Lions 28 - Riders 23 Post Game Stats and Comments

[WestCoastJoe]

Another CFL barn burner

Cam Wake CFL most outstanding player

Buck Pierce played very well

Media comments about Wake: “crazy athleticism” “never takes a play off”

.......................

PASSING
Name CP/AT YDS TD INT
B. PIERCE 18/33 336 2 0

Along with Cam Wake, Buck was key to this win.

RECEIVING
Name REC YDS TD LG
G. SIMON 7 142 1 77
Super Geroy, a key weapon, great TD at a key time
P. JACKSON 6 126 1 43
Way to go, Paris. New daddy makes good.
B. ANDERSON 2 49 0 28
Contributions by the most valuable fire fighter
S. LOGAN 2 8 0 7
J. CLERMONT 1 11 0 11
I hope JC82 is OK after the nasty stinger.

RUSHING
Name ATT YDS TD LG
C. ROBERTS 9 56 1 18
S. LOGAN 4 7 0 5
B. PIERCE 3 29 0 14
Nice TD run by CR. But the new running game is a work in progress. Not enough touches to go around.

FUMBLES
Name NO LST REC YDS
C. ROBERTS 1 1 0 0
B. JOHNSON 0 0 1 0

FIELD GOALS
Name FG LG XP PTS
P. MCCALLUM 2/2 45 3/3 9

PUNTING
Name NO AVG NET LG
P. MCCALLUM 9 44.4 349 58
Very steady game once again by P Mac

PUNT RETURNS
Name NO YDS AVG LG TD
S. LOGAN 5 48 9.6 26 0
C. ROBERTS 2 3 1.5 3 0

KICKOFFS
Name NO YDS LG SG
B. ANDERSON 3 181 63 0
P. MCCALLUM 1 64 64 0

KICK RETURNS
Name NO YDS AVG LG TD
S. LOGAN 4 128 32.0 51 0
Logan very dangerous on kickoff returns
P. JACKSON 1 0 0.0 0 0

DEFENCE
Name TK SKS INT FF
C. WAKE 6 2 0 1
Just another monster game by the best player in the league. Enjoy him while he is here.
J. GLATT 6 0 0 0
A. HUNT 4 2 0 0
This must be Aaron Hunt's best game of the year.
K. BANKS 4 0 0 0
L. GLOVER 4 0 0 0
T. WILLIAMS 4 0 0 0
B. MILES 3 0 1 0
D. MARSH 2 0 0 0
J. POTTINGER 2 0 0 0
B. JOHNSON 1 1 0 0
O. FLOYD 1 0 0 0
R. MYLES 1 0 0 0
A. REID 1 0 0 0
J. JOHNSON 0 1 0 1
R. PHILLIPS 0 0 0 1
.....................

PASSING
Name CP/AT YDS TD INT
M. BISHOP 16/29 298 1 1
Bishop plays a lot like Kerry Joseph, but seems to be more consistent.

RECEIVING
Name REC YDS TD LG
W. DRESSLER 5 112 0 56
This guy is having an amazing season.
A. NICOLSON 4 53 1 28
We gave up on our first round pick too soon, it seems.
G. WALKER 2 11 0 6
M. PALMER 1 60 0 60
W. CATES 1 20 0 20
V. MARSHALL 1 18 0 18
R. BAGG 1 17 0 17
H. CHILDS 1 7 0 7

RUSHING
Name ATT YDS TD LG
W. CATES 15 122 1 28
Might be the best back in the league.
M. BISHOP 5 11 0 5

FUMBLES
Name NO LST REC YDS
M. BISHOP 2 1 0 0
M. PALMER 1 0 0 0
K. JONES 0 0 1 0

FIELD GOALS
Name FG LG XP PTS
L. CONGI 3/3 45 2/2 11

PUNTING
Name NO AVG NET LG
J. BOREHAM 8 37.9 252 57

PUNT RETURNS
Name NO YDS AVG LG TD
J. JOHNSON 4 24 6.0 10 0
W. DRESSLER 2 23 11.5 12 0
V. MARSHALL 1 4 4.0 4 0

KICKOFFS
Name NO YDS LG SG
J. BOREHAM 4 282 72 0
L. CONGI 1 17 17 0

KICK RETURNS
Name NO YDS AVG LG TD
V. MARSHALL 2 46 23.0 23 0
W. DRESSLER 2 41 20.5 22 0

DEFENCE
Name TKL SK INT FF
E. DAVIS 7 0 0 0
A. MCKENZIE 6 0 0 0
M. LLOYD 4 1 0 0
S. LUCAS 4 0 0 1
S. GORDON 3 0 0 0
M. MCCULLOUGH 1 1 0 0
K. JONES 1 0 0 0
J. VERDON 1 0 0 0
G. JANUARY 1 0 0 0
J. JOHNSON 1 0 0 0
L. MULLINDER 1 0 0 0
.......................

4th quarter fireworks. Another great CFL game. Great intensity by our D Line setting the tone.

Both teams played with ferocious intensity. The Riders linebackers must be the best in the league.

Cam Wake out of this world.

Buck Pierce played even better than his stats. Great game management.

[Toppy Vann]

Gutsy win despite coaching blunders today with the dual scatbacks on the field at the same time. Went to it again in the 4th...yikes.

Dual scat backs a fiasco.

Logan gets 4 for 7 yards on carries. Basically they just eliminated Logan today who had been playing well.
Roberts 9 for 56.

Logan great on kicks:
5 for 48 on punts and a 26 yder
4 for 128 on kick offs.

Buck proved his worth today with not getting frustrated as the offense lost its rhythm of the past two games.

I hope the lessons learned by the coaches include END THE DUAL SCAT BACKS. Alternate them if you have to or just use Roberts and leave Logan on kicks.

Wake brilliant thus giving Hunt some sacks.

Adam Nicholson for Sask sure redeemed himself and that happens.

[Wakesbetterthanyou]

Great game. standouts were wake, buck, geroy, paris, aaron hunt, logan on returns (was disappointed that he didnt get much rushing touches. B miles was solid, as were the linebackers. Roberts definatly got off to a good start.

for the bad,
Reggie Myles disappoints again, had a great game in montreal, was unnoticed in ham, but was weak tonight, he really needs to work on the basics, and get his head all the way into the game.

Korey Banks - Korey is giving too much cushion to receivers, taking too many PI penalties and just generally getting beat too often

Rufus Skillern - Could catch a pass to save his life this game. I think he has a comeback game in regina, he seems to play better on the road.

Offense got some good yardage numbers but we stopped quickly throught the game, a few big plays made up for it, but the offense was not on track as it was the last two games.

Penalties kicked our butts in the first half, especially on a couple big returns by logan. He needs to touch the ball in the offense and not just on the kicks, he makes things happen. Roberts looked alright, typical roberts 1 td, 1 fumble game. But logan makes things happen, didnt seem to get any opportunities this game.

Was a fun game to watch, tho i spent a lot of time yelling at the tv while working out lol.
Hopefully we can get back on track as it will take a much better effort by everyone not named cameron to get the win in regina.

[Big Time]

McCallum made a HUGE blunder with 1:20 left in the quarter by not letting the clock run down. He could have taken 15 more seconds off the clock but inexplicably had the ball snapped with 17 seconds left on the play clock! For a veteran that is totally unacceptable. Could have been a difference maker were it not for Wake on the final possession. These little mental errors have been costing the Lions this season. They're going to have to play a little smarter if they hope to do some damage in the playoffs.

[WestCoastJoe]

McCallum made a HUGE blunder with 1:20 left in the quarter by not letting the clock run down. He could have taken 15 more seconds off the clock but inexplicably had the ball snapped with 17 seconds left on the play clock! For a veteran that is totally unacceptable. Could have been a difference maker were it not for Wake on the final possession. These little mental errors have been costing the Lions this season. They're going to have to play a little smarter if they hope to do some damage in the playoffs.

Not sure how the Lions do it on punts, but when I coached high school the center long snapped the ball when he was ready. I think the media put the error on the snapper, McCullough, not McCallum. No matter whose fault, it should not happen.

[B.C.FAN]

McCallum made a HUGE blunder with 1:20 left in the quarter by not letting the clock run down. He could have taken 15 more seconds off the clock but inexplicably had the ball snapped with 17 seconds left on the play clock! For a veteran that is totally unacceptable. Could have been a difference maker were it not for Wake on the final possession. These little mental errors have been costing the Lions this season. They're going to have to play a little smarter if they hope to do some damage in the playoffs.

Not sure how the Lions do it on punts, but when I coached high school the center long snapped the ball when he was ready. I think the media put the error on the snapper, McCullough, not McCallum. No matter whose fault, it should not happen.

In that situation teams usually go with a silent count. They let the play clock run down and snap it with about 2 seconds left.

[WestCoastJoe]

In that situation teams usually go with a silent count. They let the play clock run down and snap it with about 2 seconds left.

On offense we would have the QB call: "Down, set ... hut hut hut" ... snap coming on the correct hut ... one two or three

On punts or field goals, the punter or holder would call: "Down, set ..." and then go silent, letting the snapper release when ready.

[rb]

My thoughts:

I hope Crawford is ready to start at safety next year. Barron Miles-- who's been a terrific football player for many years and should go to the HoF, in my opinion-- is winding down and it showed yet again tonight. Yes, he got an INT but he took a very poor angle on one deep pass to give Sask a huge gain in the 2nd quarter, and then he whiffed what should've been an INT that instead became another huge Sask gain late in the game.

The team really, really needs another reliable receiver. Skillern's performance was about as bad as it gets.

The offensive line did a pretty good job of pass protecting again, although the run blocking was a bit spotty (but credit Sask as they have a very tough defence). Pierce is looking good.

I've been watching CFL football for 35 years and Wake is as good as any player I've ever seen in the league. Fast, strong, quick and agile, and very intelligent. He completely overmatches and dominates his opponents, virtually week in and week out. Too good for this league. Johnson is playing quite well. Williams is another respected but aging warrior, still okay but not quite the force that he used to be. Aaron Hunt is a bit frustrating to watch this year.

The Lions are fortunate to have Brett Anderson and Lyle Green.

The team is playing better now but I still don't see this group being the calibre of the '06 or '07 clubs.

[Belize City Lion]

A few random thoughts:

-what a great game to see live! Thank you so much BC Lions for a great way to end my annual pilgrimage to Canada!!
-great job by the defensive to put pressure on Bishop all night long. Note to MB, the one time you sat back and only rushed 2 Bishop burned us for a big play.
-Did BP play a bit of possum when he got sacked and came up holding his arm? I've been wondering if he went over to the bench and told The Chap he was going deep to Geroy. I don't think anyone at BC Place expected anything other than a hand off to Blink on the next play... BP-GS for 7!!
-Wake is a monster, but if it was not for Wake we'd be talking about Brent Johnston tonight. A great game for BJ as well!
-How about Brett Anderson tonight? What a treat to see one what will probably be one of the best catches of his career.
-The secondary needs to tighten up, especially against the run. If Cates got 1 yard he was going to get 10.

Not a purrfect game, but it was the sort of game we can be very happy about. The defense won that game, but BP and offense did their part as well. We showed that we are a way better team than a 6-5 record may indicate. It was a dog fight with a very good team and we were able to beat them. There was no luck involved in that win or bad luck responsible for the Rider loss. I can't wait for the rematch next week!

[TheLionKing]

A dominating game by both the offensive and defensive lines. Pierce's passing stats would be close to 400 yards had Skillern hadn't dropped those passes.

[QB Club 63]

What a finish! After watching the Riders pretty much march downfield at will last week in their comeback against the Blue Bombers, I must admit I was fully expecting them to do the same tonight in the last 2 minutes. Thank you Aaron Hunt! Thank you Cam Wake!

I'd really be surprised if Mike Benevides can last the remainder of the season without blowing a heart valve or popping a blood vessel. I watched him on the bench after Sask's last touchdown and I thought he had completely lost it. To say he's animated is like saying Bill Gates has some money. The guy needs to learn to relax.

So my highlight of the night was Geroy of course. My lowlight of the night was Ballistic Bob being escorted yet again out of BC Place by the intrepid (?) security folk.

At first it looked like our Bob had successfully arranged to have a couple of green-clad miscreants taken away to the paddy wagon, but after a scant few minutes had passed security returned (no doubt with their pockets lined with many Saskatchewan Wheat Dollars) to nab the Ballistic One. My nephew, who had slipped out to grab a refreshment, said he saw a couple of VPD's finest adorning Robert's wrists with some chromy bling. Is there any way we can help post bail? :lol:

[Belize City Lion]

I forgot to add kudos to Aaron Hunt on having a great game. I thought he looked slow and ineffective against Hamilton last week, but he was back in fine form tonight.

[Wakesbetterthanyou]

Looks like Aaron Hunt has finally gotten into shape as he has lost much of his fat gut he acquired in the offseason. Cam Wake is incredible. He is all arms and legs and can fly through the air. Put a cape on him, he's Superman!

It seems we have replaced Ian Smart with S. Logan, and replaced Logan in the offence with Roberts? A fair trade-off I suppose if Logan can hang onto the ball and is up to speed on his "rouqe" rules. This move a somewhat unfortunate as Logan looked All-World in the last few games as a receiver/rusher out of the backfield, but gained less than 16 yds from scrimmage last night. The Lions had their usual 12-13 rushes with the RB's, despite "starting" two imports backs. Too bad one of them isn't built like John Henry White, who was a devastating blocker as well as an outstanding receiver and rusher (he led the Lions in receptions as couple of seasons with a 10 yd avg, terrific for a fullback...and always had a higher rushing average than the starting tailback he replaced, when John Henry was routinely pressed into service due to injury. As well, he was a very durable player over this 10-yr Lion career, despite laying out defenders on every down).

I remember meeting him at mcdonalds when i was 6!

[Blitz]

It was an enjoyable game to watch.....and had the feel and hitting of a playoff game. Offensively, while I'm not crazy about the dual scatback concept (if we could try this for Roberts and change our offence to do it why couldn't we have used Joe Smith and Logan together...it would have been a better combination) our offence played well when it needed to.

I anticipated Ritchie Hall would play our receivers tight and take away the underneath game. A lot has been made of Buck's passing percentage but with an accurate passer, who is only throwing short and underneath stuff, you're going to get that, as we did with Dickenson. However, the key was whether Buck would have the ability to go over the top, when the Riders jammed us up. What I liked was that Buck threatened deep in this game, something he hadn't done much of in his two previous starts. While he didn't connect early with the deep ball he did in the second half and it was the key to our win offensively. Buck also hit some deep intermediate throws, which were also open at times. His ability to adapt to a Ritchie Hall defense was what impressed me.

However, there is no question that this game was won by our defense. Cameron Wake, as I mentioned in a different thread, was unbelievable. His pressure on the quarterback, his sacks, and his pursuit are so impressive it's hard to find words to describe them. Hunt and Williams also came up big. I was impressed with the play of Jason Pottinger, when he was in there and Foley also played well.

Lavar Glover continues to be our best defensive back and had another excellent game. Barrin Miles got a pick but was also beaten on a deep ball by misplaying it, which allowed the Riders an opportunity to almost come back in this game. I really believe the time has arrived to start giving Tad Crawford some reps in his position, even though I know Wally won't do that.


A few thoughts:

It's been really interesting to see how our offence had changed for Buck Pierce. Chapdelaine rolled him out and moved him around more in the first quarter against the Riders than he did for Jarious Jackson the entire first half of the season. Why we didn't do that more for Jackson is confusing at best. All we had Jackson do was throw from the pocket. Over the last three games we've run more hitch screens, more misdirection play action plays, and more designed throws with one or two quick options by a country mile than we did in the first part of the season

I really had reservations about our Leos dropping Adam Nicholson from the roster. A few games back I had wanted us to start Nicholson a few games back and get Joe Smith into the lineup with Logan and inserting Nicholson would have allowed us to do that. Yes, Nicholson had a few drops but considering his very limited playing time I thought we should have been more patient with a Canadian receiver who is tall, has size, and enough speed to be a good player in the future. Nicholson, on the few plays he was inserted into games had eyes as big as saucers and he was obviously nervous. Last night, playing for the Riders, he looked so much more relaxed. Guys like Skillern and Coleman had dropped lots of passes but they didn't suffer the same fate. It will be interesting to see if dropping Nicholson turns out to be a wise decision

Benevedes rarely rushed three last night and came with four or five most of the game. Our defense blitzed a lot more and we play better defensively when we get pressure on the quarterback, no matter how we have to do it.

Wes Cates exposed what is still a problem for our defense and that's being able to shut down a running back when he gets into our second layer. We finally made a smart move to get Jamal Johnson more playing time, when it was past obvious he deserved more reps. I'm starting to think we should also get Pottinger more reps in the middle on first down.

My guess is that Roberts will be back in the lineup next game. Whether Logan plays or not will prove interesting. Wally is going to want to make the trade for Roberts to look good. However, I'd still prefer Logan in the lineup along with Ian Smart. In the long run, I still believe we need to find a way to start a Canadian receiver and also get a deep threat going at the other import receiver spot, with a top NFL cut. If we could insert a Canadian receiver. However, I thought last night, that inserting Roberts hurt Logan's game and our offence wasn't the better for it.