Stampeders vs. Lions Game Thread

[CardiacKid]

Defensive line underwhelming all night.

Haven't heard the names of too many defensive lineman called all night. Maxx Forde seems to doing his best though to get a spot on the active roster....will have to see the tackle totals

[SammyGreene]

Shocker Minter finally getting reps at tackle and blows up running play for a loss

[SammyGreene]

Another big Stamps return. Did McMann come out of retirement?

[TheLionKing]

Is Chuck McMann back coaching the coverage team ?

[CardiacKid]

Still looking like the Leos are still in the market for a defensive end who makes an impact. Hope Bryant Turner is not ditched before he gets an opportunity....don't think Roh is worth keeping over him.

[Alputt]

First game I have attended as a season ticket holder! I thought the Lions looked pretty good until the end... Close game we'll get them next week when it matters.

[Sir Purrcival]

Price looked absolutely lost again. Can't understand why he is getting more playing time over McGhee. Price had a decent shot last week and looked horrible. Did nothing substantive again tonight and McGhee only got a bit of real garbage time. Can't see any pressing reason to keep Price on anything but PR but even that seems like it could be a waste. Won't shed a tear if he is gone when cuts happen.

Running game is still going to be an issue I think. Quite the contrast between ours and Calgary. Too many times, Calgary runners not touched until second tier of defenders where ours were lucky to get 2 steps before they were surrounded. In many cases, the runner made something from nothing and got 3-4 yards.

DLine did not get a lot of pressure tonight. Looked like the same old, same old for us. Basic truth was that Stamps backups seemed to far outclass ours in the 2nd half.

Officiating seemed really bad tonight. Some calls were just perplexing. Didn't see Arceneaux do anything worth a Off PI call but the big screen didn't catch all of the play. Was it a good call? Having that come back really turned the tide of the game I think.

Lulay did better tonight on the run but that "fumble?" seemed a bit queer too. Looked like he was trying to shovel it forward but admittedly it could probably be called either way.

Coverage in the secondary didn't seem that tight either. In the 2nd, on many occasions, it seemed like Stamps receivers had way too much space. Didn't even make catching the ball that challenging. They ate us up with short passes in the 2nd half.

Rainey hasn't looked the slightest bit dangerous on the return so far this season. What is wrong with him? Very bland on the teams tonight. Think that Leone may not be getting enough hang time on kicks. When the returner is catching the ball and the nearest downfield cover is still 10 plus yards away, the opportunities for a good run back are much brighter.

Lots of empty seats tonight but it was a great evening under the open roof.

What I am fearing here is that the Lions may have a competent team of first stringers but if we have a rash of injuries we are in big trouble. The Stamps seemed largely untroubled by the presence of the BC Lions 2nd stringers even though, they were playing their own as well.

[Alputt]

Price looked absolutely lost again. Can't understand why he is getting more playing time over McGhee. Price had a decent shot last week and looked horrible. Did nothing substantive again tonight and McGhee only got a bit of real garbage time.

I agree, Price was a let down. Lulay had that weird sack/fumble failed lateral the officials didn't know what to do with but runned and gunned for a nice one shortly thereafter. Jennings is obviously the man to start. Price is not ready for prime time.

[B.C.FAN]

Purifoy probably earned a job tonight as nickelback. T.J. Lee and Ronnie Yell had strong games in the secondary. I wasn't impressed with Edem. The Stamps ran a lot of deep seam routes and he was slow to react. He also tipped a safety blitz that gave Calgary an easy touchdown.

As mentioned by others, the defensive line did nothing. Purifoy was the only player who got pressure on the QB. Maxx Forde has looked as good as anyone at DT. The Lions could play three Canadians in their six-man rotation. It's not like they have an international rush end who deserves reps.

On offence, I love the way the Lions incorporated Bryan Burnham in the starting receiving corps and moved everyone around. Nick Moore had a great game. With Arceneaux, Gore and Iannuzzi in the starting lineup and Adekolu on the bench, the Lions have their best receiving corps since 2011. Terence Jeffers-Harris got three touches late in the game and dropped two of them, including one in the end zone. Devonn Brown showed his speed when he got an opportunity. Kendrick Ings didn't get a touch.

Jennings threw the ball well and Jeremiah Johnson earned some tough yards. I thought the starting O-line was solid, with the possible exception of Adcock, who had some lookout blocks that led to sacks and to Lulay's bizarre fumble.

Special teams weren't special. The Stamps outgained the Lions by a wide margin on returns. The blocking just wasn't there. Jason Arakgi and Eric Fraser played well but punt coverage was poor overall.

[TheLionKing]

I was impressed with Purifoy. Looks like the young man has earned himself a roster spot. I agree Rainey has not looked dangerous as a kick returner and maybe he'll turn it on when the real season starts. I would like to see Coleman be given more opportunity returning kicks. He looks dangerous with his speed.

[David]

Just came home from the game. Probably only about 13,000 - 14,000 in the seats. Disappointing to be sure, but not totally surprising given that they're playing this very same Stamps team next week. I think many season ticket holders gave it a miss for that reason. Fewer fans on the visitor's side of the field than the home side.

Here's who stood out:

* Nick Moore
* Loucheiz Purifoy
* Brian Burnham
* Jonathon Jennings
* TJ Lee
* Manny Arceneaux
* Jeremiah Johnson
* Devonn Brown
* Richie Leone (more for his kicking than punting, which tended to be more of the line drive variety than we're used to)

Here's who struggled:

* Terrence Jeffers-Harris (made 1 nice catch but had 2 drops including a gift in the end zone that the guy who played "If I Wasn't A Lion" on the jumbotron could have caught)
* Keith Price (interception to the wide side of the field that took too long to get there. Just doesn't look like he's in control of the offense)
* Chris Rainey (granted, a lot of guys missed their blocks for him tonight, but he neither looked hungry nor dangerous. Put one ball on the ground but fortunately, was called for no yards. Hopefully he's saving himself for games that count in the standings)

4 sacks to 1. That pretty much told the story. We were not able to get good pressure against a strong Calgary O-line (that seemingly didn't miss a beat when their back-ups were in). The fact that Calgary QBs could have read the first chapter of "War And Peace" in the pocket was a tad troubling. Worse, Messam over-powered this group and had an easy peasy 8.4 yard rushing average.

Our O-line was okay, some of those sacks were coverage sacks and shouldn't have happened (the ball should have been thrown into the stands, not eaten).

As good as Special Teams were last week, they were as poor this week. Lousy downfield coverage, poor blocking, and mediocre tacking gave the Stamps better field position than they needed to have.

I'll stop short of saying we're crippled by Hawkins' departure, but we're definitely affected. No "X" (short side) WR that I've seen can take over his route running, precision, and his production. I can see Burnham perhaps getting some time there if Jeffers-Harris struggles, although I think they're going to keep speedster Devonn Brown on the roster (possibly Ings, but I think it will be Brown).


DH

[chwk_lionsfan]

I kept watching that Lulay fumble, you could see he was about to throw but couldn't get his arm far enough forward to be considered a forward pass.

TJ Lee looked very good last night, same with Ronnie Yell. Jennings looked very composed, and Lulay looks like he's got his throwing arm back.

I thought the o line was pretty decent, more solid than last year. Special teams took a huge step back last night, the only bright spot there was that Leone does look much more confident in his place kicking. There was one opportunity, i cant remember what quarter that Rainey could have had a seam right down the hashmarks but tripped over his own feet.

Expecting a much better effort on Saturday. I do see some very bright spots on this team, but the departure of Hawkins does leave a gaping hole.

[David]

I would say the teams were dead even in the first half (when both were playing starters). Where Calgary pulled away in the 2nd half (particularly in the 4th quarter) was with their back-ups. They have some very good running backs (Seastrunk), and a promising 3rd string QB in Kinne.

The score could have been different. On Messam's first TD, a running play, Dyshawn Davis had a chance to tackle him for no gain but missed (his leg) and Messam went in for the score. Then, on the Stamps' next TD - a flare pass to Messam on the 10 yard line, Bighill was pancaked from behind by a Calgary O-lineman while contesting the ball with Messam, which should have been called pass interference.

The long bomb to Arceneaux that was called pass interference looked highly suspect and is precisely the kind of ticky-tack call that Glen Johnson should be directing his crews to eliminate. And I would say the exact same thing if it was a Bo Levi Mitchell deep pass to Joe West. Arceneaux beat his man fair and square; if he even touched him at all, it was a brush when going for the ball.....yet a play that gets fans out of their seats gets unnecessarily called back.


DH

[CardiacKid]

Wasn't in the stands last night but listened on 1040...definitely concerned by the defensive line and the ability of individuals to beat the guy in front of them. Or should I say the inability? The defence called was vanilla which is to be expected and IMO not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself but if you don't have the players who can win the individual battles then you have 2 options. Change your players or change your game plan.
I think if Washington and Wally are inclined to keep things simple they need to change that ASAP. Mix in stunts, bring the house, blitz the safety, etc. Of course we have debated for some time about the safety-first approach not working for this defensive unit, last night confirmed those findings.

[pennw]

Like some others , I don't get why Price is ahead of Mcghee . IMO Price looks like a big down grade . I can see why the Riders cut him . Is it that Mcghee was a Tedford guy ? Like ditching Draheim ? Draheim , BTW, appears as the starting LT for Ottawa on their depth chart for their last game , the starting RT the game before .
Another puzzler is the demotion of Zach Minter . Last year it was the tandem of Minter and Brooks that got it done . Why 'fix' what's not broke ?