Tiger-Cats at Lions, Sept. 27, 2024

[SammyGreene]

This is what Doman gets in a Grey Cup hosting season? The man deserves much better than this never mind their marketing and ticket staffs in what should be an exciting time of year for the organization.
Time to start marketing the remaining Grey Cup tickets to Bomber fans. Nobody in the West is touching them this season for the 5th straight year.

[Walt67]

The Lions have their best running option in about a decade yet they are stumbling and falling. Quite simply, they look and behave like a team that expects to lose. Guilio said it best in the post-game show, when you suddenly string together one-two-three wins that builds belief and, baby, this team doesn't have it.
Also, look at our passive second half under Campbell and Phillips while Milanovich turned his team into believers during halftime - it screams volumes.
Damn shame in a Grey Cup host year.

[Walt67]

This game clinched why the Lions need a change in coaching staff. What an absolute collapse

Yup.

[TheLionKing]

What does the coaching staff do at half time. Do they head next door to the PARQ casino and play slots?

[David]

I would have gone for it on 3rd down at the Hamilton 4-yard line for the W in regulation.

The defense showed me that they didn't have an answer for BLM, ergo, I predicted we'd lose in OT, which we did. It would have been a ballsy decision, sure. But they marched all the way down the field and had their big, bruising running back at their disposal which they inexplicably decided to under-utilize in the 2nd half.


DH

[TheLionKing]

I would have gone for it on 3rd down at the Hamilton 4-yard line for the W in regulation.

The defense showed me that they didn't have an answer for BLM, ergo, I predicted we'd lose in OT, which we did. It would have been a ballsy decision, sure. But they marched all the way down the field and had their big, bruising running back at their disposal which they inexplicably decided to under-utilize in the 2nd half.


DH

That's been the MO of Myksymic all year. Hate 3 man rush.

[footballfan-observer]

Like all of us here, disappointed with the result - was hoping the D could make some key stops but didn't. Give credit to Bo Levi this week and Kelly couple weeks back though - when they needed some big plays at the critical moments of games, they were able to deliver. I would expect the Lions to have more intense practices in the next week - given the bye-week, their performance needed to be way better tonight.

[B.C.FAN]

After the first half, I was prepared to give kudos to Ryan Phillips for his aggressive defence, using lots of man and match coverages and zone blitzes that frustrated Bo Levi Mitchell and the Ticats. But then the second half unfolded just like the second half of many games in the second half of the season. The Lions went conservative, the Hamilton offence attacked the soft spots in the flats and marched the ball up and down the field unchecked, as the B.C. defence once again was unable make a play to get off the field.

The stats tell the story. Hamilton didn’t have a first down in the first quarter as Mitchell repeatedly tried to go deep on second and medium but failed to connect with his receivers. He was 8 of 13 for only 36 yards in the first half.

But Hamilton made adjustments and came out in the third quarter like their season depended on a comeback. The Lions didn’t, and tried to sit on their 16-0 lead. Mitchell was 26 of 27 for 279 yards and 2 TDs in the second half. He also caught a 2-point convert on a double reverse option pass from Tim White as Hamilton pulled out all stops to win the game,

The final B.C. drive of the fourth quarter after Hamilton took the lead could have saved the B.C. season. Instead it may have sunk the season. Terry Williams had a good kick return to the 48-yard line. Nathan Rourke went 5 of 6, including back-to-back first down catches by Keon Hatcher (his only catches of the game) to march the Lions to the Hamilton 4 yard line. Facing third and 2 with 14 seconds on the clock, Rick Campbell pulled the offence and sent out Sean Whyte for a chip shot field goal to force overtime. After another Whyte field goal in OT, Mitchell was purrfect (with help from a successful coach’s challenge) as the Ticats celebrated a comeback thriller that defined both teams’ seasons. The fact that it came three time zones from home at nearly 2 a.m. ET against a hungry Lions team coming off a bye week didn’t seem to matter. These are two teams going in opposite directions.

[don corleone]

A win would have been nice.

As is there was lots to like. Lions came out fast and were unfortunate to have to settle for field goals. I thought Nathan Rourke played well and kudos to him for an excellent halftime interview where he politely answered all questions. No doubt he is happy to have that one off his back.

Stanback looked quick. Ryder Varga tackled everything in sight again. Jevon Cottoy played well. Rick Campbell even appeared to be having a good game until the half. Bottom line was Hamilton needed to win and found a way.

Good game for Bo Levi with what must be an extreme example of running a spread offense and nice to see the Canadian receivers step up for Hamilton. O'Leary - Orange, Ternowski, and Kiondre Smith all played well.

Lions missed David Mackie.

Next up is the crazed wounded animal that is the Calgary Stampeders. One they will not want to lose.

[tedbear]

I would have gone for it on 3rd down at the Hamilton 4-yard line for the W in regulation.

The defense showed me that they didn't have an answer for BLM, ergo, I predicted we'd lose in OT, which we did. It would have been a ballsy decision, sure. But they marched all the way down the field and had their big, bruising running back at their disposal which they inexplicably decided to under-utilize in the 2nd half.


DH

David you are correct they should have gone for it at the 4 with 14 seconds left. However I don't necessarily agree that it would have been a ballsy move.

I believe IT WAS THE ONLY MOVE!

Bo was 29 for 30 in his last 30 pass attempts. Our D could not stop him and our passive style of defence we were playing limited any chances of a turnover.

By kicking the field goal HOW did Campbell have any reason to believe that we would be able to stop him in overtime.

We had one shot from the 4 (Maybe 2 if we made the first down) Put into the hands of your million dollar best player to win the game.

Not sure if he made that decision out of fear or analytics but if he had any feel for the game he would have realized that 1 shot to make 4 yards with our best player would have given us our best chance for a win instead of hoping our D would suddenly find away to stop Bo. Something we could not do the whole 2nd half.

I could get into all the other coaching decisions I did not agree with, but dammit the game was there for the taking and we didn't even give ourselves the best opportunity to win.

That is on the coach the team played hard but his cowardice hurt our chances. All he had to say after the game if we did not make the touchdown was that our defence was unable to stop Bo and this was our best chance to win.

I am not an advocate for changing coaches mid season, but this team plays passive because of their leader and will not win with Campbell's passive coaching style.

The saddest part is that we finally have a running game to go into Winnipeg for the Western Final, but we will be lucky to get there.

WHAT A WASTE.

[DanoT]

I would have gone for it on 3rd down at the Hamilton 4-yard line for the W in regulation.

The defense showed me that they didn't have an answer for BLM, ergo, I predicted we'd lose in OT, which we did. It would have been a ballsy decision, sure. But they marched all the way down the field and had their big, bruising running back at their disposal which they inexplicably decided to under-utilize in the 2nd half.


DH

^^^ This is exactly what I was thinking because in OT the Lions might not get this close to the end zone. Going for it on 3rd down would have been a Don Mathews type of move as it is something he has done before. It was a prime example of Campbell and Mathews being at opposite ends of the coaching spectrum, with one being a risk taker and one being too conservative.

[SammyGreene]

Some more terrific post game analysis from Farhan.
- as BC FAN noted Lions defence reverted back to their soft and sloppy ways in the 2nd half
- too quiet of a night from the Lions d-line and maybe the 8 player rotation is too much and the better players need more snaps at this crucial stage of the season
- this is not the Lions 2022 receiving core

[TheLionKing]

Anybody else tired of seeing players showboating after a play ie. chest pounding, raising arms etc. On one play it cost them 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.

[DanoT]

Anybody else tired of seeing players showboating after a play ie. chest pounding, raising arms etc. On one play it cost them 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.

I agree 100%. I also don't like the multi-player orchestrated pre planned TD and interception celebrations. Doing something spontaneous just barely makes it in my book but there shouldn't be a need for a big celebration for just doing the job you are paid to do. It looks unprofessional to me and very self centered.

[Coast Mountain Lion]

Anybody else tired of seeing players showboating after a play ie. chest pounding, raising arms etc. On one play it cost them 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.