Lions 44 - Riders 10, Post Game Stats and Comments

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WestCoastJoe
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My impressions.

Roy Shivers has vastly improved our import talent at receiver, D Line and linebacker. For years we struggled to find top guys there.

Moore, Taylor, Godding, Earls, Jackson. All talented.

Mitchell and the young guys on the D line.

Bighill and the new guys at LB.

Reilly very, very impressive.

Nick Moore very impressive.

Benny looking like he has the team in great shape for the year.

Even DeMarco looking good.

Stubler's D awesome. Pressure and unpredictability.

Chap's O awesome.

Kabongo a great pickup. Matt Norman a keeper, hopefully.

I think we have to keep both Tim Brown and Anthony Stewart.
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Toppy Vann
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The Corey Chamblin camp approach (easy vs running a hospital) versus the Mike Benevides (toughest camp ever) didn't cut it tonight.

Again, it is just pre-season and 44 to 10 is meaningless when the real games start.

Greg Marshall and his former coaching staff who were gutted out of there with the new Sask regime are likely laughing at this effort by the Riders.

Eric Tillman in Edmtn smiling at the brilliance of bringing in Brendan Taman during his banning period from the office/stadium. I still think that he let Taman in there knowing that eventually he'd have to move on to a new team due to PR reasons alone and by leaving a potential successor in place with a record of dooming his team that would be a good thing so that when ET landed somewhere else (as he surely knew he would based on his body of work) he'd not have to worry as much about the old empire he helped build quickly and successfully.

31 first downs to 13 for Riders...... yikes.
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Toppy Vann wrote:Again, it is just pre-season and 44 to 10 is meaningless when the real games start.
Seconded.

I liked Reilly, would like to see him get the second half next Thursday.

Homerism aside, Geroy deserves consideration as one of the top receivers in all of pro football. His career receiving yardage total puts him 634 back of Terrell Owens at #2 all-time (that #1 spot, untouchable).
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notahomer
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Toppy Vann wrote: ...
Again, it is just pre-season and 44 to 10 is meaningless when the real games start.
...
X3--- I remember a pretty fine pre-season last year too. Once the games started for real, not so good. Then again, the year finished well.

Fun game to watch. The announcer informed the crowd the Cambie Street Bridge was shut down due to a protest. The rumour in our section was the protest was a bunch of Rider fans worried about this years edition of the team :cool:

Obviously it wasn't a protest about that... Looking forward to the next Lions preseason game and then its on. That busride back to Kamploops will go just fine, I'm guessing..... Late in the game the Lions defence had actually outscored the Riders offence but a late surge ended all that.....
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D
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we need an Orange "Easy button" :wink: I know it's the pre season but that was mighty convincing :roar:
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B.C.FAN
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I thought the first team offence was rusty with some uncharacteristic miscommunication between Lulay and his receivers in the red zone. I was also disappointed that the Lions were unable to run the ball in the first quarter when both teams were playing their top units (although the Riders left a nunber of starters at home).

The big plus for me was the poise shown by Mike Reilly and the chemistry he had with the second-team receivers. You could tell when he was going to throw to Nick Moore but the Riders couldn't stop him in man coverage. Moore was the best of the backup receivers, as he was in Kamloops. Ernest Jackson also showed why he turned heads in Kamloops with some nice catches in traffic and key YAC.

Defensively, James Yurichuk and Adam Bighill solidified their spots in the middle of the linebacking corps, and Anton McKenzie and Jason Arakgi were solid on the weak side. I was disappointed in Lin-J Shell as backup to Anthony Reddick at nickel, effectively the dime back. He wasn't strong in coverage and missed a number of tackles. Any rookie DB who hopes to make the roster has to go through Shell. I don't think anyone did tonight but there still might be an opening. Jabar Westerman showed that he will be a key part of the rotation in the D-line with a great stop on a second-down inside run that forced the Riders to punt. I was disappointed with Jememy Geathers, Rajon Henley and Brandon Jordan. They seemed to be freelancing, frequently lost contain and generally did nothing to claim a roster spot, although I reserve the right to reassaess their play after I watch the PVR.

On special teams, Sean Ortiz stepped up as long snapper and put his critics at ease. Anthony Stewart did nothing as a running back/returner to knock Tim Brown out of a job, despite breaking a punt return to the outside after letting it bounce.

Otherwise, there were no surprises. The team was poised and disciplined. Hopefully, the players can sharpen up in a few areas against better competition next week.
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SammyGreene
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Khalif Mitchell proving he can do it all. Sent this tweet DURING the 2nd quarter :shock:
Khalif Mitchell @TruthWillFree96
3h
Vets Looking GREAT. Now the Rookies gonna close the Gate @bcplace. Also noticed the Thousands of Fans in the Building @BCLions. Awesome!!!
TheLionKing
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Aside from Reilly, the guy that caught my eye is Anthony Stewart. Like the way he runs north and south instead of east and west. Some difficult decisions for the coaching staff
TheLionKing
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SammyGreene wrote:Khalif Mitchell proving he can do it all. Sent this tweet DURING the 2nd quarter :shock:
Khalif Mitchell @TruthWillFree96
3h
Vets Looking GREAT. Now the Rookies gonna close the Gate @bcplace. Also noticed the Thousands of Fans in the Building @BCLions. Awesome!!!
Hope this doesn't become a trend, players tweeting during games
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David
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TheLionKing wrote:Hope this doesn't become a trend, players tweeting during games
MB may beg to differ, but I don't have a problem with it, especially tonight - it's preseason. Once the vets came out, they were basically just standing around on the sideline. Arland Bruce III didn't even have his shoulder pads on.

I actually think it's cool that Khalif is so engaged with the fans. :thup:


DH :cool:
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WestCoastJoe
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David wrote:
TheLionKing wrote:Hope this doesn't become a trend, players tweeting during games
MB may beg to differ, but I don't have a problem with it, especially tonight - it's preseason. Once the vets came out, they were basically just standing around on the sideline. Arland Bruce III didn't even have his shoulder pads on.

I actually think it's cool that Khalif is so engaged with the fans. :thup:


DH :cool:
Well I don't know. God bless Khalif, but tweeting during a game?

Coaches don't like that kind of stuff.

I heard a story about John McKeachie playing basketball in college, U Vic. Subbed out. Ticked off. Orders a pizza to the gym. Eats it on the Bench. LOL. A statement to the coach.

How about people on the bench not watching? Dunno ...

How about if all the starters are tweeting when subbed out in preseason? Don't think you can go there.

So I think you have to say no to tweeting. Didn't a pro league make it a policy not to? Yes the NBA and the NFL ...

http://jkadandelounge.wordpress.com/201 ... eputation/
NFL and NBA have created strict rules that prohibit its players from jumping on their phone and tweeting during halftime or any part of their games.
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WestCoastJoe
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Re the running game ...

I expect about the same as last year in our wins. Maybe 70 yards per game. Andrew Harris is a serious weapon, but mostly as a receiver. Must be defended well as a runner too.

But it seems to me the days of Joe Smith are over in the CFL. No more 200 yard running games. Just enough to keep the D honest.
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cromartie
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WestCoastJoe wrote:
But it seems to me the days of Joe Smith are over in the CFL. No more 200 yard running games. Just enough to keep the D honest.
That's a function of the commitment to the run of your offensive coaching staff and the days of strong, run oriented O Lines. Barisi and Dorazio committed to that, JChap does not. A Grey Cup later and I'm over it. But the days of 13 play all run drives that end in TDs (like we did in 2007 against MTL) are over.

As someone who is a fan of both Moore and Reilly, I enjoyed tonight immensely. Here's what really impressed me about Reilly. On your PVR, look at his first TD pass to Moore and watch Reilly's head. It looks like he's bird-dogging Moore, when in reality he's looking off Gore's defender on the pass (Ironically, Moore was open on that play and could also have had the TD). Good stuff.
Rodu
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Did anyone stand out at rush end? I saw Henley make a big gaff on a big Sask running play in the 2nd I think it was
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B.C.FAN
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Rodu wrote:Did anyone stand out at rush end? I saw Henley make a big gaff on a big Sask running play in the 2nd I think it was
No one stepped up on the defensive line other than Jabar Westerman. He and Khalif Mitchell were the only D-linemen who registered a tackle. I was disappointed in Maurice Evans, who was swallowed up in the middle against Rider backups in the second half. Linebacking hopeful Rodney Paulk got a lot of reps at defensive end, along with Rajon Henley and Jeremy Geathers. From the sideline cameras on the PVR they seemed to be getting good penetration, but from the end zone it was clear they were not getting near the quarterback and were often exposed on cutbacks.

The coaches said before camp that they were intent on using a six-man rotation on the D-line, essentially taking one of three precious designated import spots from a linebacker, defensive back or returner who could be a bigger contributor on special teams. I'm not sure that any of the D-line candidates are deserving of that opportunity.
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