Lionbackers.com

Want to start framing this game up early as there are a lot of story lines - some wild, some wacky.

First, who'll start at quarterback for our Leos? Is Coach Bene really going to wait until warm-up to determine whether Travis will play and, if so, how many reps will he get? Or does the club already know the answer?

Mike Benevides wrote:“He had a pretty good day today, but I’m still going to reserve judgment until (Saturday’s pre-game) warmup,” the B.C. Lions head coach said on Thursday, two days before his team’s regular-season finale against Saskatchewan...."

SOURCE: Ed Willes, Vancouver Province

Regardless of whether Edmonton wins tonight, it appears that the Riders are intent on resting a lot of their starters, namely Darian Durant but possibly Weston Dressler and a host of others too.

It has also been reported that the largest crowd of the season will be on hand tomorrow (over 35,000) so it should be a pretty good atmosphere. Can the Leos put last week's debacle behind them? On the line is their stellar defensive record (20.4 points allowed per game so far), which could be the best Leos defense of the "18 game" era if they can smother the Riders again tomorrow night.

Oh, and Riders' rookie receiver Ismael Bamba will be arriving to the game in the team's equipment truck as he doesn't have any picture ID to fly. True story. Only in the CFL!


DH

OK, let's get the discussion started early. My guess is that Lulay will play the first quarter or first half. At least that's what I surmised after reading Ed Willes's latest take on the matter, but there is lots of room for other speculation, including conspiracy theories. It must be playoff time. I've never seen so much secrecy from the Lions, including closed practices from Thursday through to the end of the playoffs.

I'm not sure which team will be hungrier for a victory. The Lions will want to remove the stench of last week's first-quarter stinker in Calgary. Depending on what Edmonton does this week, the Riders may need to win this game to finish third in the West and get a semifinal date with the Stampeders in Calgary. Or, depending on your perspective, they may need to lose it to get a semifinal date with the Argos in Toronto. Cue more conspiracy theories.

The Riders are the only team to have an advantage over the Lions in the season series this year, winning 2 of their 3 first meetings. That could have a psychological impact if these teams meet in the playoffs.

The are a lot of personal and team milestones on the line. Some interesting facts and stats, courtesy of the league and the Lions:

The Lions lead the CFL in net offence (6,641), leading Calgary by 270 yards. They will likely end up leading in fewest yards allowed (5,006) and thus lead in both in the same year for the first time in club history.

As mentiuoned elsewhere, the Lions will set a league record for fewest turnovers in a season if they don't turn the ball over 6 times. They have 22 turnovers and the record is 28.

And as noted in another thread, Andrew Harris leads Kory Sheets by 7 yards and Jon Cornish by 47 yards in yards from scrimmage. Harris has already set a record for yards by a non-import, but Cornish is within striking distance of that record heading into the final weekend.

Tim Brown trails Chad Owens by 200 yards in total return yards after Thursday's game and could overtake him for the league lead with a big game. No one else is close. Brown leads all returners in the second half of the season. Owens is deserving of all the attention focused on him this year for his combined receiving, rushing and returning yardage. Brown has just quietly done his job without much fanfare.

David wrote:Want to start framing this game up early as there are a lot of story lines - some wild, some wacky.

and you can't wait for kickoff

Travis Lulay is listed as the starting QB on the depth chart for this week. Angus Reid returns as starting centre. A few other changes:
- Nick Moore starts in place of Ernest Jackson at wideout.
- J.R. LaRose starts at safety for Cauchy Muamba, who is on the injured list.
- Eric Taylor returns to the starting lineup at the expense of Brandon Jordan, who remains on the 46-man roster with Maurice Evans.

The defensive backfield is down one with Muamba out. Would J. Bell be activated as a backup? We still have LJ Shell but we're pretty thin back there. The Lions have 9 LB's on the active roster including 5 imports plus Arakgi, Yurichuk, Gesse and Conn.

I like the move to insert Moore over E. Jackson at WR, despite him practicing at slotback. Nick has shown pretty good hands this year, is fast and runs pretty good routes. Jackson hasn't done much over the past several games.

You wonder how motivated the Riders will be to win? They should be fighting with Edm for the coveted 3rd place spot in the East, by losing...and thus avoiding the Stamps and Lions in their SunLife march to the Grey Cup.

Nick Moore was our go to receiver when Simon was out. He has also played on the outside so replacing Ernest Jackson will not be a difficult transition for Moore, although I believe he is more suited to the slot position rather than the outside.

LaRose played safety for us last season and was our starting safety in the Grey Cup game last year. He is not as good at reading defenses or pass defense as Muamba but he is a better tackler and harder hitter. Ièm sure he will be enthused with this opportunity.

Jordan played very well for us but Taylor is huge and fast for a guy of his size. If Mitchell can get his head straight and Taylor can knock the rust off..we have two imposing tackles and Westerman becomes a very talented guy to come in on the rotation.

LU mentioned in his weekly Lions chat that Geroy will be a healthy scratch for the game so we may see some juggling at receiver. That could also open the door for Bell at DB unless the team wants to use the import spot elsewhere.

D wrote:and you can't wait for kickoff

Well, yea, there's that too!




DH

It's interesting that Sask is opting to sit some starters. I wonder if that will change should Edmonton beat Calgary. Then again, maybe they don't care if they play out east where the semi-final weather is not a factor. I'm still trying to figure out the spike in Lions attendance. Things that increase attendance: No hockey, typical fall weather (nothing going on outdoors), opponent's fans. Things that could lower attendance: game has little meaning, many starters sitting out, ticket prices... Anyway, let's hope they hit 40G, Harris churns out big yardage, and they go into the final with a W! Bye week thoughts: Watching the semi finalists beat the crap out of each other can be some of the best, low stress, football viewing!

David wrote:Oh, and Riders' rookie receiver Ismael Bamba will be arriving to the game in the team's equipment truck as he doesn't have any picture ID to fly. True story. Only in the CFL!

DH

I'm assuming he lost it. He hasn't played yet this year so I guess hasn't had need to fly so far this season. He must've had a passport at one time given he was born in the Ivory Coast and played a couple years at U of North Dakota in between playing CJFL ball in Montreal then transferring back to Sherbrooke after his stint with the Fighting Sioux.

Very much looking to this game as the Lions seek to redeem themselves after last week's debacle in Calgary

B.C.FAN wrote:LU mentioned in his weekly Lions chat that Geroy will be a healthy scratch for the game so we may see some juggling at receiver. That could also open the door for Bell at DB unless the team wants to use the import spot elsewhere.

Wow .. so that debacle in Calgary was good enough for Geroy to get this week off? That was his first game in nearly a month. Would have been nice to see him have a productive game tomorrow night to take some momentum into the WF. Will have some concerns if Lions head into the WF with Geroy and Arland as their starting slots with one game between them since Sept. 30.

With Edmonton's last-second loss to Calgary, the B.C.-Saskatchewan game is officially meaningless in the standings. The Riders will finish third and play in Calgary next week.

Individually, Jon Cornish passed Andrew Harris to set a new CFL record for most yards from scrimmage by a non-import. Unofficially, he leads Harris by 28 yards. I would expect the Lions to make sure Harris regains that record before leaving the game Saturday.

B.C.FAN wrote:With Edmopnton's last-second loss to Calgary, the B.C.-Saskatchewan game is officially meaningless in the standings. The Riders will finish third and play in Calgary next week.

Individually, Jon Cornish passed Andrew Harris to set a new CFL record for most yards from scrimmage by a non-import. Unofficially, he leads Harris by 28 yards. I would expect the Lions to make sure Harris regains that record before leaving the game Saturday.

Wow, every bounce went Cgy's way there in the last minute or two. Muffed snap/hold on the FGA, RTP to overturn the INT, INC pass on the review to overturn the fumble (prob would have been ruled down by contact anyway had he caught it), then a bad timeout call (in hindsight) on Paredes's initial last play FGA, a miss that would have prob been returned to at least negate the single and force OT, then he nails it. Not as bad as our start in Cgy last week but still factored big.

And now Edm's playoff game is slated to kick off in TO as Remembrance Day services are underway back home. I anticipated this in a few posts earlier this year and made my views clear on it: a great big fat

David wrote:Oh, and Riders' rookie receiver Ismael Bamba will be arriving to the game in the team's equipment truck as he doesn't have any picture ID to fly. True story. Only in the CFL!


DH

I just read that story here:

Bamba hitches a ride to Vancouver

Ismael Bamba ... endured a 20-hour, 1,700-kilometre drive from Regina to Vancouver because he didn't have the proper picture identification required to fly on the team's commercial flight Friday. After contacting the airline, Bamba was told that he needed photo identification to fly ... .

Bamba decided to hitch a ride with Chris Parsons, who was hauling the Riders' equipment to Vancouver ... . Bamba and Parsons ... left Regina at approximately 5 p.m. on Thursday and rolled into BC Place at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

Bamba ... wasn't going to let delayed identification stop [him]. Bamba said his only piece of photo ID is his passport and one of his brothers needed it for income tax purposes. That brother was in New York for work and the return of Bamba's passport was delayed by Hurricane Sandy.

"I knew that I would be travelling, but the delay killed everything,'' Bamba said. "I didn't expect that at all and it's probably at the stadium right now.''

Seems like an odd happenstance. I'm not an expert on this sort of stuff but for what tax purpose would someone need someone else's passport for (presumably) some extended amount of time, and did he actually take it with him across the border as this article seems to suggest? Is that even allowed? Not trying to suggest anything untoward is going on, but it just comes off all very DogAteMyHomework-like.

Fortunately for Bamba he seems to have already recovered it somehow and will be able to use it to fly back to Ssk after the game.