Lionbackers.com

Dug into the cfl.com archives to find when was the last time the Lions had a winning season against Western Division opponents. Had to go back to 2013 which was the last time it was a 4-team division with Winnipeg in the East. That's 5 head coaches ago (Benevides, Tedford, Wally, Claybrooks, Campbell). Even a 2nd place 12-6 finish in 2016 only produced a .500 record while going 7-1 against the East.

Sadly, it's got really ugly over the past 2 seasons, including this one. Frustrating that it easily could have been 2 wins over 2nd place Saskatchewan with a better FG kicker. I definitely don't think they are miles ahead of BC. The difference is their experience on defence and special teams. Would take the Lions offence in a heartbeat. What would the Lions defence look like if they had re-signed Lemon and not let Micah Johnson get away?

Calgary has murdered us and almost every other team in recruiting over that time. I would say the Bombers are now on par or better but hopefully Ryan Raigmaiden's return to BC will help close the gap. DBs such as Hardin & Edwards-Cooper were good finds. You just can't completely rebuild your team through free agency. Hervey's brief era has proven that.

Division Record since 2013:
2014: 4-6 (9-9)
2015: 4-6 (7-11)
2016: 5-5 (12-6)
2017: 3-7 (7-11)
2018: 4-6 (9-9)
2019: 0-10 (5-13)
2021: 1-8 (5-9)

Great research Sammy.

Yikes. That's 1-18 against the West in the past two seasons. Almost unfathomable. The lone victory was against Bo playing on a broken leg. And even then, Calgary nearly mounted a comeback, only a late INT by Edwards-Cooper insured victory IIRC.


DH

Yeah, the evidence reaffirms what most of us have thought about this team for some time. That is they are step behind when it comes to solid teams. Have been for awhile and will continue to be. I'm hopeful now that new ownership will provide some life and direction. Just goes to show what happens when the ownership isn't really involved. Braley through no choice of his own has really been largely absent for I'm thinking at least 3-4 years. Left to their own devices, the management some of whom would probably have been gone long ago but stayed because of the circumstances (a compliment) have shown little vision or execution in making this team something to be proud of. You have to be hungry a little and maybe in fear of losing your job to make things work in sports sometimes. It is always a case of "what have you accomplished lately". In our situation the answer has been 'Not a lot'. We've have tried different coaches, different players but a largely stagnant management group has continued the plodding ways without really have the spectre of a disgruntled owner coming down like the wrath of god. I don't necessarily want people to be in fear for their jobs but it does assist in keeping your nose to the grindstone. People hanging around cause perhaps they are trying to help keep things together, maybe wanting to have retired a couple of years earlier bud didn't due to the circumstances has done us no favours in the long run. A good front office shake up is required IMO.

We let Reilly and White go to Edmonton 10 years ago and then let Elimimian and Bighill go to Winnipeg.

We have to start holding onto quality players. Look, we just sent Castillo to Winnipeg.

MacNews wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 17, 2021 10:52 am

We have to start holding onto quality players. Look, we just sent Castillo to Winnipeg.

Lamenting sending Castillo's rights to Winnipeg is practicing purrfect 20/20 Hindsight. At the time of the trade Camacho was 14 of 16 on FGs and 13 of 14 on converts for a combined 27 of 30 or 90%. Nobody looks to replace that sort of performance. Castillo's rights were an expendable asset that BC turned into a conditional 4th round pick. I don't think the Lions or anybody in these parts predicted Camacho who made 14 of 16 FGs BEFORE the trade would go 0 for 4 AFTER the trade.

I am fine with trading Castillo. If he had been signed when Camacho developed the yips and performed well, we would most likely want to hang onto him for 2022.

The fact is, we simply can't afford to play two Americans to kick and punt. I don't mean financially either. I am talking about ratio implications and how that affects special teams. We must look to draft and invest in a reliable Canadian kicker. Perhaps that's where we use that 4th round pick from Winnipeg?


DH