Leos off to La Belle Province

Well, what can you say about a team that averaged an abysmal 9.5 points in its last two outings agains the number 2 and 1 teams respectively, and gave up an average of 36 points! I know: Let's go to the playoffs!!!

First the pessimist's viewpoint on the Calgary game. Pass rush? Invisible, with some guys of their normal positions and other guys banged up, which hung our secondary out to dry. Linebackers. Missing Bighill, back their heels most of the nighttime and not getting to Mitchell or Tate when they rushed the passer. I thought Hoffman-Ellis didn't look out of place in Bighill's spot. Defensive backs? See above. Special teams? Kicked a few field goals but need to be better covering kicks, especially kickoffs. Offense? Clearly we need to eliminate the turnovers, convert in the red zone and protect Glenn better.. How can we have six guys (the O-line plus Lumbala) fail to stop a three man pass rush when we're in perfect position to do so. In the second quarter we throw a deep ball on a first down play that was on the wrong side of the receiver and give up an easy pick and killed our momentum when we were still in the game. We throw another easy pick in the third quarter when Ernest Jackson turns out when he should have turned in. At least we won't have to play another Alberta team again this year, unless these guys somehow manage to shoot the moon and defeat the Als and Ticats in their barns.

Now the optimist's views. The great thing about the post season is that everybody starts at 0-0. That can take a load of pressure off some players and free them up to play better in the post season when it matters the most. If we can get Biggy, Khreem and Alex Bazzie back and get a better effort from Parks, Phillips and Larose, we may have a chance to steal a low scoring game in Montreal. I'm not sue we can beat them in a shootout. Back in July the two teams took turns beating the other guys in their barns, with BC holding a 50-29 overall edge in scoring.

But that was then and this is now. Montreal has, I believe, won eight of their last eleven games and now has Jonathan Crompton at QB, a guy who distributes the ball, makes plays with his feet and runs their offense at a decent level of consistency. BC has lost six of its last ten games and are still missing key playmakers on offense (Lulay, Harris, Taylor, Burnham). Montreal's keys are to establish Duron Carter and SJ Green early and often and keep the crowd in the game by getting off to a good start. The obvious keys for BC are to silence the crowd with a few scores early, avoid turnovers, protect Kevin Glenn better than they did the last two weeks, have another solid outing by St4ephan Logan, get stops against the run and keep Duron Carter out of our endzone (easy to say, tough to do) while keeping the pressure up on Crompton.

We'll see which Lions and Als teams shows up in Montreal. Maybe some poutine, smoked deli meats and those beautiful Montreal women is what they need to get their collective mojo back, after getting shelled 72-19 in Alberta in November.

BC accomplished its mission of crossover to weaker division but path to grey cup is still difficult as no western team has ever advanced far in crossover. In playoffs where anything can happen, teams have a second chance to redeem themselves. Don't always trust wins and losses in second half of season in predicting the future as most fans are usually half right or wrong. Hottest teams don't always win championships. On a positive note, BC has had more success against Hamilton and Montreal than Toronto. Historically, BC has never lost before to Hamilton and Montreal in playoffs.

I think it is going to come down to QB performance. On a good day Glenn can be unbeatable. On an off day Glenn stinks the place out. Hamilton's Collaros and Montreal's Crompton can both be very good but I've watched some games where they look simply mediocre.

If Glenn is off in Montreal it will be an early exit for the Lions.
Bottom Line for me? Both Montreal and Hamilton can be beaten. Though Hamilton took 1st place in the East and earned a bye to the Eastern Final, had the Als beaten them yesterday Hamilton would have been out of the playoffs.

When Kevin Glenn was a Ti-Cat he always played well in Montreal.
If my memory serves me well,Kevin Glenn was the last Ti-Cat QB to beat the Als right in Montreal in the playoffs.
Glenn will play well and keep the Lions in the game,might even win it to return to Tim Hortons Field for a cup of coffee…

I have to be careful not to be too critical of the Lions as the moderators have deleted at least one of my posts...

The East would've been interesting if they were stadium games (Toronto and Montreal) - I think the Lions are more use to it. As it is, I can't see the Lions beating two teams with momentum. If they do, it would be an incredible irony to limp into the playoffs - forced to play in the Eastern Conference - and then play the Grey Cup at home.

They lost to Montreal in the Eastern final 56-18 in 2009. That was the last time the Lions crossover. Casey Printer was the Q.B then

I think BC has to silence the crowd early, by getting off to a good start. I just don't see this club coming from 10-14 points back on the road to win a playoff game. But you have to admit, Montreal and Hamilton don't seem quite as daunting as Edmonton (even without Reilly) and Calgary. Another factor that might help BC is the disparity between Glenn and Crompton or Collaros in playoff experience. I noticed Travis Lulay was moved to the active roster on November 10th. Who knows how strong his right shoulder is but at least it compels Tom Higgins and his staff to prepare for a possible appearance by Lulay.

Go big or go home.

Dooger in Surrey :cowboy: