WSF: Lions vs. Stamps

[B.C.FAN]

With Saskatchewan’s loss to Toronto, the Calgary Stampeders are confirmed as the Lions’
West Semi Final opponent on Nov. 4. The Lions have a full two weeks to prepare. The Stamps must still complete the regular season next week in a meaningless game against Winnipeg.

[DanoT]

Lions need to spend the time off developing/practicing some new plays that have nor been used or seen by other teams this season.

[B.C.FAN]

It will be interesting to see how the Stamps and Bombers play each other next week, with nothing on the line and knowing that they could meet again two weeks later. Will they both mail it in like the Lions did this week?

The Lions have now seen the Stamps at their best. You can be pretty sure the Lions won’t want to turn the ball over 6 times, take over 100 yards in penalties and concede over 200 rushing yards in the WSF. Painful lessons are great learning opportunities.

[B.C.FAN]

Ryan Phillips was asked Monday about the defensive letdown in the final regular season game against Calgary and about the B.C. defence leading the league in penalties this year and ranking in the bottom 3 in the league in key categories in the second half of the season. He said intensity and discipline will be keys in the WSF, and the Lions won't let the Calgary offence dictate how the game will be played.

https://x.com/BCLions/status/1719084825599160798?s=20

[SammyGreene]

Ryan Phillips was asked Monday about the defensive letdown in the final regular season game against Calgary and about the B.C. defence leading the league in penalties this year and ranking in the bottom 3 in the league in key categories in the second half of the season. He said intensity and discipline will be keys in the WSF, and the Lions won't let the Calgary offence dictate how the game will be played.

https://x.com/BCLions/status/1719084825599160798?s=20

Some great questions from Farhan. At least Phillips didn't respond with "Well, we're not giving up big plays anymore."

Also interesting to hear McInnis getting 1st team reps ahead of Whitehead on day one of the work week. Campbell mentioned it's hard to ignore McInnis' production and it would give them some ratio flexibility. Would that mean making Whitehead a healthy scratch?

Farhan also mentioned a now healthy Greene back at safety and Jones on the corner. Saw Edwards-Cooper's arm in a sling during the Lions' visit to the PNE Fright Nights last week.

[Toppy Vann]

Ryan Phillips was asked Monday about the defensive letdown in the final regular season game against Calgary and about the B.C. defence leading the league in penalties this year and ranking in the bottom 3 in the league in key categories in the second half of the season. He said intensity and discipline will be keys in the WSF, and the Lions won't let the Calgary offence dictate how the game will be played.

https://x.com/BCLions/status/1719084825599160798?s=20

Some great questions from Farhan. At least Phillips didn't respond with "Well, we're not giving up big plays anymore."

Also interesting to hear McInnis getting 1st team reps ahead of Whitehead on day one of the work week. Campbell mentioned it's hard to ignore McInnis' production and it would give them some ratio flexibility. Would that mean making Whitehead a healthy scratch?

Farhan also mentioned a now healthy Greene back at safety and Jones on the corner. Saw Edwards-Cooper's arm in a sling during the Lions' visit to the PNE Fright Nights last week.

I was thinking of stopping by the Lions practice today but starting today they've moved to BC Place.
A smart move in my view as it illustrates the importance of this game.


Wow. That was a tough set of questions for the DC prefaced with facts:

Since Aug 1, BC DEF is in bottom three in:
> total defence
> scoring defence
> rushing and passing defence
> 1st down yardage

No. 1 in Defensive Penalties and last game vs Calgary it turned up badly with a DEF player ejected!

Farhan's Finale:

A real zinger. Same opponent as last year in the semi- final and "you can't stop the run" followed by how Dave Dickenson will run this game.
The good news for BC is Calgary is coming off a poor last game.



The good news is BC is 12 Wins and 6 Losses and hosting the semi-final.

[David]

Keys to the game:

* It's essential that our Leos get off to a fast start, jump out to a lead, and dictate the game plan. If we can manage to go up by say, 10-14 points (in an ideal world), it will force the Stamps to rely more on Maier's arm, which is what we want.

* Will Calgary try to confuse VA again with their 3-4 formation? Getting VA to double clutch and take bad risks is likely their MO. I hope Maksymic has got some designed QB runs in the game plan, moving the pocket, QB draws etc. We need to take advantage of VA's legs.

* If Calgary wins the toss and runs the ball down our throats on consecutive drives with Ka'Deem Carey, Peyton Logan (who has been an absolute Lion killer), and Dedrick Mills getting 8 yards, 6 yards, 12 yards, 22 yards etc., watch out. It probably means their O-line is controlling the line of scrimmage and/or they have added an extra lineman. How will Phillips adjust? I keep hearing about gap cancellation but we're also going to have to be physical in the trenches.

* If we go into the half with a semi-commanding lead, I am not going to feel relaxed. Another key is half-time adjustments. It's often been our Achilles heel this year and Calgary has a smart, capable group of coaches in their locker room.

Love the thought of giving McInnis more reps - he has earned them - but Lucky's speed is helpful to take the top off the defense. Thoughts?


DH

[MacNews]

Keys to the game: Lucky's speed is helpful to take the top off the defense. Thoughts?

DH

Lucky's speed is great but he often misses/drops the 50/50 ball unlike Burnham.

Like you said David, we need Calgary to focus on the pass otherwise our defense will be toast. And we need our offense to focus on the QB roll-out/run otherwise our offense will be toast.

[Toppy Vann]

Keys to the game:

* It's essential that our Leos get off to a fast start, jump out to a lead, and dictate the game plan. If we can manage to go up by say, 10-14 points (in an ideal world), it will force the Stamps to rely more on Maier's arm, which is what we want.

* Will Calgary try to confuse VA again with their 3-4 formation? Getting VA to double clutch and take bad risks is likely their MO. I hope Maksymic has got some designed QB runs in the game plan, moving the pocket, QB draws etc. We need to take advantage of VA's legs.

* If Calgary wins the toss and runs the ball down our throats on consecutive drives with Ka'Deem Carey, Peyton Logan (who has been an absolute Lion killer), and Dedrick Mills getting 8 yards, 6 yards, 12 yards, 22 yards etc., watch out. It probably means their O-line is controlling the line of scrimmage and/or they have added an extra lineman. How will Phillips adjust? I keep hearing about gap cancellation but we're also going to have to be physical in the trenches.

* If we go into the half with a semi-commanding lead, I am not going to feel relaxed. Another key is half-time adjustments. It's often been our Achilles heel this year and Calgary has a smart, capable group of coaches in their locker room.

Love the thought of giving McInnis more reps - he has earned them - but Lucky's speed is helpful to take the top off the defense. Thoughts?


DH

Great insights and observations, David.

After Calgary's last game, it looks like this week they're trying to regroup as are the Lions so it's kind of an unknown which Stamps is coming back to BC Place. BUT, I suspect like the Lions both team will be fired up!

* Will Calgary try to confuse VA again with their 3-4 formation? Getting VA to double clutch and take bad risks is likely their MO. I hope Maksymic has got some designed QB runs in the game plan, moving the pocket, QB draws etc. We need to take advantage of VA's legs.

This has definitely got to be in the play-calling mix or it could be a long day.
Not sure if they'll bring in anything new or vary any run schemes or just rely on Vernon Adams to be on fire.

LIONS OPEN UPPER DECK:

https://3downnation.com/2023/10/31/b-c- ... tampeders/

B.C. won two of three games against the Stampeders this season, though they lost the most recent matchup by a score of 41-16 on Oct. 20. The Lions won six of their first seven home games this year but ended the season on a two-game home losing skid.

A long read but kind of funny insights in the Commish and head coaches on their halloween treats tonight:

A nightmare on CFL street: what each team is handing out this Halloween
By Ryan Ballantine -October 31, 2023

Finally, you reach the house with orange and black lights. Rick Campbell is waiting on the porch with a case of no-name orange-flavoured pop.

“Help yourself,” he says, laid back as always. “I had the name-brand stuff last year. It was great, but it turns out this stuff is just as good.”

[TheLionKing]

Not this talk about opening the upper deck again. Each time they talked about opening the upper deck and expectation of a big crowd, it has been underwhelming.

[Toppy Vann]

Not this talk about opening the upper deck again. Each time they talked about opening the upper deck and expectation of a big crowd, it has been underwhelming.

After reading this I just went on Ticketmaster and maybe I just never noticed it before, but there seem to be a lot of tickets in the lower bowl up for RESALE!

Maybe this is not unusual but I don't recall seeing this before.

The Lions won 6 out of their first 7 home games but the last 2 home games have been losses.

[B.C.FAN]

The Lions depth chart confirms some of the lineup changes that have been reported this week, as well as several others.

- Sione Teuheme is not appealing his one-game suspension and is being replaced at DE by Woody Baron, with Tibo Debaillie starting inside. Marcus Moore is added as depth in the interior of the line.
- Josh Woods starts at weakside linebacker ahead of Bo Lokombo.
- Manny Rugamba starts at cover linebacker, backed up by all-star safety Quincy Mauger.
- Adrian Greene returns from injury to start at safety.
- Taquan Mizzell returns at running back after a 2-game absence, with no backup. Kienan LaFrance moves to the injured list and JaQuan Hardy, who started the final 2 games of the regular season, is demoted to the practice roster.
- Versatile national Justin McInnis starts at field side WR. Alex Hollins, who had over 1,000 yards receiving this year at that position, moves to Lucky Whitehead's boundary WR spot. Whitehead remains on the roster as the sixth receiver.

That's a lot of changes for a big game but the Lions have had 2 weeks to implement them. We'll see at game time what other wrinkles they've added.

[Hambone]

Not this talk about opening the upper deck again. Each time they talked about opening the upper deck and expectation of a big crowd, it has been underwhelming.

After reading this I just went on Ticketmaster and maybe I just never noticed it before, but there seem to be a lot of tickets in the lower bowl up for RESALE!

Maybe this is not unusual but I don't recall seeing this before.

The Lions won 6 out of their first 7 home games but the last 2 home games have been losses.

Last year my sidekick's former business partners arranged a suite for a retirement party for him for the WSF. So I put up our pair of SEC 113 seats for resale. First time I ever tried that. When the TM resale site set the price at something like $235 ea I figured no way they sell. They lasted maybe 24 hours with us pocketing $205 each after TM took a chunk for season seats that ran us $80 each in regular season.

[B.C.FAN]

The Ticketmaster map suggests over 30,000 tickets have been sold. About three-quarters of the available upper bowl seats are gone, and just a few pockets remain in the lower bowl. I’m on a packed Interior Express bus from Kamloops.

[TheLionKing]

Way too easy