Lions vs. Argos June 25, 2022

[DanoT]

That is a pretty good Argo team that the Lions just made look like a clone of the Elks.

Next game in Ottawa on Thursday, so very little rest for a team that now has quite a few injured and banged up players. It should be a real test.

[TheLionKing]

Biggest improvement from last year's team have the play of the offensive and defensive lines, kicking game, and few penalties.

[David]

This is an exciting time to be a Lions fan. It's been years since I was this genuinely hopeful about our future. Rourke looks to be the real deal.

I agree. Both on AND off the field. Last week proved that Lions fans are out there. Kind of like "proof of concept." Just need a reason to get excited and McEvoy and Campbell have put together an exciting team on the field combined with Nate's story at QB, and our owner's commitment to marketing...I believe the fans will come back to the park.

Exciting times indeed!

DH

[Gridiron Ernie]

I see Nathan Rourke's passing efficiency rating for tonight's game was 144.31. The so-called "purrfect" and best possible passing efficiency rating in football is apparently 158.3. Quite something! Pretty uncommon to see numbers that much higher than 100. And I imagine the rating for last week's game was similar. I may have to start intentionally misspelling Rourke's name, i.e. ROARke, as the young Lion has sure been roaring! On a sobering note: here's hoping the injuries we sustained (Lokombo, Butler, Burnham, and perhaps others I'm unaware of) are not serious or long-lasting. Our roster depth may be tested come Thursday.

[MacNews]

Lions looked great the last two games but they were playing weak opponents. Test will be how well they do against Calgary and Winnipeg.

[Belize City Lion]

Lions looked great the last two games but they were playing weak opponents. Test will be how well they do against Calgary and Winnipeg.

Winnipeg for sure. Calgary may be 3-0, but they haven't looked very good so far. Unfortunately by the time we finally play Calgary in mid August I expect Maier will be the starter and the Stamps will be a much better team. Would be nice to get a shot at them now while BLM is struggling.

[Hambone]

WOW !!!

Rourke; receivers; O-Line; defence = all outstanding; and having an accurate FG kicker like Whyte is huge.

Extra wow to David Mackie - guy looks like another Sean Millington ! (and what a dumb roster management move to dress only one tailback IMO; but if Mackie is not rewarded with more carries moving forward in other games = even dumber)

So what your saying is the only thing dumber than dressing one tailback for the whole game is having belief that they can rely on a Canadian fullback to carry the mail if called upon for part of a game????

[OV:54-40]

WOW !!!

Rourke; receivers; O-Line; defence = all outstanding; and having an accurate FG kicker like Whyte is huge.

Extra wow to David Mackie - guy looks like another Sean Millington ! (and what a dumb roster management move to dress only one tailback IMO; but if Mackie is not rewarded with more carries moving forward in other games = even dumber)

So what your saying is the only thing dumber than dressing one tailback for the whole game is having belief that they can rely on a Canadian fullback to carry the mail if called upon for part of a game????

I pretty well guarantee that if another tailback was dressed, that Mackie would have continued to have zero carries in his CFL career - wouldn't have found out he can run like a truck; but what if it was a close game and then Mackie gets hurt as well ? And if they believed the guy was so "capable" why did he have zero career CFL carries going into the game ?

You can make excuses or rationalizations for CFL genius decision makers all you like - whatever they do must be inscrutable ? I'll stick with my belief that smart roster management never allows key positions to be left with next to nobody capable; due to in-game injury i.e. never have just one back-up O-Linemen or zero tailbacks, and never deploy just one dual kicker with nobody else with any kicking skills on the game roster. Simple roster basics to me; but i guess a 6th LB or 8th DB to play a bit of STs can be a game winning decision as well.

[Sir Purrcival]

What can you really say about this game? It looked awesome in terms of the play distribution. We definitely have some talent and our D and Oline appear much improved. However one does need to acknowledge certain realities about our opposition so far. Elkimos are a dumpster fire right now and the Argos came one FG flub from being winless as well. The Lions are still in need of a real test IMO. That being said, if Argos and Elks are really as weak as I think they are, then a good team will make them look bad which is exactly what Lions did. Go Lions!

[Hambone]

WOW !!!

Rourke; receivers; O-Line; defence = all outstanding; and having an accurate FG kicker like Whyte is huge.

Extra wow to David Mackie - guy looks like another Sean Millington ! (and what a dumb roster management move to dress only one tailback IMO; but if Mackie is not rewarded with more carries moving forward in other games = even dumber)

So what your saying is the only thing dumber than dressing one tailback for the whole game is having belief that they can rely on a Canadian fullback to carry the mail if called upon for part of a game????

I pretty well guarantee that if another tailback was dressed, that Mackie would have continued to have zero carries in his CFL career - wouldn't have found out he can run like a truck; but what if it was a close game and then Mackie gets hurt as well ? And if they believed the guy was so "capable" why did he have zero career CFL carries going into the game ?

Like others before him such as Rollie Lumbala he had zero career carries because for roughly the past 15 years BC always followed your recommendaton and dressed a second tailback who was their change of pace TB, backup TB and primary kick returner. Remember Chris Rainey, Brandon Rutley, Tim Brown, Ian Smart and Stefan Logan?

[Belize City Lion]

With less than 3 minutes left and a 31 point lead, the Lions went on a mission to get Mackie his first TD. Normally in this situation (especially 3rd and goal with 1:30 left) it would be poor sportsmanship to run up the score. But Mackie had earned that opportunity and the O-line was going to do everything they could to get him into the end zone. Great call by the Lions coaching staff to reward Mackie rather than do the "proper" thing by kicking a field goal.

[SammyGreene]

Ton of praise being thrown at this team for plenty of good reasons. I'm going to throw some love at Jordan Maksymic as this site is notorious for calling out our offensive coordinator.
He has definitely revamped the playbook from the Michael Reilly days to feature Rourke's strengths. It's been a long time since I have seen all 5 receivers so involved and or course that's Rourke's reads as well. Also like the fact Maksymic is doing his play-calling upstairs even working with a young QB. I think you have to go back Steve Burratto to find the days our OC wasn't down at field level.

Thrown in Ryan Phillips work so far and it's great to see the promise of a couple of young coordinators. That's on Campbell for giving them the opportunities.

[Hambone]

With less than 3 minutes left and a 31 point lead, the Lions went on a mission to get Mackie his first TD. Normally in this situation (especially 3rd and goal with 1:30 left) it would be poor sportsmanship to run up the score. But Mackie had earned that opportunity and the O-line was going to do everything they could to get him into the end zone. Great call by the Lions coaching staff to reward Mackie rather than do the "proper" thing by kicking a field goal.

I look at it the opposite way. I think taking what would have been an 8 yard FG (old fashioned convert) would be running up the score more than any other option because it would be taking 3 points the Argos had virtually zero chance of preventing. Next would be trying to pass for the TD. After that it would be a toss up between QB sneak and the handoff. Given O'Connor took the snap in the shotgun they really announced to the Argos and everybody watching that Mackie was getting the ball and it was on Toronto to defend it. IMO the only option less "running up the score" was to take a knee and hand the ball over on downs.

[Hambone]

WOW !!!

Rourke; receivers; O-Line; defence = all outstanding; and having an accurate FG kicker like Whyte is huge.

Extra wow to David Mackie - guy looks like another Sean Millington ! (and what a dumb roster management move to dress only one tailback IMO; but if Mackie is not rewarded with more carries moving forward in other games = even dumber)

So what your saying is the only thing dumber than dressing one tailback for the whole game is having belief that they can rely on a Canadian fullback to carry the mail if called upon for part of a game????

You can make excuses or rationalizations for CFL genius decision makers all you like - whatever they do must be inscrutable ? I'll stick with my belief that smart roster management never allows key positions to be left with next to nobody capable; due to in-game injury i.e. never have just one back-up O-Linemen or zero tailbacks, and never deploy just one dual kicker with nobody else with any kicking skills on the game roster. Simple roster basics to me; but i guess a 6th LB or 8th DB to play a bit of STs can be a game winning decision as well.

Passaglia and McCallum combined for over 600 GP as the lone kicker on the roster. I can't remember more than maybe twice that either got injured mid game. I remember Paris Jackson have to try a couple punts once and doing quite well. But you would pay somebody for the other
598 games to play Maytag repairman. It seems to me that in the extremely rare circumstance a kicker actually gets hurt it's when they try to be a hero getting in the way of a returner.

Despite their expansion over the years CFL rosters are still finite. Extra backup spots quickly vanish. Once you take care of what are the norms of 23 starters, 3 QBs (which you are hugely in favour of), 3 for kicking chores (P, K and LS) and a global spot there are 15 spots left with only backup QB being taken care of out of the 24 main unit positions. For all teams the D are now 16 man units to allow for rotations and different down and yardage situation packages.

That leaves 11 spots to back up all offensive positions except QB as well as provide backup support to maintain the defensive rotations.

How many backups should there be for the secondary? LB? DL? RB? TB? For the 5 receivers? And of course OL? LS is now a specialty position in football. If it's essential that a team with 1 kicker should dress a backup for him should they not also dress a backup LS just in case? He's more likely to get hurt than the kicker. It always amazes me how quickly the likes of Doll and before him Benson get downfield in kick coverage after snapping the ball. For the record from what I recall from Kamloops Mackie is the backup LS.

A very big reason why coaches like to use as many depth players (who are mostly from the defensive side) as possible on ST coverage units is because they don't like the idea of using most of the startng unit to go on what amounts to a 50 yard wind spring followed by pursuit of the ball then 30 seconds later start a defensive stand. So while might not make a difference on the ST coverage it might turn into a game losing decision 2 plays later.

[DanoT]

I second the notion of giving credit to OC Maksymic and also DC Phillips.

I am convinced that Purifoy's decision to sign with the Lions in free agency was swayed by the knowledge that he would have former teammate Ryan Phillips as his DC. Also I am guessing that Delvin Breaux's free agency signing was influenced by DC Phillips. While they were never team mates, we are talking about Breaux, arguably the best cover guy corner of his era, likely having mutual respect between Phillips/Breaux, as Phillips as a player was also one of the best cover guys in the CFL.

And if we are giving coaches some extra credit for the team's play, O line coach Kelly Bates has always been a favourite of mine. As a player he was both outspoken and well spoken and as a coach being a great communicator is an invaluable trait. It may have taken last season and a proper Training Camp/Preseason this season, but the O line now seems to have gelled and are looking very good.

On the D line, rookie D line coach John Bowman seems to have the guys playing like they are coached by a veteran coach. Of course Bowman is a future 1st round HoFer with years of experience and technique to pass along, and it shows.