Lionbackers.com

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 9:35 am**

sj-roc wrote:
Dusty wrote:I thought the Play of the Game was Tedford's throw of the challenge flag for the PI in the end zone.... not that he threw it, but the way he threw it in the direction of the official. To my eyes.... this was a coach that was pissed off at the non-call (and resulting penalty for Collie's PI hand gesture) and Tedford did not just drop the flag, he threw it. I saw more leadership in that play from our HC than I've seen for more than a few years. No talk, no shouting, no hand gestures.... just action... just leadership.
I was pretty cheesed that they didn't erase the OC call that was tacked on after complaining about the non-call, considering the complaint held up on review. If that penalty flag had been thrown for any other foul, like say, an illegal participation for going OOB and coming back onto the field or something like that, I could have shrugged it off as incidental to the play but what with the review upholding the complaint, logically it should have been rescinded. SMH. How can you get flagged for complaining about something when the complaint is proven to be justified?

But I suppose that's how the rules work in that situation, probably because the league doesn't want officials getting shown up. Well if they don't want to get shown up they'd better get their act together, especially in any game where Tedford is coaching. I'm sure there are some officials in that crew who will not grade out very well. I didn't recognise the referee or his name when it was flashed on the videoboard; is this his first year?

I also was surprised that the OC call was not erased, but I guessed it was considered a separate infraction rather than a resultant infraction. What was surprising to me was the number of "touching" fouls... as in "You touched the QB... so its Roughing" or even worse, the "bad word" fouls... as in "you said a bad word... so its OC".... at least that's all I can attribute some of the calls to.....

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 9:35 am**

sj-roc wrote: I was pretty cheesed that they didn't erase the OC call that was tacked on after complaining about the non-call, considering the complaint held up on review. If that penalty flag had been thrown for any other foul, like say, an illegal participation for going OOB and coming back onto the field or something like that, I could have shrugged it off as incidental to the play but what with the review upholding the complaint, logically it should have been rescinded. SMH. How can you get flagged for complaining about something when the complaint is proven to be justified?

But I suppose that's how the rules work in that situation, probably because the league doesn't want officials getting shown up. Well if they don't want to get shown up they'd better get their act together, especially in any game where Tedford is coaching. I'm sure there are some officials in that crew who will not grade out very well. I didn't recognise the referee or his name when it was flashed on the videoboard; is this his first year?

If they didn't want their refs shown up , it didn't work . In fact it did the opposite , made them look stupid and arrogant .The game is not about the refs , but that is the way it appeared . The exact same thing happened the night before to the Redblacks . You would think that OC call would have been rescinded with the turn over especially seeing how frivolous the call was on replay . The league is not doing themselves any favour with that sort of officiating , trying to up hold the original call just to save the refs face . That will only alienate fans , not win them over .

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 9:53 am**

On a positive note about the officiating , they' seem to be getting the challenges right instead of worrying about saving face for the ref .

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 9:56 am**

About the objectionable conduct penalty, the rule as written is clear and the penalty call is automatic. The players know that. There are no excuses for taking that penalty. The coach can challenge defensive pass interference. If a player thinks there was interference, he can look to the sideline and point to the replay screen to get the coach's attention. As far as I know, that's not considered objectionable conduct. Players who try to show up the refs are just hurting the team.

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:10 am**

B.C.FAN wrote:About the objectionable conduct penalty, the rule as written is clear and the penalty call is automatic. The players know that. There are no excuses for taking that penalty. The coach can challenge defensive pass interference. If a player thinks there was interference, he can look to the sideline and point to the replay screen to get the coach's attention. As far as I know, that's not considered objectionable conduct. Players who try to show up the refs are just hurting the team.

From my viewpoint, after Collie made the PI gesture and the flag flew, it looked like Tedford was trying to get Collie to come over to the sideline. Initially I thought Collie was going to be reamed out, but I think what Tedford was doing was confirming that there was contact...and then he threw the challenge.... as I said,.... leadership...

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:11 am**

B.C.FAN wrote:About the objectionable conduct penalty, the rule as written is clear and the penalty call is automatic. The players know that. There are no excuses for taking that penalty. The coach can challenge defensive pass interference. If a player thinks there was interference, he can look to the sideline and point to the replay screen to get the coach's attention. As far as I know, that's not considered objectionable conduct. Players who try to show up the refs are just hurting the team.

Agreed. The players should know better than to throw a faux flag. Even if it wasn't an automatic penalty, the gesture pisses off the refs and that does your team no good.

I wouldn't say that there was a discipline problem with this young team, but I would call it a discipline concern at this point in the season.

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:12 am**

B.C.FAN wrote:About the objectionable conduct penalty, the rule as written is clear and the penalty call is automatic. The players know that. There are no excuses for taking that penalty. The coach can challenge defensive pass interference. If a player thinks there was interference, he can look to the sideline and point to the replay screen to get the coach's attention. As far as I know, that's not considered objectionable conduct. Players who try to show up the refs are just hurting the team.

It may be the new rule , but how endearing is it for the fans ? A rule so anal for such a minor gesture is not going to make the game more attractive to prospective fans . It's only going to invite ridicule instead . As the panel at the half said last night , get rid of it and fast .

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:23 am**

DanoT wrote:
Agreed. The players should know better than to throw a faux flag. Even if it wasn't an automatic penalty, the gesture pisses off the refs and that does your team no good.

I wouldn't say that there was a discipline problem with this young team, but I would call it a discipline concern at this point in the season.

Just like players should act professional and stay incontrol , so should refs . If something so minor as a player making a PI motion upsets them enough to effect their judgement , they shouldn't be refs .But I do agree with you. , in that if it's the rule , then the players have to adjust to it , so as not to draw a penalty . And team discipline does need to be addressed . And likewise the refs need to call PI(or horse collar for that matter )every time , not just sometimes at their discretion .

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:36 am**

pennw wrote:
B.C.FAN wrote:About the objectionable conduct penalty, the rule as written is clear and the penalty call is automatic. The players know that. There are no excuses for taking that penalty. The coach can challenge defensive pass interference. If a player thinks there was interference, he can look to the sideline and point to the replay screen to get the coach's attention. As far as I know, that's not considered objectionable conduct. Players who try to show up the refs are just hurting the team.
It may be the new rule , but how endearing is it for the fans ? A rule so anal for such a minor gesture is not going to make the game more attractive to prospective fans . It's only going to invite ridicule instead . As the panel at the half said last night , get rid of it and fast .

I agree with the TSN panel to a degree. Something has to be done to reduce the number of penalties that disrupt the flow of the game. If players can't stop taking objectionable conduct and illegal contact penalties, perhaps the rules should be rewritten to make them discretionary but that's for next year. For this year, players have to learn to live with the rules as written.

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:47 am**

http://www.cfl.ca/article/lulay-thats-w ... eam-needed

Lulay: 'That's what this team needed'

Posted: July 11, 2015 09:00 AM

CFL.ca Staff
With files from BCLions.com

VANCOUVER -- Call it a bump in the road, a hump or maybe a mountain, the BC Lions may have finally gotten over it.

That was the feeling following Friday night’s home-opening win, an overtime thriller capped off by a game-winning touchdown grab by Emmanuel Arceneaux. This one had it all, from a dramatic late-game comeback to Richie Leone hitting a franchise record 56-yard field goal to send the game to overtime.

In the end let the record show that Jeff Tedford has his first win as a CFL Head Coach and Travis Lulay has his first as a starter since 2013. Yet for the Lions, this first win of 2015 meant oh so much more.

“What it can definitely be is a big boost in confidence and momentum and that’s what this team needed,” said Lulay, now through two full games as a starting quarterback after last year failing to get through one game from start to finish.

“What it can definitely be is a big boost in confidence and momentum and that's what this team needed. ”
- Travis Lulay
“We’ve got a relatively young team with some new guys, so to overcome the adversity of being down and not being good enough in the red zone – even though we were pretty good in moving the football most of the night – this is an important win.”

Lulay played some of the best football of his CFL career on Friday and looked like he had fun doing it, throwing for 404 yards and three touchdowns on 34-of-44 passing. Just when the Lions seemed down and out in the fourth, the 2011 Most Outstanding Player led the offence on a pair of touchdown drives to keep the game within reach.

Then, after the defence made a stop on Brett Smith and the Riders’ short-yardage offence on third and inches, Lulay made the plays to set up Leone for the game-tying kick. In overtime, meanwhile, he provided the completions to Shawn Gore and Arceneaux to win the game.

“That was a phenomenal effort, I’m so proud of my guys,” said Lulay. “Just fighting like crazy and not being able to finish in the red zone was the thing that killed us last week. It plagued us a bit early but we found ways to get it done late.”

“Austin [Collie] made a great play and then another great play that gives us a chance to kick a 55-yard field goal to go into overtime. This is the CFL at its best moment right now and I’m happy for the fans at BC Place.”

It might be the win that saved the Lions’ season. The team didn’t show any signs of panic after a season-opening Week 2 loss to the Ottawa REDBLACKS, but starting in an 0-2 hole surely wouldn’t have put the team in a positive mindset – particularly with last year’s playoff catastrophe in Montreal still in recent memory.

Doubt tends to creep in pretty quickly when things go wrong and the Lions would have been facing a steep hill this season out of the gate. But things change fast in the CFL, much like they did on Friday night when the Riders had seemingly put things out of reach in the fourth.

Game two of the Lions’ season could change everything, but only if they allow it to.

“Obviously this doesn’t mean anything unless we continue to build on it, so we will,” said Lulay. “We’ll keep the pedal down.”

“We can’t be satisfied, there’s still going to be plenty to improve on but getting a win in a game like that feels pretty good.”

Arceneaux, one of the Lions’ many heroes on the night, put it best in his post-game interview: This was a team win, one that couldn’t have happened without a chain reaction of outstanding individual accomplishments. Those started long before the game-tying field goal by Leone.

“We needed everybody,” said Arceneaux. “Everybody was just doing their job, just executing.”

“I was just glad I was able to get the team over the hump. I didn’t touch the rock early and I knew I just had to stay positive and get ready for my number to be called.”

It’s a win the Lions won’t soon forget but one they also can’t dwell on, for a road rematch with these very same Riders is on the horizon. These teams will do it again at the exact same time next Friday, only the setting flips as the Lions invade Riderville.

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:48 am**

Leone has to be a candidate for special teams player this week.

I watched the highlights online just now. As bad as our d-line is, Roh is standing out in the wrong way. Brooks is getting the double teams, but Roh is getting mauled by a single guy. The only two worth anything on that line is Smith and Menard

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:51 am**

Some good stuff here inside the locker room post game:

http://www.bclions.com/video/index/id/112617

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:53 am**

Lulay's passing accuracy was greatly improved and his arm strength is quite surprising considering all that his throwing shoulder has gone through. On the TV broadcast they showed Lulay's passing mechanics from 2011 and then compared it to today with the conclusion that his elbow is lower at the moment the ball is released.

Since I was critical of Draheim at LT last game, I should should compliment him on an excellent performance last night. He was mostly lined up against John Chick and basically he made Chick a non factor. And on one play, I noticed the line doing a well executed shift where Fabian blocked Chick and Draheim blocked the blitzing outside linebacker.

Overall the entire O line did a much improved job but still needs work on run blocking.

The D line is the gaping weakness with little to no run stop ability, imo.

IMO, Chamblin made some very conservative coaching decisions that really gave the Lions the opportunity to step up and make the tying and winning plays.

After the turn over on downs on the Bighill play, there was a penalty against the Lions that would have backed them up 10 yards yet the Riders declined the penalty not wanting to give the Lions another down.

IIRC, a few plays later Leone kicked the 55 yard FG for the tie.

With 12 seconds left in regulation why did the Riders go to Victory Formation to go to OT instead of trying a long pass or 2 with the possibility of a completion or penalty and no real problem if intercepted on a long bomb throw with so few seconds left?

In OT, Chamblin must have been snake bitten by the Bighill short yardage stop with a minute left in regulation as I thought he should have taken the 3rd down gamble instead of the FG. Again he was playing conservative with the intent of going to a second OT if all the Lions could do was a matching FG. The thing is that the previous Bighill short yardage play was one of the few running play stops by the Lions all game and the play relied on near purrfect timing by Bighill in that he had to match his jump with that of the QB. It seems less than likely that he would be able to do this again, 2 plays in a row.

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 11:06 am**

Just another CFL barn burner. LOL

But great for Lions fans.

To have Travis Lulay playing like this, with all his injury issues, is something of a miracle. For that we are most grateful. His leadership is off the charts. I don't think he ever looked sharper than he did last night.

Andrew Harris ie one of my all time favourite football players. In any league, at any time. Pure, instinctive football genius in a hard-working professional package.

Austin Collie is a gift from the football gods. Kind of a bigger version of Weston Dressler, with National status.

Doug Malone's O Line pitched a sack shutout. Truly remarkable for a unit that is a work in progress. And I truly believe Malone will get those hogs opening holes for Harris and Lil Shaq.

We gave up 271 passing yards, and 171 rushing yards vs the Riders.

Against the RedBlacks we gave up 296 yards passing, and 141 yards rushing.

Defence? Soft. Soft. Soft. Vanilla. Glenn sliced it up at his leisure early in the game. We failed to stop the run. One got the impression that the Riders could have run the ball all game long. No pressure on the QB. Little or no effective blitzing observed. Soft zone coverage eaten up by Dressler, defensive players following their cues, Dressler moving into holes. It is one thing to run a conservative defensive package, but it is another to give fans the impression that we will play a pressure, attacking defence. (I believe we heard from Mark Washington that we will play an attacking defence. I could be wrong about that. Mike Benevides also had talked about running an attacking defence, with all kinds of looks and schemes. It seems to me that we are running a defence that Wally always preferred: conservative, play it safe, bend and sometimes break.) Might as well call it like it is: We play soft zone. We do not attack the pocket. We do not attack the LOS with blitzes and overloads. We like to go 3 man rush on passing downs. We do not like to blitz. We are undersized in the middle. We ask our LBs to play way beyond the system, relying on individual brilliance.

It seems to me that the best defences in the CFL are attacking defences. We are a reacting defence, playing it safe. Mark W has to coach it within his comfort zone. If he is not comfortable running an attacking defence, then we will just have to accept that. This fan always preferred the philosophy of Don Matthews, and even Chris Jones. Just the observations of a fan ...

Posted: **Sat Jul 11, 2015 11:18 am**

sj-roc wrote: Also I hate to pick on a young kid but the anthem singer was a little too freestyle in places. Just putting the wrong cadence and tempo on too many of the words; makes it tough to sing along with, as many fans like to do.

I realize that the kid is only 9 years old but he just can't sing our anthem. Are the Lions auditioning candidates for the next Canada has Talent ? Is this the Lions' idea of catering to the younger generation ? My big peeve is singers putting their own interpretation on our anthem. Sing it the way that it was meant to be sung or find another gig.

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