Lions vs. Calgary

[David]

Agree WCJ. Let's keep that one on the down low.

Personally, I think Jennings is tailor made to be a CFL lifer like Bo Levi Mitchell. To my way of thinking, he's a little slight to play down in the NFL. Not particularly tall either. Highly skilled though.

Hopefully we can offer him a Reilly-like contract and lock him up long term.


DH

[B.C.FAN]

I neglected to mention the Lions lost the turnover battle 4-1. The Stamps scored 7 points off turnovers.

[B.C.FAN]

TSN took some well-deserved criticism for showing a Grey Cup replay on one channel and tennis highlights on four channels tonight rather than broadcasting the game live, but they did post highlights. Shaq Johnson's one-handed behind-the-back catch is worthy of the highlight of the night.

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/cfl-lions-1 ... 23~1140386


EDITED: Corrected name of receiver who made the one-handed catch.

[TheLionKing]

Not to pile on, but Price really hasn't done much since he got here. Small sample size but you expect improvement, at the very least more poise.


DH

I would have expected more of a quarterback that's been in the league for a few years now.

[B.C.FAN]

To be fair to Price, he had the best completion percentage of any B.C. QB, at 9 for 12 (75%) and he has been clearly better than Ross at camp but the radio commentators said he appeared to be afraid to make a mistake after his early turnovers (I don't know who is to blame for the strip sack in the end zone), whereas Ross had nothing to lose with the Lions trailing in the fourth quarter and took his shots downfield, one of which was intercepted at the goal line, killing a potential scoring B.C. drive. You have a small window in preseason to make your mark. Ross did more in his opportunity but the situation might have been different if Price had the ball in the fourth quarter.

[David]

To be fair to Price, he had the best completion percentage of any B.C. QB, at 9 for 12 (75%) and he has been clearly better than Ross at camp but the radio commentators said he appeared to be afraid to make a mistake after his early turnovers (I don't know who is to blame for the strip sack in the end zone), whereas Ross had nothing to lose with the Lions trailing in the fourth quarter and took his shots downfield, one of which was intercepted at the goal line, killing a potential scoring B.C. drive. You have a small window in preseason to make your mark. Ross did more in his opportunity but the situation might have been different if Price had the ball in the fourth quarter.

I'd also want to learn who the 12 men on defense were for the Stamps that Price and Ross faced. It would stand to reason that Calgary's 1st half defense included more projected starters (or guys further up the depth chart) than Ross faced in the 4th quarter.

Still, I am kind of pulling for Ross in this battle. I liked his post-game answers on TSN radio. Real level-headed kid.


DH

[B.C.FAN]

I mentioned in the training camp thread that Price has looked better than Ross, who has struggled and been indecisive in Kamloops. It seemed like Price as the one who was indecisive and held the ball too long tonight but he faced some tough field position in the first half, starting two drives inside his own 10 yard line and another at the 17. That one turned into a 10-play drive culminating in Ty Long's field goal in the last play of the half.

[Blitz]

I was never a fan of us signing Price last season and would prefer us to go with Ross. Price had a good college career at Washington and got some opportunities to show his stuff in Regina. I really can't say what it is about Price but he just does not inspire confidence or give me a sense that he has a lot of potential.

Price completed 75% of his passes in this game (9/12) but he only threw for 40 yards. Ross was 9/16 but he passes for 144 yards and one touchdown.

A few players stood out in this game that have not been a focus so far. Josh Harris has not stood out in training camp but he had a good game, rushing for 87 yds, including a 38 yard scamper. His 8.7 yds. average per rush likely solidifies his role as our backup tailback to start the season.

Maurice Morgan and R. J. Harris led our Leos in most receiving yards in this game while Shaq Johnson and Montario Hunter led our offence in receptions with four catches each, Hillis, Vandervoot, Long, Jones, McNeil, Williams, and O'Holloran were part of the mix in passing game action.

On defence, Evans led the way with two sacks while Shirley and Hudson each had a sack.

Ty Long punted 9 times for a 46.9 yard average.

[CardiacKid]

TSN took some well-deserved criticism for showing a Grey Cup replay on one channel and tennis highlights on four channels tonight rather than broadcasting the game live, but they did post highlights. Deon Long's one-handed behind-the-back catch is worthy of the highlight of the night.

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/cfl-lions-1 ... 23~1140386

I received an alert on my phone from my TSN Go app just prior to kick-off that I could watch the game on TSN or the app itself. I was surprised to see that as I checked their website earlier in the day to confirm they weren't planning on broadcasting it. I thought that was weird and needless to say I was disappointed it wasn't on; that was compounded by the fact the game they repeated was an early season 2016 game between the Stamps and RedBlacks and not the Grey Cup as advertised on the Shaw guide.
It would appear even the broadcasters have pre-season form.

[Sir Purrcival]

I can certainly understand why a network might not televise a pre-season game if there were something more substantive on for viewing but I am always perplexed when a live event, even a pre-season game is preempted for something like a rebroadcast of some event from last year or even earlier. Usually something of no particular significance (Tennis Highlights?). I know ratings may not be great for a pre-season game but if a network thinks that seeing something that has already happened is preferable, they are nuts. I too looked yesterday to see if the game might be televised. It does appear that they are broadcasting several games so I guess I can cut them some slack for missing this one but at the end of the day, a live event seems a step up from some of yesterday's/yesteryear's news.

[CardiacKid]

One player I was really wondering about was Foucault. Now being an offensive lineman I certainly wasn't expecting his name to come up very often, if at all (unless he was struggling). I was drifting in and out of the game and don't recall his performance (good or bad) getting highlighted by the announcers. Did anyone get an impression of how he did?

I am guessing Charleston Hughes wasn't playing (along with other Stamp's starters on D) so probably not a true test. But if Foucault played and didn't draw attention to himself, that can be considered a small victory.

[SammyGreene]

Price's struggles are well documented here but need to throw some at Lulay too. Was thinking at the time a veteran QB will be licking his chops facing a bunch of back ups and prospects but instead it was more stalled drives.
We are getting further and further away from when Travis' was a highly productive QB in this league. Would be nice to see some of that 2011-2013 form again. We may never will.

[squishy35]

Price's struggles are well documented here but need to throw some at Lulay too. Was thinking at the time a veteran QB will be licking his chops facing a bunch of back ups and prospects but instead it was more stalled drives.
We are getting further and further away from when Travis' was a highly productive QB in this league. Would be nice to seem some of that 2011-2013 form again. We may never will.

Ross looked impressive and Wally was quite complimentary of him post game. He may be the up and coming QB. It will be interesting to see how he progresses at camp now that he has seen some game action.

[prj]

Listening to the broadcast, I found myself remembering how good play by play radio could be. (Jim Robson's skills stand out here.)
The present play by play announcer failed on almost every level of competent broadcastin.: It was really hard to figure out the most elementary aspects of using audio alone to convey the action : where is the line of scrimmage , how much time remains, or even what kind of play was underway. While the commentary was fine, the play by play was dreadful and amateurish. It made the absence of the TV broadcast all the more painful.

[B.C.FAN]

LU, who was on the sidelines in Calgary reporting for TSN 1040, offers his breakdown of the positional battles.

Lions fail to clear bar in pre-season opener