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Well here it is boys and girls. The official thread.

Can you expand on that for me to add something....

Rammer wrote:Can you expand on that for me to add something....

Sheesh. Never satisfied eh Rammer? I put a thread together full of details and insights and you complain that there's nothing left for you to discuss. Now I put a thread together with just some basics in it and you complain there is nothing for you to discuss.

I really feel for your wife and children.... 8)

LFITQ wrote:

Rammer wrote:Can you expand on that for me to add something....

Sheesh. Never satisfied eh Rammer? I put a thread together full of details and insights and you complain that there's nothing left for you to discuss. Now I put a thread together with just some basics in it and you complain there is nothing for you to discuss.

I really feel for your wife and children.... 8)

Not sure that is exactly what I was looking for though, but try try again. 8)

best of luck to both teams

Ok Rammer how is this...

Most games can be described as being won in the trenches. Tonight I feel the Lions have a distinct advantage there.

Not only do we have the "dirty oline", we also have the sackmasters and the monsters up front on the dline.

Add to that, the reports out of Winnipeg have the Bombers playing without 2 of their starting olinemen (centre and left guard) and 2 of their starting dlinemen (end and tackle). Replacements on the oline are Picard at centre who has played 9 games and took most of the reps for the first part of the season and a raw rookie at left guard (Kyle Koch). Meanwhile over on the dline Stevie Baggs will make his first start for the Bombers on the end while Jabari Issa will be in his second game with the Bombers at tackle.

Could be a good day for feasting depending on how we exploit the line. It may be more of an impact than Glenn's quick releases and the threat of his receivers and on Defense we may be able to exploit it to keep the ball away from their ballhawks.

GO LIONS GO

WE have to guard ourselves from thinking like that though, even though just about half the articles I have read in Winnipeg and here seem to point to that distinct advantage that the Lions have. By not bringing our A game on D and more specifically on the DL, it makes for a long night for the remaining portion of our D, and that dramatically affects our O to produce. That isn't always going to be possible, even with less of a pass rush. One thing that I do know is that a rookie OL has an advantage on a DL as was most recently seen with Valli subbing in for Rasouli. At 321 lbs Koch isn't going to get bowled over often, he is just too low on the centre of gravity mark to have that problem.

Our ST's must be licking their chops with the underwhelming performances lately of the Bombers ST. This is also an area that doesn't seem to let down the Lions, as those guys know there is reward for giving it 100% play in and play out.

The suspect part of the Lions tonight though is our own K/P team, as McCallum will be doing only the punting duties and you have to wonder at what % he wil perform. With Anderson taking over the FG attempts, the Lions will be shortening the range down to a point that may cost us some valuable points in the end.

BTW, LFitQ, I liked that Game Day thread.

My biggest fear in this game is the quick release that Glenn has. Despite the "game being won in the trenches" cliche, Glenn's ability to release the ball quickly can reduce the effectiveness of a solid Dline dramatically. Also, our ball hawks seem to be better at playing the deep ball than the short one and with Johnson out I am worried the underneath stuff may be there all night. Glenn has the ability and the receivers to nickel and dime us to death. Watch for the Bombers to go after our "soft underbelly", especially early on in the game.

Both offenses will be looking to maintain control of the clock keep the other team's offense off the field.

LFITQ wrote:My biggest fear in this game is the quick release that Glenn has. Despite the "game being won in the trenches" cliche, Glenn's ability to release the ball quickly can reduce the effectiveness of a solid Dline dramatically. Also, our ball hawks seem to be better at playing the deep ball than the short one and with Johnson out I am worried the underneath stuff may be there all night. Glenn has the ability and the receivers to nickel and dime us to death. Watch for the Bombers to go after our "soft underbelly", especially early on in the game.

Both offenses will be looking to maintain control of the clock keep the other team's offense off the field.

I think that you have seen a drop off in his production over the past three games, below 50% passing, is due to teams now understanding where his quick passes are going. You have to think like McManus, when he is on, he can hurt you, but he does have to have a let down in the D, plus have his receivers tuned in with him. Disrupt the receivers off the line and we should be able to help out the DL to be able to get to Glenn, who is a little banged up himself.

Rammer wrote: I think that you have seen a drop off in his production over the past three games, below 50% passing, is due to teams now understanding where his quick passes are going. You have to think like McManus, when he is on, he can hurt you, but he does have to have a let down in the D, plus have his receivers tuned in with him. Disrupt the receivers off the line and we should be able to help out the DL to be able to get to Glenn, who is a little banged up himself.

Right. In that sense, it's like playing Hamilton with McManus in that the offense tends to do pretty well between the 20s, but not so well inside as there is less room for a rhythm/timing first read offense to work. Focus on ensuring the first read is covered, dedicate six to stopping the run on first down and take it from there.

They weren't exactly light out against us when they beat us. Won the total yards matchup by 8 yards - 331 to 323 with the passing game being
243 to 226 in favour of the Lions.

I expect us to top that tonight, and I expect Winnipeg to be right about the 225 mark.

The key will be Roberts and Smith

It will be an interesting match up with several underlying themes.

It is the time of year to crank up the intensity and get your club playoff ready and go in with a hot streak.

It's an important game to come away with a victory with both the playoffs and the division title on the line, every win is another step ahead of second place right now.

Also figuring in is the Peg's last win in BC place, even with the one point margin you don't want them thinking they can take a game at will, there will be a good pysch push for who is the dominate team, right now and in the very near future.

There are in addition some great "one on one' match ups and line versus line and glenn v secondary contests that will be exciting to watch.

The Peg have a solid coaching staff and with the dispesal draft of 06 added some key components so it will likely be a tough game all around.

If it should come down to a FG to tie or win, it will be an interesting call as to who kicks it...

Go Lions !

BC doesn't want to lose both games to Winnipeg. Look at BC to play with some extra intensity.

If they were to lose to the Bombers tonight, and the two teams were to meet for the GC, that isn't a point that the media would let go of. I am sure that the Lions are well aware of this, and will use the lose earlier to the Bombers as a motivator for the game. If only the new Lions could find some of the emotion that the 80's brought between these two clubs, it would be huge. Now with the Bombers in the East it just doesn't have the same feel going into the game as it once did.