Lions 28 - TiCats 3 -- Game Journal and Post Game Comments

[WestCoastJoe]

Q1

Masoli moving the Cats.  FG missed.

Lions' unis look very bright.  Creamsicle colours.  Orange and white.  First reaction:  They are OK.

Nice run by JJ24.  JJ to Gore. Pressure on JJ.  FG missed.

 Fumble recovered by Phillips.  FG good. Wind factor crazy.

JJ 24 for 5.  Punt.  Great punt by Leone.

Very nice deception and pressure by Mark W's D.  This fan loves it. JJ to Moore.  JJ24 nice run.  JJ24 first down.

Good quarter for the Lions on the road. Good D.  JJ effective.  

Good D. JJ effective. JJ24 and the OL moving the ball a bit on the ground.

[WestCoastJoe]

Q2

Burnham drops a TD pass. Would have been a tough catch. JJ first. Nice push by OL. JJ to Moore. Nice drive by JJ. JJ to Manny. Great drive by JJ. Nice run by JJ24. Beautiful. Great block by Steward. JJ first. Penalty. Cheap call. Nice play design. FG missed.

Nice D by Lions.

5-2 for Lions.

JJ throwaway. JJ to Gore. This fan has always liked Gore. Penalty. Penalty. JJ to Gore. Awesome. JJ loses the ball in throwing motion. Very bad call.

Great blitz by D. Way to go, Mark W.

JJ24 for 4. JJ24 for 4. Punt. Great punt by Leone. Kind of a boring game, but this fan happy we are keeping it close vs a good team.

Good hustle by D. Masoli seven passes in a row. Thompson drops an Int. Fantuz. Penalty. Huge return by Rainey.

[WestCoastJoe]

Q3

JJ to Manny. First down. JJ to Moore. Dirty tackle. Manny. First. FG. 10-2 Lions.

Pick by Phillips. Shaq scores. Nice drive by JJ. 17-2 Lions.

Nice blitzing by Leos.

Great return by Rainey. Shaq for five. Chick fumble recovery. We miss JJ24. 4:02 left in quarter. Gable big run. We miss Brooks. Two injuries give Cats life. Sack by Death Roh. FG miss.

Two drops. Gore and Manny. Shaq going nowhere. Pressure on JJ.

Three sacks by Lions. None for Cats. 18-3 Lions.

[WestCoastJoe]

Q4

Sack. Be nice to get a stop here.

Bomb misses. Iannuzzi on return. Injuries -- JJ24. Brooks. Rainey. JJ to Gore. Big play for us. Pressure on JJ. Penalty on Ham. Good D by Sears. Punt. Stewart great tackle.

Masoli off target. He runs hot and cold.

Nice return by Marco. Shaq for four. JJ first. Shaq for five. Penalty. Shaq. Manny from JJ. Khari called great game, As did Mark. 25-3 Lions.

Big pass, fumble. BC ball.

Nice O design by Khari. Shaq running wild. Kudos to the hogs and Dan D.

[WestCoastJoe]

Some random thoughts.

Kudos to Mark W. Stunts. Movement. Blitzes. Pressure. Good run D. The whole package. Highly motivated group.

Kudos to Khari. Effective game plan. Ball control. Run game. Safe passes.

Kudos to Jon Jennings. No doubt in this fan's mind. He is for real.

Kudos to JJ24 and Shaq. Good running backs.

Kudos to Gore. No doubt in this fan's mind.

Kudos to Rainey.

Kudos to Wally. You beat a good team in the TiCats, and made them look less than ordinary.

Another great, satisfying win.

Jennings gives us a chance. 23 years old. Oh my ...

[WestCoastJoe]

Cool cat, eyes downfield, hands off to a very good running back. JJ to JJ24.

[Blitz]

A dominating performance by our B.C. Lions as we [img]start the season 2-0 and win a road game against Hamilton.

Once again our defense played a very good game. They got pressure on the quarterback, did a good job against the run for most of the game, and limited Hamilton to a lot of underneath throws. What I noticed was that we used a lot of 3 man front and then brought an additional rusher or two, depending on down and distance.

Our defense also created key turnovers that were important and changed game momentum.

On offence, we used a lot of two back sets to take away the Hamilton blitz and we did a good job overall in protecting Jennings. We had a good balance of run/pass, which kept the Hamilton defense off balance. Johnson averaged over 6 yards per carry before he got hurt. It was a difficult game to play in with the wind as a factor but we handled it well overall. The two offensive fumbles took potential points off the board but we got the job done. Gore had another impressive effort.

Special teams were also key to the win. We contained Hamilton's dangerous return game while both Rainey and Iannuzzi were able to spring for some substantial returns.

We won the fourth quarter, while playing against the wind. We got stronger as the game went on. It wasn't an exciting game but it was a solid victory for our Leos as we outplayed Hamilton in all three phases of the game.

[WestCoastJoe]

Some stats ...

Gore 116 yards

4 sacks

Rainey 93 return yards

[cromartie]

Kudos to JJ24 and Shaq. Good running backs.

In the case of the latter, we see his limitations. He's a between the tackles runner who lacks vision. Certainly a component of a multi-faceted running game.

And that's the biggest nit I can pick from this entire game other than the turnovers. Great. Great. Great. Perseverance was there, the defense is outstanding and special teams was seriously improved as well. If the offense stops shooting itself in the foot, lookout.

[B.C.FAN]

That was a dominating performance by the Lions in both halves and all three facets of the game. Wally is back, he has a good mix of veterans and youth and they now know they can beat anyone.

The Lions left a lot of points on the field but what stands out for me is the number of points they allowed: 3. They could have won this game with four singles. After holding Calgary to 18 points last week, the defence turned it up, confusing and frustrating a Hamilton QB making only his third career start. Smeone on the TSN panel mentioned that Hamilton had 14 offensive possessions, 9 of which ended in 2 and outs. They scored only 3 points, playing at home where they rarely lose.

The B.C. defence sacked Masoli four times, picked off two passes (and could have had more) and forced three fumbles. They also held Hamilton to 49 yards rushing despite losing defensive tackle Mic'hael Brooks to injury in the second half and not having a replacement on the roster.

Mark Washington is playing a more aggressive defence this year because he has a veteran secondary after breaking in a number of rookies for the past two years. QB pressure can result in bad throws and more turnovers. Those were the hallmarks of the most successful teams in Wally's first stint as head coach in B.C. The offence doesn't have to score a lot of touchdowns to win games when the defence is holding the opponents off the scoreboard and forcing turnovers. It's great to watch.

[WestCoastJoe]

Kudos to JJ24 and Shaq. Good running backs.

In the case of the latter, we see his limitations. He's a between the tackles runner who lacks vision. Certainly a component of a multi-faceted running game.

And that's the biggest nit I can pick from this entire game other than the turnovers. Great. Great. Great. Perseverance was there, the defense is outstanding and special teams was seriously improved as well. If the offense stops shooting itself in the foot, lookout.

This fan is very pleasantly surprised by Shaq. He can be effective. I would not want to make him the every down back, however. But, as in this case, in relief of JJ24, he did very well for us.

This fan is also pleasantly surprised by the team spirit. IMO we were oftentimes flat under Benny. Lost under Tedford. Then back comes Wally. And we have great team spirit. It really helps to have Lulay for leadership. Solly. Biggie. Et cetera. But kudos to Wally on his return. And Dan D's hogs look very effective, especially for all the changes they endured.

Kudos to the coordinators, Khari, Mark and Marcello.

[Sir Purrcival]

Kudos to JJ24 and Shaq. Good running backs.

In the case of the latter, we see his limitations. He's a between the tackles runner who lacks vision. Certainly a component of a multi-faceted running game.

And that's the biggest nit I can pick from this entire game other than the turnovers. Great. Great. Great. Perseverance was there, the defense is outstanding and special teams was seriously improved as well. If the offense stops shooting itself in the foot, lookout.

And there is that underwear thing

[WestCoastJoe]

It is surprising and pleasing to this fan to see the gradual adjustments we have seen over Wally's years here. The old fox does adjust.

More DL suited up. More rotation of the DL. Now more aggressive defence finally under the leadership of Mark W. More blitzes. More movement. More feints. More stunts.

Perhaps not so much change on offence. Running the CFL offence. But Jennings can really make it work. He is so cool in the pocket. And more mobile than I thought. His arm is plenty strong enough. He zips the ball. Very quick reads. Very quick release. And he protects the ball. He has truly outstanding potential. And his game is here. Now. More growth to come also.

The importance of STs. Leone with his big leg. Rainey and Iannuzzi for dangerous returns.

Even more willing to go for it on 3rd and short. Go for 2 on point afters.

Experience is the best teacher. And no one has more experience than Wally.

All to the good, IMO.

[cromartie]

Kudos to JJ24 and Shaq. Good running backs.

In the case of the latter, we see his limitations. He's a between the tackles runner who lacks vision. Certainly a component of a multi-faceted running game.

And that's the biggest nit I can pick from this entire game other than the turnovers. Great. Great. Great. Perseverance was there, the defense is outstanding and special teams was seriously improved as well. If the offense stops shooting itself in the foot, lookout.

And there is that underwear thing

Pffft. Underwear is for the weak.

[Rammer]

Another unexpected win for the Lions IMO. A couple more like that and I will become a believer.

Lions D looks like the real deal, getting better from last year and we haven't seen the best from SolE.

The O still needs to sharpen up, but the run game has taken a significant step forward from the 2015 edition.

ST play has outplayed the opposition in both games this season, against two very well coached ST clubs.

As for the game itself, like last week I enjoyed the result more than the error filled game. With that said, Lions were much more disciplined in the penalty department , which is a solid effort against an Austin coached team. Finally the Lions D is playing physically, and with that the turnovers are mounting. Still have to think that teams may be taking the Lions lightly, don't expect that to be the case as the season unfolds. Lions O hasn't been getting me to jump out of my seat, lots to improve on, but getting 5 - 8 yards on first down allows the Lions to keep the opposing D"s unbalanced. Gore is building upon his Lion lore, and is becoming that receiver we all expected from his first season. Nice to see that finally unfold as a Lion.

As for Hamilton, Masoli wasn't so slick tonight. Lions D either shut him down or he seemed to cough up errant passes on long drives. Basically one way or another what could go wrong for Hamilton"s O, did. How much was that on the Lions D, a good portion as they dropped some easy turnovers on top of the ones they got.

2 - 0 to start the season, Wally has a solid team to work with, now keep them motivated.