This is a tough one. My guess is that it if Printers starts, Winnepeg will blow us out of the water in the first half. Injecting Lulay later will not mount an effective enough comeback. I hope they start Travis. Has he earned it? Not really, but I think the more important question is: Has Casey relinguished his right to start? Based on his last two games, I think it’s a no-brainer.
So,… I would say that if Casey starts, the score will be…
Winnipeg 52
BC 17
If Lulay Starts,…
BC 31
WInnipeg 25
We will see! Mind you, I wasn’t far off on the Calgary Prediction (at lest on the spread).
Not sure what your reasoning is pastasteve. The one consistent bright spot with the Lions has been its defense. Why would the defense give up 52 points if Printers starts? It was firing on all cylinders last week against Calgary. Why would the Lions get blown out of the water in the first half with Printers at the helm? I can understand your concern regarding Printers but only so far as it translating into fewer points put up on the board by B.C. if he stinks the joint out. The defense will still play as tenaciously as ever I should think, regardless of who is playing the Lions’ QB role.
I suppose if there are too many ‘two and out’ situations for B.C. this could take its toll on the Lions defense as it would be on the field more and eventually get worn down. Regardless, I can’t the Lions’ defense giving up 52 points against Winnipeg.
You have to start Casey. He's the number one QB. He has had a case of fumblitis the past couple of games and that's because he's holding on to the ball for too long, but he shouldn't lose the job because of that. Travis hasn't shown that he's CFL ready yet. Casey has been pretty good all year in terms of turning the ball over. Casey has shown for the past few games (minus the Calgary game) that he can be dangerous when he scrambles out of the pocket and throw that deep ball. Hank Burris didn't exactly look great last game either. Casey has to start again and we should be able to win this week.
On a side note, we have all been pretty critical about Chapdelaine's playcalling. I have to say that I have been impressed ever since the Montreal win. He has mixed it up a lot. When Robertson was out, he was able to use Davis and Messam a lot. Last game our offense couldn't move the ball, but the play calling was great. Instead of trying to throw all the time, he actually decided to run the ball more and we were able to hang on, run the clock down as the defense/special teams did their thing and won us the game.
If Lulay doesn't throw picks all night...BC will win this one!
[url=http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/football/edmonton-eskimos/Improved+Lulay+gets+call+Lions/3593509/story.html]http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/f ... story.html[/url]
Cool, Lulay to start against Winnipeg.
Beagle - you're right. I am being too harsh on the D. I don't think WInnipeg will score 52 points, but if Reid and Jyles bring their A game, I just may not be far off.
Winnipeg is Toast and they know it.
Hope you’re right Mystic. Me thinks these next two games will be the deal maker or deal breaker for the Lions this season. If they win both games and do it convincingly then they are on their way to a respectable season finish- especially having beaten Calgary the way they did last week. If they lose both games and if by some miracle still make the playoffs it’s going to be a yawner in my opinion. They will not be playoff material. I think B.C. will be squashed. If they split their 2 games against Winnipeg it will still in my mind mean they are not playoff material. They must win BOTH games as far as I’m concerned.
Two back to back wins against the Bombers translates into:
- great momentum going into the final stretch
- evidence that some of the “bugs” have been taken care of
- not getting into the playoffs through the back door
- renewed confidence in our O line, the QBs and the offensive coordinators
- I win the football pool
- Pastasteve will be happy
- Increased ticket sales for the remaining home games
- more faith in Printers and/or Lulay [whoever plays]
- blah, blah, blah [I ran out of other positives <!-- s:? -->:?<!-- s:? -->]
I find that in back to back games, most of the time they are split wins and nothing is resolved.
Yea Beaglehound! don't worry - we're gonna rock their world and strut all over the stage.
for god sake learn to spell Winnipeg ....
Let the razzing begin, by the way Our Bombers will sweep the back to back and i doesn’t matter who is at QB for you guys, Lulay better get used to laying on the turf because the 2 best DE in the league (Willis/Hunt) will make this a game he wished he had never started, we pressure your QB’s all game (cause your Oline really does stink) and Lulay will be throwing up alot of INTS or laying on the ground 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
We also have last years East rookie of the year back (Hefney) and our defense has been solid in the past month, i think alot of BC fans are taking our team to lightly, our secondary has improved greatly and many consider them to be one of the best – Beasley, Johnson, Suber, Hefney, Logan, Lobendahn, M.Bowman, Kent, Logan will be ball hawks all night and expect alot of huge hits.
Your defense is not bad but how are you going to contain Edwards, Jeffers-Harris, Carr and the rest of the receiver’s? your small DB’S are going to have a tough time covering Carr considering he has 8 inches on most of your DB’s. TJH was rookie of the year material before his injury and Jyles has improved big time, not to mention Reid will be running right through you guys all night as well (remember last year 240+ yards)
Lulay won’t last the whole game, he will be sacked, hit, pressured and intercepted alot and when he gets pulled Caey won’t fair any better.
No matter who starts Winnipeg wins BIG: i’ll say 34-14 this week and 47-24 next week …
Gotta agree with you Blueandgoldnation. Nobody should be taking the Bombers lightly. But hey man, your analysis of team strengths and weaknesses makes it sound like the Lions may as well not even show up to the party. You've highlighted several of the Bombers players' strengths and pretty much deep sixed the Lions in the QB department. But I recall that Jyles can have his problems too. Yep, the Lions have had some problems in the QB department and in particular the O line department. But you're forgetting that if it were not for the Lions handing the game to Hamilton a few weeks back, they would have won 4 in a row having beaten Calgary last week. Beating the Bombers in back to back meetings would have made it 6 straight! Not bad I'd say.
The Bombers will need to have an answer for Davis, Simon, Cutler, Robertson, Harris, P.Jackson, Arceneux, Banks and the list goes on. The Lions are an improved team. I've always maintained that given that several games were lost by only marginal scores, they are better than most give them credit for.
I'm sure the Bombers D line will be going after Lulay like you say.... But.................will they be able to get to him or fluster him enough to throw interceptions? I think Jyles had better be watching his back too or he'll be examining the artificial turf at Empire like a flea on a dog's hind leg.
Good luck to both teams.
let the dance commence. Good times for all. Who could forget that little weasel Reid running past us for 260+ last year!
He blew our minds but that was then - this is now and he'll be 2 meters and a cloud of dust tonight like Joffrey Reynolds and Cobourne before him.
Did I miss something…Who is Cutler? Did Dave come out of retirement to kick for us?
I’ve no idea where I got Cutler! No idea at all! Odd thing is I was visualizing McCallum as I put Cutler’s name to type. My bad! Cutler hasn’t played in years. lol :oops:
Of course I was meaning McCallum but…