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Lions win 2 in a row. They have outscored Ottawa 69-12 in 2 games. Some stats:

- Bryan Burnham 135 yards receiving and passing 1,000 yards for the season
- Shaq Johnson 3 receptions for 160 yards
- Mike Reilly 353 yard passing.
- Lions total offence 564 yards.
- Offensive line surrender only 1 sack (coverage sack)

It all starts up front. The offensive line under Kelly Bates looks nothing like it did under Bryan Chiu. The Lions passed for 420 yards and gave up only one sack when Reilly held the ball in the pocket for over 5 seconds. B.C. receivers made some good plays, the Lions rushed for 144 yards and the defence held the Redblacks without a TD for the second straight game.

A good job. Can't help but feel for Jennings. I don't know what happened to ruin that guy so badly but whatever mojo he had, it sure got up and left.

2 games in a row, against a shambles team. Now we face Montreal next week. This could be a legitimate character test. They certainly showed some resilience today. If they can make it 3 in a row against them, it might actually cause me to tone down some of my criticisms. A nice blend of defense and offense today. Some innovative offensive play calling as well on the Carter TD pass to Johnson. You have to wonder what the hell was Chiu coaching that the OLine which was basically 5 turnstiles in a row can become much more competent in such a short period of time.

I am glad that there is at least some glimmer of light at long last. Congrats to the Lions on 2 weeks and 2 solid wins.

Ed Willes weighs in, wih quotes from Bryan Burnham, who went over 1,000 yards for the fourth straight season.

“The team you saw tonight is the team we could have been all season,” Burnham said. “We’ve just started to trust each other but there’s still a lot of work to do.”

Ed Willes: ‘Hot’ Lions pounce on dreadful Redblacks early and often in 40-7 rout

Definitely fixing the OLine and the DEF finally learning their assignments makes a world of difference as does running the ball as they've done since Bates joined them as the OL coach. Definitely Kelly Bates has made a huge difference and that's not to suggest Chiu was a bad coach.

Note how OTT ran the ball brilliantly but turned it over a failed 3rd down and then moved away from it into disaster. Reminded me of BC in those other losses.

Even the 1040 announcers are excited as were the TSN TV crew.

Yes, it's only OTT but every team presents challenges and no one hands you the 2 pts.

Jennings has a confidence problem - agreed. But I truly think he got the wrong message from his early success and in that off season he worked on his confidence versus actually the understanding of the game.

Still don't grasp how the Carter catch down by the goal line was OFF PI. Duane Forde could find nothing. That kind of PI call is brutal.

Farhan on the post game show is becoming like Suitor.

Farhan gives kudos to the OC and trashes the QB and RB coach (Tate and Nik Lewis). What the REC coach if you think they're not all up to scratch? Too bad when Farhan takes in a rare Lions practice he doesn't actually watch but spends his time on the phone back to TSN HQ working out what they need for a shot.

I have issues with the structure of the Lions pass routes and how they develop and how Carter's routes are SO slow developing and how much they use in near the LOS but not where he could be effective.

Does Jackson listen to these other coaches.

Nik Lewis is a good coach.
Tate doesn't seem to have much of a role.

REC coach - needs to get the OC to do some route layering change ups.

But is JJ open to input?

Yea, that was not really a push-off by Carter (but the refs are never going to give him a break) and it was DEFINITELY pass interference on Durant. WTF was the command centre looking at?!? I mean, who cares - it was in the dying minutes of a blowout but c'mon, at least respect the integrity of the game.

We're playing team defence right now. No one is really standing out. We still get beaten, but manage to overcome and get the ball back. I was worried when I saw us start Newsome, Willis, Menard, and Lemon - all of whom have mostly played defensive end. I was REALLY worried after Ottawa's first series. Miraculously, Ottawa went away from the run and we settled down. I don't think we would fare nearly as well with that front against a team like the Bombers; we'd need to be more stout.

Speaking of miracles, let's hope Montreal is still on a big high from that huge come-from-behind win (coupled with the fact they just beat us) and overlook us next week.


DH

I think Ottawa made a big mistake abandoning the run game for some reason. They were running the ball down the Lions' throat on the opening drive.

It is usually only the really good teams that can win both games in a back to back series but the Redblacks did the worst in free agency and have the highest number of injured players in the CFL. So even though the Lions dominated in both games the few victories that they have this season have only been against poor teams.

There is hope for next season but it will require some coaching upgrades at ST, OC, D line.

Castillo is quietly having a great season. Not as many attempts as other kickers, but he has only two misses all year.
And as of this moment, Burnham is leading the league in rec yards

The reason Ottawa went away from tge run game is our defence adjusted so we didnt give them the rin as an option. Our defence was dictating what theiroffence could do which is what good defencess do. Bythe second quarter we took their offence out of the game. We had Hennings number and they knew it, nothing was working. Now to do it consistently and against a competent offence, thats the chalkenge but we are going in the right direction.

Special teams blocking on returns is still awful, everytime Reilly throws the long bomb I kinda cringe but last night it worked out but against a strong defence, please don't! All in all it was a good game to watch, liked Lyalls play at the end

I agree David that the call against Carter was not important in THIS game but had that been in a tight close game that would have been a TD or at worst 3 pts. Refs were overall good and not a factor but they have to get that right.

Danny O'Brien - the backup - showed nerves he doesn't typically show in practice for the simple reason he simply doesn't play and I'm pretty sure he never played a down last year with the Esks as the backup was Kevin Glenn who I know didn't play a down. IF Reilly goes down it's a QB with zero playing experience and a backup Kraemer who hardly gets a rep in practice unlike the old days of Dickenson, Printers, Pierce and Jackson in 2005 (but JJ was mostly hurt) when QBs were banged up and the others were playing. BUT I saw at practice all QBs getting reps when healthy and not just the scout team like O'Brien.

BC's two backups stand behind the plays and mimic the moves and throws.

I thought the OC would never again use the half back option from Carter that formerly came from the right side - and this time the left. Lots of knockers on Carter but he's masked those two long bombs brilliantly and he's made sure they were laterals.

National Jamel Lyles at the end was nice to see late in the game and you can't just say it was a garbage time. Moore is a bigger back but what he did was good and he's stepping up on STs. Size in his case might hurt his case as a future starter on OFF. It was too bad they got the time down and took a knee BUT as the HC said you have to show some class there as I had kind of wanted that guy to get a TD.

Ottawa was exactly what our limping Leo's needed. These two games have instilled some confidence in the entire team - as they say, winning is infectious. Let's see if that holds true when they play Montreal - a team they should have beaten out here in BC.

I really like the fact that we are starting the same O-line. Consistency and teamwork are the keys and I think that finally, we are getting some of that. I like offensive linemen who play with an aggressive mindset - and the run game allows them to beat up on the defence. Interesting that they frequently used six down linemen - Boyko was the number six guy usually lining up outside of Figueroa. This worked well. I hope they develop some plays for Cottoy out of this formation as I think he is a stud and can really draw the attention of the defence, freeing up coverage on others.

I find that the play of Menard at nose tackle is amazing. Watch the game film on him and he consistently had his man on roller skates pushing him back into Jennings. I also liked the run blitz by Grimes early in the first quarter - it really helped destroy what was an effective run game for Ottawa.

I am not sold on Guzylak-Messam as a starter - I thought that whenever they brought Kevin Haynes (42) in the 'backer play got more aggressive. I say give him more playing time and see what happens.

The defensive backfield is playing more like a unit now and I think is becoming a strength of the team - especially Peters and Dozier. All in all, after such a bruising season, let's enjoy the wins and look forward to continued good play.

David wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 21, 2019 11:13 pm

I don't think we would fare nearly as well with that front against a team like the Bombers; we'd need to be more stout.

DH

I hope we can find out how they fare against the Bombers. That will mean BC made the playoffs and are in Calgary on November 24th.