Ottawa @ BC Sept 16, 2023

[almo89]

I have never left BC Place early no matter how badly the Lions are getting thumped. I paid full price for the ticket, I'm staying for the full duration.

Nor have I with one exception. That was the NASL Soccer Bowl championship game back in 1983. It was so painfully boring that the 8 of us pulled up stakes and left to find a peeler bar with a good 15 minutes to go in the game. It was the first and last pro soccer game I ever attended.

haha soccer or peeler bar? Easy pick lol. I watched a Whitecaps game once and it was okay. Nil nil which is quite common in soccer. I went to Seattle to watch the Sounders once. This was when they only opened the lower bowl. It was packed and close to 30k fans. I was quite shocked how rabid and loud Seattle fans were for a Soccer game.

[B.C.FAN]

The irony of all ironies has to be the kick return for 120 yards by Terry Williams when everyone I speak to thinks it's the returner while I think it's following orders.. Was in the end zone at the TD end of that run and that return was as good as it gets. I didn't realize it was 120 until I saw it when home on TSN.
I don't doubt his skills as he brings the ball up behind the blocking on most kick returns but that one into the end zone forced him to go right outside making fantastic directional choices all the way to the end zone. That was the turning point in the game although I told my friend from the 1st Q, not to worry, Ottawa always finds a way to blow it in the 4th Q. I saw 3 tacklers directly avoided by Williams but I don't think I saw any of the escort team look to toss a block (a good thing).

I watched the play from the same end zone. That return was well coached and perfectly executed. Before Williams even got out of the end zone, I saw the wall set up for him on the right side and shouted that he had a clear path to the end zone. He ended up having to make good moves to beat a couple of defenders, including Richie Leone, but that return played out exactly as it was drawn up.

In the third quarter, the Lions tried what I thought was the dumbest return of the season. Williams caught a kickoff at his own 16 and instead of heading straight upfield as he has all season he ran wide right and tossed a lateral reverse to Alex Hollins, who cut up the middle as the play was designed. Ottawa had 11 players waiting there and they stopped him at the 30 for only a 14-yard return. Only one defender followed Williams to the right. If Williams had kept the ball and deked that player, he had 90 yards of daylight to the end zone.
Special teams coaches study tendencies just as offensive and defensive coaches do. They know the Lions like to return the ball straight upfield.

[B.C.FAN]

The Lions’ comeback is even more remarkable when you consider that they turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter, missed a 2-point convert attempt and failed on an attempted onside kick but still outscored the Redblacks 23-0 in the period.

JC Abbott, as always, has some good observations on the game, including the play of Vernon Adams, Justin McInnis, Adrian Greene and others.

Will the real B.C. Lions please stand up?: 10 thoughts on a miraculous fourth quarter comeback over Ottawa

[TheLionKing]

Met a few that left early in our section in a restaurant. They were stunned that the Lions won. Kept asking "what the f**k happened after we left ?"

Lol. Remember that big comeback a few years back when BC came from behind to tie Hamilton then win it in OT? My buddy who was down from PG with his wife got disgusted at BC's lackluster performance and left with 5 to go. I texted him to tell him it was going into OT. He was like WTF?!?! Instead of watching the miracle finish from his seats in BC Place he watched it looking thru the window while in the lineup to get into Doolin's.

I have never left BC Place early no matter how badly the Lions are getting thumped. I paid full price for the ticket, I'm staying for the full duration.

Same and I sat through some massacres

[Alputt]

I’m glad I stayed to the end of that one but I totally understand the thousands who didn’t… Team stunk it up until the final 2 minutes! I’m sure it’s well documented here I’ll read it all in the morning.

Next week will be interesting in Edmonton.

[Lui05]

Next week will be interesting in Edmonton.

So you're saying I should not put my money on BC executing a third shutout of Edmonton this season?

[SammyGreene]

Miracle on Beatty Street allows for the Lions to come out of the weekend gaining ground on both the Bombers & Riders.
So many things had to go right in the dying minutes to pull that one off from Ward’s barely missed FG to Williams’ TD return. The RedBlacks saving 20 secs on the clock with an incomplete deep pass on 2nd down to the headshot on VA putting them in the red zone leading to Lucky’s winning TD.

But man this team is leaking oil in many areas. Bottom line is we are not going very far if we are strictly relying on the arm of VA to win games.

The running game has vanished after Smoke was among the league’s top rushers in the early going of the season. The offensive line’s play as a whole has regressed.
And most of all our once vaunted defence is getting regularly exploited. At least they stepped up in the end but as BC FAN noted in game from his end zone seats their tendencies are predictable and teams are taking advantage.
The aggression and overall speed they showed at the start of the season is lacking since they were lit up by the Bombers.
We are vulnerable against the run and QB pressure is nowhere near what it was at the start of the season. The RedBlacks constantly went after TJ Lee and they are not the first team to do it.

Campbell was saying all the right things after practice leading up to the game but it still resulted in another flat performance coming off a bye week. Fortunately and miraculously this one didn’t result in a loss.

[zeppo]

Lol. Remember that big comeback a few years back when BC came from behind to tie Hamilton then win it in OT? My buddy who was down from PG with his wife got disgusted at BC's lackluster performance and left with 5 to go. I texted him to tell him it was going into OT. He was like WTF?!?! Instead of watching the miracle finish from his seats in BC Place he watched it looking thru the window while in the lineup to get into Doolin's.

Sometime in the early nineties IIRC. I left at the end of the third quarter, and was flabbergasted when the game was still on T.V. by the
time I got home. I learned my lesson, and have not left early since (including last night).

[zeppo]

The Lions were also helped big time with Ottawa going for a pass deep on second down that stopped the clock. Bone headed call by Dyce on that one.

Yes, that play helped the Lions immensely. B.C. was out of time outs, so if Ottawa had run the ball, Leone could have run
close to twenty seconds off the clock before punting. Even with a good punt return, B.C. would have only had approximately
20 seconds to work with from their own side of midfield (probably three plays).

[DanoT]

Lions need to find a running game and I don't think Mizzell is a guy who can excel between the tackles. Someone with more size and power is needed but without that guy, Lions need to have Mizzell run wide or off tackle.

[Toppy Vann]

Lions need to find a running game and I don't think Mizzell is a guy who can excel between the tackles. Someone with more size and power is needed but without that guy, Lions need to have Mizzell run wide or off tackle.

It's like I told a president 20 years ago when I sat on the hiring committee for this organization I didn't work for and he asked to speak to me privately as I wanted a different hire for their VP:
"you're trying to fix the problem with one person but you really need two."

Saw a story on the death of the running back in the NFL, while that concept's been a slow death for some years now with the BC Lions under different coaches.

Argos dressed 5 RBs and used McMahon in the slot and kick return at times but with BC it's not our back it's the system.

[Robbie]

September 16, 2023 was a great day for the city of Vancouver as Vancouver Canadians also win the Northwest League at Nat Bailey while Whitecaps win on the road in Toronto.

[TheLionKing]

Lions haven't had a running back tandem since the days of Sean Millington and Robert Drummond /Larry Key and John Henry White. Defences just need to focus on the back in the backfield. No imagination whatsoever. Chapdelaine's playbook may not have been stolen after all. It was handed down to Jordan Myksmic.

[B.C.FAN]

Lions need to find a running game and I don't think Mizzell is a guy who can excel between the tackles. Someone with more size and power is needed but without that guy, Lions need to have Mizzell run wide or off tackle.

I concur. The CFL has had some small slashers who have had success up the middle. Charles Roberts, who played at about 180 lbs., is one example. But the top 5 backs in the league this year are all listed at 205 lbs. or more. They have the power to break tackles and rack up yards after contact. I’ve watched Mizzell since the start of training camp and I haven’t seen him do that.

[Sir Purrcival]

What happened last night was pretty incredible no doubt. Here is the difference for me. It is often said that good teams find a way to win. I don't believe that of this for a moment. Our return game hasn't been dangerous at all this season, very pedestrian at best. Lightning does strike once in awhile and on this occasion, it was a bolt at just the right moment. A fluke if you want to call it that. A bad call from the opposition. It was a kick that never should have been made but it was and the Redblacks paid dearly. I don't expect to see that again this season. Our running game is a joke. You look at the two most proficient teams with the run, Argos and Bombers, look at their primary backs. They are built like tanks. Olivera , 225 pounds, Oulette, 205 pounds., Mizzell, 185 pounds, D. Mackie, 252 pounds. So given those numbers, you might think that on 2nd and 2, you might try handing off to the 252 pound guy and let him bang through for a couple and to an earlier mentioned point, sending a 185 pound Rb through the center of the D Line with LB's waiting should he get past the tackles and the ends is basically sending boys against men.
If we end up playing in November, and don't take top spot in the West, I really look forward to see how our lack of a running game plays out in Winnipeg or heaven forbid we were to make it to Hamilton.