B.C. at Calgary Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021

[Hambone]

Why not punt for a single point? I get that coach Campbell probably had no confidence in his FG kicker, and a missed FG might result in a big return. But from the 35 it should be no problem to either punt the ball out of the end zone or kick it deep enough that the returner concedes a single point, which would have given the Lions a 7 point lead. Instead, the Lions turned the ball over on downs and essentially gave Calgary possession on the 35 for free.

At that spot you're kind of in a damned if you do, damned if you don't. Get the 1st down and you can just about kill the clock. No idea if there was a wind or not but scrimmaging from the 36 a decent punt is only around 8 yards deep into the end zone. No doubt Calgary would concede to get the ball at the 35. Killam was not happy with Henry when he ran the missed FG out to the 1 less than a minute earlier. Tough decision on the FG attempt. On one hand Campbell may not have enough confidence in Yamasaki to try it. On the other hand it would be a tremendous confidence booster to both coach and kicker if Yamasaki was given the opportunity and succeeded.

[Hambone]

Flintoft was mainly a punter at UCLA but he competed at both punter and placekicker in training camp. His leg is as strong as anyone's but the Lions handed the placekicking duties to Yamasaki fairly early in camp and left Flintoft to compete with Jake Ford for punting duties. I thought Flintoft was a more consistent punter than Ford but the latter improved as camp went on.

Flintoft sounds like Richie Leone. When Leone first came to BC along with Anthony Hera I think it was Leone who described himself as a punter who also placekicked and Hera as a placekicker who also punted. In UCLA's site they showed him as a placekicker for a couple years, then as a punter. I'm unable to find any stats on him when it comes to FG kicking. Only finding punting stats. I don't think he's done much, if any, FG kicking since high school.

[BC 1988]

I think a lot of credit has to go to Ryan Rigmaiden who returned to the team in November. Our US scouting was always solid when he was here, and I think we can all agree did not look that good after he left. He, and McEvoy have done an excellent job in bringing in good US talent and have completely rebuilt this defense.

The offense is also looking very good. That O-line has continued to look good since Bates took over midway through the 2019 season. Giving Reilly time will unlock the potential with this offense. I'm also super impressed by Lucky Whitehead. I thought Rhymes would be our key #2 receiver behind Burnham, but it's been Whitehead so far. Rhymes is still a big play threat so when D's start keying on Burnham and Whitehead in the future I would look for Rhymes to have a big breakout game.

Only concerns for me right now:

1). FG kicking. Yamasaki isn't good enough to be a FG kicker in this league. Maybe keep him around not he practice roster to see if he's someone you can develop. There might be some potential there, but we need to move on. You could make an argument that his missed FG's and PAT last week cost us the comeback in Saskatchewan. And you can definitely say his kicking last night nearly cost us the game again. I don't know if the answer is to turn it over to Flintoft, or bring in someone else (Justin Medlock is a free agent), but the answer right now is not to go into next week with Yamasaki as the kicker.

2) RB - Chris Rainey definitely looked good in limited time, but I'm not that impressed with Butler. With RB's basically a dime a dozen, how much longer do we want to stick with Butler and the very mediocre production we're getting there? I know Shaq Cooper is our starting RB, though I'm unsure about his injury and when he's expected to return. I would be looking to give Rainey/Lyles more looks, and probably looking at other options as well.

3) Coaching - I know I have harped on people blaming coaching for everything in the past, and while I think the coaching for the most part hasn't been too bad I do have a few complaints about some of the decisions that have been made.

First, the whole QB situation of will he start, won't he start, I'm not a fan of. I get you want to go with your number 1 guy if you can, but if he is injured and can't go you need to make a decision and stick with it. I did not like the decision to only dress 2 QB's last week when one of them basically couldn't throw. And it appeared they were doing the same thing this week (until we saw that Reilly actually could throw which felt like a miracle). I know it's a CFL trend now, but I just hate the idea of only dressing 2 QB's, especially so if you know one is already banged up and the other is a rookie.

Finally, I'm not a fan of his in-game decision making. This is something I questioned when he was in Ottawa too (I recall a game against Calgary where Ottawa was up by 4 with 2 or 3 minutes left, rather than punting out of the end zone he conceded a safety and gave Calgary the ball and opportunity to hit the game winning FG, which they did). I don't at all understand, or like, the call to go for it on 3rd down at the end of the game last night. You're only up by 6 points. A Calgary TD, with how good their kicker is, wins them the game. I do support not going for the FG because of how bad our kicker has been, but at least punt the ball. Whether you want to punt the ball through the end zone for a rouge (and give up field position basically where Calgary started anyway), or punt the ball and try to pin them deep inside their 10, I'll have time for that discussion. But the worst thing they could have done was give up possession where they did without any points at all. The decision to run the ball on 3rd and long was also puzzling since it isn't like the clock is going to keep running after the turnover. The whole sequence of events and decision making, for me, was just bizarre.

Excellent points--it was a game that could easily have been lost, but didn't have to be anywhere near that close.

The best explanation of what happened with Reilly last week was Guilio yesterday before the game.
First freezing of the arm timing was too late before game time to numb the elbow pain, then they gave a 2nd and 3rd shot. When Reilly elected to go in after halftime, his hand was numb from 3 freezing shots (resulting in inability to grip the ball).
Guilio also mentioned that he saw Reilly tossing the ball much more in practice last week (even though Rourke was getting first team reps) than he had the previous week.
https://omny.fm/shows/sekeres-price/aug ... rmy-managi
Starts at 1:08:48

After that debacle, they must have the got the timing of the shot fine-tuned enough to numb the elbow pain without also numbing his hand.
HC Campbell was quoted this morning on 650 as being surprised again--this time pleasantly-at Reilly being able to go in.

He looked like a rusty QB yesterday--some overthrows that Guilio mentioned during the game--but it was a much more functional performance. As long as they need to numb the elbow, this uncertainty as to who is starting will continue.

[BC 1988]

Why not punt for a single point? I get that coach Campbell probably had no confidence in his FG kicker, and a missed FG might result in a big return. But from the 35 it should be no problem to either punt the ball out of the end zone or kick it deep enough that the returner concedes a single point, which would have given the Lions a 7 point lead. Instead, the Lions turned the ball over on downs and essentially gave Calgary possession on the 35 for free.

At that spot you're kind of in a damned if you do, damned if you don't. Get the 1st down and you can just about kill the clock. No idea if there was a wind or not but scrimmaging from the 36 a decent punt is only around 8 yards deep into the end zone. No doubt Calgary would concede to get the ball at the 35. Killam was not happy with Henry when he ran the missed FG out to the 1 less than a minute earlier. Tough decision on the FG attempt. On one hand Campbell may not have enough confidence in Yamasaki to try it. On the other hand it would be a tremendous confidence booster to both coach and kicker if Yamasaki was given the opportunity and succeeded.

On the radio broadcast last night Guilio mentioned that there was a light breeze early in the game. By the 4th quarter, it was completely calm. Yamasaki had every chance at a better performance and was still too erratic for Campbell to send him in. If they want to risk him for a 3rd time, he will be in the (mostly) no wind conditions of BC Place.

[Sir Purrcival]

If you are too afraid to send your kicker out for a 36 yard FG attempt in basically very gentle conditions, then you need a kicker. Points matter and when you start passing on opportunities to get points in tight games like we did twice last night, then the kicker needs to go. 36 yards is not significant distance for any kicker worth his salt. We also went on 3rd and a long 2 in the 3rd Q. somewhere around the 22 yard line and messed that up. Those two plays alone resulted in giving the Stamps a chance to win this game when it should have been out of reach. Only a stellar defensive effort throughout the game made this a victory. Imagine what we would be saying here today if the Stamps had completed a hail mary on that last play and had won the game. We wouldn't be anywhere near as gentle in our descriptions of what the problem was.

[BC 1988]

If you are too afraid to sent your kicker out for a 36 yard FG attempt in basically very gentle conditions, then you need a kicker. Points matter and when you start passing on opportunities to get points in tight games like we did twice last night, then the kicker needs to go. 36 yards is not significant distance for any kicker worth his salt. We also went on 3rd and a long 2 in the 3rd Q. somewhere around the 22 yard line and messed that up. Those two plays alone resulted in giving the Stamps a chance to win this game when it should have been out of reach. Only a stellar defensive effort throughout the game made this a victory. Imagine what we would be saying here today if the Stamps had completed a hail mary on that last play and had won the game. We wouldn't be anywhere near as gentle in our descriptions of what the problem was.

After he went wide on the his last attempt with the ball on the 36 and no wind, that was when Moj and Guilio had basically written Yamasaki off. Guilio said ..."this isn't Osaka"...

Does anyone know what his stats were like in the X League and The Spring League?

[TheLionKing]

If you are too afraid to sent your kicker out for a 36 yard FG attempt in basically very gentle conditions, then you need a kicker. Points matter and when you start passing on opportunities to get points in tight games like we did twice last night, then the kicker needs to go. 36 yards is not significant distance for any kicker worth his salt. We also went on 3rd and a long 2 in the 3rd Q. somewhere around the 22 yard line and messed that up. Those two plays alone resulted in giving the Stamps a chance to win this game when it should have been out of reach. Only a stellar defensive effort throughout the game made this a victory. Imagine what we would be saying here today if the Stamps had completed a hail mary on that last play and had won the game. We wouldn't be anywhere near as gentle in our descriptions of what the problem was.

Well said.

[Dusty]

On the radio post game, Campbell said that there was more risk with a punt than a hand off..... I'm thinking a block or return if not out of the end zone, so he went with a hand-off. I mean, he isn't going to shoot down his field goal kicker on the radio 10 minutes after the game is won, but obviously there was concern if he was thinking punt or hand-off.

[Dusty]

BTW, the radio post game show with coaches and player interviews is great. well worth dialing into AM730.

[Hambone]

CFL teams need to dress only one Global player this year. The Lions have been using two Global kickers. They also have Global DT Nik Gustav on the practice roster.

Roster requirements make a change a bit complicated. Like the old law of physics for every action there is an equal on opposite reaction.

Get rid of both and they have to dress Gustav which may mean having to drop one of the 6 in DL rotation or dress 7. Other moves would be necessary depending whether they went with 1 Canadian, 1 American or a combination if 1 each.

Simplest way to replace Yamasaki would be with another global. Toronto has Japanese kicker Sato on their PR and Ottawa has Mexican Jose Maltos who was at BC's 2018 training camp. Plucking either from the PR means they have to be immediately activated, no trying them out first. Same would go for trying to raid one of the rookie NAT kickers on a couple of other rosters.

Castillo is currently looking for work. I think playing 2 globals has meant playing 1 NAT short. That means to add him, or give Flintoft a shot, means getting to add a NAT but having to drop a DI. Against Calgary that would have been Rainey, Davis, Levine and Bonner or Gamboa.
Finding a competent Canadian would be the least painful solution roster wise. The only one who comes to mind is Hajrullahu but he's still been getting very recent NFL workouts. He can handle all duties. Maybe if he doesn't get any solid contract vibes soon he might take a 1 year deal here.

[Hambone]

One interesting tidbit I just came across comes with Flintoft's UCLA team mate and kicking partner JJ Molson. Molson is currently competing with 14 year veteran Mason Crosby for placekicking duties in Green Bay. Molson just happens to be born in Montreal thus would be a NAT if he comes available. And yes he is a descendent of John Molson founder of the brewery.

[TheLionKing]

Whatever happened to the former UBC placekicker ? Is he on someone's practice roster ?

[Hambone]

You talking Quinn Van Gylswyk who put some noses out of joint when Wally didn't draft him back in 2016? The Riders drafted him late in the 3rd round. His career lasted all of 2 games, 1 each in 2016 and 2017. He was good on 1 of 3 FGs in his 2016 appearance. In his 2017 GP he recorded 3 KOs and made his only convert attempt. He did not get called on to try a FG. If I recall BC did sign him for injury insurance I think in late 2017 or 2018.

There was another UBC kid BC brought to camp back in 2018 or 2019. His name escapes me but from what I recall of his UBC stats they were fairly meh.

[maxlion]

Hajrullahu and Castillo are both proven and can do all roles. Edge to Hajrullahu for the passport, but Castillo might be a bit more reliable on FGs. Not sure I would want another rookie experiment given the short season.