Lions 33 - Bombers 16 Post Game Stats and Comments

[WestCoastJoe]

Very intense game. Much closer than the score. The Bombers came to play. I thought the Lions were tight in some cases. Lulay was cool and effective. Cannot ignore history. There was bound to be some distraction from Geroy writing history.

Way to go, Geroy. One of the class guys of all time in any sport.

Bombers defence very stout.

Andrew Harris

Travis Lulay

Geroy Simon

Arland Bruce

D Line

LBs

ST coverage

Benevides

Chapdelaine

Stubler

[WestCoastJoe]

Passing CP/AT YDS TD INT
T. LULAY 17/25 233 1 1

Receiving Rec YDS TD LG
A. HARRIS 7 69 0 25
G. SIMON 5 105 0 56
A. BRUCE 3 45 1 18
R. LUMBALA 1 11 0 11
K. JOHNSON 1 3 0 3

Rushing ATT YDS TD LG
A. HARRIS 8 47 0 16
T. LULAY 7 44 2 11
T. BROWN 4 26 0 12
K. JOHNSON 1 6 0 6
M. REILLY 1 2 0 2

Fumbles NO LST REC YDS
J. YURICHUK 1 0 0 0

Field Goals FG LG XP PTS
P. MCCALLUM 4/4 36 2/3 14

Punting NO AVG NET LG
P. MCCALLUM 7 39.0 245 48

Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
T. BROWN 7 85 12.1 59 0

Kickoffs NO YDS LG SG
P. MCCALLUM 8 439 75 0

Kick Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
T. BROWN 3 46 15.3 17 0

Defence TKL SK INT FF
B. PARKER 4 0 0 0
A. MCKENZIE 4 0 0 0
A. REDDICK 4 0 0 0
E. TAYLOR 3 2 0 1
K. WILLIAMS 3 2 0 0
D. MARSH 3 0 0 0
L. SHELL 3 0 0 0
A. BIGHILL 2 0 0 0
K. BANKS 1 0 0 0
K. JOHNSON 1 0 0 0
K. SMITH 1 0 0 0
R. HENLEY 1 0 0 0
M. IANNUZZI 1 0 0 0
J. YURICHUK 0 0 1 0

[WestCoastJoe]

Passing CP/AT YDS TD INT
A. BRINK 14/26 121 2 1
B. PIERCE 3/9 11 0 0

Receiving Rec YDS TD LG
T. EDWARDS 6 41 1 14
C. MATTHEWS 5 48 1 19
K. POBLAH 3 26 0 18
C. DENMARK 2 11 0 9
R. KOHLERT 1 6 0 6

Rushing ATT YDS TD LG
B. DORZON 5 4 0 4
B. PIERCE 3 23 0 12
A. BRINK 3 19 0 10
B. STEWART 1 26 0 26

Fumbles NO LST REC YDS
B. PIERCE 1 0 0 0

Field Goals FG LG XP PTS
J. PALARDY 1/1 33 1/1 4

Punting NO AVG NET LG
M. RENAUD 10 39.4 309 53

Punt Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
D. WASHINGTON 4 28 7.0 17 0

Kickoffs NO YDS LG SG
J. PALARDY 4 180 61 0

Kick Returns NO YDS AVG LG TD
D. WASHINGTON 6 159 26.5 39 0
M. PONTBRIAND 1 5 5.0 5 0

Defence TKL SK INT FF
I. LOGAN 6 0 0 0
J. HEFNEY 5 0 1 0
A. SUBER 5 0 0 0
B. TURNER 4 3 0 0
P. LABBE 3 0 0 0
B. STEWART 2 0 0 0
J. SEARS 2 0 0 0
D. DOE 2 0 0 0
F. KASHAMA 2 0 0 0
K. MAINOR 1 0 0 0
C. DENMARK 1 0 0 0
J. JOHNSON 1 0 0 0
J. THOMAS 1 0 0 0
R. FRITZ 1 0 0 0
A. HALL 1 0 0 0
B. COLLIER 1 0 0 0
C. MATTHEWS 0 0 0 1

[WestCoastJoe]

Rushing ATT YDS TD LG
A. HARRIS 8 47 0 16
T. LULAY 7 44 2 11
T. BROWN 4 26 0 12
K. JOHNSON 1 6 0 6
M. REILLY 1 2 0 2

About what I had expected. In the second half JC went more to the run to slow down Turner who had been killing Norman and Kabongo.

Just enough run to keep the D honest. 125 yards on the ground. It ain't great, but the D has to pay attention to Harris and Brown. They are very dangerous.

I had said 10 runs for Harris, 5 for Brown and 5 for Lulay. In this league at this time, I expect that is the way it is going to go. Just enough to keep the D honest. In the first half Turner had 3 sacks. We had to slow him down with some runs.

Andrew Harris would like to get 1000 yards on the ground. He might. And he might get 1000 receiving also. Roger Craig used to get that in the NFL.

[Toppy Vann]

Headline in the Winnipeg Free Press:

VANCOUVER -- Want to know what happens when four of your team’s five starting offensive linemen have the grand total of three CFL starts between them, and your opponent in the regular-season opener is the defending Grey Cup champion B.C. Lions?

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers learned the answer in the most punishing way possible here at BC Place Friday night, as Winnipeg starting quarterback Buck Pierce was sacked four times and did not even see the end of the first half of the first game of the 2012 season before he was sidelined with an apparent knee injury.

Hope Buck is not badly hurt - story said maybe knee bruise and examined by doctors back in the 'Peg Saturday.

Looking in this game like the off season Tweets by the Bomber players on Mack's performance look correct. The Bombers O line was not strong last year and is looking even worse now.

[David]

What was the attendance? Looked like a good crowd was on hand.

29,351

Not great given the club built an event around this game: Geroy's record, Grey Cup rematch, band (Dragonette) at half-time. That said, this market often takes several weeks to warm up to summer football.

Having a closed roof is not going to help attendance. Next time the club plays on a nice night, some fans may think twice about heading down, thinking the roof will be closed again (they may even be correct in that assumption).

DH

[Sir Purrcival]

On positive side, I was pleasantly surprised by Henley and Taylor. I thought they were both prominent on D tonight as was Williams. Didn't hear Mitchell's name tonight very much.

This really seemed like a battle between the Lions Offense and Winnie's D. Winnipeg probably has one of the stronger D's in the league and it looked like the Lions had a difficult time gaining traction at times. But all things being equal, the Lions overcame and the Lions D looked to be getting more solid as the game went on (except in garbage time) Agree on the Spec. Teams. Is our kick coverage so woeful because the punts aren't getting enough hang time? Paul also shanked two punts tonight. So hopefully, some of the dropsies and missed opportunities are just early season issues. Congrats to the LIons for starting the season off on the right foot and to Geroy for the record.

[SammyGreene]

Having a closed roof is not going to help attendance. Next time the club plays on a nice night, some fans may think twice about heading down, thinking the roof will be closed again (they may even be correct in that assumption).

DH

Ridiculous. 10 home games a year and only so many during the summer and the decision was to leave it closed on a decent evening. It was warm in there tonight. Reminded me of the conditions with the old teflon roof on. Could they have not at least opened the louvres to allow some airflow in there? And what does it take, 20 minutes for the roof to actually close? And I know the renovations included installing drainage into the floor.

[Rammer]

What was the attendance? Looked like a good crowd was on hand.

29,351

Not great given the club built an event around this game: Geroy's record, Grey Cup rematch, band (Dragonette) at half-time. That said, this market often takes several weeks to warm up to summer football.

Having a closed roof is not going to help attendance. Next time the club plays on a nice night, some fans may think twice about heading down, thinking the roof will be closed again (they may even be correct in that assumption).

DH

I don't think that the roof open or closed had much of a factor for the attendance for this game, the roof remaining closed may have more of an impact should it continue to be. Still not a crowd that you may expect given the circumstances that you suggest were at play for this game. Having to find excuses as to why the crowd size didn't reach a level that the Lions perhaps deserved this game isn't good for a building stone to a larger audience either, as the media can make the largest impact on fan attending or not.

[almo89]

I think the attendance has to do with the ticket prices. It's no longer the best bang for your buck anymore.

[BCBenny5]

Slow start to the game, but I love the style Mike has the boys playing. They are a hungry, aggressive team and its awesome to watch.

My hats off to Geroy, if any guy could pass Milt in the record there is no classier or harder working guy deserving of it than him. I can honestly say I shed a few tears when he hauled in that 50+ reception for the record it was truly special.

Looking forward to game two, hats off to a tough Winnipeg D bring on the rest!

[SammyGreene]

I don't think that the roof open or closed had much of a factor for the attendance for this game, the roof remaining closed may have more of an impact should it continue to be. Still not a crowd that you may expect given the circumstances that you suggest were at play for this game. Having to find excuses as to why the crowd size didn't reach a level that the Lions perhaps deserved this game isn't good for a building stone to a larger audience either, as the media can make the largest impact on fan attending or not.

No surprise to see large pockets of empty seats in the lower level corner end zone ($53 per seat) and the attendance really spread out and thin up top. Can't see more people in the stands next week for Hamilton compared to Grey Cup rematch and Geroy's record breaking night.

I think the attendance has to do with the ticket prices. It's no longer the best bang for your buck anymore.

Agreed.

[TheLionKing]

Having a closed roof is not going to help attendance. Next time the club plays on a nice night, some fans may think twice about heading down, thinking the roof will be closed again (they may even be correct in that assumption).

DH

Terrible decision. Muggy inside. Smoke from from the fireworks hung around like a fog.