Home opener: Lions vs. Elks June 17, 2023

[SammyGreene]

Another hit-it-out-of-the-park regular season opener for Amar Doman and his hard working Lions staff.
Can't say enough about their efforts to make the Lions significant again in this market and the strides they are making.
The pre-game Backyard Party was jammed from Cambie Street right to Terry Fox Plaza. Amazing atmosphere.

Sure hope Rhymes is ok. Being at the game, didn't even realize he initially hurt his foot on the TD pass and then went down again when he tried to continue. Not good.

Once the offence got rolling after figuring some things out and few dropped passes later, VA's ball distribution was superb: McInnis (4-79 yds), Rhymes (4-63), Cottoy (4-54), Hollins (5-53), Eberhardt (3-47).

A real short 2 practice week coming up before boarding a plane on Wednesday for Winnipeg. Will be interesting to see how the Lions approach the first of three meetings against the daunting Bombers with potentially their three best receivers on the limp. Rush any of them back or look at the bigger picture which includes a return trip to Winnipeg in early August?

Our defence has been superb thru 2 games. A veteran and cohesive group. But guarded expectations for sure next week against Collaros and company, especially if the offence is far from full strength.

In the two games that mattered last season, we weren't able to run the ball at all against the Bombers. Will be interested if the new-look o-line with Couture, Broxton and Pierson now starting, can create some running lanes for Mizzell and also handle the Bombers pass rush.

[DanoT]

My first attendance at a game in several years, too bad it was a yawner (no long plays by either team) but at least the Lions won the game with a stellar performance on D.

Elks 3 man D line allowed them to go a lot with zone coverage which limited Lions long pass game, but it sure allowed a lot of 1st down 5-6 yard runs, making 2nd and short a lot easier to convert to a 1st down. Elks playing 4 D linemen on 1st down might have been a better strategy.

Elks completed only one pass to Eugene Lewis, one of the CFL's top receivers. How can that be? Oh, maybe it was due to a lot of inaccurate throws by Cornelius. I was expecting Elks to bench Cornelius at some point, just for a change of pace, given their inability to generate any points.

Both teams looked like they were playing a pre-season game that counts in the standings, which is exactly how most CFL teams look, 2 games into the season.

[Hambone]

Adams admitted post game that the 3 man rush drop 9 in coverage EE used was not something they expected but they made adjustments. They only mustered 2 first downs and 31 yards passing on 4 of 5 and added 16 rushing in Q1. They had 21 1st downs, 288 yards passing and 103 rushing over the final 3 qtrs. I think Adams went 7/14 in Q2 and 14/16 in the 2nd half.

[Sir Purrcival]

It concerns me that we only managed 103 yrd rushing against a 3 man pass rush. One would think that will all the rest of the team dropping off, that there would be a bit more running room to be had.

[B.C.FAN]

It concerns me that we only managed 103 yrd rushing against a 3 man pass rush. One would think that will all the rest of the team dropping off, that there would be a bit more running room to be had.

With the LBs and DBs playing zone, they all had their eyes focused on the backfield and could attack the ball carrier downhill. Mizzell still rushed for 93 yards on 18 carries for a 5.2-yard average without any gains of over 10 yards. It can be easier to break off big gains against a man defence. If the RB gets through the first level, he can find lots of daylight.

I also want to give a shout out to Andrew Peirson, who laid a rare, purrfect pancake block on an Edmonton DT on one of Mizzell’s first quarter runs. Peirson was one of the CFL’s highest-rated O-linemen in Week 1. He and Sukh Chungh looked strong last night.

[Hambone]

Mizzell is a bit of a tweener. He's bigger than a scatback but not a bruiser either. More than a couple times last night he showed he can power thru for those tough extra yards.

[Walt67]

I've watched many games at BC Place over the years dating all the way back to the early 90s. Why does the wave ALWAYS happen when we are on offense? Today we even get a time count violation for it! Pretty embarassing.

Overall it was a fun day. The organization did an amazing job to make it an event. Over 33k attended. Hope they can keep the ball rolling and have some lower bowl sellouts for the other home games coming up.

Offense took a while to get going. According to VA in the post game, he said the Elks were showing looks didn't see before so that might explain all the dink and dunk passes early on and no deep shots. Adjustments were made in the second half and he was able to open it up. I was really impressed with what I saw in Smoke Mizzell. Seemed like he was getting 4-6 yards on every carry.

Defense held the Elks to no points which is impressive, but the Elks did look awful today.

I suppose as Doman tries to bring new fans into the fold, many of the newbies won't have the sense to shut the heck up with VA is running the offense. I wonder if the sign board posted "Quiet - Offense at Work" or something like that. We all know that any serious Lions fan sushes his neighbours when they do the wave when the black and orange have the ball.

[Walt67]

The wave Almo led to a Lions penalty which was insane as the home team fans were making the noise.

I thought Rick Campbell challenging the fumble was a dumb call but Gary Peters IMO had a point that the PI call against him was weak and IMO could have been a decent challenge. The fumble was clearly not going to be overturned for a TD.

If there is one thing the Elks and Lions have in common it's the dislike of the run game. When the Elks rushed 3 only that was the time to have the RB there to keep them honest (although Adams got off a nice run vs 3). McAdoo and Jarius Jackson hate the run more than the Lions OC.

One of the reasons that the Bombers are highly effective is the willingness to run, pass and move the QB around. That makes their talent look even better and they're talented now.

Some good young new Receivers across the CFL. Not sure if the Lions 80 should have caught that potential TD catch or not. Didn't get to see a good angle of it.

- Not sure I really agree. In past seasons I have been critical of the lack of a run threat but in this game I though Mizzell had a very good effort - even the TV panel talked about the Lions running the ball as the Elks pulled their linebackers deep.

[Hambone]

I've watched many games at BC Place over the years dating all the way back to the early 90s. Why does the wave ALWAYS happen when we are on offense? Today we even get a time count violation for it! Pretty embarassing.

Overall it was a fun day. The organization did an amazing job to make it an event. Over 33k attended. Hope they can keep the ball rolling and have some lower bowl sellouts for the other home games coming up.

Offense took a while to get going. According to VA in the post game, he said the Elks were showing looks didn't see before so that might explain all the dink and dunk passes early on and no deep shots. Adjustments were made in the second half and he was able to open it up. I was really impressed with what I saw in Smoke Mizzell. Seemed like he was getting 4-6 yards on every carry.

Defense held the Elks to no points which is impressive, but the Elks did look awful today.

I suppose as Doman tries to bring new fans into the fold, many of the newbies won't have the sense to shut the heck up with VA is running the offense. I wonder if the sign board posted "Quiet - Offense at Work" or something like that. We all know that any serious Lions fan sushes his neighbours when they do the wave when the black and orange have the ball.

The challenge with stifling the wave is that those partaking in it are no longer paying attention to the play. They're watching the wave so they can be ready to jump up again when it comes thru their section. Adams tried signaling for quiet. Several Lions on the sidelines were signaling for quiet. Of course only 6 or 7 sections sit behind the bench where they might notice that. The PA dude made an announcement that the offense was at work and would really like some quiet. I said to my buddy the only thing that was going to stop it was something big happening on the field like a TD. Then I started thinking. Any enjoyment I got out of the wave ended back in the 80s. But hey amongst the 33000 in there were no doubt a bunch of first-timers and youngsters for whom this wave thingy was something new. If they came out of there saying "Wow Dad that wave was really cool! Can we go to the next game?" I can definitely live with that.

[B.C.FAN]

That was the longest wave I’ve ever seen. It must have gone around the stadium at least five or six times, all while the Lions had the ball. The PA announcement didn’t come until about the fifth time around, and there was no accompanying on-screen message. The Lions used to play those reminders regularly.

[KnowItAll]

I'm not a hip hop fan but must admit the performance by LLCoolJ was very high energy. Sweat was literally pouring from his head halfway through his performance. Doman should be given alot of credit for bringing in big acts . The officials made a couple of very iffy calls on Peters' interception and the fumble recovery on 3rd down.

He was sweating because he is old.

Watching on tv it was clear that those two calls were right on.

[David]

That was the longest wave I’ve ever seen. It must have gone around the stadium at least five or six times, all while the Lions had the ball. The PA announcement didn’t come until about the fifth time around, and there was no accompanying on-screen message. The Lions used to play those reminders regularly.

It doesn't help when the in-house DJ plays "Misirlou" by Dick Dale (classic surfer music), essentially encouraging the crowd while we were on offense.


DH

[cromartie]

Elks 3 man D line allowed them to go a lot with zone coverage which limited Lions long pass game, but it sure allowed a lot of 1st down 5-6 yard runs, making 2nd and short a lot easier to convert to a 1st down. Elks playing 4 D linemen on 1st down might have been a better strategy.

Ah yes. This right here is the existential challenge of Canadian Football that separates great QBs and Offensive Coordinators from the merely good ones. A guy like VA has to be able to adjust downward against these coverage types and be happy to take what the defense gives them, particularly when some of the resulting throws aren't necessarily best suited to his physical skill set.

But at least we now have an OC that can actually adjust to that. That has historically been a problem here. So in this regard the result was encouraging.

[Hambone]

The officials made a couple of very iffy calls on Peters' interception and the fumble recovery on 3rd down.

They never did show a replay of the Peters pick in the stadium after it was known the DPI call was made so I never really had an opportunity to make my own judgement. It looked to me like Peters was merely going for the interception which he has a right to and the two collided while both were going for the ball. But that was based on my one time live look. As fans we usually pay attention only at the contact when the ball arrives. Sometimes the DPI call is based on something that happened earlier in the process while the ball is in the air.

Peters lobbied Campbell hard to challenge it. When the Lions defence finally got off the field at the end of Edmonton's possession he was still ticked off having an animated conversation with Campbell down on the sidelines. Maybe at a point later in the game Campbell might have challenged the same play. However a coach has to be 100% confident of winning the challenge when he's using it on the very first play of the game. Win it great. Losing it could come back to haunt you at a key point later in the game when you don't have 59+ minutes left to overcome it.

[DanoT]

It was my first game in attendance for me in several years and the lack of replays on penalty calls was disappointing...far better coverage on TV. Also would have been nice to have the p.a. announcer announce the injurys or other changes such as Hatcher and Whitehead not dressed.