Lionbackers.com

The Lions will win, because they are the best team in the CFL over 18 games...and they are the best in the CFL because they are a TEAM...even when this group was 0-5 and 1-6, they never quit on one another...they continued to believe...coaches, players, and management...it paid off.

Look across our roster...where are the weaknesses??? There aren't...where are the strengths??? Everywhere...

QB...Who in the league has been better??? Forget the lack of experience, look at how Travis played last year during the playoffs...his play in the last 11 games of this season has been brilliant...he doesn't commit many turnovers because he doesn't make many poor decisions...and with our defence, he is under little pressure to force the ball...look for yet another solid game from Lulay...

WRs...pick your poison...double team Geroy, or roll the safety over to his side of the field and you take your chances with Arland Bruce...play zone and each will find a soft spot and kill you underneath...play man and each can beat you deep...plus, don't discount the experience and ability of Paris Jackson...he is healthy right now, and ready to make plays...plus, even with the younger players, they play smart and don't make a lot of mistakes.

OLine...Olafoye doesn't give up a thing on the right side...Archibald very little on the left...Angus Reid has had one of the best seasons a CFL centre has ever had...they just don't make a lot of mistakes...

Notice a pattern???

DLine...do we even need to talk about this??? Buono is likely to dress 6 of them, because each is playing dominant ball right now and justifies being on the field.

LBs...the talk starts and stops with Solomon Eliminian...tomorrow the high ankle sprain should be close to 100% healed, that will make him an unstoppable force and mayhem maker out there...Anton McKenzie has had his best season as a Lion, and doesn't make mistakes...and finally, Anthony Reddick is healthy and hungry...in the last month of the season, prior to his injury, Reddick was playing All Star football...he will be a force on the field tomorrow...

The Secondary...2 sides of the field...2 shut down groups...Marsh and Banks to one side, Phillips and Kornegay to the other...it doesn't matter that our safety play has been decent at best all season, as these 4, once again, don't make a lot of mistakes...

Add McCallum and solid ST's coverage for the past month, and this team doesn't expose themselves...plus they play physical, no nonsense football.

Come tomorrow night, I truly believe we will be talking about yet another dominating effort by the Leos...and the only thing that could make this a somewhat close game would be the referees...the last 2 times we faced the Esks, they basically held on EVERY SINGLE DOWN and essentially no penalties were called...on the play where Keron Williams hurt his ankle, the Esks Oline held no less than 4 times on that single play, and again, no call was made...

Take that BS, biased officiating away, and neither of the games would have even been close...

I believe that we are the home of the 2011 Grey Cup Champions, and they will take another step tomorrow in achieving that status!

...And great fans who will cheer on for the Lions!......

My concern is still with the special teams coverage. Albeit it's been better the last couple of games, they've been up and down all year.

TheLionKing wrote:My concern is still with the special teams coverage. Albeit it's been better the last couple of games, they've been up and down all year.

Hopefully our special teams downfield coverage will continue to be the quality it was the last two games.

The best reason we are going to win is because we will have the type of game plan that gives us the best chance to win.

We're going to win because Wally has changed and therefore so have the strategies of the assistant coaches around him.

As noted in today's Province:

The challenges Buono faced this year were partly of his own making as general manager; nonetheless no coach in league history has been able to recover from an 0-5 start and get this far.

It happened, Buono said, because owner David Braley never pressured him even if he questioned his methods during his team’s darkest days.

And because ownership held firm, the 61-year-old coach continued to dump many, though not all, of his old-school tactics so as to remain professionally relevant to a different generation.

Mike Benevedes believes Wally should be the CFL Coach of the Year because Buono " opened up to different approaches. Without question that makes him coach of the year.” (Vabciyver Province)

The changes in methods by Wally and Company give us the best opportunity to win a Grey Cup berth in this exceptional season. Hoping the magic continues.

I feel strongly that we will win because we have better offensive and defensive lines, and as Blitz has referenced the game is about time and that all starts with your line play.

The one concern that I have is the lack of holding penalties that are called. I first feared that I was a homer but after re watching the last couple of games it was evident that we have been flagarantly held on numerous occasions with no flags being thrown.

It seems that our D Line is penalised for being good and the officials start to let a lot of holding go, as it seems that they dont want to be constanly throwing flags.

Winnipegs defensive line seems to get the same non calls as they apply constant pressure and they seem to get held a lot.

IMO if the holding gets called consistently in todays games the Lions and Bombers will come out on top and be meeting in the Grey Cup next week.

Not only do I think BC will win, I don't expect it to be as close as some suggest. Maybe not a blowout, but not a nail biter. It will be like the last 2 times we played them, where the Lions were always seemingly in control of the game. There's simply no way Edmonton can legally stop our O-line. I just don't believe it. Travis Lulay will be fine. This guy is the real deal. Nobody in this league has figured out how to stop Andrew Harris. Look for a lot of passes to the flat.

I also get a chuckle at those who suggest, Edmonton has an advantage because they have nothing to lose. Newsflash; The losing team's season is done, the winner moves on to the Grey Cup. If that's not something to play for, than I don't know what is.

We will win because I'm not there to watch it.

tedbear wrote:
The one concern that I have is the lack of holding penalties that are called.

The bigger concern is the RR Flyby penalty. You know the one where if you are within three yards of him the flags 'o fly. Heaven forbid you brush his shoulder, that could be a fine.

Blitz wrote: Hopefully our special teams downfield coverage will continue to be the quality it was the last two games.

The best reason we are going to win is because we will have the type of game plan that gives us the best chance to win.

We're going to win because Wally has changed and therefore so have the strategies of the assistant coaches around him.

As noted in today's Province:

The challenges Buono faced this year were partly of his own making as general manager; nonetheless no coach in league history has been able to recover from an 0-5 start and get this far.

It happened, Buono said, because owner David Braley never pressured him even if he questioned his methods during his team’s darkest days.

And because ownership held firm, the 61-year-old coach continued to dump many, though not all, of his old-school tactics so as to remain professionally relevant to a different generation.

Mike Benevedes believes Wally should be the CFL Coach of the Year because Buono " opened up to different approaches. Without question that makes him coach of the year.” (Vabciyver Province)

The changes in methods by Wally and Company give us the best opportunity to win a Grey Cup berth in this exceptional season. Hoping the magic continues.

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Coach ... story.html

“He was under tremendous duress this year,” said defensive coordinator Mike Benevides, who is annually in line as Buono’s successor and will soon be contacted about the coaching vacancy with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“But because of who he is, his equity and fortitude, people believe in him even when you hit a low. He’s opened up to different approaches. Without question that makes him coach of the year.”

Fortitude ... For sure. Equity ... as in a relative fairness, as much as a football Head Coach can have ... Yes.

The challenges Buono faced this year were partly of his own making as general manager; nonetheless no coach in league history has been able to recover from an 0-5 start and get this far.

It happened, Buono said, because owner David Braley never pressured him even if he questioned his methods during his team’s darkest days.

“David’s not going to panic, which causes ripple effects. The bottom line, when people stop buying tickets or sponsorship dries up, isn’t directing decisions that are made,” Buono said.

Full credit to Braley. And the longevity of Buono's reign here did give his coaches the time, security and space to adjust.

And because ownership held firm, the 61-year-old coach continued to dump many, though not all, of his old-school tactics so as to remain professionally relevant to a different generation. Practice sessions this week, relative to workouts before previous division finals, were less strenuous, players say.

"old-school tactics" Yuh.

"remain professionally relevant" Yes, he adjusted. And his coaches adjusted. Helluva job.

Even the man himself isn’t about to pull any back muscles in self-congratulation when analyzing what the Lions have done so far.

“An 11-7 record is not going to be the highlight of my career, but it is a good rebound,” he said.

A dose of humility is good.

It’s certainly attractive to followers of Braley’s other team, which explains another batch of recent reports the owner of the Toronto Argonauts will offer Buono a blank cheque to move if he wins his next two games.

It might happen, Buono said, but at least not until his Lions contract, which runs until January 2014, is over.

“I’m not going to Toronto. I’m going to fulfil my contract. I don’t know if I can be any more direct,” he said.

“I’m going to retire and when I retire I might decide I don’t like retirement. Then I might consider going somewhere other than Vancouver. If I miss it because I’m bored to death, then I’ll be [close to] 65 and I might consider moving somewhere else. But I’ve got kids and grand-kids here.”

Toronto? In a handful of years? Possible. An ugly thought though. Let Toronto rot ... LOL ... Find your own coach.

“Call Don Matthews and ask him how difficult it is when everyone expects you to win every week,” said Buono. “We win because we work and prepare hard. That’s not going to change.” That may be the only thing that hasn’t changed with the most successful leader in Lions history, regardless of how many top coaching votes are collected, or what happens today.

And thank you Bobby Ackles for bringing the two best Head Coaches in CFL history to B.C.: Don Matthews and Wally Buono.