Lions 28 - Riders 23 Post Game Stats and Comments

[Blitz]

It's never an easy thing to point out the weak play of a veteran player, especially one you like and always hope the best for.

We've made these mistakes in the past, even though there is a belief that we cut a vet or reduce his play when he loses a step or doesn't have the same ability. Getting rid of Eric Carter was more of an anomoly than a trend. For example, we kept Cory Mantyka an extra year when it was obvious that his injury seriously was hampering his play and getting our quarterbacks hurt. We moved Mark Washington to wideside halfback in 2006 and pushed Phillips, who had such a great 2005 season to nickel back to do it. Miles shaded Washington's side of the field that season, with Banks and Marsh getting no help, in order to do that and we wasted Phillips at nickel that season..it just didnt' hurt us too much.

I recommended that we trade Dickenson, just prior to the 2007, as unpopular as that would have been, because we could have gotten a lot for him at that time. It was obvious that Dickenson's injuries were spelling the quick end to a career. It became obvious that Barrin Miles was on the downslide at the halfway mark of last season. Miles has been a tremendous asset to our Leos since he arrived. However, he's now lost a step, his tackling is awful, and while he leads us in interceptions most have been gifts. He's just plain slow getting over on deep balls. What we really should be considering is moving Miles to nickel or dime back and inserting Crawford into free safety. Longer term we need a nickel back like Dennis, who is bigger and can blitz and play the run as well as the pass.

B.C. Fan notes that Cates only had three carries over 5 yards in three quarters. B.C. Fan is a very knowledgeable football fan but he also has a touch of mischief in him. The fact is that Cates only carried the football seven times during that stretch. Glatt is not a middle linebacker. I said it when they first inserted him into that position and I'll say it until the cows jump over the moon. Glatt is a smart player when playing the pass....in fact he is excellent. He's a decent blitzer. However, he doesn't have the quick lateral movement or explosiveness you need from a middle linebacker. He's an outside linebacker to an interior linebacker in a two linebacker set that excells in reading pass plays and getting to the right place at the right time. Right now, I'd be playing Pottinger in the middle on first down, with Jamal and Floyd on the outside. I'd be playing Glatt on second down, when we decide to leave Williams in on second down, when we choose to go with the four man rush...which has been working good, with a few bltizes worked in there. I also like that we're using Foley more in the rotation.

I also agree with the notion that we should try to sign Cameron Wake, although I believe he is NFL bound. Take him off our defense and it will be a different defense. As for Bishop not playing well, no quarterback, whether is was Buck Pierce or Ricky Ray, or Anthony Cavillo, would play well with the pressure that Bishop was under last night.

I also agree with the comments about McCallum. I considered him a very good field goal kicker when we got him but had reservations about his punting. However, McCallum has continued to improve his punting skills since he got here and is having a terrific season in both areas this year.

[VANRIDERFAN]

On a side note, I went to the game with a family who have just been posted from Colorado to Vancouver. They are die hard NFL fans but I bought the girls Rider t-shirts to wear and by the end of the game they were standing and cheering for the Riders to pull out another win! Sorry about corrupting another Vancouver family to the green side (NOT ).

Cry for the lost children.

Hey you got to catch them young!

[Solar Max]

Oh and two more things: thank you, Tim Donovan, for your restraint last night, it was heavenly. It also made it much easier to concentrate on the piped in noise, which was done expertly last night.

And the offensive line played a stellar game last night, and gave Buck the time he needed.

[TheLionKing]

Tim Donovan is really getting to me. Heard him on 101.1 and I'm expecting him to be yelling into the microphone.

[Hambone]

On a side note, I went to the game with a family who have just been posted from Colorado to Vancouver. They are die hard NFL fans but I bought the girls Rider t-shirts to wear and by the end of the game they were standing and cheering for the Riders to pull out another win! Sorry about corrupting another Vancouver family to the green side (NOT ).

Cry for the lost children.

Hey you got to catch them young!

Did you tell them that they won't be young when the Rider's next GC cycle comes around again in about 2025?

[Toppy Vann]

A few random thoughts:

-what a great game to see live! Thank you so much BC Lions for a great way to end my annual pilgrimage to Canada!!

Wow! Coming all the way from Belize to see a game. Makes me chuckle about the
guy who posts here a lot complaining about the traffic from Abbotsford.

I came from Hong Kong to catch two July games AND one of those games had to make it in from Langley on a Friday night!!!!!!

Wakes... you just gotta suck it up pal and make the sacrifice.

I posted some stuff in other threads on the game so won't repeat it all here.

If this is going to work it has to be Roberts at RB and Logan as KR and this whole new offense idea for two scat backs has to be called what it looked like night - dumb. Changing the play book now to make a trade look good is just ridiculous. Wally has his out now on the dualing scat backs as Logan looked great on kick return and got zip in running yardage so Wally has the spin now. He can say Roberts is the better guy. Look at last night's stats. It's what have you done for me lately. Logan is a great KR guy, look at how he ripped it up last night. Logan would be too tired and less effective to do more than kicks so we now got Sir Charles and the best kick returner in the league in Logan.

He can pretend to use those scat backs and the team can get on with their goal of getting enough wins to make the playoffs this year and possibly do some damage.

[Wakesbetterthanyou]

A few random thoughts:

-what a great game to see live! Thank you so much BC Lions for a great way to end my annual pilgrimage to Canada!!

Wow! Coming all the way from Belize to see a game. Makes me chuckle about the
guy who posts here a lot complaining about the traffic from Abbotsford.

I came from Hong Kong to catch two July games AND one of those games had to make it in from Langley on a Friday night!!!!!!

Wakes... you just gotta suck it up pal and make the sacrifice.

I posted some stuff in other threads on the game so won't repeat it all here.

If this is going to work it has to be Roberts at RB and Logan as KR and this whole new offense idea for two scat backs has to be called what it looked like night - dumb. Changing the play book now to make a trade look good is just ridiculous. Wally has his out now on the dualing scat backs as Logan looked great on kick return and got zip in running yardage so Wally has the spin now. He can say Roberts is the better guy. Look at last night's stats. It's what have you done for me lately. Logan is a great KR guy, look at how he ripped it up last night. Logan would be too tired and less effective to do more than kicks so we now got Sir Charles and the best kick returner in the league in Logan.

He can pretend to use those scat backs and the team can get on with their goal of getting enough wins to make the playoffs this year and possibly do some damage.

haha, not.

[notahomer]

Another to the GameStaff (or is it BC PLace Staff). The revised scoreboards are great, IMO. I still see the adverts, but the score/quarter/time are shown. Thanks for listening, I think it was a common complaint from fans at the games!

[Lions33]

Yeah baby Go lions

[Vern Halen]

Sorry I haven't posted yet - I was travelling this weekend.

Wow - that was a CFL classic and the outcome wasn't what I wanted, but you know what? Sometimes, you just get beat. The Lions deserved the "W" this weekend - we lost the game in the trenches - our O-line isn't too shabby, but Wake, Hunt and crew made us just plain look bad. Wake is a total animal out there, so dominant and if Wake ain't coming at you, Hunt is. Scary. I have to agree with one of the other posters here who said that Wake is probably NFL bound - is that happens, it'll be a huge loss for the Lions and the CFL.

Your o-line gave great protection last night and allowed Peirce lots of time to make his reads and deliver the ball.

ANOTHER monster hit on Clermont - how does this guy keep on bouncing back up? Wow.

Jamie Boreham had his first off game in two years and we lost the battle of field position concerning special teams.

My favorite moment (sorry Lions fans) was when Maurice Lloyd came untouched around the end and Buck went down near the end of the fourth quarter - just nice execution by one our LB's (who I thought played well).

Ken Miller will have the green guys ready to play with a greater sense of urgency for the full 60 instead of pulling the old Cardiac Kids playbook out midway through the 4th.

Looking forward to the re-match Saturday - the Lions are coming to our house and for me, Saturday just cannot come soon enough!!

[WestCoastJoe]

Wow - that was a CFL classic and the outcome wasn't what I wanted, but you know what? Sometimes, you just get beat. The Lions deserved the "W" this weekend - we lost the game in the trenches - our O-line isn't too shabby, but Wake, Hunt and crew made us just plain look bad. Wake is a total animal out there, so dominant and if Wake ain't coming at you, Hunt is. Scary. I have to agree with one of the other posters here who said that Wake is probably NFL bound - is that happens, it'll be a huge loss for the Lions and the CFL.

Your o-line gave great protection last night and allowed Peirce lots of time to make his reads and deliver the ball.

My favorite moment (sorry Lions fans) was when Maurice Lloyd came untouched around the end and Buck went down near the end of the fourth quarter - just nice execution by one our LB's (who I thought played well).

Ken Miller will have the green guys ready to play with a greater sense of urgency for the full 60 instead of pulling the old Cardiac Kids playbook out midway through the 4th.

Looking forward to the re-match Saturday - the Lions are coming to our house and for me, Saturday just cannot come soon enough!!

Definitely an intense CFL game. The Riders always play hard.

The fans know what we have in Cam Wake. We are enjoying every moment while we can. He is as much of a neat personality as he is a player.

Our O Line has definitely cranked it back up to last year's standard. Apparently a running back missed the assignment to block on Lloyd. Your LBs are outstanding. Very fast, physical and great tacklers.

Also looking forward to the rematch in Riderville. Should be another CFL classic.

[Wakesbetterthanyou]

Wow - that was a CFL classic and the outcome wasn't what I wanted, but you know what? Sometimes, you just get beat. The Lions deserved the "W" this weekend - we lost the game in the trenches - our O-line isn't too shabby, but Wake, Hunt and crew made us just plain look bad. Wake is a total animal out there, so dominant and if Wake ain't coming at you, Hunt is. Scary. I have to agree with one of the other posters here who said that Wake is probably NFL bound - is that happens, it'll be a huge loss for the Lions and the CFL.

Your o-line gave great protection last night and allowed Peirce lots of time to make his reads and deliver the ball.

My favorite moment (sorry Lions fans) was when Maurice Lloyd came untouched around the end and Buck went down near the end of the fourth quarter - just nice execution by one our LB's (who I thought played well).

Ken Miller will have the green guys ready to play with a greater sense of urgency for the full 60 instead of pulling the old Cardiac Kids playbook out midway through the 4th.

Looking forward to the re-match Saturday - the Lions are coming to our house and for me, Saturday just cannot come soon enough!!

Definitely an intense CFL game. The Riders always play hard.

The fans know what we have in Cam Wake. We are enjoying every moment while we can. He is as much of a neat personality as he is a player.

Our O Line has definitely cranked it back up to last year's standard. Apparently a running back missed the assignment to block on Lloyd. Your LBs are outstanding. Very fast, physical and great tacklers.

Also looking forward to the rematch in Riderville. Should be another CFL classic.

that was lyle green who missed that block. looking forward to the rematch as well, hope the lions can sweep!!!

[No Ordinary Joe]

What a game!!!

- Cam Wake is not human. I'm secretly thinking that he's a government experiment, a humanoid robot that is impervious to pain, does not feel the effects of fatigue and is faster than previous government projects as they've improved the technology at their disposal in recent years.

- Buck played a good game. Didn't take many chances and was efficient in managing the game.

- Geroy and Paris were both fantastic. Great games by both guys, especially Geroy who came up with a MONSTER play at a time when it was much needed. I had just finished telling my friend beside me "if we can just get a Field Goal out of this drive we'll be sitting pretty." Then....oh, nevermind.

- Barron Miles! I love watching this man play football.

- Paul McCallum got the job done when he was called upon.

- A very good game played by our Defence, especially early on while our offence struggled to get going, they kept us in the game.

- Nice job by both Charles Roberts and Stefan Logan. Logan with that great return and Charles with a gorgeous TD run, making moves, juking and jiving his way for 6 points and going over 10,000 career yards as well. (Congrats, Charles!)

- 6-5...we ain't dead yet baby!