Who Will Win: Lions or Tiger Cats

[JohnnyMusso]

Curious how many of us fans think Lions can somehow pull out a win on Saturday. So far unless more news is to come, Lions only made 1 change during the bye acquiring a new OT. Not enough change and despite Masoli being hurt feel Tiger Cats will win.

[B.C.FAN]

Expect the unexpected. I went with the Lions to finally put it all together against a Hamilton team without Jeremiah Masoli.

[David]

It depends. The players may finally come together, feeling like there is no more pressure since we are so far behind the other teams. Or this chasm between us and the West may have completely taken the starch out of the club (and don't bet against this as I have so far not seen much motivation from this coaching staff).

The good news is that the O-line should be healthy meaning there are many players from which to choose (I would think Godber is close to returning too?). Getting Wayne Moore and Mitch Barnett back from the 6-game should help special teams. And if Charles Wright can step up at DE, we can move Korey Toomer to his natural LB position where he could be a disruptive force. Then, if we can forgo or modify this ridiculous "system" on D that has so far only managed to neuter Louis and piss off Coleman, we may actually have something!


DH

[DanoT]

I had to vote for a TiCat win as I don't think the Lions can recover very quickly from what ails them.
Claybrooks biggest mistake with his coaching staff, imo, is letting go Reinbold as ST coach and also Dline coach Randy Melvin who was also the Lions Dline coach when they last won a Grey Cup and the last time that Kalif Mitchell played great and acted like a decent human being was when Randy Melvin was coaching. Seems to me Lions had a decent Dline last season under Melvin.

[JohnnyMusso]

Ottawa cut linebacker Knox today. Surprised Hervey is not improving that area for Lions linebackers are not very good and they need to replace 1 or 2 of them and fee Knox would be an improvement over what they got.

[TheLionKing]

Ottawa cut linebacker Knox today. Surprised Hervey is not improving that area for Lions linebackers are not very good and they need to replace 1 or 2 of them and fee Knox would be an improvement over what they got.

Knox's former team is red and black not green and gold.

[Figaro]

Ever the optimist, I vote for a Lions' win. The bye has given the team time to let the knicks and bruises heal. I anticipate that they have come together more as a team because in the weekly fray of playing and being criticized for poor team play, players and coaches don't have the time to step back and reassess and re-group as they do during the bye. Teams not playing well seem to play better coming out of the bye.

Playing on the road takes some of the pressure off. Also, I believe this is the game for the team to atone for their embarrassing play so far.

I hope they settled on an O-line early in the bye and have given them more time to practice as a unit and not as individuals often playing in positions that are not their natural spots. Left to right, I hope the line-up looks something like this: Figeroa (LT), Knevel (LG), Roy (C), Chungh (RG), Stewart (RT). With Norman and Pierson on the bench - Foucault and Boyko can watch.

I also want to see more from Mackie. They need to work him into the offence more as he is a very good player with great hands. Use him to chip on a blitzer and slip off for short yardage pass the blitzer vacated. These quick hitters will slow down the blitz - teams know we want to throw long all the time and send upwards of 8 blitzers at a time gambling rather successfully that they can reach Reilly before our long rout runners even turn around. Use a combination of outs to Mackie (3/4) and Cottoy (13/15) and the blitzing will be reduced dramatically. Edmonton blitzed us on every offensive play - they did not do that to Calgary last week or to other teams, because other teams know how to take the pressure off their O-lines.

I would start Rutley at running back. He is a much better blocker than White and when he runs he punishes tacklers.

On defence, we have to be more aggressive. What do we have to lose? I really like the addition of Brandon Dozier - he can really hit and I think has brought some stability to the defensive backfield, a backfield that should be impressive with the likes of TJ Lee, Peters, Grimes and Butler. The D-line has to be more disciplined - bring consistent pressure without all the spin moves etc. We need a huge effort from the interior tackles like we used to get from players like Ty Williams (one of my favourite tackles ever - they had to double and sometimes triple-team him - he occupied so much space and didn't let the offensive guards get up on the linebackers so quickly as they do now. Hopefully, we can play newcomer Korey Toomer in the middle as we need more help there. Harris and Edwards are good at the other linebacker positions and bring some intensity. One area on defence that really does need to be addressed at all positions is sure tackling - wrap 'em and drop 'em in their tracks.

Now it is up to everyone - coaches and players - to put away egos etc and build a team that can dominate a game. I truly believe we have the talent. As I said: ever the optimist. Hamilton is playing with a quarterback who has shown little so far. Pressure and confusion and he will give us the ball. This could be described as a 'trap' game for Hamilton - playing the worst team in the league at home, they could be way too overconfident and not be as ready as they should be - just ask Winnepeg how that feels losing to a winless Argonaut team.

[KnowItAll]

ticats win.

either they beat the lions, or they beat themselves.

[JohnnyMusso]

Figaro, Lions traded for a new OL:

BC Lions Football Club announced on Sunday it has acquired American offensive lineman Justin Renfrow from Calgary.

I expect him to start. No way Ed trades for him to be on practice roster. He will start or at very least be a backup.

[TheLionKing]

Ti-Cats will win even with back up Dane Evans at the helm.

[David]

I hope they settled on an O-line early in the bye and have given them more time to practice as a unit and not as individuals often playing in positions that are not their natural spots. Left to right, I hope the line-up looks something like this: Figeroa (LT), Knevel (LG), Roy (C), Chungh (RG), Stewart (RT). With Norman and Pierson on the bench - Foucault and Boyko can watch.

This is how I think the O-line could look, maybe not for this game but soon:

Figueroa - LT
Steward - LG (Foucault back-up)
Norman - C
Chungh - LG
Renfrow - RG (Boyko back-up...although I would prefer Knevel there)

So we suddenly go from 4 Nationals to possibly 2.

BTW, I see we signed a linebacker from Central Washington named Kevin Hayes. He is on the PR . He was B2B Greater Northwest Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017. If Herdman is still nicked up this week, expect Adam Konar to play in the middle.


DH

[Figaro]

David's O-line

Figueroa - LT
Steward - LG (Foucault back-up)
Norman - C
Chungh - LG
Renfrow - RG (Boyko back-up...although I would prefer Knevel there)

I agree with most, but I thought Roy or Pierson played well enough to start at center. I didn't see the Renfrow trade so yes it does make sense that they would play a guy they just traded for. I agree, Knevel for back up. Sit Foucault and Boyko: make them hungry.

[JohnnyMusso]

82% feel the Tiger Cats will win. Still going with the Cats, but hope it is a competitive game. Tired of the blowouts.

[Sir Purrcival]

Well, now we know and unfortunately most of the prognosticators were right. This team just finds ways to lose.

[Ballistic Bob]

Lions covered the spread. BB