Riders 24 - Lions 21, Post-Game Stats and Comments

[WestCoastJoe]

3:00 warning.

24-21 Riders.

First down for the Riders.

Game on the line.

Defensive battle.

2:39 left.

First down Riders. 2:16 left.

1:52 left.

2nd and 7.

BC timeout.

First down. No pressure on 17.

1:42 left.

1:17 left under presssure.

1:06 left.

Burnham for 20.

JJ24 for 10.

Marshall almost Int.

3rd and 2. :31 left.

Short. Turnover on downs. Did not try the FG.

Game over.

[Larry Key]

Season is pretty much over. Clean house and start new. The coaching staff needs to go.

[WestCoastJoe]

The Riders killed good time with first downs with time running out.

3rd and 2. Go for the first down or try the FG. We go for it and fail. Ball turned over. I agree with the call, but you have to make the first down.

Lulay and Collaros playing about the same. Under 60% pct. 240 to 215 yards. 1 TD pass each.

2 sacks for each team.

The difference? Just a matter of resolve, methinks.

Hard fought game. And our hopes for the playoffs fade.

Who gets thrown under the bus after this one?
..........

“I think I’m coaching it better, to be quite honest,” Buono said. “I know it sounds arrogant but there’s a reason I came back. I wanted another opportunity to win. I wanted another opportunity at a championship.”

[swervynmerv]

This season is done. Enough is enough. Excuses upon excuses. It’s time to do the right thing for the fans and make some changes and start building for next year.

Elliot and Collins can go. If you drop the ball that much you can’t play receiver. Calgary finds receiver after receiver, why can’t the Lions.

There is a stench around the team. It’s starts with the owner and Head coach. Old, stale and yesterday’s guys.

What is Wally going to do as a coach to help build this team the rest of the year so we can go into next season on a high?

I would love for him to step back and say he was leaving early, but that won’t happen. We as fans are left with a team than may finish 6-12 or 7-11 at best an out of the playoffs. Not the ending Wally had imagined but like the “emperor who had no clothes” he would be the only one surprised!

[The_Pauser]

Well I’m glad a certain fan who said he’s well happy that the Lions didn’t bring in Carter is excited about our receiving performance tonight. 3-6 suits that certain fan very well. Can’t upset the team chemistry.

[WestCoastJoe]

Standings

3rd in the West not looking good.

Crossover not looking good.

Project our record to 18 games and we would be 6 and 12.

Back later ...

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[Toppy Vann]

For me it was hard fought to the end with two average teams but lost in the first half with dropped balls. Overall the Riders made big plays and Lions didn't. Does Elliott wear a tinted shield? If so, get if off dude. It's not sunshine in the dome.

It did come down to 4 or 5 plays and the Riders were able to do the job.

Cody F on 3 and 1 was a bit of same old, same old in how he attacked the LOS. Chris Burns suggesting that the RB get the ball on 3 and 1. That doesn't always work and you need some variation on a theme.

Jeremiah Johnson wasn't used enough in the 2nd half.

[JohnnyMusso]

Disappointing loss. I hoped the Lions would win, but felt the Riders would. Again Lions had a chance like in Argos game to pull it out and found a way to lose. I agree with some others in that they should have handed off to Johnson, instead of try a QB sneak for it was too far and they fail again.

I do not expect Lions to make big changes until season end. They will say they are still in it for 9 games left, but it is over. Like Suitor said their season was on the line and it would be an uphill battle if they lose. How many games can they win? They won just 3 in the first half and 2 of those games they easily could have lost for both Bombers and Eskimos let big leads slip away. I do not expect them to win more than 2 or 3 and would not be surprised if Als beat them in Montreal.

Lulay has been pretty good but not great. Their receiving core isn't that good other than Manny and Burnham. When Manny went out they were mostly ineffective and Danny V never had one ball thrown his way.

With the bye week, they need to bring in some NFL cuts and cut a guy or 2 like Elliot who just drops too many passes.

It will be painful to watch the rest of the season knowing Lions out of it already with half the season to play.

I sure hope Mark W isn't named the new coach at year end. Hervey needs to clean house and bring in an outsider who is highly regarded as the next good coach.

[Fan7]

“I think I’m coaching it better, to be quite honest,” Buono said. “I know it sounds arrogant but there’s a reason I came back. I wanted another opportunity to win. I wanted another opportunity at a championship.”

What a fighter. I hope the Lions are able to extend Wally’s contract.

[Don Miller]

Wow once again defensive backs not getting the ball on a contested catch. Tackling was average at best. O line weak.. Olafoyie was beat lots tonite at right tackle. Our receivers are clearly not good enough. Arceneaux hurt Collins and Elliott terrible . Bring in some nfl cuts for receiver. I have been a fan since 1959 this is a very poor team. We miss Solly in the middle. Our db's getting beat on the long ball. Time to rebuild from ownership down........

[swervynmerv]

Two games in a row we have the ball with a chance to drive the field to tie or win the game.

Good teams find a way to win in that position. Bad teams like the Lions find a way to lose.

Win the past two games on the last drive and we are 5-4 heading into the bye instead of 3-6. Big difference.

This team is poorly coached, lacks talent and speed in many areas and it frankly boring.

Nothing will change til the end of the year and even then I wonder. Will Hervey be blue to make the changes he wants or will Braley hold on to the team and let Wally appoint a lackey like Washington as HC as he rises off into retirement?

[Sir Purrcival]

As I said earlier. I think the only way anything happens earlier is that Hervey punts Buono. He needs to keep OC and DC till season's end but a message needs to be sent that no one is above being out of a job. They are playing for next season already and maybe if they approach it from that standpoint, they might even win a few games. But they have to do something to shake this team up and that looks like the most reasonable thing to do. Hervey can be HC for the rest of the season. Buono isn't an x's and o's guy anyway so at this point he is expendable.

[JohnnyMusso]

The big problem as long Braley is the owner this team may continue to be bad. I have no doubt Wally will be gone after the season for frankly I think he is tired and finally realizes he will not win a championship with this team. They are 2 or 3 years away from being competitive with the best. Wally has too much say with Braley and you really wonder if Hervey really wanted Wally back. He must be watching with horror knowing he cannot fire Wally. Any other coach might be fired with a 3 and 6 record heading into the bye. Right now, the team is losing on the field and off and not many people want to buy the Lions and certainly not at what Braley is asking. Braley has been invisible all season as usual and the only news of him we will hear is when Lions go to Hamilton and he invites them over for his annual barbeque.

As for Wally, I expect 1 or 2 changes during the bye week but another loss coming up to the Redbacks. Wally needs to step down, but he will not.

Lions as bad as they were when I began watching this team in 1971.

[JohnnyMusso]

Hervey will not fire Wally in his final season. Only way Wally leaves is if he resigns. Any other coach would be fired, but cannot see Hervey firing Wally, unless the President has a say. And what about this president. Does he not have a say? If Ackles was still here, you can bet Wally would be fired. He would never let this soap opera drag on from year to year and watch the fan base get lower from year to year.

Other than Awe, who else who is new will be playing against Ottawa? I agree some kind of shakeup needs to happen, but I just do not see it happening especially with Wally. Wally hired Hervey. No way Hervey pays him back by firing him. Not going to happen. Expect some minor changes to happen instead.

[B.C.FAN]

That was another winnable game that the Lions let slip away. Instead of sitting comfortably at 6-3 at the midway point of the season, they're 3-6 due to their own mistakes.

Tonight the difference was turnovers. The Lions gave up 10 points in the first half on fumbles by Travis Lulay and Chris Rainey. They didn't get any points off the Anthony Orange interception in the fourth quarter, which was the only takeaway they had.

The Lions fittingly finished the game by turning the ball over on downs on a failed third-and-one gamble at the Saskatchewan 46 yard line. Ty Long's helmet went flying on the sideline after that turnover. He could have hit a 53-yard field goal on that play if called upon. He was a purrfect 5 for 5 on the night and punted for a 50.9-yard average, and had probably the best game of his career as a directional punter inside the Rider 20 yard line. But if you can't convert on third and one in this game, you don't deserve to win and the Lions struggle more than they should in that situation.

It was a defensive battle for the most part. Both offences struggled. In B.C.'s case, the passing game was out of sync. Ricky Collins hadn't dropped a pass this season before tonight but he and Kevin Elliott combined for at least four drops. Chris Rainey had another. Bryan Burnham and Jeremiah Johnson were the only receivers making plays, and in Johnson's case it was usually on second-down checkdowns that didn't always produce first downs.

The B.C. offence suffered a big blow when Manny Arceneaux left the game with a knee injury in the second quarter. Danny Vandervoort was nothing but a decoy throughout the second half. Lulay didn't look in his direction once. That made it easy for the Rider defence to know the ball was usually going to the opposite side of the field. I would have thrown the ball his way at least once to get him established. The running game wasn't productive enough to be a factor, and there just weren't enough receivers contributing.

Lulay himself wasn't sharp, often missing open receivers when they weren't dropping catchable balls. He still outpassed Zach Collaros 240 yards to 215.

The B.C. secondary was outstanding. Jordan Herdman and Ivan McLennan applied good pressure when Collaros scrambled, often forcing him to throw the ball away. Aside from the 10 points off turnovers and three points set up by a Christion Jones punt return, the Rider offence generated only 11 points, with 10 of those coming on their second and third possessions of the game.

As they have all year at home, the Lions dug themselves in a hole of their own making in the first half. This time they couldn't dig themselves out. Instead of being tied with the Riders at 4-5 in a battle for a playoff berth, they have to sit back and watch their western rivals play each other next week to get more separation in the standings. It's not too late to turn the season around but they'll need some help now.