CFL Regular Season

[sj-roc]

good job o'shea, way to take your qb out of the game in a blowout

oh wait no you didn't, and now he's hurt

6-8 wks is the prognosis acc to this cfl.ca article. On the plus side they get to play Ssk twice in that stretch for Labour Day and Banjo Bowl.

[BC 1988]

good job o'shea, way to take your qb out of the game in a blowout

oh wait no you didn't, and now he's hurt

6-8 wks is the prognosis acc to this cfl.ca article. On the plus side they get to play Ssk twice in that stretch for Labour Day and Banjo Bowl.

Just goes to show--injury-hindered Willy had a ball against the polite Lions pussy-cat D.

It only took 3 quarters for the ferocious Ti-Cat D to take him out for 6-8 weeks.

[sj-roc]

Just goes to show--injury-hindered Willy had a ball against the polite Lions pussy-cat D.

I was thinking along the same lines but more on the other side of the ball. At halftime of their Ham game down 31-0 I posted here asking, "Is this the same Wpg team that held us to 13pts in their last game, and 6pts in the final 51mins?" Always frustrating to come off a loss, arguably your worst of the year, and watch your betters go down in flames the next time out, with the obvious corollary that you may be even worse than that.

[BC 1988]

Just goes to show--injury-hindered Willy had a ball against the polite Lions pussy-cat D.

I was thinking along the same lines but more on the other side of the ball. At halftime of their Ham game down 31-0 I posted here asking, "Is this the same Wpg team that held us to 13pts in their last game, and 6pts in the final 51mins?" Always frustrating to come off a loss, arguably your worst of the year, and watch your betters go down in flames the next time out, with the obvious corollary that you may be even worse than that.

Yes--I will be surprised if BC doesn't get stomped on by HAM on Saturday. They are missing a few weapons on OFF (Gable, Fantuz), but it didn't make much difference against WPG.

[David]

Yes--I will be surprised if BC doesn't get stomped on by HAM on Saturday. They are missing a few weapons on OFF (Gable, Fantuz), but it didn't make much difference against WPG.

Anyone else surprised that it's their first day back at practice since last Thursday? They were given 4 days off. 3 days of practice against a team they haven't seen before then the early morning flight on Friday (and presumably a late afternoon walk-through)?


DH

[TheLionKing]

If I'm a Bomber fan I would be worry about seeing Brohm taking the snaps.

[BC 1988]

Yes--I will be surprised if BC doesn't get stomped on by HAM on Saturday. They are missing a few weapons on OFF (Gable, Fantuz), but it didn't make much difference against WPG.

Anyone else surprise that it's their first day back at practice last Thursday? They were given 4 days off. 3 days of practice against a team they haven't seen before then the early morning flight on Friday (and presumably a late afternoon walk-through).


DH

Braley usually gives the players a big meal when they go there. (It's been thrown around a few times that they end up playing sluggish because of that).
Are the Operation Orange travelers going to take part in that? (I'm assuming there are a few on this board who will be going, and it's the first time in HAM).

[DanoT]

Yes--I will be surprised if BC doesn't get stomped on by HAM on Saturday. They are missing a few weapons on OFF (Gable, Fantuz), but it didn't make much difference against WPG.

Anyone else surprise that it's their first day back at practice last Thursday? They were given 4 days off. 3 days of practice against a team they haven't seen before then the early morning flight on Friday (and presumably a late afternoon walk-through).


DH

Not only surprised but disappointed because this tells me that we are unlikely to see any new plays or formations on O and I guess same old same old on D. Compared to the rest of the CFL this is a mediocre team and Tedford has done nothing so far with his much touted H-Back Offense.

[Toppy Vann]

The long time off is bad to get the Lions in the media but on the other hand after losing to the hapless Bombers this might be a good tactic - let fans forget.

But if the Lions are using this time for coaches to redo/tweak schemes, review discipline, and review their play calling and use of personnel to hit the re-set button with something different from here on - then it might be good. It might be good for this team's psyche too.

Just listen to the conversations in public from the Ticats these days. That team is together. Found it interesting that Bacari Grant is just on a 1 year as he wants SJ Green money and couldn't get it. Collaros says he spent a lot of time talking with Grant off season to get him to come back.

The Lions sound more like they 've circled the wagons and giving reasons for things versus the Ticats who apparently are where all coaches want them - holding each other accountable. Best to get them out of the media hearing range.

I wonder if Coadh Milanovich regrets his decision to stick with HOF first rounder Ricky Ray and let Collaros out of the fold as he clearly looks to be both an outstanding leader and team guy but a guy who if he can stay healthy is himself a future HOF with his potential. Would Wally have said goodbye to Ricky Ray as he has with others and Collaros would be in Argoville now and Ricky Ray toiling in his third CFL team somewhere else.

[B.C.FAN]

Three days of practice is the standard in the CFL, plus a travel/walkthrough day, game day and a postgame rundown day. I don't know if the coaches want more time than that. The players' bodies certainly don't. Only one practice per week can be padded.

The Lions will want to be well rested and healed of bumps and bruises when they arrive in Hamilton because the Ticats have been flying. I apologize for getting ahead of Blitz here, but matching the Ticats' intensity will be a key to the game, as will avoiding turnovers. It won't show in the official stats as points off turnovers but Hamilton scored 28 points off Winnipeg miscues last week, including two pick-sixes, a partially blocked punt (it crossed the line of scrimmage so doesn't count as a blocked punt) and a 49-yard onside kick recovery. Winnipeg's special teams are a joke but the B.C. special teams will have to be on their toes.

[sj-roc]

Been checking out some game notes documentation the league released this week. Here are some comments they offered re: last week's Ssk @ Tor penalty-filled affair.

Penalties Update to Week #7: Last week in the CFL was unusual one to say the least. It was a study in contrasts exemplified by the final two games of the week. The Saskatchewan at Toronto game featured the CFL's two most penalized clubs and they rolled up 43 — the second-highest combined penalty total in league history. It was followed immediately by the least-penalized game since October 2013 (11 in Winnipeg at Hamilton); the average was held to 23.8 per game, the second-lowest week of 2015.

43 penalties in one game: Here’s some additional data on that game: a) 22 different types of calls including 5 types of roughness and 5 illegal contact calls (i.e. new rule). b) A total of 32 different players took at least one penalty each, and c) that extended the game from the usual 2:53 to 3:07 – an extra 14 minutes to administer on the field. d) There were 11 well-deserved penalties in one stretch of 15 plays in the 1st Quarter.

Also, we've discussed at times Tedford's reluctance to go for it on 3rd & short, but it seems teams overall are doing a relatively poor job of converting on them this year:

Third Down Gambles: Results in 3rd-and-1 situations this season have shown a marked change from the last few years with a much lower success rate. The trend shows a drop from 84% success rate in 2013 to just 67% in 2015:

YEAR---GP--Att-Made-Miss-Pct
2015----28--57---38----19---67%
2014----81-163--130---33---80%
2013----72-129--109---20---84%

There may be more to these stats than meets the eye. Some 3rd & 1's are "long yards"; others are perhaps barely half a yard. They may be averaging out a little longer so far this year than they were the last two years. We've also had a lot of games this year played in wet conditions so this might be a factor, too. Whatever the cause, the fail rate currently sits at 1-in-3 so the gamble has been truly that so far — by no means a gimme. The league records some short yardage plays as 3rd & 0 (zero) in their play-by-play stats; I don't think these higher-percentage plays are included in the above. For example, the TOD we registered against Ssk late in our home opener as we mounted our comeback was on a 3rd & 0-billed play.

Also re: two other items. I'm not sure what criterion (margin) they're using to determine whether a game is decided. It may be a specific margin by the ultimate winner or whether a lead change occurred in the final 3:00, or perhaps some combination of these. Also, only 7 of 28 games played so far have not featured a lead change.

Decided by 4 points or less: Last week, the first three games were again all decided by 4 points or less making it now 15 out of 28 or 54%. Last season, there were only 18 out of 81 games with margins of 4 points or closer (22%). It is the highest percentage of games that close in Canadian football history. Of the 28 games to date, only 9 have been settled before the final 3:00 of play. Of the 12 games across the last three weeks, 11 have not been decided until the final 3:00.

Major comebacks in 2015: Through CFL Week #7, 21 of the 28 games were won by teams that had trailed at some point. Of those 21 come-from-behind wins, 7 have been from deficits of 10+ points or more. Toronto and Calgary have each come back twice from 10-point deficits or more to win.

Not surprising there have been so many comebacks when the scores are often so close.

[B.C.FAN]

Here are a few more CFL-wide and Lions stats for 2015 to date (sj-roc started it):

Home teams are 20-8.

Teams winning the turnover battle are 20-3. There have been only five games where the number of turnovers is even, and the Lions have been involved in three of them, going 2-1.

Teams leading after the third quarter are 20-8, but the Lions and Argos account for 5 of those 8 comeback wins. The Lions were on the other end of one of the Argo comebacks.

The Lions remain the only team that hasn't lost a fumble. They also haven't recovered an opposition fumble.

Despite tightening up defensively in the second half of their game against Edmonton, the B.C. defence has still given up more big plays than any other team, a league-hugh 14 pass plays of 30 yards or more and 7 rushing plays (tied with Winnipeg) of 20 yards or more.

The B.C. defence has tightened up somewhat n the red zone, conceding a TD 59% of the time when the opponent reaches the 20 yard line. That's better than two teams, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg.

Despite a lot of talk about offensive tempo at training camp, only Winnipeg has run fewer plays per game than the Lions.

[sj-roc]

The Lions remain the only team that hasn't lost a fumble. They also haven't recovered an opposition fumble.

Saw that. BC & opponents have each fumbled four times, but all eight were recovered, none lost.

[sj-roc]

Week 8 opens with Edm in Mtl tonight. Als lead 12-7 early in Q3. Edm lucky to be trailing by only five with an 0-4 deficit in turnovers so far.

[sj-roc]

Mtl 's offence completely inept, just 3 first downs through three Q's and NO 2nd down conversions. Keeping it close despite 4 Edm turnovers. Mtl now has one TOD and now a pick early in Q4. Mtl clinging to a 12-10 lead.