Touchdown Pacific: Lions vs. Redblacks game thread

[B.C.FAN]

O-line has had an excellent game, as has the D-line.

[Coast Mountain Lion]

Betts making a massive difference.

And Peters has been a beast

[tedbear]

O-line has had an excellent game, as has the D-line.

What a difference a pass rush makes!

[TheLionKing]

O-line has had an excellent game, as has the D-line.

What a difference a pass rush makes!

And a running game

[B.C.FAN]

That was a great team win. The Lions dominated in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Some key stats:

- Will Stanback had 171 yards from scrimmage as the Lions outrushed the Redblacks 128 yards to 44.

- B.C., with Mathieu Betts leading the charge, had 4 sacks. Ottawa had 1.

- Nathan Rourke had 325 passing yards and 4 total TDs. Dru Brown, who put up 390 passing yards last week, had just 205 yards and 1 TD as B.C.’s reshuffled secondary knocked down passes to kill drives. Ottawa converted just 5 of 21 second down opportunities. B.C. was 15 of 25. Kudos to T.J. Lee and Ryder Varga for outstanding defensive games.

[Toppy Vann]

The Lions were lucky not to give up a TD on the missed field goal return. That was the limit of Whyte’s range. I would have used Meyer, who would give them at least an extra 10 yards on the kick.

Overall, that was a beatdown and the best defensive play I can recall from memory this year. Betts maybe inspired this effort even though he was not a major factor as of y et.

They consistently seemed to collectively know where they were bringing them down to force 3rd down punts.

I think I would have punted from the 44 yd. Following that they were at the 45 yd and punted.
I thought early on it with 3rd and 5 the Lions should have gambled as at that point of the game Ottawa had been brutal on offense.


I don't understand why these helmets get knocked off this year across the CFL as they (including Stanback) all come with chin straps buckled up. Stanback lost a sure TD run there after busting free of the tackle. In a close game, that might have been a difference maker.

I'm not critical of our kick returner as he never drops the ball and does exactly what he's told to do. Williams had one nice return where he actually was able to get outside but got tracked down by that brilliant effort by an Ottawa defender.

[yukonlion]

Oline did a good job. Thought that Broxton was usually our best so was worried when he went down. Still interested to see schleuger back. didnt pay attention to see if Ottawa went with a 3 man rush that worked so well against us..

[David]

Quick check-in from beautiful Victoria.

Great atmosphere here. Lots of Lions fans in the streets, but really, fans from all over the country represented. Really nice to see. Local shop merchants seem to be well aware of the game. Kudos to the city for putting on a great show.

Atmosphere inside the stadium was fantastic. It was like a mini Tempire. My only complaint was no down and distance on the scoreboard. We had great seats on the Lions' side of the field (50 yard line, maybe 10 rows from the top) but could not really hear anything. More speakers facing the stands like Molson Stadium would have been expected.

Players seemed to be really jacked up about the event.

Got here yesterday. We leave tomorrow.

Go Leos!!


DH

[maxlion]

We had fun riding our bikes down to the park to catch the first CFL game in Victoria. Cool to see a QB born in Victoria leading the Lions to Victoria.

The atmosphere was certainly fun but the facilities were lacking somewhat, even compared to Tempire. I also would have preferred an evening game, but understand that some folks needed to get back on the ferry.

I kept an eye on Betts most of the game. He adds a needed element to the team, though I wouldn't say that he was the difference between this week's team and last week's.

What was the difference? I don't know. The changes in the secondary seemed to help. Rourke was more confident and in sync with his receivers. The injuries to Ottawa's receivers was also probably a factor in why they couldn't get things going. In any case, good to get back on a winning track.

I still don't get why they dressed three kickers. Could it have been a global ratio issue? Is Flintoft injured or on the outs with the team? Meyer punted well, better than Flintoft perhaps. I thought he might also try the long field goal that Whyte missed on.

[Disturber]

Excellent game!

[DanoT]

I was unable to watch the game live as I am on a Motorhome Blues Cruise with my dog headed from the Emonton Blues Festival a few weeks ago to the Big Blues Bender in Las Vegas next week.
I am at a Walmart in Omak WA. and was able to watch an 8 minute WiFi highlight package on Youtube. Weirdest highlight reel ever as there were hardly any Redblack highlights.

[footballfan-observer]

Great effort from the team today in front of a remarkable atmosphere in Victoria - fantastic weather, crowd and glistening harbour views on TV. Hope to see even more improvement in the Lions moving forward as the season winds down - particularly the D which is critical in those tight contests.

Wonder if the CFL/ Lions will also look at some future events in Victoria (maybe in 2026 when BC Place is booked for the WC) after today.

[Hambone]

WOW cant believe that guy ran him down from behind.

Hard for 5'9 legs to keep ahead of 6'5 legs when the latter is at full gallop. Dubois' 4.62 40 was 3rd fastest at the 2018 CFL combine. Only Daniel Petermann (4.54) and Isaiah Guzylak-Messam (4.60) were faster.

[tak06]

Tremendous turnaround from the last game, great team effort!
Betts was a beast and Rourke looked like Rourke in '22
How did a Dubois at 6' 4" 235 catch Williams our supposed speedster very impressive!

[Hambone]

I wonder if having 3 kickers was little more than filling out the injury-depleted roster and having few options. Amongst the 5 left on the PR were 2 receivers, 1 OL, 1 RB and 1 LB. Maybe they figured might as well give Meyer a look over the rest, especially if they aren't totally pleased with Flintoft. Then if Meyer soiled rhe sheets in his first couple of punts they still had a backup plan. In hindsight adding Woodruff to give them 7 OL could have been the wiser selection but you don't get to use hindsight in such decisions.