B.C. at Saskatchewan Aug. 6, 2021

[OV - 54:40]

Wow - what a bizarre game.

Lions totally unprepared and flat out of the gate; the D was swiss cheese like for the 1st part of the game; and a rookie QB thrown to the wolves. Coaching !

Strange QB management there = WTF ? - hopefully Reilly did not damage his arm further. That Rourke kid has serious QB skills; but dumb coaching has him throwing an out at a corner just waiting for an easy pick 6 ??? - no, no , no ! Rourke was a big run threat QB in college ball and they should have him running or scrambling from the get go to throw off the D, instead of throwing him to wolves with a pass rush teeing off and the DBs just waiting on first read throws.

Gutsy comeback effort - Reilly showed real guts and his receivers pulled thru to haul in some brutal duck throws; the D started playing; could have pulled-off a miracle like comeback, so something to hold on to; but way too many question marks. A new place kicker needs to be auditioned ASAP. And the offensive coaches need to grasp that a run game can help lots in the CFL still instead of abandoning after one or 2 short gains, Rookie D-line were maybe OK, but not exactly a Cam Wake type there - that could be a problem area going forward if more pass rush is not generated.

[TheLionKing]

In all fairness Yamasaki was put in a rough spot for his pro debut. Kicking in Regina is never easy. No exhibition game to work on his craft.

[Reg18]

Not impressed with oc, dc and field goal kicker we were !lucky to be in it at the late stages. Kudos to Reilly for proving me wrong . our o line didn't impress me either. A very entertaining exhibition game too bad it counted

[Reg18]

The lions weren't ready to play. That's on the hc

[maxlion]

Like so many talented but inexperienced QBs, Rourke showed potential but also made rookie mistakes. The best QBs get at least a year or two of seasoning before starting. Rourke hasn't even been in a preseason game. He played fine under the circumstances, impressive even, but hopefully Reilly will be able to start next week. If not, the team might need to look at bringing someone else in to help. Otherwise teams will start to feed on his tendencies.

I don't know how much confidence the coaches have in Yamasaki but that was a very poor performance.

[David]

POST-GAME THOUGHTS:

[*]To think we could have easily signed Tyler Crapigna.

[*]I think we may have seen a proverbial passing of the torch tonight (Reilly's best pass of the night, lol). Is that an elbow injury or a dead arm on a 36-year old QB? I hope to hell Reilly can come back but the 18-month break may have dealt a cruel blow to his career. Those were some serious wounded ducks thrown out there. I swear that on some of those passes, I could read Ambrosie's autograph.

[*]The TSN post-game panel was really giving to the Lions/Reilly for letting him play. Basically hinting at all the things some have stated on this board (Messiah Complex). Matt Dunigan mentioned "putting the coach in a tough spot" and "shouldn't have even dressed for the game." Milt Stegall called it "a disgrace."

[*]Was it a case of B.C.'s defence getting their sh*t together in the 2nd half, or the Riders letting up once they had a big lead and not being able to find that rhythm again? I'd like to think it was the former. They started to hurry Fajardo into throws he didn't want to make and tightened up against the run.

[*]In the sartorial faux-pas department, what was with Rick Campbell's oddball T-shirt? Only the "NS" in "LIONS" was shaded in orange? Great, if we were the Nova Scotia Lions. And Jake Ford's pants were shorter than an Australian surfer.


DH

[CrazyCanuck89]

Like so many talented but inexperienced QBs, Rourke showed potential but also made rookie mistakes. The best QBs get at least a year or two of seasoning before starting. Rourke hasn't even been in a preseason game. He played fine under the circumstances, impressive even, but hopefully Reilly will be able to start next week. If not, the team might need to look at bringing someone else in to help. Otherwise teams will start to feed on his tendencies.

I don't know how much confidence the coaches have in Yamasaki but that was a very poor performance.

Rourke will be fine, if he needs to be the starter going forward. All he needs is first team reps on practice if Reilly isn't good to go. The defense also needs to tighten up early in the game, so whoever is at QB is not having to make a comeback. The best way to let a rookie learn sometimes is to throw him in the fire. It has worked for many professional QBs over the years.

[Rammer]

FG is a huge part of the CFL. What a momentum killer when you miss a FG that the I had to cut out. Then to miss the extra point, just a deflator. Top that off with a short KO, and you have three plays in a row that took away an amazing comeback.

Wow did our receivers make catchers out there for Reilly. Whitehead has tons of talent, hope the OC can get plays to him.

Preseason is over, time to get points with this learning experience under our belt.

[Dusty]

A pretty gutsy performance in the second half. Rourke looked a bit more comfortable in the last part of 2nd quarter and seemed to be getting into game speed. The Lions looked a lot crisper when Reilly took over in 3rd quarter. I think Rourke will be fine. More concerned with Reilly.

I don't think that Reilly's arm strength is a problem. As Hambone suggested, it seems to be a grip issue. On the AM730 post game show, Reilly explained that he was having a problem getting a tight spiral and that is a grip issue. No matter how strong your arm is, if you cant get a spiral, then the ball will float and travel like a wounded duck. He apparently told the receivers that they will have to come back to the ball and help him out.

Field goal kicking needs work. I thought that the angle of the ball when Ford put it on the tee looks a bit off. Not sure if its the kicker, the holder or both.

Considering the disaster of Q1, the game stats showed the Lions as 'better' than Riders. Even the time of possession favoured the Lions. I suspect that the Riders D stopped playing hard after they cruised to a 4 TD lead. Also suspect that the Lions D started to get more impact as the game wore on. It looked like a pre-season game where the game pace surprised some of the big fella's.

Last Canadian QB to start for the Lions was Carravetta..... also a 4 point loss, IIRC.

[DanoT]

-Sask never completed (or even tried???) a deep pass so I guess the Lions DBs were getting the job done.
-I'm not sure about his blocking but raw rookie RB, Butler looked shifty after getting the ball.
-MLB, Williams seemed to be around the ball a lot.
-The talent of the receivers came thru and should give fits to Defenses all season.
-I'm not too concerned with the FG kicking considering it was the first live action in a tricky for wind stadium and Yamasaki is another rookie with a rookie holder.. I don't recall Passaglia's early career but I do recall Paul McCallum being mediocre to start his FG kicking career.

If Rourke starts next game, then Lions should consider keeping a FB or SB in the backfield to pick up the blitz which will surely come at him again.

[BC 1988]

[*]The TSN post-game panel was really giving to the Lions/Reilly for letting him play. Basically hinting at all the things some have stated on this board (Messiah Complex). Matt Dunigan mentioned "putting the coach in a tough spot" and "shouldn't have even dressed for the game." Milt Stegall called it "a disgrace."
[*]In the sartorial faux-pas department, what was with Rick Campbell's oddball T-shirt? Only the "NS" in "LIONS" was shaded in orange? Great, if we were the Nova Scotia Lions. And Jake Ford's pants were shorter than an Australian surfer.
DH

Yes indeed. The Messiah showed up on cue (but I preferred Jim Caviezel's performance more, most of what we saw last night was the drudgery of the Stations of the Cross--we could see and feel His pain with every throw.).

Interesting reading through the post-game thread over on RF--they are relieved to get the win--despite almost throwing it away.

The Ugly: BC massively screwing up the CFL’s entry into sports betting. The team needs to be fined and at least 1 draft pick lost. That crap can’t happen. On top of that the BC Lions should have to cover all the payouts that directly were impacted by their amateur hour games.

On the broadcast note, was that a Lions love in the longer the game went on or was it just me?
Reilly, have to agree with Milt, he shouldn't have been dressed. Throwing ducks like that, there is no way that he is gonna heal up during the season.

I think Reilly is done like dinner tbh.

Lions aren't doing themselves any favors hanging on to Reilly.
I get it wanting to have that experience on the roster, but it's time to move on.
I think it was a huge financial mistake not cutting him.

Hopefully ppl realize that's why the Lions took over in the second half. If we're a half step faster, those quails that Reilly was throwing would have been picked. They are at present a better conditioned team than we are as our injury catastrophes spooked us, and for good reason.

On BC Lions play, I think they they may have come up with a gem in their young new Canadian QB from Ohio State. He only needs experience. Reilly's days are numbered. Close game and I hope that this will put more people in seats in BC Place.

As far as Rourke goes for BC, I wouldn't get too excited about him yet although he had a few good plays. I just remember back when there were other first year QB's that made plays and had good games against the Riders but never turned out to be anything great.

Diffrence is, Rourke was cool as a cucumber. No matter what blitz the Riders D threw at him, he would shrugg it off, get back up and on to the next play. His accuracy, plus his arm strength show, that he has a future in this league. He knew a couple of his throws were off and said post game that he will try to correct them in practice. Plus the kid had wheels in college, so once he learns to use them at the pro level, watch out.

Reilly is ALWAYS injured. I honestly can’t remember the last time he was healthy.

The last three could be a foreboding comment about Rick Campbell's coaching style--having the Messiah on your team may be too much to resist for him.

That BC team is at risk of turning into a grease fire. Those who were at the stadium wouldn't have seen it, but Rick Campbell did an interview with TSN at the start of the second half. He stated that Michael Reilly's arm just wasn't right and they decided to keep him out "for the good of the team and the good of the player". Less than a minute later Reilly is leading the BC offense onto the field. I assume that was Reilly's decision and the head coach/GM knew nothing. I think Rick Campbell is in waaaaay over his head. It's going to be ugly on the left coast and that ain't good news for the CFL.

I disagree on the principle. A Rick Campbell coached team was a big part of why the Lions were able to come back. If you want to look at a coach and staff that were in over their heads, look no further than the "party all the time" DeVone Claybrooks. Now that was a massive coaching blunder. Rick Cambpell will help restore some dignity over there.

With reference to both this and Knucklehead's comment...the exact same thing happened in a game here in Ottawa in 2019--I forget the specific personnel involved, but Campbell basically stated that a certain player would not be back on the field after sustaining an injury. Moments later, said player was back on the field...widespread commentary ensued in which it was implied that the coach acceded to the player's demand that he be permitted to go back out and play. Thankfully, it did not involve a head injury...

As to the shirt Campbell was wearing, it was marginally better than "nothing rhymes with orange". He would have looked better in one of those classic Lions shirts you gave away.

[Hambone]

I'm not too concerned with the FG kicking considering it was the first live action in a tricky for wind stadium and Yamasaki is another rookie with a rookie holder.. I don't recall Passaglia's early career but I do recall Paul McCallum being mediocre to start his FG kicking career.

If Rourke starts next game, then Lions should consider keeping a FB or SB in the backfield to pick up the blitz which will surely come at him again.

Lui was 57.1% in his rookie season. Mind you in that era 70% was the mark of an outstanding season for a placekicker. Don Sweet, in his then 5th season, led the CFL in Lui's rookie season making 76.0%. That was a career best for Sweet bettering his previous high mark in 1975 when he led the CFL with 65.8%. That could well have also been a CFL all-time record success rate at the time. Sweet finished his 14 year career with a 68.7% average. Rider Bob Macoritti was 2nd in 1976 with 65.7%. Ottawa won the 1976 Grey Cup with Gerry Organ making a career worst 50% on the season. EE legend Dave Cutler was a career 58.7% kicker. Lui finished with a 72.7% career average. He cracked 80% only twice in his career; 1978 and 2000.

[OV - 54:40]

Blowing one, easily makeable 30 some yard FG in a game by a rookie kicker = no big deal; blowing 2 plus a convert, and when there was a chance to get close in the game = a different story. And the kid's first FG of 40 some yards barely snuck in against the upright. Does not look like he has even close to pro place kicking leg strength - you need to be able to hit 50+ yard FGs in the pros in today's game (and O'Shea's Bombers were afraid of trying a couple of barely 50 yd. attempts last game = not good enough). Maybe he will prove some of us wrong next game. In the meantime, another place kicker needs to be auditioned, ASAP !

[SammyGreene]

The Riders' first half success had to do with A LOT of quick releases and Fajardo going to his first read almost every time.
That almost made any pressure on him impossible and the coverage was actually good with no one wide open. Secondary needed to be jumping on more of those routes, especially Gamboa playing field side corner as the Riders attacked him a lot in the early going.
As Danny mentioned they hardly tested the Lions deep and the one time they did Jordan had a blanket over his receiver. Not hearing his name much of the night suggests his training camp hype was legitimate.
In general, I like our athleticism on defence as it is a much quicker unit than 2019. Williams was flying around. Looks destined to be an impact national.

Funny how it was when Rourke finally had something going at the end of the first half (TD & FG) when Reilly decided he could start the 3rd quarter. Guessing he was given a shot at halftime and it felt better. He sure the hell is a gamer but it was just silly to come in at that point. Ironically, when Rourke returned late 4th quarter he promptly marched them down for another TD on a terrific drive with some great throws.

The broadcast finally revealed Reilly has tendonitis in his elbow. Doing some research this isn't a quick heal and could linger. This "will he or won't he play" could last for the entire season but doing little reps in practice each week will catch up to him regardless how good Reilly is.

It will probably feel better in a few weeks, but it may take 6 to 12 months for the tendon to heal. In some cases, the pain lasts for 2 years or longer. If symptoms don't improve after 6 to 8 weeks of home treatment, your doctor may suggest a shot of corticosteroid.

If I'm Campbell, I make Rourke my starter on a short week and hope the extra week does Reilly some good for the home opener.
Rourke is the best young QB we have seen in here since Jennings in 2015. A Victoria kid excelling as a very rare national starting QB might just be the storyline this franchise desperately could use.

Good news is this receiving group looks terrific. On those "flutter" deep balls to Rhymes and Durant, they were well behind coverage and probably would have scored with better throws. Still they caught them while Burnham was Burnham and Lucky is a YAC specialist once the ball is in his hands. Something we have been lacking.

Why do I think Yamasaki is going to get the benefit of the doubt even more so as a Global player. The CFL desperately wants this Global initiative to succeed with international players having more than just supportive roles. That was a tough opening CFL gig and hopefully he will get better. It's just rather strange the Lions did have a bunch of kickers in camp battling for the job.

[Hambone]

Blowing one, easily makeable 30 some yard FG in a game by a rookie kicker = no big deal; blowing 2 plus a convert, and when there was a chance to get close in the game = a different story. And the kid's first FG of 40 some yards barely snuck in against the upright. Does not look like he has even close to pro place kicking leg strength - you need to be able to hit 50+ yard FGs in the pros in today's game (and O'Shea's Bombers were afraid of trying a couple of barely 50 yd. attempts last game = not good enough). Maybe he will prove some of us wrong next game. In the meantime, another place kicker needs to be auditioned, ASAP !

According to JC Abbott who says he watched lots of Yamasaki's work in Japan, The Spring League and the Global Combine last night was not the norm. At this early stage they have to trust their scouting and his work in training camp. The best BC could do in training camp to prepare him for the reality of kicking in live action in the most hostile CFL environment was to have the members of the O and D who weren't on the FG units jump up and down and scream when he was practicing FGs.

Rookie kicker working with rookie holder with no preseason real game situation live crowd reps is not a recipe for the immediate purrfect success you expect out of a non Canadian. I'm not saying they shouldn't have feelers out but they need to let him try to work it out for a few games before bringing someone in. To bring someone in based on one game is to tell him the club already has no confidence in him. Pretty hard for him to build confidence in himself if that is the message the team is sending.