Lions vs. Riders July 22, 2023

[Sir Purrcival]

The Good and the Bad:

Good
D and Special teams.
Both played well. The tackling was some of the best I've seen in a long time. Almost zero YAC the whole night and no run at all from the Riders. Punt cover was outstanding tonight. Nothing going at all for Alford. Given this has been a sore spot in the past so really nice to see improvement on that side of the game. Returns are a bit more mundane and that fumble really hurt us at a juncture where we had a short field. The high punts are really giving our cover teams a chance to get setup downfield and props for few if any no yards calls.

The Bad
Offensive line struggled lots last night. What it says to me is that our Achilles heel is a straight up pressure D. The Argos did it to us and now the Riders. It cost us a QB last night. We took too long to adapt to this and you can be sure other teams are learning.
Tentative QB play is also an issue. Adams has looked tentative and last night Evans too. Maybe that was in part to play calling but it is a disturbing trend..
Run hasn't been all that helpful either. I like his attitude but I don't find Shivers that effective. He is good in space but I'm not sure about his hands or his ability to find gaps. We need a larger more bruising back IMO or use Mackie more.
We missed opportunities to put this game away. Dropped TD passes, TD called back on holding, turnovers, etc. etc. Mistakes kill and there were entirely too many of them last night. They need to clean that up.

We didn't seem on last night and it took a toll. QB, receivers etc.etc. We need to play better next week even if it is the Elks.

[Lui05]

Have to play better than that next week or EE will break their losing streak(s).

I agree we want our offense playing better. But I've seen the myriad of ways EE has lost this season. Shutouts. Blowouts. Stunning reversals of fortune born from amazingly bad decisions. I'm wondering if the CFL gets its first 0-18 team this year?

Regardless, I'm fairly comfortable that if we get the exact same effort against EE as we saw tonight, we will win.

Aside: Dane Evan's interview at halftime was the best such midgame interview I've heard in a long time.

[Lion Guy]

Tackling was superb. Best I've noticed for years.
OC called a horrendous game
O Line needs to watch that one again
Our return game is abysmal
Our DBs need to just fall down when they get the ball. They seem to fumble a lot
hatcher and Rhymes need to sit next game. We need them healthy. We have other receivers that can beat Edmonton

[TheLionKing]

Not impressed with Terry Williams as a kick returner. Tendency to juke and jive right into the hands of would be tacklers.

Why did it take so long for Maksymic to adjust to the Saskatchewan pressure ? Draws, screens, quick passes , rollouts ? Even my niece was questioning why are we running up the middle when it clearly wasn't working

[SammyGreene]

-Probably people wanting to escape the sun on the side where we sit but the concourse was packed even during the game.
That's the one thing about the 4 pm starts in the summer. Our section was in the sun for at least half the game. Will probably keep that in mind if it's a similar schedule next season.
First time I have ever seen a line-up to get into the merchandise sales. Club must be thrilled with that.

They probably jumped the gun a little opening the upper deck but it's become clear under Doman and new president Duane Vienneau they are being very aggressive with ticket sales and getting many people to come to home games as possible. $35-30 for the upper deck middle sections is a steal and I'm sure once those sections opened up it hurt the remaining sales of the lower bowl as there were some noticeable empty rows where we were.

- Defence and special teams coverage balled out. Monster games from Baron, Teuhema, Lokombo and the entire secondary. Any idea what happened to Mauger to be basically playing with one hand? It's been that way for a couple of games at least. Edwards-Cooper has been superb opposite Peters all season. On last year of his rookie deal, as is Ben Hladik. Lions are going to have to spend more money on D next season but well deserved raises coming, never mind trying to extend Betts.

-I could see VA being out for about a month or after their next bye week in early September in the best case scenario. You just don't see anyone rushing back in professional sports from knee injuries. This is the moment Dane Evans has been waiting for, as BC FAN says, he will benefit greatly from getting first team reps. He definitely reminded us of his days in Hamilton, looking very good in some moments and some questionable decisions in others. Bottom line is he did enough to win and can build off that performance.

-That's the 3rd straight home game the offence has sputtered out of the gate. Poor line play, execution and both QBs locked in on their primary receiver. Worst I have seen the o-line look in some time and it's not like they haven't come up against some good defences of late.

- It was a good night for Mizzell as I can't see how the Lions don't return to him next week.

-Return game is getting underwhelming with Terry Williams never mind a horrible time to fumble. Lions would be better served depth wise if they could find a DB or RB who was also effective returning kicks although Williams did come close to seeing the field yesterday with Rhymes out and a dinged up Hatcher & Cottoy.

[Walt67]

-"It was a good night for Mizzell as I can't see how the Lions don't return to him next week."

I don't totally disagree, though it didn't help that the o-line look rusty (as you noted) and that Evans looked awkward on his outlet passes to Shivers, either under- or over-throwing him almost every time.

As others mentioned, to me the game highlight was the amazingly sure tackling by the Lions' D (I do wonder about Ryan Phillips future in coaching) while a major puzzle was the lack of screen or outlet passes to offset the Riders' pressure game (it certainly seemed to confuse VA before he went out).

[B.C.FAN]

JC Abbott weighs in with his always insightful thoughts on the game, including a good explanation of the multiple breakdowns on the offensive line.

https://3downnation.com/2023/07/23/lion ... he-riders/

[David]

I am a little concerned that 2 of the 3 home games this year have been duds. Over-officiated, under-executed clunkers (with the 2 biggest gates, too. Figures. ). This is not to take away from the defense of course, and that much-improved punt/kick cover units, but people (especially casuals and fence-sitters) go to a football game to be entertained. And many players seemed to still be in faraway land bye week for stretches of the game yesterday.

I have been a vocal critic of Flintoft this season, questioning the merits of burning an import spot on a punter, but I thought he was exceptional yesterday with high, towering and well positioned punts and lengthy kick-offs that allowed our cover units to swallow up the ever-dangerous Alford (who can be a difference maker in a close game).

Benevides' next task is to get our return game going. It's painful to watch 3-5 yards and splat (punts) and 15-20 yards and swarm (kick-offs) seemingly every time, with lots of holding calls thrown in for good measure.


DH

[Toppy Vann]

The game was a sleeper in the stands but when I was back home I re-watched it on TV and it looked more watchable and they made it sound better than the stadium experience was.

I think not rushing Adams back is wise for two reasons. His health and giving Dane Evans more time to get his game rhythm together. The way QBs are going down you need a back up who can play.

Some of the breakdowns in the o-line come from knowing what the Lions do on offense and where the QB will be. Many times when it broke down in that first half our Receivers were fully covered.

As JC Abott says:

This was not a front four that should push anybody around, but the inherent weaknesses of B.C.’s interior trio of Peirson, Couture and Chungh were badly exposed. They need to be protected by the scheme and weren’t on this occasion."

I think JC's not giving the Riders front four enough credit but scheme wise BC is pretty simple to figure out as it's always the same.

I'm liking these innovative on side kicks in the CFL as it adds a new dimension. Now if we just had punters who were actual players we might get back to the old days of fake punts and passing. But I'll settle for the onside kicks being brought in more.

Luckily BC has a solid defence.

[DanoT]

I'm not a huge Adams fan, mostly due to lack of consistent play, so I don't think there is that big of a drop off from Adams to Evans but lack of consistency might be his biggest problem as well. I do think the TiCats went with Evans over Masoli a couple seasons ago due to Evans being a better passer. He does through a nice spiral a lot of the time.

[OV:54-40]

JC Abbott weighs in with his always insightful thoughts on the game, including a good explanation of the multiple breakdowns on the offensive line.

https://3downnation.com/2023/07/23/lion ... he-riders/

Might be time to give Knevel a shot at starting in the interior ?

CFL offences sticking with their starting O-lines when they get man-handled, maybe for the sake of "continuity" , is very questionable IMO; time to give a guy who has roster experience a chance to see if they can upgrade.

[TheLionKing]

I'm not a huge Adams fan, mostly due to lack of consistent play, so I don't think there is that big of a drop off from Adams to Evans but lack of consistency might be his biggest problem as well. I do think the TiCats went with Evans over Masoli a couple seasons ago due to Evans being a better passer. He does through a nice spiral a lot of the time.

X2

[David]

JC Abbott weighs in with his always insightful thoughts on the game, including a good explanation of the multiple breakdowns on the offensive line.

https://3downnation.com/2023/07/23/lion ... he-riders/

Might be time to give Knevel a shot at starting in the interior ?

CFL offences sticking with their starting O-lines when they get man-handled, maybe for the sake of "continuity" , is very questionable IMO; time to give a guy who has roster experience a chance to see if they can upgrade.

I don't disagree but the spot was Knevel's to lose in camp and he did. The better question for me is, is Phillip Norman healthy enough to play?


DH

[B.C.FAN]

Might be time to give Knevel a shot at starting in the interior ?

CFL offences sticking with their starting O-lines when they get man-handled, maybe for the sake of "continuity" , is very questionable IMO; time to give a guy who has roster experience a chance to see if they can upgrade.

I don't disagree but the spot was Knevel's to lose in camp and he did. The better question for me is, is Phillip Norman healthy enough to play?

DH

There has been a drop-off at left guard from Norman last year to Peirson this year, but I don't think it's big enough to warrant a ratio switch that would likely require McInnis to start regularly for Rhymes or Hatcher, or for rotational linebacker Josh Woods to have his reps reduced. He plays a key role in the Lions' run defence.

A broader issue is that the Lions' three interior linemen -- Peirson, Couture and Chungh -- have all struggled in one-on-one play this year. I don't see evidence that Couture has been an improvement on Peter Godber at centre. As David noted, Peirson beat out Knevel for the left guard position after a tight battle in training camp.

[Qman]

With rhymes out, mcinnis playing. Why don’t they try norman or schleager at lg vs elks. We have major oline issues