Roughriders at Lions, September 24, 2021

[aklawitter]

I don't understand why Lions didn't go for the 2 pts on their last TD.

math hard head hurt

[Gridiron Ernie]

Was Fajardo in? No good tv angle, looked like he was moving forward, but I couldn't tell.

I was surprised by the spot on Reilly's run. Looked like a 1st down to me, but no replay on tv.

The missed field goal and shanked punt were unfortunate, but both kickers have been good all year.

I don't understand why Lions didn't go for the 2 pts on their last TD.

Seemed like some bad luck and bad play in the last few minutes but overall a fun and evenly matched game.

Running game and kick returns not so good.

We may not be worldbeaters yet, but lots of potential.

Well said. I didn’t have a good angle in the stadium for the spot on Reilly’s last scramble but I thought he was close to the first down.

The game was on the line and the Lions had many chances to put it away. A fumbled punt, missed field goal, a shanked punt and a chance for a goal line stand to clinch the game on third down from the one yard line. The Lions didn’t make plays they needed and the Riders did.

I hope these teams meet again in the playoffs. And I hope the Lions find a way to run the ball between now and then. It’s tough to run out the clock to preserve a win if you can’t run the ball.

Agree with all that you both highlight, maxlion and B.C.FAN. Was relieved to hear in both Campbell's and Reilly's post-game interviews acknowledgments of their failure in the run game so far this year, and the vital need of having one down the stretch. So, that's promising at least. Here's hoping they figure it out---soon! And I guess I jinxed the kickers by so highly complimenting them over in David's "Leos Surprises This Year" thread. Thankfully we have time and know-how to correct these things. Hopefully in time for the Bombers' visit.

[Dusty]

I gotta say that I don't blame the kickers for the loss. C'mon, we have gone from rejoicing when a field goal is made to heaping scorn on a missed one.... The game was lost when we went to a 3 man defensive front and allowed Fajardo all the time in the world to find receivers in our drop back secondary. You could see how much more energetic the Riders were in their last drive when we put no pressure on the QB.

All we needed was 2 first downs..... 2 five yard passes per series would have run out the clock..... Grrrr.

[Sir Purrcival]

That was a gut punch. Three words really say it

Special Teams Letdown

[B.C.FAN]

J.C. Abbott of 3downnation.com weighs in with his thoughts on the game, including a deeper dive into the Lions’ lack of a running game.

https://3downnation.com/2021/09/25/bigg ... he-riders/

[SammyGreene]

J.C. Abbott of 3downnation.com weighs in with his thoughts on the game, including a deeper dive into the Lions’ lack of a running game.

https://3downnation.com/2021/09/25/bigg ... he-riders/

I’ve said it before, but the Lions’ line is clearly a problem and the scheme exposes them. This team has maulers who don’t show a willingness to maul and are rarely given the opportunities to, allowing one of the league’s least athletic starting fives to flounder. The more concerning part: B.C. has precious little depth at the position and help from outside is unlikely to come. This is the group they must roll with and it will cost them.

Abbott is definitely not a fan of the offensive line. Sad thing is a lot of their salary cap is committed to it. I would think getting Matthews back at some point would help.

In the end, a big swing loss with 7 games left including 2 of next 3 with Winnipeg. Need to take care of business against Alberta teams at home and hopefully earn another crack at the Riders at Mosiac in the semis

[David]

Not sure I would agree about depth. We have 2019 Eastern All-Star RT Ryker Mathews due to come off the injured list after one more game as well as the versatile Phillip Norman. Again, pass protection has been very good lately. The play of Kent Perkins has been very strong.

It's run blocking where we are bogging down. Either through scheme or execution, the holes just aren't being opened. If the latter, we could potentially move to three Americans on the line by shifting either Mathews or Perkins to guard. Or Norman could go back to centre if Godber just isn't consistently getting a good enough push (but this would necessitate putting Durant in for Hatcher and keeping in Cottoy and Johnson).


DH

[Reg18]

So, now wevevbplayed a team that has a good record and we !ost! At best it looks nlike we are a 3rd or 4th place team in the west. We still needvto find that defensive !ineman that can dominate. Our run defence was better but we couldnt stop the Riders when it mattered. Anc not even sure about our offence. It was mostly nineffectual and we needbto figure out why we cant run the ball. Mkst attempts were stopped at the line of scrimmage. Changes need to be made. Both offensive and Defensive strategies werent working. We are certainly better than mkntreal or Ottawa

[BC 1988]

Too much reliance on the big passing plays to carry the day (due to nothing else working on offense). In the end it looked like desperation jump ball into double coverage. Ed Gainey (just returned from injury to the Riders lineup) continues to be the Lion's nemesis.

The Orange Shirt Day ceremonies were very nicely done. The shirt (offered in 3 sizes--I got there early and there was plenty of each at that time) is excellent quality. The First Nations version of the logo looks even better than the pictures of it.

I noticed that staff were not attempting to scan the Vaccine Cards QR codes. Just showing them with photo ID was enough for them--I would guess they were just checking that the name matched on both documents.

[DanoT]

I don't understand why Lions didn't go for the 2 pts on their last TD.

math hard head hurt

The math would have been self explanatory if Camacho had of made that late game FG.

[BC 1988]

A lot of it has to do I think with the nature of the current wave and what happened with our neighbours to the East. I think that most are probably loathe to be the next administration to be seen as loosing up restrictions and looking like it has been mishandled.

Exactly. The home opener with Dr Henry accepting the accolades of fans shouting "No masks" was so wrongheaded and a big personal embarrassment for her. With out of control Delta case numbers, a few days after that she had to rollback the July 1st removal of the mask mandate--a few weeks ahead of the Jason Kenney Alberta tire fire doing the same.

I understand how people think "we've got the Vaccine Cards, why not open up" and there is some justification for that on a regional basis. Our stellar fully vaxxed rate in the Lower Mainland is not the case out in the Northern and Interior Health Regions. Due to lower population densities out there, their insufficient infrastructure for the case loads is resulting in overloaded health care facilities.

It was funny that the extent of mask enforcement at the game last night amounted to "The Shame Cam" video board feature in the first quarter. Fans were shown on screen with "No Mask" or "Wrong Team" captions (there was plenty of both to choose from).

[David]

So frustrated that Campbell kept his challenge flag in his pocket the whole night. There was plenty to be challenged.

Some (namely Rider fans) say we got a break when Ed Gainey was flagged for PI on Burnham that put the ball on the 1. But I counted 3 "no yards" calls on the Riders. Namely the Whitehead fumble on the Jon Ryan line-drive punt should have been challenged for no yards.

I think we got screwed on the Reilly spot on our last possession, and the refs hands went up way too quickly on the Fajardo TD. Did he cross the plane? Didn't look like it to me. Looked like he was stuffed but really, only those in the scrum know for sure. I think the ref saw the surge and called the centre not the quarterback as crossing the goalline.

It's 2021. Sure would be nice to have a chip inserted into balls to see whether it really did cross the plane.


DH

[DanoT]

So frustrated that Campbell kept his challenge flag in his pocket the whole night. There was plenty to be challenged.

Some (namely Rider fans) say we got a break when Ed Gainey was flagged for PI on Burnham that put the ball on the 1. But I counted 3 "no yards" calls on the Riders. Namely the Whitehead fumble on the Jon Ryan line-drive punt should have been challenged for no yards.

I think we got screwed on the Reilly spot on our last possession, and the refs hands went up way too quickly on the Fajardo TD. Did he cross the plane? Didn't look like it to me. Looked like he was stuffed but really, only those in the scrum know for sure. I think the ref saw the surge and called the centre not the quarterback as crossing the goalline.

It's 2021. Sure would be nice to have a chip inserted into balls to see whether it really did cross the plane.


DH

On that Punt return fumble out of bounds, I too was disappointed that Campbell did not challenge for No Yards.

"Chip inserted into a football"? How would that work since any part of the ball only needs to break the plane for it to be a score.

[David]

A tiny microchip could be placed at the end of each tip and around the fattest circumference so all parts are covered. I've read that the weight of the sensor is something like 4 grams vs 400 grams or so for a football so I don't think it's an issue. The question of whether a player's knee was down before he broke the plane would be a bigger concern.

Funny, I was in line to show proof of vaccination at the Keg Yaletown last night and greeted one of our defensive linemen who was in front of me as I recognized who he was (prefer not to say which player). We got to chatting and I asked him about the play as he was in the trenches. He told me it definitely was NOT a touchdown. For what it's worth.


DH

[Hambone]

Fajardo was not in. No way, no how.

And we got screwed on the Reilly spot.

Chiming in late. I was on the road to Edmonton to attend Eskinator's funeral so didn't catch up to the game until late 3rd quarter.

On Reilly's spot when I saw the first zebra running in with what I thought was going to be the spot (3rd and maybe a couple inches) I thought it was a tad generous and would wind up being 3rd and a yard. How that turned into 3rd and 2 I can't comprehend.

On the Fajardo TD I didn't think he was in based on all the camera angles offered. Unfortunately they were all from the opposite side of the pile from where the official who signaled TD was looking. They never showed a camera angle from his side of the pile that I recall. Perhaps one of those things that no matter which way it was called (TD or short) there wasn't enough video evidence to overturn? As they are supposed to review all scoring plays I was awaiting a rather lengthy review. Whatever review took place (if they did) was pretty damned brief.