Lionbackers.com

Following last week's stirring 32-31 come from behind win over the Blue Bombers, Lions now get the pleasure to play the CFL's top team. Lions are only one of two teams to beat the Stampeders this season. They should have beaten them in their second meeting but blew a 15 point lead with 3 minutes remaining and lose in overtime. Manny Arceneaux and Shawn Gore are making the trip to Calgary but whether Arceneaux will play will be a game time decision. Calgary is a well coached team, very sound in all 3 facets of the game. If the Lions hope to progress to the Grey Cup they need to be playing at their absolute best; no turnovers, no stupid penalties and capitalize on their opportunities by scoring touchdowns instead of settling for field goals. One big unknown is what effect will the 3 week layoff will have on the Stampeders. Ideally the Lions will start quickly while the Stamps are trying to find their game speed.

"He'll play, you know he'll play, he'll play on crutches!"

I feel calmly confident that the Lions will be prepared and motivated to take it to the Stamps. Will it be enough? I usually host a Grey Cup party. This year I'm starting a week early with a house full of fans cheering for the Lions in the WF. I hope this is just the buildup for the main event next week.

What do we get out of the chocolate box?

We should be able to compete. We should have a good chance to win.

Can we run the ball?

Can we protect JJ?

Can we pressure Bo?

Will we have game plans that attack tendencies? Or will we go vanilla, trot out the generic? Be a shame to go vanilla, with the talent we have. Be a shame to play not to lose. Have we done that? To some fans, in some games, it seems like it.

Will we come out of the gate playing well, or will we be in mild shock, as has happened in some games?

I expect Calgary to come out strong. Be tough to catch up if we spot them a big lead.

The biggest elephant in the room in this game, isn't the talent or desire or ability of the players, it is the coaching. Pretty much what you alluded to WCJ. We can beat them but can we avoid beating ourselves. Please, please let us have some good game planning, adjustments and decision making from the sidelines.

Sir Purrcival wrote:The biggest elephant in the room in this game, isn't the talent or desire or ability of the players, it is the coaching. Pretty much what you alluded to WCJ. We can beat them but can we avoid beating ourselves. Please, please let us have some good game planning, adjustments and decision making from the sidelines.

A win = player execution , a loss = poor coaching .

From 7-11 to 12-6. It' been a heck of season with a highly entertaining team, led by a dynamic young QB who will just keep getting better. Sorry Edmonton & Ottawa, this is the unofficial Grey Cup between the league's top two teams. And the Lions likely had to take out the 3rd best team just to get here.

As long as Manny and Gore are healthy enough to contribute, the Lions should be able to move the football. I would love to see a heavy douse of the running game simply to keep Mitchell off the field. Just hoping our defence and suspect secondary can make a game of it.

Go Lions. Please extend this season by another week, knowing we are in for months of coverage dissecting a bad 60 point hockey team.

Jennings has been the most successful QB at completing long passes this season. So hopefully the Stamps focus on taking the long pass away because the best chance that the Lions have is a ball control run and short pass game that eats up the clock.

Let's have a complete game for 60 minutes and take out the Stamps.....Go Lions Go!

If the Leos hope to win this game today they must bring their A game on both sides of the line of scrimmage, with ball control and keen and resolute defense.

They must pay attention to detail, and above all else play with discipline, and absolutely mistake free football.

If they do this and make the necessary adjustments at the half, they will win this game today!

Some things to consider:

* Stamps will be amped up to play this for their fallen teammate Mylan Hicks.

* Lions are playing the 'doubters' card. The fact people were picking them for last place before the season began (not on this site!), and none of the 6 CFL reporters is picking the Leos to win. Bulletin board material!

* While the Leos are used to playing in cool, damp conditions, it's a whole other thing to be playing in frosty Alberta against a team that routinely plays in it. Wind chill likely to be near freezing.

* What's the scenario if one (or more) of Arceneaux, Gore, or even Sinkfield get re-injured early in this ball game? Not out of the question by any means! Adekolu can step up, but what's next? Rainey is the Swiss Army Knife on this team but that's a lot to ask. I would have been inclined in to have activated McNeil at the expense of Ontko - just as insurance.

* Lions need to jump on the Stamps early if they hope to win today. Calgary is likely to be rusty. Take advantage of that and try to take the crowd out of it.

* It comes down to 'rest' vs 'rust.' Lack of a meaningful game since October vs a club on a 4-game win streak, albeit one that is beaten up.


Go Lions!!!


DH

That's my meal!!!

Much as I'd like to see an early head start for our Leos , the thing that concerns me about it , is that complacency sets in sometimes with a big lead . The game we won against the Stamps was a come from behind win and the close game we lost was an early lead we blew . And it does IMO seem to happen in many games , not just to BC , but to many other teams too . Last week was a case in point for the Bombers. A big early lead seems to get a team playing conservative , which is hard to shake when the behind team is catching up. Whereas the team that is behind gets more aggressive as the game winds down and frequently does catch up for those very reasons . The aggressive team out plays the conservative team to the end leading to a come from behind win. Hopefully BC does not fall into that trap.

Looks like Arceneaux is in the lineup.

PigSkin_53 wrote:

Puma13.jpg

That's my meal!!!

The Beast will feast !