Lulay-less Lions Lay Eskimos Low

Last night the BC Lions showed the rest of the league and Ottawa Something-or-others GM Rick Warrman a pretty good idea of where he can find a starting QB for the 2014 season. Mike Reilly had some early nerves, evidenced by his interception on his second play from scrimmage by J.C, Sherritt, but quickly regained composure to lead the BC Lions to their 12th win under the dome in BC Place.

The surging Leos locked up the home date for the western final next month, despite the absence of seven starters. It is a testament to the depth of this years' Lions squad that they could win convincingly without their number 1 QB, their two most experienced recievers and a good up-and comer (Ianuzzi), their two best defensive tackles, one guard (Hameister Ries). If I were opposition defensive coordinators around the loague I'd be stocking up on advil and pepto bismol, because whoever plays this team is going to get a headache and an ulcer.

The Lions D showed they were ready to play with a run stuff and a Kerry Joseph sack on their first two defensive snaps. By the time it was over the Luions' front seven had recorded eight sacks on Joseph an his backup, their most dominating effort of this season to date. MacCallum was 6 for six and the cover teams contained the returners, only givbing up one long return. That ladies and gentlemen is defeating your opponent in all three phases. Tim Brown ran well from scrimmage and again showee some solid kick returns. And th4e 13th man, all 30,000 or so, made it as tough on kerry Joseph as hamanly possible.

I guess the biggest question on most Lions fans today is whether Lulay will be good to go next week in Calgary, or will coach Bene sit him out another week and give him the Saskatchewan game in BC Place to keep him sharp. It'sd a month 'til the western final, so hopefully most of the Lions injured players will be good to go by then.

I could go on and on, but I've decided to shorten my posts to give more room for othe regular visitors to this forum.

Dooger in Surrey

"I could go on and on, but I've decided to shorten my posts to give more room for othe regular visitors"...by Dooger

Not sure there is much more you could add Dooger to an already great post! :rockin:

On a personal note I was pleasantly surprised with McCallum's performance. 6/6 is impressive. He picked a good game to get his act together. He has been struggling kicking beyond the 40 and I've done a lot of nail biting because of this guy. No problem last night! Good for him.

I cannot say enough about Reilly. I was impressed with him in pre-season and given the fact that he was up against a team that the Lions have been struggling with this season he had his work cut out for him. Passes were excellent and execution was great. Wally has a knack for finding great QBs. It was great to see Reilly scramble and rush with the ball but he's got to learn to hook slide and know when to go down before getting taken down. Otherwise he'll get injured. Lulay used to do that and smartened up. What Reilly showed last night is that if Lulay goes down with injury or for some other reason, Mile Reilly can take over the captain's chair with ease.

Re: When to have Travis return?

That's a tough one because so much depends on the type of injury Travis is dealing with. The Lions have two games left. Do you risk Travis re-injuring whatever shoulder injury he is dealing with or rest it longer? I say, let Reilly play against Calgary. He get's more game experience and that never hurts. When it comes to playoff time it may come down to putting in a capable rookie QB with limited game experience but who is 100% healthy or an excellent star QB who is not 100%. The unknown is just how much is the injury affecting Lulay's play? I'm glad I'm not the coach.

On a final note, given the way Reilly played and the fact that 7 of their regulars are out with injuries and the Lions are still taking it to the opposition in convincing fashion I'd say the main concern for the Lions is deciding which finger to wear their second Grey Cup ring on.

From the way the local radio and TSN broadcasters were talking about Lulay, this isn't an injury that will keep him out of the playoffs, even keep him out more than another week. The team has been pretty consistent this year about sitting a player an extra week, to:

a) Ensure the player is 100%, or close to that, before he gets back on the field. Not sure anyone is 100% this time of the season
b) To help avoid further injuries that might occur if the player is put back in too soon

The upcoming Calgary and Saskatchewan games aren't important to where the Lions finish in the West, but having good momentum going into the break is important. The Lions won't play a meaningful game until the western final, the third week in November. A lot can happen between now and then. There is always a risk of key performers getting hurt in the last two weeks. It happens a lot more than we might think. Edmonton just lost one of their offensive linemen in last Friday's game. And players need to get into game acion to stay sharp.

At least its better that we have just four weeks until the biggst game of our season so far. That's better than clinching it really early, the way the Alouettes and Lions did several times last decade. They were clinched so early that almost two months went by before they had to ratchet up the intensity for the playoff game against a team already playoff ready the previous week. Bottom line: I think BC has enough veterans to prevent a letdown from occuring and enough depth to be successful if someone else goes down. Losing offensive or defensive linemen would be the hardest to replace, since most starters have quite a lot of experience.

Something I forgot to mention in my first post was the fine job Jabar Westerman and Brandon Jordon did at defensive tackle in the Edmonton game. Jordan has excellent quickness and Westerman can take on the double team. Both did a good job pushing the pocket and both ends did a great job of getting around the corner to sack Joseph. This was the best statistical output of the defensive line this year, at least as far as sacks go. And it put the Lion atop the top of the sack totals, where they belong.

I wonder if the Lions willl get another snow game nest week in McMahon Stadium. Wasn't that great, watching the Stamps and TiCats slipping and sliding, but still making plays? Tough way for the last play to go for Andy Fantuz. I know he'll bounce back next week at home to the Bombers.

Dooger from Surrey :cowboy:

"I wonder if the Lions willl get another snow game nest week in McMahon Stadium. Wasn't that great, watching the Stamps and TiCats slipping and sliding, but still making plays? Tough way for the last play to go for Andy Fantuz. I know he'll bounce back next week at home to the Bombers."...by Dooger

I love those kinds of games when the elements are what they are. Dooger, you may have seen this clip but do watch it again from beginning to end. It will get your mojo going and show how totally exciting a Western Final played in the snow can be.

There must be 3 inches of snow on the ground. I've no idea how the refs could see the lines and anything else for that matter.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tAwzfKFYzU&feature=related]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tAwzfKF ... re=related[/url]
[url=http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/football/lions/Mike+Reilly+likely+shoulder+Lions+load+again+Lulay/7423984/story.html]http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/foot ... story.html[/url]

Reilly to start in Calgary; Harris maybe used less as the game moves along, depth is key in the Lions den.

Excellent decision in my opinion. Thanks for the update backer@oldclarke.