LIONS’ DEFENCE HAVING A BALL
Hey, Jeremiah Masoli, just a friendly heads-up here. The Lions are coming for you in a black-and-orange wave bent on destruction.
With 31 quarterback sacks and 16 interceptions, the rebuilt B.C. defence suddenly tops the CFL in both categories.
Six games ago, the Lions allowed 436 net offensive yards to Calgary, then nothing close to that since: 345 to Edmonton, 355 to Toronto and 283 to Saskatchewan.
But they were still only warming up. Two weeks ago, they limited Trevor Harris and the Redblacks to 254 yards in a win, then put the clamp on Antonio Pipkin and the Alouettes by allowing 158 yards in another victory.
They sacked Harris seven times, Pipkin six. They picked Harris three times, Pipkin four, two of them for touchdowns. Defensive back Anthony Orange, who claimed one of those pick-sixes against Montreal, was just named a CFL performer of the week.
Suddenly, with three wins in five games, the also-rans are back in the running, four points behind the Riders with a game in hand, four points clear of Toronto and Montreal for a crossover spot in the East. They entertain Masoli and the Ticats Saturday.
So what’s the key? Schematic changes? Personnel changes?
“Time,” said defensive back T.J. Lee. “Extra time we put in. That’s huge. As the season goes on, we’re getting closer together and we’re hanging out more. Overall, our bond is getting together and we’re starting to click. “Extra work is the mindset. “The coaches, with the time that they have, they give us what they give us. It’s really on the players to put in the extra time. The D-line, they meet every morning at eight, just the players. The DBs, we meet at 8:30. As long as we continue to put in the extra work, we’re going to become closer and we’re going to make more plays and be more confident.”
Attendance at those meetings is voluntary. But they’re all in and defensive co-ordinator Mark Washington counts that commitment among the keys to the resurgence of his unit.
“We’ve had some schematic changes, we’ve had some personnel changes and the men have really committed, like T.J. said, to putting in the time. They do a lot of things on their own. They get together, they meet, they discuss things on their own. And then whatever time it takes during practice to commit to working hard, these guys aren’t afraid to put in the hard work and we make sure we work them hard.”
When they overwhelmed the Redblacks’ offensive line and did the same to the Alouettes, it seemed like they were blitzing every play, but Washington said it was something else.
“I think the guys are executing better and in the execution it may seem we’re bringing a lot more. We have schematically done some things that are a little bit more challenging to the offence and that’s just as we learn ourselves, learn what our players can do, learn what they need to do and what they’re capable of doing, then we can put them in position to make plays for the defence.”
One of those players is Shawn Lemon. He has seven sacks in six games since coming over in a trade with Toronto. He credits Washington and defensive line coach Randy Melvin for not overthinking the game.
“We’re not trying to recreate the wheel. Sometimes less is more in a sense of not putting in a lot of stuff with the game plan; just allowing your players to play fast and trust in the guys. That’s been really working out for us.
“We’re not really doing a lot of blitzing. We’re just playing fast and letting the playmakers get after it. And we have the best secondary in the CFL right now and they give us enough time to get home.”
They are a ball-hawking bunch to be sure. Orange and Winston Rose lead the secondary with four interceptions apiece, Lee has three.
That the defence is getting it done without middle linebacker Solomon Elimimian, who has missed the last seven games with a wrist injury, is a testament to their ability to jell on the run. They simply plugged in Canadian linebackers Jordan Herdman and Micah Awe into a defence that had already absorbed key 2018 additions like Odell Willis, Garry Peters, Davon Coleman, Orange, Rose and Otha Foster III.
“We’ve had our rough spots, obviously, and every defence will,” said Washington. “These guys are starting to get it and believe in themselves and believe in the scheme and one another. We knew it was going to take time.”
Extra time, in fact.