1-3.

Not a pretty start, nor the one most BC Lions fans were hoping to see, but not quite time to panic yet. After all, the Lions are only two points out of first place in the West, and have less of a spread between points scored and yielded than both the Edmonton Eskimos and the Saskatchewan Rough Riders, both at 2-2.

The Lions know they have been inconsistent and can do better. Both slotback Geroy Simon and cornerback Dante Marsh have spoken out about the rough start and their determination to do better in the remaining fourteen regular season games.

“Last night may have been the most embarrassing game I have ever been a part of…. We have to play better as a team not different units,” Marsh commented. “We have to have a sense of urgency and play more consistently on offense, defense, and special teams. Period. There are no excuses we have to win and win now. We are not rebuilding it doesn’t matter who isn’t here we are going to win with who we have on our roster. We will get this thing turned around and headed in the right direction.”

Simon echoes the same sentiments after Friday’s loss at home to the Calgary Stampeders, “Last night was pitiful. If we want to be relevant this year, we must play better and never put on a horrible performance like that again. Don’t feel sorry for us though, we will get it turned around.”

They’ll have the chance to do just that this Friday as they travel to Ivor Wynne Stadium to take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

There are bright spots for the Lions statistically, showing that it may just be taking time to jell as a team which has taken a toll on the win-loss record. The team tops the CFL in passing touchdowns with eight, is tied with the Montreal Alouettes for second most touchdowns overall (12), one back of the Stampeders.

Martell Mallett leads the team in all-purpose yardage and yards from scrimmage, good for sixth and third in the league respectively and slotbacks Paris Jackson and Geroy Simon hold the sixth and seventh spots in receiving yardage..

On the defensive side of the ball, things are a little less auspicious, but there are some bright points. Ryan Phillips has had a pair of interceptions, one of which was returned sixty yards for a major; Ricky Foley has three sacks; and Jason Arakgi is tied for the league lead with eight tackles on special teams.

The defence, though, in particular seems to have yet to come together as a unit. The team ranks last in net and average yards against rushing and in pass completion percentage against. They’re not alone in futility, unfortunately. The offensive line has been at best suspect, yielding a league-leading sixteen sacks, which may be why Buck Pierce and company have tossed a league-worst seven interceptions through four weeks.

This week, though, the offensive line may catch a bit of a break, as they go up against a Ti-Cats D-line which has not had much success rushing the quarterback, bringing up the rear in both sacks and passing touchdowns against allowed. If Heerspink, Valli, Reid, Haji-Rasouli and Jiminez can give Pierce time to throw the ball downfield and can keep opening holes for Mallett, the unit may have time to come together a bit before the team returns home to look to avenge the Week 1 loss against the Riders.

(Regina, SK) The BC Lions were in a generous mood Friday night, and handed the Saskatchewan Roughriders a 28-24 victory at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field on Friday.

Buck Pierce fumbled four times and threw two interceptions under constant pressure from a Rider defense that was seemingly having it’s way with BC’s new look offensive line, which often seemed confused with picking up the blitz giving Pierce little time to look down field allowing 9 sacks. Walter Stith showed that he is a work in progress replacing Rob Murphy, while Dean Valli also had a tough game at times. These deficiencies will need to be addressed or Buck Pierce will end up on the injured list in no time.

The Lions picked up key injuries as well, the most concerning being to running back/kick returner Ian Smart. Smart pulled up lame on a carry and looked to have popped a groin the way his body language was suggesting. Promising newcomer Emmanuel Arceneaux, who had a TD catch on the night, left the game with an apparent shoulder injury. The Lions got big scare came when Omar Morgan rolled up on the leg of Geroy Simon, bending the star receiver’s leg in a way it shouldn’t bend. Simon laid on the turf grabbing his leg but walked off under his own weight and thankfully returned to finish the game.

The loss of Smart left the return game in shambles and Darren Toney looked lost filling in for the CFL’s former special teams player of the year.

On a promising note the Lions defense looked pretty decent at times. Ryan Phillips picked off two Darian Durant passes and took one back for a touchdown, and the front four got decent pressure most of the night, registering three sacks and would have had a bunch more had Durant not been so agile and thrown the ball away on other occasions. Javier Glatt had a strong game for the Lions at linebacker, and Korey Banks looks as though there will be some exciting moments coming from him at his new nickleback position.

The Riders didn’t do themselves a lot of favours trying to win the game. They added turnovers of their own, and almost gave the Lions the win in the dying moments when Ryan Grice-Mullen was wide open deep but dropped the ball. Durant went 18-32 for 313 yards, 0 TD’s and 3 interceptions. 154 of those yards were to star Weston Dressler who served notice to the league he is quickly becoming the premier receiver in the CFL.

Footnotes:

• The Lions have lost out on the Jamall Johnson sweepstakes as the former Lions linebacker signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Sad that an NFL tryout costs the Lions a good player, who may have had a bigger role here had he not left. The Lions apparently exchanged contract numbers with Reggie Hunt while in Regina, and will now explore the possibility of adding him or JoJuan Armour.
• With the injury to Ian Smart the rumored signing of RB Tyler Ebell could be finalized this week, or perhaps junior star Andrew Harris will dress. Martell Mallet had some promising carries, and looks to be a similar type of runner as Joe Smith.
• Former Lion Jason Clermont finished the night with 1 catch for 9 yards, while former Rider Anton McKenzie registered 6 tackles, 1 sack and a forced fumble.
• If Emmanuel Arceneaux can’t go Friday, we’ll likely see the other promising receiver in camp, Terence Scott get his chance to shine.
• Lowell Ullrich has more in a nice video blog he composed after the game in Regina. You can view it here.