Travis Lulay and the BC Lions offence couldn’t get on track against the Eskimos
Photo Credit: Canadian Press / Ian Jackson
There is an old saying that says “The defence rests”. Saturday afternoon in Edmonton the Lions defence never got that chance as the Lions fell to the 3-0 Edmonton Eskimos by a score of 33-17.
An inept offence kept the defence on the field for most of the game and it was too much to ask against an Edmonton offence firing on all cylinders to start the season. With the win the Eskimos sit alone at the top of the CFL West division while the Lions are sharing the basement with the equally hurting Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Eskimos set the tone for the game early, methodically marching down the field and in the process using up half the first quarter on a drive that saw Ricky Ray go 7-8. Edmonton failed get a major but opened the scoring on a 20 yard Damon Duval field goal.
The Lions proceeded to go two and out on their first possession, and that would be the story of the first half. With the Lions defence settling down after that first drive they gave the offence the chance to get going by keeping the score close. But fatigue would soon set in.
Last week’s game saw Lulay the victim of drops by his receivers. But on this night he saw his passes bouncing off the turf or thrown over his targets head. The running game was once again not utilized, and the Eskimos defence barely saw the field.
Even when the defence appeared to make a stop, there were penalties that kept drives alive. An Eric Taylor offside penalty kept saw the Eskimos take advantage on the next two plays, with a 17 yard pass to Jason Barnes and then 42 yard pass and run to Fred Stamps for the game’s first touchdown. The Eskimos led 10-0 with the Lions only touching the ball four times.
The Eskimos would add a single on the ensuing kickoff after Tim Brown bobbled the ball in the end zone and the Lions ineptitude on offense continued as two more passes went incomplete with Lulay still looking shaky. Lulay was 1 for 6 for 7 yards in the opening frame.
When the 2nd quarter began, the Lions defence was again trying to do their part, forcing the Eskimos to punt on their first possession of the 2nd quarter. But the offense continued to sputter and after another two and out Edmonton blocked a Paul McCallum punt and things started going from bad to worse for the Lions.
With the Eskimos scrimmaging at the Lions 35, Ray drove the Esks into field goal position and Duval extended the lead to 14-0. The Lions looked to build on their 7 yards of offence but an end around to Shawn Gore went nowhere and Lulay couldn’t connect on a 2nd and 5 forcing the Lions to punt once again. McCallum pinned the Eskimos deep and the Lions defence who had practically been on the field for the whole game were able to get a stop and the Lions had great field position to start at the Eskimo’s 45 after the punt. Lulay completes a 7 yard pass to Geroy Simon but the Lions couldn’t convert on 2nd and 3 after Jamall Robertson was stuffed. BC sent out Paul McCallum to try a 45 yard field goal and he connected to get the Lions on the board, making the score 14-3 with just over four minutes remaining in the half.
The fatigue of being on the field for the whole half started to show on the Lions defence. Marcus Henry caught a pass in front of Dante Marsh for a nice gain, before Adarious Bowman went on a 46 yard romp after a missed tackle by David Hyland. The Eskimos punched it into the end zone on the next play with a Ricky Ray pass to Daniel Porter and it was 21-3 Eskimos.
The Lions got their first 1st down of the half with just over 2:00 minutes remaining. The set of plays saw a big completion to Geroy Simon of 38 yards as the Lions looked to get some points before the half. They accomplished that when Lulay found Simon in the end zone with 1:34 remaining and the Lions were amazingly only down by 11.
But with just over a minute left Ray wasn’t satisfied and marched the Eskimos into Lions territory. Once again sloppy tackling was a key by a tired defence. To make matters worse, nose tackle Eric Taylor had to leave with a leg injury and the Lions didn’t have a backup leaving the defensive line thin. The Eskimo drive stalled and a 44 yard Duval field goal sailed wide for a single, making the score 22-10 at the half.
The Lions received to start the 3rd quarter and scrimmaged from inside their 25. A two yard toss to Andrew Harris and a 2nd down conversion to Akeem Foster saw things start more promising for BC. The drive continued with completions to Dobson Collins and Kamau Peterson but stalled on the next two plays, forcing the Lions to punt.
The Eskimos first possession of the 2nd half started at their own 21. Daniel Porter ran for 8 yards to start the drive but the Lions stuffed him in the backfield on 2nd down and the Eskimos had to give the ball back. A great return by Andrew Harris on the punt was nullified by a Rolly Lumbala holding call however and the Lions scrimmaged from their 35 but failed to generate anything more than a first down.
On the next drive Ray scampered for 27 yards. The Lions had the Eskimos facing third and five, but Edmonton caught the Lions sleeping on a fake punt and direct snap to Mathieu Betrand to extend the drive. The move paid off for the Eskimos as even though the drive was stopped again it got them into field goal range. Luckily for the Lions Duval pushed it wide again for another single, extending the lead to 23-10.
The defence had kept the score within a couple of touchdowns and on the Lions next drive they decided to start using Jamall Roberston and it started to pay off. But then the wheels came off as Lulay threw a pass to the sideline that was jumped on by TJ Hill. Lulay did save a touchdown on the play by hustling back to make the tackle on Hill, but the Eskimos were threatening again. After a too many men in the huddle penalty on the Eskimos, Ray ran for a first down then found Jason Barnes to set the Eskimos up first and goal at the five. They only needed one play from Daniel Porter to punch it in, and the Lulay interception proved a costly one, extending the Eskimos lead to 30-10.
That seemed to suck the life out of any momentum the Lions had and the Eskimos added a field goal before Akeem Foster scored a late touchdown to make the final 33-17.
Quick Hits:
- Geroy Simon was one of the lone bright spots on offence for the Lions and surpassed the 14,000 yard mark for his career with a catch in the 4th quarter.
- The Lions rushed the ball just 8 times for 56 yards.
- Ricky Ray has yet to throw an interception in 3 games this season, and was 24 of 33 for 320 yards and 2 touchdowns.
- The Lions next game is Friday July 22nd at 7:00pm against the Hamilton Tiger Cats at Empire Field.
Against a lesser team, the BC Lions possibly escape with a victory. Unfortunately, tonight they faced off against the two-time defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes instead and a valiant second half rally fell short by a 30-26 score.
With the first possession of the game, the Als managed to do what neither Calgary nor Saskatchewan could during the preseason, score a major on the Lions defence. Diamond Ferri took the opening kickoff from Paul McCallum at the Montreal 14 yard line, and the season was underway. Ferri would be brought down after a 23 yard return by Anthony Reddick and six plays later, Anthony Calvillo found S. J. Green behind the Lions secondary and the 51-yard scoring toss drew first blood, putting the Alouettes up 7-0 after the conversion.
While Montreal may have gotten exactly the start they could have hoped for, the same could not be said for the visiting Lions, who went 2-and-out on their opening possession, yielding a sack on the first play under centre followed by an incompletion from Lulay intended for Jamal Richardson, leaving McCallum to kick the ball away.
The little errors and untimely penalties which plagued last year’s edition of the Lions looked as if they might recur when an unnecessary roughness penalty against Aaron Hunt tacked fifteen yards onto a Brandon Whitaker 28-yard run, moving the ball inside the Lions’ 25, leaving BC in danger of dropping ten or more points in arrears less than halfway into the first quarter. The Als were unable to convert, however, with Sean Whyte hitting the right upright on a 35-yard attempt.
The Lions were able to capitalize somewhat on the momentum shift after the Whyte miss, moving the ball sixty-four yards in eleven plays before getting on the board with the first of McCallum’s four field goals on the night. On the drive, Geroy Simon caught a sixteen-yard toss from Lulay to move into fourth place among the CFL’s all-time receiving leaders.
The Lions secondary in particular looked shaky for most of the first half, letting the Als stretch the defensive backfield and tally 27 points by the half with the Lions only managing to add a late touchdown throw by Lulay to Akeem Foster on a drive kept alive on a 2nd-and-10 completion from Lulay to rookie receiver Dobson Collins good for 49 yards.
The second half would see the Lions come out and move the ball downfield only to stall when a blown coverage allowed Ferri to drop Jarious Jackson, who had come in on the short-yardage play with the Lions looking at first-and-goal from the 2 yard line for an eleven yard loss. Rather than punching the ball in for the touchdown, the Lions settled for McCallum’s second FG of the night to close to 27-10.
Reddick would continue his strong play on defensive special teams with a big hit on Tim Maypray which seemed to set the tone for the Lions’ play when Montreal had the ball in the second half. The Alouettes generally had the better field position through the third quarter, but the BC defence proved stalwart when needed and kept their hosts from capitalizing.
With three minutes left in the third quarter, Tim Brown managed to pull off something which had the Lions’ faithful (and your BCLionsDen.ca staff) asking “Yonus who?” as he returned a Whyte punt 97 yards for the touchdown bringing the black and orange to within ten. If Brown can continue with the play he showed this evening, his predecessor as Leos’ kick returner will surely be forgotten in the “ecstasy” of the Lions’ coaching staff and fans.
Montreal would close out their side of the scoring ledger with a Whyte field goal in the waning seconds of the third quarter and would take the final turn up 30-20. Bracketing the opening of the final frame, Lulay would find Simon and Collins for 36 and 14 yards respectively before the drive would fizzle when Lulay just slightly overthrew Collins in the end zone. McCallum would tally his third field goal of the night from 39 yards, and it seemed as if the comeback might be on.
In the end, though, Lions’ fan’s hopes to steal a victory from the beast of the East were dashed as the team started to win the field position battle, forcing Montreal coach Marc Trestman to elect to have Sean Whyte punt from fifteen yards deep in his own end zone up by seven points with under three minutes to play. The Lions started to move again, but without a timeout came up a bit short and settled for McCallum’s fourth field goal of the night to round out the scoring.
Coach Buono’s decision to kick the field goal on third-and-five rather than going for the conversion will certainly be questioned at some length before next week’s tilt at Empire Field against the Stampeders. With the momentum and field position favouring the Leos and Lulay having success finding several receivers, the call seemed an overly conservative one, as with no timeouts left and 1:42 left on the clock at the change of possession, the Lions were unable to get the ball back to take one more shot at the victory.
Quick Hits:
- Travis Lulay had a good statistical evening, going 26 of 45 for 366 yards and out-throwing Calvillo, who ended up 22-of-30 for 312.
- The offensive line for the Lions showed significant improvement in their pass protection, only allowing the opening drive sack of Lulay and the blown coverage which dropped Jackson down in the red zone.
- Tim Brown had five punt returns for 132 yards, including the 97-yarder; and added 50 yards on three kick returns, with Andrew Harris netting 59 on the other three.
- On the defensive side of the ball, Solomon Elimimian led the charge with seven tackles, while Anthony Reddick tallied five and a pair on special teams.
- Geroy Simon, Shawn Gore and Jamal Robertson each had five catches, followed by Dobson Collins, Akeem Foster and Nick Moore with three apiece. Simon’s catches netted 115 yards, rookie Collins finished with 85.
Next game: Friday July 8th versus Calgary at Empire Field. 7:30pm. Tickets
BC Lions fans showed up at Empire Field hoping the bye week had worked out the issues the team had seen compiling a 1-6 record to start the year. In the end it was the Calgary Stampeders who looked rested and fine tuned, as they easily defeated the home side by a score of 48-35. The score flattered the Lions who scored two late touchdowns in garbage time.
The game started ominously for the Lions after the defence held the Stamps to a field goal attempt. Rob Maver’s attempt was short but was fumbled by the Leos’ Yonus Davis and recovered by the Stamps on the Lions 9 yard line where Burris would run it in for an early touchdown.
The Lions did respond on the next series, thanks in part to a great 44 yard leaping catch by Emmanuel Arceneaux to put the Lions in great field position. After Jamal Robertson took it to the one, the Lions needed three chances to get the ball into the endzone, with Casey Printers eventually breaking the plane of the goalline, confirmed by video review.
The Lions would take the lead on a Paul McCallum field goal, but it would be their last lead of the game, as the Stampeders started to dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, a common theme for the Lions this season. Henry Burris, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for one himself, did his best to keep the Lions in the game in the first half. After an Emmanuel Arceneaux fumble at midfield, Burris tossed the first of his three interceptions in the game, setting up a Paul McCallum field goal. Burris promptly threw another to Dante Marsh and a great catch at the 1 yard line by Simon set up a Jamal Robertson touchdown late in the half, closing the score to 24-20. The Stamps would get a field goal late, aided by a horse collar penalty assessed to Tad Crawford and the Lions were actually in the game at the half, down by just seven points.
It was the same old story in the second half as the Stampeders made some adjustments and the Lions couldn’t adjust. Burris worked underneath routes to John Cornish and Joffrey Reynolds at will. On one drive in the half it was all Cornish all the time, and the Lions were at their mercy. The Stamps built up a big lead before the Lions scored twice late.
Printers was under constant pressure in the second half as the Lions offensive line continued to struggle, particularly up the middle of the line. The resulting sputtering of the offence kept the defence on the field far too long and Burris and the Stamps seemed to move the ball at will as the defence wore down.
Burris completed 20 of 34 passes for 276 yards in the night to go with his 2 TD’s, 1 rushing TD and 3 interceptions on the night. His counterpart Printers finished the game completing 10 of 26 passes for 191 yards. The Lions finished the game with a paltry 44 yards rushing, while the Stamps rolled to 215.
Quick Hits:
A moment of concern came in third quarter when BC receiver Darius Passmore crashed into one of the advertising signs along the sideline, landing on the sign in his neck area. Reports indicated a cut to the neck area of the Lions rookie receiver. After being worked on for some time by medical staffs from both teams, Passmore was taken off the field by stretcher, and and gave the crowd the the thumbs up sign. He was taken to hospital for further treatment and evaluation, but was proclaimed in good shape by Wally Buono on the post game show.
The Lions now travel to Montreal for the Labour Day weekend. It’s been reported that Als’ quarterback Anthony Calvillo will not be ready to play and is still recovering from a bruised sternum.
Another week, another Lion undefeated skein snapped.
The BC faithful can take some positives away from this game- Travis Lulay went 26 for 40, throwing for 330 yards in his first career start; the Lions had some success running the ball; and the Lion defence played a solid game for most of the evening.
When it comes right down to it, though, it’s another game which could have been a victory but which ended up in the loss column as the Lions fell to the Toronto Argonauts by a 24-20 margin.
Byron Parker of the Double Blue put the dagger in the Lions’ heart just after the three minute warning, returning his interception of a Lulay pass intended for O’Neil Wilson forty-one yards for the touchdown. The ensuing conversion proved the final score as the resurgent Boatmen took their third successive win.
Much of the story for this from the British Columbia perspective will come down to sloppy execution and missed opportunities. Defencive end Brent Johnson had a major in his hands, but couldn’t hold on to the pass from Jarious Jackson with a touch over two minutes remaining in the first corner. Fortunately enough for Coach Buono’s boys, Jamal Robertson took the ball in on the next play from a yard out to spot the Leos a 7-3 lead.
The Lions would begin driving again on their next possession, but another dropped pass would end the drive, forcing them to settle for a Paul McCallum field goal from 45 yards out and a 10-3 cushion. The Argos would answer with a drive of their own, but Grant Shaw would hit the upright on a forty-five yard attempt with 5:38 to play in the half.
Eight plays, eighty-five yards, and three minutes and forty-seven seconds later, Robertson would take the ball into the end zone from thirteen yards out to put the Lions ahead 17-3.
Before the end of the half, the Argonauts would answer, with Cleo Lemon finding Jermaine Copeland for a twenty-one yard touchdown. The Lions would take the 17-10 edge to the locker room at the half.
Neither offensive coordinator will take pride in the third quarter, as the game wallowed around in a sloppy quagmire of fumbles, dropped passes, penalties and all-around poor execution. The Lions could have put the game all but out of reach when Robertson lost the handle at the Toronto two-yard line. BC would get points out of it, but instead of the seven it could have been, they’d settle for two after the defence shook Lemon sufficiently to knock him out for a play after the fumble and Jason Boreham of the Argos conceded the safety rather than kick from his own end zone. Emmanuel Arceneaux dropped a sure touchdown pass as well in behind the Toronto defenders that saw the Lions come away with no points on that drive.
McCallum would punt for the rouge to open the fourth quarter, making it 20-10 in favor of the Lions at that point. Toronto would drive, only to be turned back when Davis Sanchez intercepted Lemon in the end zone, but the tide was turning in favour of the Boatmen. On their next possession, Lemon would find an import slotback with a classically Canadian name- Brandon Rideau- in the end zone to close the gap to 20-17 and increase the pressure on the stagnating Lion offense.
It was here that Lulay’s comparable lack of experience would come under the microscope. Rather than taking the time to look for the open reciever, he seemed to be fixating on a target. The offensive line contributed to his struggles, as the Argo pass rush was increasingly able to get to Lulay, not giving him time to find check-off targets, but in the end, it was enough to give Parker the opportunity to step in front of the ball and hand Toronto the lead.
Lulay would get picked again on the next possession, with Toronto’s Willie Pile coming up with a ball intended for Geroy Simon that left the Lions running short on time. They’d get one final crack at the end zone, though, but the 58-yard desperation heave for Derick Armstrong came up about two yards short of changing the outcome.
Quick Hits:
Just over 19,000 fans attended the game on a humid night in Toronto…Lions/Argos owner David Braley posed for a picture before the game with the respective coaches of each of his teams…Argos rookie Cory Boyd rushed for 148 yards on 19 carries, his third-straight 100-yard effort…Travis Lulay finished 26-of-39 passing for 315 yards and two interceptions. The Lions lost cornerback Dante Marsh to a groin injury, and were forced to shift players around in the secondary when Anthony Reddick was also nicked up.
