Montreal vs. B.C. July 9, 2023

[SammyGreene]

I thought Siriman Bagayogo did a solid job as a raw rookie put in a difficult situation after the Edwards-Cooper injury and the deck having been already shuffled with Rugamba out of the line-up. Manny is a big part of that defence at SAM and on special teams. He was missed yesterday.
The Lions play a bit of a dangerous game when they dress six American receivers (including Williams) yet not a whole lot of insurance for the 5/6 secondary positions. Is free agent signing Mike Jones actually hurt or just tucked away on the 6-game?
Hard to keep track in person and I will watch the broadcast but how many snaps did McInnis get yesterday in a back-up role? Talk about an embarrassment of riches at the position.

After a slow start, VA looked terrific in the 2nd half and his numbers would have been better if not for those consecutive holding calls wiping out a couple of long gains.

From Mizzell to Shivers is more evidence why Butler is gone and the Lions will never pay more than a rookie salary for their starting RB spot. Now who starts the next game if both are healthy?

Two weeks to hype the Riders visit here on July 22. A Saskatchewan win at home over Calgary this week sets up a battle of 4-1 teams on a Saturday. Couldn't ask for much more at this stage of the season.

[MacNews]

never have been able to understand why they didnt build the stadium with a lot more space around the endzones

They should add more carpet and padding on game days outside the end zone. No sense in having a star player injured.

[Toppy Vann]

End zones:

Scary. It was odd that yesterday they were off the turf and I wondered why.
Is there a fix that doesn't create more danger there is likely a question they might look at.

Lions Defence:

Great performance and definitely overcame issues from the Toronto game. Betts is great and yes Brent Johnson great. But like Johnson in his time, it's helped by the guys you play with and that's definitely a good defence.

Edwards-Cooper's replacement may have no experience but did a good job with the Lion adjustments. The toss-up ball commentary on the broadcast focuses on being a rookie but if it was any body else, they'd have just given him kudos for position.

Vernon Adams:

I wasn't sure why MTL didn't challenge the early INT as it was a pretty weak call. But the weak call and INT didn't seem to affect him for the balance of the game. He played well and made good decisions including running.

It'd be great if he wasn't overly fixated on media talk and didn't bring it up but all players and QBs are built differently and I'm sure it gets to him.
As Rick Campbell says it's a team game even if those INTs led to a lot of Argo points.

Shivers and Edwards-Coopper:

I thought Edwards-Cooper brilliant grab of the blocked kick was a poor example as he held the ball out foolishly on the way to the end zone. Then Shivers got the ball stripped and MTL dodged the bullet as they were down to 8 pt conversions at the time IIRC.

Shivers looked good especially breaking to the outside. Fun to watch and good that this didn't lead to penalties.

Shivers taken out of the game by the independent analyst was a good call as from my angle I thought he took a head shot.
On the broadcast I went back to it several times with the usual thought - Why can't Glen Suitor ever say head shot? A pattern there.

It'd be great to see Shivers and Mizzell together but I guess with Whitehead, they'd not do that.

Receivers:

Great game for Cottoy and hard to find fault with Vernon Adams passing choices.
Tons of talent to throw to.

Where do you store 3 pit bulls during a game? Hopefully, the big one was friendly.

MTL:

Same guy committed most of their kick return penalties.

Surprised that Stanback had about one good play and the play calls after that bottled him up.
Their run play calls for him were suspect.

Overall the Lions were the superior team in all facets and that special teams blocked kick was incredible.

[Hambone]

Good solid win; but lucky with that bogus INT call that should have been a pick 6 for the Als. I thought all scoring plays were automatically reviewed ? chintzy call if so. That interference call on Bagayogo was bogus too IMO. Refs trying to do too much.

That new mini back is impressive.

How bout that hurdle by Mackie on a kick -return - spectacular; this guy is a big load with some wheels and needs a few touches on offence a game IMO.

Was the flag on the pick 6 call bogus? They showed the replay of the pick portion of the play in the stadium but not the earlier parts of the play. There was no DPI by Dequoy IMO. However the call was for Illegal Contact, not DPI. That indicates whatever infraction they think they saw happened before the ball left Adams hand. Did the TSN talking heads show and discuss contact much earlier in the play?

[Fred.Fonce]

Cut the TV sound and synched up the Moj and Caravatta.

man are they childish.

Moj continues to demonstrate how little he knows about football.

Back in the Jim Cox days me, my brother and buddies would camp near Chehalis and listen to the away games (had seasons at Empire so didn’t miss those) and it was just like we were watching live. We’d be on the edge of our camp stools!

We were camping for the first two games of this season and we had difficulty following the game on the radio with our current radio crew.
They just aren’t very good.

[South Pender]

Did I see that right--only 15,565 in attendance? And after 33,000 for the opening home game. What explains fewer than half in attendance from home Game 1 to 2?

[OV:54-40]

Good solid win; but lucky with that bogus INT call that should have been a pick 6 for the Als. I thought all scoring plays were automatically reviewed ? chintzy call if so. That interference call on Bagayogo was bogus too IMO. Refs trying to do too much.

That new mini back is impressive.

How bout that hurdle by Mackie on a kick -return - spectacular; this guy is a big load with some wheels and needs a few touches on offence a game IMO.

Was the flag on the pick 6 call bogus? They showed the replay of the pick portion of the play in the stadium but not the earlier parts of the play. There was no DPI by Dequoy IMO. However the call was for Illegal Contact, not DPI. That indicates whatever infraction they think they saw happened before the ball left Adams hand. Did the TSN talking heads show and discuss contact much earlier in the play?

They showed the replay multiple times and from well before the pass is thrown; and Suitor went on and on about how he thought it was a weak call; there was minimal contact by DeQuoy before the pass was thrown - might as well flag almost every time a DB goes near a receiver.

[Figaro]

Fun game yesterday - first one I watched in the stadium this year. The crowd was having a lot of fun with the 'family' theme. I was in section 213 and saw jillions of little kids covered in Lions' paraphernalia - Doman is doing a good job at bringing along younger fans and making going to a game family affordable and fun. Great for the future. Now if they can just turn the sound down just a bit - I like it loud but not that loud.

Both quarterbacks played well. I was mystified as to why the Als went away from running the ball more with Steinback. His early carries were good and he is a bruising back that can wear out run defences. They seemed to pretty much abandon the run game half way through the first quarter.

VA played a good bounce back game against a very stout defence - the INT for an early touchdown could have killed his confidence - penalty or no penalty, but he got right back to leading the offence with assurance. This is a very, very good sign. Resilience is key.

Our new diminutive running back should be our new starter. Mizzle is too much of the jitterbug runner who makes one too many fakes before he gets clobbered. Shivers, although small, plays big and hits the hole with speed and attitude. And being small and quick can be an asset because you can hide in among the tall timbers and then blast through late tackles. He has speed to burn. And his losing the ball on the one yard line on that long run was not caused by showboating etc. He was holding the ball in his arm but seemed to slow down perhaps relax a bit thinking "I got it" and an exceptional play by the Al defensive back is what made it happen. Start him again, I think he will get better.

By the way, on his break away pass/run, did you notice the work of our left tackle - out and made two key blocks to send Shivers on his way. The way Broxton is playing right now has him as the top lineman in the country in my book. If you watch some of the game on tape you will notice that he is never beaten in his pass blocking, often sliding one defender to the side and stepping up to take a second. I don't think he has been beaten for a sack or hit on his quarterback this season. When the Lions have the ball. I often watch Broxton and Cottoy for a read on how the play will take shape. Those two don't miss a play - lucky to have Cottoy back - thought for sure he would head for the NFL. What a stud out there.

Defence played their game well but perhaps gave the Als too many chances especially in the fourth quarter on third and long. I am a bit concerned that the only take away we had was a recovery on a punt. Where have the interceptions gone. Almost got one but Sayles dropped it. The secondary needs to play better - they are a talented crew who like to play too much man to man at times and don't switch to zone to confuse a harried quarterback into a bad throw. The D-line play is the best in the league: strong and fast and they rotate players to keep fresh legs in there. Banks is my unsung hero - reminds me of Tyrone Williams - not a lot of tackles but he eats at least two blocks on every play.

What is with all the penalties on kicks. I think of all the kicks in the game there were two or three that did not have a flag. Coaching? I don't blame the refs - they are doing what they are paid to do - somehow, special teams on all teams are just not getting the message from their coaches. Drives me crazy.

I live on the Sunshine Coast the the 4 o'clock starts provide enough time at the end of the game to get a ferry home. Hope they stay with that start time more - has people back east watching at 7:00 to 10:00 instead of 10:00 to 1:00. Our players get more TV coverage. I have to say, the bus back to Horseshoe Bay and the ferry ride home had lots of families sporting Lions' regalia - the kids all seemed to have a blast and were asking their parents if they can go again. There were smiles on the parents faces. Did I say Doman is putting the BC back in the BC Lions?

Roar Lions.

[TheLionKing]

Did I see that right--only 15,565 in attendance? And after 33,000 for the opening home game. What explains fewer than half in attendance from home Game 1 to 2?

Must be a typo. There were as many as the opening game.

[fuzzybear11]

Haven't posted in many many years. Thank you all for the great input. Now that Ullrich and Beamish have moved on, your site is GOLD.
Just a thought on B.C. personnel use.
I think Lucky is a luxury we can not afford. I was very happy in the playoffs last year when he was healthy scratched for Hollins.
I know he is a BIG part of Lions' Community PR, but Hollins is good and Cottoy belongs in the NFL but is fortunately too old for a chance. He deserves more touches and so does Mackie. This is the purrfect time to release Lucky and have Williams be the extra receiver.

[KnightofCydonia]

Did I see that right--only 15,565 in attendance? And after 33,000 for the opening home game. What explains fewer than half in attendance from home Game 1 to 2?

The 15k number was incorrect. The actual number was 20,106, which is a 30% improvement over last year's 2nd home game.

[South Pender]

Did I see that right--only 15,565 in attendance? And after 33,000 for the opening home game. What explains fewer than half in attendance from home Game 1 to 2?

The 15k number was incorrect. The actual number was 20,106, which is a 30% improvement over last year's 2nd home game.

Yes, I see that they've corrected the attendance figure. On this site (link below) earlier, they had posted 15,565. They've now corrected that to 20,106. Still quite a drop from the first home game.

https://stats.cfldb.ca/league/cfl/sched ... mtl-at-bc/

[Hambone]

Good solid win; but lucky with that bogus INT call that should have been a pick 6 for the Als. I thought all scoring plays were automatically reviewed ? chintzy call if so. That interference call on Bagayogo was bogus too IMO. Refs trying to do too much.

That new mini back is impressive.

How bout that hurdle by Mackie on a kick -return - spectacular; this guy is a big load with some wheels and needs a few touches on offence a game IMO.

Was the flag on the pick 6 call bogus? They showed the replay of the pick portion of the play in the stadium but not the earlier parts of the play. There was no DPI by Dequoy IMO. However the call was for Illegal Contact, not DPI. That indicates whatever infraction they think they saw happened before the ball left Adams hand. Did the TSN talking heads show and discuss contact much earlier in the play?

They showed the replay multiple times and from well before the pass is thrown; and Suitor went on and on about how he thought it was a weak call; there was minimal contact by DeQuoy before the pass was thrown - might as well flag almost every time a DB goes near a receiver.

Thanks. Didn't get to see any of the early part in stadium. Suitor take the DB side of a controversial play? NAH.

[Hambone]

For those wondering why Maas didn't challenge on the pick 6 the simple reason was because he can't. Coaches can challenge DPI and OPI either called or not called. They cannot challenge Illegal Contact which was the call on that play.

[Dusty]

Was the flag on the pick 6 call bogus? They showed the replay of the pick portion of the play in the stadium but not the earlier parts of the play. There was no DPI by Dequoy IMO. However the call was for Illegal Contact, not DPI. That indicates whatever infraction they think they saw happened before the ball left Adams hand. Did the TSN talking heads show and discuss contact much earlier in the play?

They showed the replay multiple times and from well before the pass is thrown; and Suitor went on and on about how he thought it was a weak call; there was minimal contact by DeQuoy before the pass was thrown - might as well flag almost every time a DB goes near a receiver.

I think the contact on Rhymes was at the point that he made his cut and slowed or stopped him when he made his cut. To my eyes, it was not incidental contact. Suitor's eyes are often at odds with mine....