Riders 33 - Lions 30 OT Post Game Stats and Comments

[Area51]

Dline was no where to be seen. Was the sack king for the Lions even on the field? The battle in the trenches was sure a difference maker in this game. Our blitzes kept getting picked up, whereas the Riders blitzes dictated what we did.

For reasons unknown to anyone other than Wally & Bonevides they were subbing Ricky out on second and long and using a LB at end. I realize he's playing with a broken thumb, but taking your best pass rusher off the field in an obvious passing situation makes no sense. Maybe some of the more brilliant football minds here could explain the rationale behind it.

[Belize City Lion]

those fagot cinderella zebras

come on Pigskin, not cool. It's 2009 let's not go there.

[LFITQ]

A couple tweets from the Lions stars:

Geroy Simon:

Man this one stings! I guess I should do my offseason training with a dummy hanging off of me so I'm used to all the db's who can't cover!

Sums up the feelings on here pretty good. I'd love to hear the explanation Higgins gives Wally on this one.

Casey Printers:

For all the Lions fans that watched the game tonight.. Sorry about that last play.. got a little careless . we should have won though..

Dante Marsh:

I still can't believe we let that one get away DAMN!!!!

We, Lionbackers aren't the only ones upset with the outcome.

[Lion_Pride_26]

A couple tweets from the Lions stars:

Geroy Simon:

Man this one stings! I guess I should do my offseason training with a dummy hanging off of me so I'm used to all the db's who can't cover!

Sums up the feelings on here pretty good. I'd love to hear the explanation Higgins gives Wally on this one.

Casey Printers:

For all the Lions fans that watched the game tonight.. Sorry about that last play.. got a little careless . we should have won though..

Dante Marsh:

I still can't believe we let that one get away DAMN!!!!

We, Lionbackers aren't the only ones upset with the outcome.

Frustrating for us, much more frustrating for the players and coaches.

The good news is Casey looked pretty good in his first game back, aside from the last play of the game. He made good decisions throughout the game.

[The_Pauser]

It does sting, but look at the positives: our defensive coverage was crap, our special teams were sub-par, our O-Line was absolutely horrendous (although credit to Reid for gutting it out otherwise it would have been even worse...he even on one leg wasn't THE problem), our running game was non-existant, our play calling was pathetic, and it STILL took the referees and their lopsided calls for the Riders to beat us in overtime on our third game of three in a row on the road.

Let's win out the rest of the season and build some momentum going into the playoffs. Casey should start from here on out IMO, as long as he continues to play well. The guy was magical.

[MacNews]

Positive? Casey played a hell of a game. I am salivating over next season.

[Lion_Pride_26]

our special teams were sub-par.

Noticeable difference when Jason Arackgi (sp?) is out of the lineup.

[LFITQ]

It does sting, but look at the positives: our defensive coverage was crap, our special teams were sub-par, our O-Line was absolutely horrendous (although credit to Reid for gutting it out otherwise it would have been even worse...he even on one leg wasn't THE problem), our running game was non-existant, our play calling was pathetic, and it STILL took the referees and their lopsided calls for the Riders to beat us in overtime on our third game of three in a row on the road.

Let's win out the rest of the season and build some momentum going into the playoffs. Casey should start from here on out IMO, as long as he continues to play well. The guy was magical.

thmbs up!

[Lion_Pride_26]

Positive? Casey played a hell of a game. I am salivating over next season.

Already focusing on next year? Still have a few games to go yet.

[WestCoastJoe]

We know if you go into Regina, getting a victory is like stealing the Crown Jewels. And if you win, you better get onto the bus dayum fast.

IMO we didn't exaclty play well in all phases of the game. Casey shot lights out. He gave us a chance. We almost stole the win. Then we turned into swiss cheese on pass defence.

Ultimately, on the very last play, I would have to say: "We wuz robbed."

I do take satisfaction out of the performance of Casey Printers. He's back. He looked great in practice. He looked great in this game.

But we still have problems with this team.

Short yardage package does not exist.

Offence is vanilla. Except for Casey's improvisation.

Running game is OK with good blocking and running, but it is "pound the ball" philosophy against a stacked Rider defence.

Defence is vanilla all the way. Stationary 4 man line trying to hold the gaps against whatever scheme different teams come up with. Pass defence is vanilla. LBs play is conservative and predictable. Blitzes are infrequent and obvious when they come. We play prevent philosophy virtually the entire game. We are not living on the edge. And when it it is time for an attack play, we are not temperamentally suited to it.

It seems our play books on O and D are hard wired. No change. No adjustments. No adaptation. "Here is what we are going to do. And we defy you to stop it." The opposition says: "OK, thanks for that advantage. We will prepare carefully detailed and well-timed precise attacks against what we know you do."

[The_Pauser]

Noticeable difference when Jason Arackgi (sp?) is out of the lineup.

Yes Arakgi is definitely this teams unsung hero. Does a lot of great things on special teams that go largely unnoticed, but when he's not in the lineup you do notice something missing. We need him back and healthy for the playoffs.

[Belize City Lion]

CP played well, exceeded my expectations for him. I'm happy about that. Really. But let's not forget the job BP did against SK (a win) and Edmonton (a win in one of the all time gutsiest performances by a Lions QB) in the last two games before he got hurt. CP may be our healthiest QB right now, and I am OK with him running the show for the next couple of weeks, but I just can't consider him our "saviour" at this point. We did not benefit by BP getting hurt. CP did an OK job, but nothing better than BP had shown he was capable of doing lately.

[sj-roc]

Positive? Casey played a hell of a game. I am salivating over next season.

Already focusing on next year? Still have a few games to go yet.

Oh I'm sure nobody's throwing in the towel on 2009 just yet. I think he just means that if CP looked this good having not played meaningful football for so long before tonight, imagine what he'll look like with a full TC/PS under his belt.

[SammyGreene]

It would have been nothing short of miraculous to win three straight on the road with three different quarterbacks.

Hats off to Casey for a gutsy performance. In his post-game interview he said he didn't plan on running as much as he did. No kidding .... the o-line was just brutal tonight. The only one I will give a pass was Angus Reid for gutting it out with a sprained ankle.
Sadly, Casey will soon be joining Jarious, Buck and Travis on the injured list if that kind of pounding continues.

Why can this defence look all-world for several series then fold like a tent when trying to protect a lead in the late going. Don't forget Durant did the exact same thing at BC Place 4 weeks ago and also connected for the 2 point convert to tie the game.

Paging Brent Johnson... time do more for this team than your segment with Don Taylor each Tuesday night. Six sacks this season and 3 of them came against the Riders on Aug. 1. VERY unproductive stretch of games for him. Ask your veteran safety about what it takes to step up your play in big games.

Wally must be taking contract extension with Miles again after his performance then watching Crawford promptly get exposed as soon as he was sidelined.

Would have been an incredible story watching the Lions reel off six straight wins to get 1st place but realistically it was asking too much considering this team can't put 60 minutes together.
But all in all a great stretch of road games — the 1-4 start just too big of hole to get all the way back to the top. This has developed into a very dangerous team that is capable of being in Calgary in late November if it can get its act completely together.

[The_Pauser]

CP played well, exceeded my expectations for him. I'm happy about that. Really. But let's not forget the job BP did against SK (a win) and Edmonton (a win in one of the all time gutsiest performances by a Lions QB) in the last two games before he got hurt. CP may be our healthiest QB right now, and I am OK with him running the show for the next couple of weeks, but I just can't consider him our "saviour" at this point. We did not benefit by BP getting hurt. CP did an OK job, but nothing better than BP had shown he was capable of doing lately.

If we had Buck start today with the way our blocking was he would have been in hospital after the second play. Buck simply cannot make plays with his legs the way that Casey was able to today. That TD pass to Bumpus was absolutely amazing and there aren't many QB's in the league who can make that play.

Buck played very very well in that game against Saskatchewan, especially given his injuries. That game against Edmonton he and the entire offense stalled in the second half. But given his health I would feel more comfortable with him coming off the bench than starting, especially with our putrid O-line.

Casey played great today and deserves another start.