra Cobb registering 32 of his 155 yards on the possession which wrapped the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters and culminated in a 37-yard field goal from Sandro DeAngelis.  Casey Printers was intercepted on the ensuing possession, and two plays later Kevin Glenn connected with Maurice Mann from fifty-one yards out to close the score to 28-26.

In review, the CFL director of officials Tom Higgins has acknowledged a missed penalty call- an illegal block by Hamilton’s Peter Dyakowski on Anton McKenzie- which should have nullified the Mann touchdown, but just as hindsight is 20:20, excuses are for losers, and the Lions would proceed to lose the ball twice more, the key one coming on a Jerome Messam fumble deep in Lions territory leading to a Glenn to Chris Baumann touchdown. Sandro DeAngelis added another field goal to add the final insult to the reversal on the scoreboard, the latter coming with a mere forty-two seconds left in the game.

And, as has also become commonplace this year, no insult would be complete without the concomitant injury- this time a torn bicep which will shelve Lions’ defencive tackle Steve Williams for the remainder of the season and will put a big strain on the defensive line with injuries already to Aaron Hunt, Domini Pittman and Jeremy Geathers.

In the first half, the Lions’ offense looked to have continued the trend of the last two games, and the defence was at least workman-like, if not exceptional. Casey Printers was showing signs of his circa-2004 flair, distributing the ball to his recievers and backs, including an 11-yard touchdown toss to Geroy Simon in the first quarter and a forty-yard strike to Stephen Black to round out the scoring in the first half; with the tandem of Jerome Messam and Yonus Davis providing just enough of a ground attack to keep the Hamilton defenders from keying on the pass.

Unfortunately, with the rains picking up in the second half, the deluges seemed to wash away those reflections of days past. In the end, four sacks, two interceptions and three fumbles lost in conjunction with seventy-seven yards in penalties was to prove fatal, particularly with four of those five turnovers coming in the final sixteen minutes.

The loss was a tough one to take, with the Lions having the win in the palm of their hands. Their record dropped to 3-8 with their next game in Calgary against the division leading Stampeders, who will be in a surly mood after losing last week in Regina.

Quick Hits:

• Former Lion Jason Jiminez did little to endear himself to his old squad-mates, making an illegal and dangerous block from behind and at the knees  on Brent Johnson.  Jiminez also took a taunting penalty near the end of the first half.
• Jiminez wasn’t alone in the abuse factor, with Jeremy Gibbs flagged for running over Paul McCallum after the conversion to make the score 19-16. Former Lion Otis Floyd also got tempers incited, taunting the BC players during warmups.
• The season-ending loss of Steve Williams left the Lions with only three able-bodied defensive linemen dressed for the game.
• Look for a signing this week or for UBC alumus and home-grown talent Sean Ortiz or import defensive tackle Richard Jones to be activated from the practice roster.

After a shaky first quarter against the Lions found some traction and treated their home faithful to a 37-16 win at Empire Field, their first win at their 2010 home field, couldn’t have come at a better time, as the Lions are in need of every point they can get after going 2-7 in the first half of the season. The Lions have now won two straight, and will look to build on that next week at home versus Hamilton.

Argos QB Cleo Lemon found import wide receiver James Robinson in a seam for a 41-yard touchdown to open the scoring at 7:39 of the first quarter, and the Double Blue would tack on a rouge after a Grant Shaw field goal miss from 49 yards out; but the Lions would rouse themselves from their early somnambulism and march 73 yards in seven plays covering 2:40, with Yonus Davis capping the drive with  a four-yard reception.

On the first play following the kickoff, Lemon lost the ball, and Korey Banks came up with the recovery, giving the Lions possession at the Toronto 18-yard line. Casey Printers found Davis again to take the ball down inside the one, and Jerome Messam bulled his way into the endzone for the major.

Two possessions later, Messam would record his second touchdown of the game, running over the Argo defence from four yards out to give the Orange and Black a 21-8 edge.

Lemon and Robinson would answer again two plays later, closing the gap to six, where it would stay at the half, but not without a little unexpected drama on the last play of the half. The Lions’ Paul McCallum would miss only his second attempt of the season, this one from 51 yards out, but Toronto’s Chad Owens brought the miss back, only to be tackled by McCallum after an eighty-two yard return, leaving the ball thirty-six yards short of the goal line.

Andrew Harris would take the opening half kickoff seventy-two yards, and an unnecessary roughness penalty would take the ball down to the Argos seven, where it took two plays- a Yonus Davis carry for five yards, and then Printers found Stephen Black for the touchdown.

The teams would trade two-and-outs, with each defence registering a sack when the Lions would seize the moment again, with Dante Marsh picking off Lemon and giving the ball back to the offense in Toronto territory. Two plays later, Paul McCallum atoned for his earlier miss converting a 34 yard field goal.

Things would get worse for the Argos, as they lost the CFL’s leading rusher, Cory Boyd, for the balance of the game as Boyd was taken to the ground by Solomon Elimimian after a gain of twenty-seven yards. The Boatmen offense would find no wind for their sails, and Shaw missed his second field goal attempt of the day, although the Lions would concede the single again.

Two more McCallum field goals would round out the scoring in a final quarter in which both offensive lines seemed to self-destruct. The Lions would end the game having yielded eight sacks, Toronto would give up six- three of them to former Argo Jonathan Brown, who had a good game for his first outing in the orange and black. Elimimian and Stanley Franks  each notched five tackles for the Lions’ D.

The win is the Lions’ second successive victory, but the team still hasn’t completely turned the corner, as the offensive line had a rough day protecting Casey Printers, and the team continued to take just too many penalties- being flagged fourteen times for 112 yards. The performance was sufficient to carry the day against a Toronto side which played most of the second half without their leading offensive threat and with an offensive line almost as battered as that of the Lions.

The day clearly wasn’t intended to go the way of the visitors from Hogtown, and made itself comically clear early in the fourth quarter. Printers took a snap under centre from the Lions 40-yard line, dropped back in the pocket, only to be sacked and have the ball stripped. Toronto’s Ronald Flemons came up with the pigskin and rumbled to the end zone untouched, only to lose control of the ball himself somewhere inside the two yard line. An alert O’Neil Wilson came up with the recovery about seven yards deep in the endzone. The play was originally called a touchdown on the field, but upon review, the points came off the Argonauts’ side of the scoreboard and the Lions took the ball back.

That play will probably serve as a metaphor for the Argonaut beat reporters. The Lions will take the W, but didn’t necessarily play well enough to carry the day without a little luck. They’ll try to run the unbeaten skein to three games next week, as they host the Tiger-Cats, but the team will need a stronger all-around effort.

Quick Hits:

• Geroy Simon celebrated his birthday in style, pulling in a team-high seven catches for a total of 133 yards. That moved the veteran receiver into fifth place on the CFL’s overall receiving list, edging him past Roughrider legendary slotback Ray Elgaard.
• Attendance was a rather disappointing  22,703. The game was a rare afternoon affair at Empire Field and was enjoyed by those in attendance. Rain held off until after the game, making it a perfect day for football. If you weren’t there, you missed out!
• Jonathon Brown had a great game against his former teammates. Brown racked up three sacks and executed a big tackle early in the game stuffing the Argos on 3rd and goal.

LIONS 38 ALOUETTES 17

Ok, just maybe the football gods aligned everything in the football universe for the BC Lions to break their seven game losing streak Friday night in Montreal. The Alouettes, pretty much as sure a thing at home as you can get, were not only without quarterback Anthony Calvillo, but they were giving young QB Chris Leak his first professional start. The Lions of course were a desperate team heading into Quebec and needed to take advantage of the missing Calvillo. Take advantage they did.

Of course Chris Leak wasn’t the only QB in the game under the microscope. BC’s Casey Printers was under pressure to get this offence going after a sputtering injury filled start to the year. Both QB’s struggled getting their teams going early, with the clubs exchanging field goals early. McCallum added a single and another field goal to make the score 7-3 until late in the half when Casey Printers connected on two big plays to Paris Jackson. He then went to Geroy Simon in the endzone for the touchdown with :34 seconds remaining in the half and the Lions led by 11 at the break.

Second half adjustments and production have been a problem for the Lions this season, and fans were left wondering how the team would fair when the emerged from the locker room. The quarter started off ominously as both Korey Banks (Dislocated finger) and Dante Marsh (Seperated shoulder) had to leave the game, and Leak had some success moving the ball in their absence. However, his promising drive would end badly as he threw a deep floater over the middle that gave safety Tad Crawford his first interception of the year. Crawford returned the ball 40 yards to midfield, but the Lions failed to get a first down, setting up a Paul McCallum punt. But the wily veteran kicker had other ideas as he pulled the ball down and ran 11 yards for a first down. That play would turn out to be huge, as Jamall Robertson rumbled the ball into the redzone with carries of 7 and 33 yards to set up a Printers touchdown pass to rookie Steven Black, who was making his first start for the Lions in place of the injured Darius Passsmore.

From there the wheels fell off for the Alouettes. Both teams would punt on their next possessions but the next time the Als touched the ball Leak was picked off by Korey Banks who had returned the the game. Travis Lulay replaced Casey Printers who left with a leg injury that was reported as “cramping”. His departure was “precautionary” with the big lead. The Lions started at the Montreal 31 yard line and Lulay hit Jamal Lee for a nice gain before handing off to Yonus Davis who ran the ball in for the score. On the Als next possession, Leak fumbled on a strange play where he caught his leg in the turf, stumbled and fumbled the ball into the arms of Banks who took it to the endzone to give the Lions a 35-3 lead just like that.

The Lions were dealt another injury blow in the 4th quarter when centre Dean Valli was rolled on from behind and suffered a broken right leg.

Overall the Lions offence looked creative and much more aggressive than in past weeks. Steven Black had a nice game, and leader like Simon, Jackson, Printers, Banks stepped up to set the tone. The addition of Joe McGrath at right tackle seemed to help stabilize the offensive line, which will see another change next week with Reid plugging in for Valli and the possible addition of Jesse Newman that the club announced Saturday.

Casey Printers finished the game 14/28 passing for 235 yards 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. The Lions were also more successful on the ground with Jamal Robertson pounding out 63 yards and Jerome Messam getting three late touches for 26.

Game Stats

Quick Hits:

• The Lions announced the acquisition of non-import offensive lineman Jesse Newman from the Calgary Stampeders today. The club will give up a 2nd round pick in the 2011 draft and a fourth round pick in the 2012 draft. Newman should be a welcome addition to the offensive line, and is also a native of BC.
• Initial reports from Dante Marsh, according to The Provinces Lowell Ullrich yesterday indicate that Marsh says he’ll be ready to play next week after separating his shoulder Friday.
• Lions 2nd round pick and recent Green Bay Packers cut Shawn Gore was in the crowd watching his potential future teammates. The two sides are rumoured to be making progress on a contract for the young Canadian receiver who was at the game to catch up with Jamal Lee, James Yurichuk and Dan McCullough.
• Martell Mallett, Ricky Foley, Stefan Logan were all released by their respective NFL teams, and all are hoping to either be picked up or offered practice roster spots. Former Saskatchewan Roughrider DL Stevie Baggs was also released by the Arizona Cardinals, and like the former Lions is awaiting word on waivers and a possible PR spot.

Vanya Tucherov for BCLionsDen.ca

The good news for the BC Lions may be that they won’t lose next week.

Of course, that’s only certain because they don’t return to action until the 27th against the West leading Calgary Stampeders.

Again, the story of the Leos’ loss strikes up a familiar refrain: too many penalties, a porous offensive line, turnovers at particularly inopportune moments, and an anaemic offense which was unable to reliably move the ball for much of the game- and unable to capitalize on the few chances where they did get a little wind in their sails.

If it weren’t for Yonus Davis and his 51-yard touchdown run on the first offensive play of the third quarter for the Lions, the sole tallies for the Lions in the 37-13 loss would have been a pair of Paul McCallum field goals in the opening frame.

It gets harder and harder as the loss skein stretches to find new bright spots. Davis has to be one. Not only did he score the only BC major, but he led the team in rushing yardage, tying with Jamal Robertson with 84 yards on the ground. Davis also had a strong night on special teams, logging 133 yards in kick returns and an additional 28 in punt returns.

Ryan Phillips continued his statistically unlikely domination of Darian Durant, picking off two passes and raising his career total to 13 of his 24 interceptions coming from Durant throws, according to the TSN broadcast.

The bright spots end there. After looking good in relief last week against Calgary, Jarious Jackson was, well, as ineffective as anyone else at pivot behind the Lions O-line this year. Worse, although he had success on longer routes last week against the Stamps, he didn’t have a completion of twenty or more yards until after the game was out of reach, and ended up 18 of 31 for 194 yards and two interceptions against what had been the league’s least effective pass defence. He also absorbed five sacks.

Thirteen accepted penalties against the Lions handed the Riders 144 yards worth of field position. This sloppy execution is bad enough were it to happen to a team otherwise executing (Sasketchewan was flagged 14 times for 125 yards), but particularly when the offensive unit can’t give the defence time to catch their collective breaths it leads to vulnerabilities and poor field position.

It will be interesting to see what the bye week does to the Lions personnel, particularly as NFL teams get through their first two weeks of exhibitions and may be sending some players packing; and plenty of questions which might be answered. Could there be diamonds in the rough to bolster the shaky offensive line? Might the continued stagnation finally force the Lions organization to part ways with offensive coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine?

Time will tell, but it’s getting harder and harder for the orange-and-black faithful to watch the drubbings week after week.

Quick Hits:

Many comments on the post-game show indicated that the Lions didn’t try and go deep often. Well, it’s tough to go deep when you’re quarterback is running for his life. Routes can’t develop, the QB can’t check off his receivers, and the whole play breaks down. Is it safe to say Darian Durant has arrived? The Rider QB looks to be easily the best in the league. His passes are crisp and accurate and when his blocking breaks down he just runs for the first down…One could also say the same for the Rider receivers, who constantly get open on 2nd and long. Adny Fantuz leads the CFL with 16 2nd down catches for first downs.