Riders at Lions Nov. 5 postgame comments

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B.C.FAN
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It was a game that meant nothing to the Riders, and it showed. Most of them looked like they didn't want to be here. It wasn't until Brandon Bridge came into the game in the fourth quarter that the Rider offence showed any life, and by then it was too late.

Kudos to the Lions for stepping up when victory meant a home playoff game. We've seen past Lions teams choke under that pressure but this team was confident from the beginning, especially on defence. Keynan Parker had a big game at field corner, with a knockdown and several big hits, although he gave up a long catch and run in the fourth quarter to set up the Riders' first touchdown.

Paul McCallum was money, showing there's still life in that 46-year-old leg. He was 4 for 4 on field goals and 2 for 2 on converts.

I thought Khari Jones again added some new wrinkles on offence, including a lot more pre-snap motion and misdirection plays that kept the Rider defence off balance. The Lions rushed for 182 yards but 89 yards of that was by Chris Rainey, including a 35-yard gain. Rolly Lumbala added a 31 yarder in garbage time. Jeremiah Johnson, who left the game briefly with a leg injury, was kept in check, picking up just 40 yards on 8 carries, the longest being an 8 yarder.

The B.C. offence turned the ball over three times in the first half but the Riders managed to score only one point off the turnovers. They can't afford to let that happen next week against the Bombers. In fact, they can't afford to run the passing offence the ran tonight against the Bombers. Manny Arceneaux and Bryan Burnham were the passing offence, even more than normal. Arceneaux had 10 catches on 11 targets for 180 yards. Burnham added 7 catches on 8 targets for 96 yards. (The official scorer incorrectly attributed one of Burnham's target to Adekolu, who inadvertently led his man to Burnham in the end zone, resulting in a collision and an incomplete pass on what should have been an easy Burnham TD grab.)

Behind those great numbers, though is even greater cause for concern. For most of the year, Jennings has focused on three receivers, Arceneaux, Burnham and Shawn Gore. With Gore out of the lineup, Jennings narrowed in on Arceneaux and Burnham almost exclusively, as he did the last time Gore was out. The two main receivers accounted for 77% of the Lions' 22 completions and 82% of the B.C. offence's 31 passing targets. Jennings only looked once at Adekolu, overthrowing him on a deep pass in the end zone in the third quarter. For most of the game, Adekolu was lined up in single coverage on the boundary side of the field. He also ran some combination routes with Arceneaux on the short side. Each time Jennings threw the ball to Arceneaux. Even in the fourth quarter, when Arceneaux was taken out of the game and Adekolu replaced him, with Shaq Johnson taking over for Adekolu, the Lions did not throw the ball to Adekolu.

Here are the B.C. receivers, with their number of catches, targets and yards:
Arceneaux 10-11, 180
Burnham 7-8, 96 (one Burnham target was incorrectly attributed to Adekolu in the official stats)
Sinkfield 2-4, 51
Lumbala, 2-2, 9
Rainey 1-1, 1
J. Johnson 0-2, 0
Adekolu, 0-1, 0
S. Johnson 0-1, 0
O'Neill 0-1, 0 (2 point convert attempt)
TOTALS 24-31, 337

The danger of relying so heavily on a slotback passing attack is that defences have been able to shut Arceneaux and Burnham down by plugging up the middle of the field. Winnipeg's defence is strong down the middle and feasts on turnovers. For the B.C. offence to succeed against the Bombers, Gore (if playing), Adekolu, Sinkfield, Rainey and Jeremiah Johnson have to make more plays. The Lions missed an opportunity to involve those players in the offence. Next week's game will be much tougher than this one. The Lions have not showed that they're up to the task.
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Alputt
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I hope Jeremiah Johnson is OK. I was happy to see him rally to come back and make a difference. Looked like a nasty injury at the time... A warrior for sure.
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Alputt
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You know what? Good for Brandon Bridge. Would have been nicer if his TD was in the air... But another poster asked when a Canadian QB had last scored a touchdown. I don't know. Russ Jackson?
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B.C.FAN
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Alputt wrote:You know what? Good for Brandon Bridge. Would have been nicer if his TD was in the air... But another poster asked when a Canadian QB had last scored a touchdown. I don't know. Russ Jackson?
Bridge has scored 3 TDs this year. The most recent before tonight was July 29 against the Riders when he was playing for Montreal.

Calgary's Andrew Buckley, a Canadian who runs the Stampeders' short-yardage offence, scored 8 TDs this year, the most recent on Oct. 21 against Toronto.
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Alputt
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B.C.FAN wrote:
Alputt wrote:You know what? Good for Brandon Bridge. Would have been nicer if his TD was in the air... But another poster asked when a Canadian QB had last scored a touchdown. I don't know. Russ Jackson?
Bridge has scored 3 TDs this year. The most recent befre tonight was July 29 against the Riders when he was playing for Montreal.
Well now I feel silly. Don't follow MTL that closely but as a CFL fan I should have known. Nonetheless, (Don Cherry voice) "Good Canadian Boy"!

Totally slept on Buckley... Good for him! Too bad he plays for Calgary.
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Well done Lions!....eliminate the turnovers and we should beat the Bombers.
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Coast Mountain Lion
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It was me who was wondering. I was thinking maybe Giulio Caravatta, Luc Tousignant or Gerry Datillio, but I haven't been following the league much this year so I totally slept on Buckley. I do remember a guy who played for (I think) the Argos a few years ago who was mopping up in a game and had a great chance to run one in himself but threw an incomplete pass instead.

Then of course there are conversions like Brad Sinopoli and some guy named Lui. Not to mention Bob Cameron, probably the best quarterback the CFL never had, though I don't know if he ever got to score a TD in the CFL.
TheLionKing
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Great win by the Lions. Playoff atmosphere at the game tonight. Best part for me aside from the victory is to watch the Rider fans sitting on their hands like choir boys all night.
Last edited by TheLionKing on Sat Nov 05, 2016 11:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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WestCoastJoe
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Good result.

Well prepped.

Glad Khari is opening up the playbook.

JJ :thup: The Kid is a special talent, as much with his internal qualities, as with his physical talent.

Manny :thup: Listen to him roar.

Burnie :thup: Fun to watch. Unique talent and style.

Nice running game.

JJ24, Rainey, Rolly, OLine :thup:
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
Ballistic Bob
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Lion fans doing the Wave in the 3rd quarter all but costing the Lions a TD as the Leo's took a procedure penalty. When are they going to get Quiet on Offense. Noise on Defense. I've given up. BB
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Alputt
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Ballistic Bob wrote:Lion fans doing the Wave in the 3rd quarter all but costing the Lions a TD as the Leo's took a motion penalty. When are they going to get Quiet on Offense. Noise on Defense. I've given up. BB
I hear you BB... The wave was perhaps detrimental to the Lions... BUT we were up by 35+ points at that time. The fact that BC Place was full enough to do a spirited wave was in my opinion awesome. Crowd was having fun and influencing the field. I'll take that any day.

Had it been a closer game or smaller crowd... Agreed.
Ballistic Bob
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Alputt wrote:
Ballistic Bob wrote:Lion fans doing the Wave in the 3rd quarter all but costing the Lions a TD as the Leo's took a motion penalty. When are they going to get Quiet on Offense. Noise on Defense. I've given up. BB
I hear you BB... The wave was perhaps detrimental to the Lions... BUT we were up by 35+ points at that time. The fact that BC Place was full enough to do a spirited wave was in my opinion awesome. Crowd was having fun and influencing the field. I'll take that any day.

Had it been a closer game or smaller crowd... Agreed.
Agreed but so much better when it's done on Defense but it never materializes. I've come to the conclusion fans like doing it only on Offense. BB
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Sir Purrcival
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Coast Mountain Lion wrote:It was me who was wondering. I was thinking maybe Giulio Caravatta, Luc Tousignant or Gerry Datillio, but I haven't been following the league much this year so I totally slept on Buckley. I do remember a guy who played for (I think) the Argos a few years ago who was mopping up in a game and had a great chance to run one in himself but threw an incomplete pass instead.

Then of course there are conversions like Brad Sinopoli and some guy named Lui. Not to mention Bob Cameron, probably the best quarterback the CFL never had, though I don't know if he ever got to score a TD in the CFL.
Maybe Greg Vavra
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Sir Purrcival
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B.C.FAN wrote: The danger of relying so heavily on a slotback passing attack is that defences have been able to shut Arceneaux and Burnham down by plugging up the middle of the field. Winnipeg's defence is strong down the middle and feasts on turnovers. For the B.C. offence to succeed against the Bombers, Gore (if playing), Adekolu, Sinkfield, Rainey and Jeremiah Johnson have to make more plays. The Lions missed an opportunity to involve those players in the offence. Next week's game will be much tougher than this one. The Lions have not showed that they're up to the task.

You make some very good points but if something is working, I don't see much point in going away from it until it stops working which it didn't this game. Johnson was nicked so the run game wasn't as much of an option, Gore was out of the line up so yeah, to a point I can see why the emphasis on Burnham and Arceneaux. Wouldn't be good as a long term strategy for sure.

Gore will be back I understand for the playoffs although he struggled mightily the last game he played (had a few easy drops). More of concern for me is Jerimiah Johnson and what happens if he gets really hurt in game. Rainey filled in fairly well but I wonder about the playoffs. If Johnson is anything less than 100%, we might need to consider Allen. Also, the three turnovers is unacceptable. You can't make that many mistakes. The Bombers have been good at takeaways all year. They have slowed of late but they would be much more likely to make us pay if we give them any chances by turning over the ball.

And Paul freaking McCallum! How much easier did 14 points off his foot make the job tonight? It was like a zen moment that descended over the team when he was lining up. Suddenly far fewer worries about missed FG's and PAT's. If he can kick like that next game, the Lions are just that much more dangerous.

And finally, how sad have the Riders become. Could this be some kind of strategy to get a higher draft pick. It is the only thing that really makes sense. The way Jones has handled the last two games would be somewhat amusing if it didn't do such a disservice to the fans and the league. Fielding a barely competent squad like they have done the last two games in such a blatant way is almost insulting. If I were a paying Rider fan, I would expect my team, even if not very good, to do what it could be competitive. It is one thing to be bad, it is another to do things almost guaranteed to make you bad and that is what Jones did.
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Lions run D was really good. They will need that next week.

The only thing Jones accomplished this year in Regina is turning a last place team into another last place team.
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