LIONS’ WINDOW ALMOST SHUT
CFL’S hottest team unlikely to qualify for playoffs
A great quarterback opens the window and that’s exactly what the signing of Mike Reilly did in B.C.
But the Lions slammed it down on their own fingers, over and over, through the first 11 games of Reilly’s return to Vancouver. They simply couldn’t keep him on his feet long enough to throw the great deep ball that makes Reilly one of the most accomplished QBS in the Canadian Football League.
And now, after four straight wins, after Reilly just threw five TD passes in a rout of Toronto, after star receiver Bryan Burnham and Reilly hooked up for three of those majors and showed everyone what the future could look like, the 5-10 Lions will probably be on the outside looking through that window at post-season action.
The next point in the standings surrendered by B.C. or gained by Edmonton eliminates the Lions from playoff contention.
“I didn’t expect us to come out and go undefeated the first year, but I did expect us to be a great football team, and I knew it was going to take some time,” Reilly said on Tuesday.
“Any time you get that many different pieces in the room for the first time, from the coaching staff to all the players, there’s going to be a learning curve that we’re all working through.”
GM Ed Hervey fired offensive line coach Bryan Chiu, and after his replacement Kelly Bates tweaked schemes and practice agendas, players bought in and Reilly wasn’t being sacked nearly as often.
Confidence spread from the O-line to the receivers, who knew they had time to get open. Defence and special teams rode that wave of momentum. And Reilly knew on Sept. 6, in a fivepoint loss in Montreal, that they would be OK. They haven’t lost since.
“Unfortunately, it took too long for it to start, to where we can’t guarantee ourselves a spot in the post-season,” he said.
“I would love to say we’re peaking at the right time, that we want to be the best team going into the playoffs. We do. We want to be the team playing the best brand of football when the season ends, but we may be sitting at home watching everybody else play, even if that’s the case. That’s the reality. That part sucks.
“Whether it’s for post-season this year or the beginning of next season, I have seen and I hope to continue to see this team improve and keep marching toward building a championship program. I do believe the pieces are here and I think everybody is starting to figure that out in our room and it’s exciting.”
A 1-10 team can implode or emerge, and the Lions did the latter on the strength of talent like Reilly’s and leadership from head coach Devone Claybrooks.
“That’s a really, really tough job and I do have to commend coach Claybrooks for that,” said Reilly. “It’s a tough scenario and a stressful scenario for a very veteran coach who has years and years of coaching and championships under his belt. Of course, Clay isn’t a first-year coach, he’s been a part of a bunch of championship teams in Calgary, but he is a first-year head coach.
“A lot of people would show cracks. They would start to freak out and show panic. That was never the case. It’s not like he would show up all smiles and laughs and say, ‘Whatever, we lost another one, but who cares as long as we’re having fun.’ That certainly wasn’t the case.
“There was always that sense of urgency that things needed to get fixed, but at the same time, belief in what he was building, belief in his coaching staff, in the players. Trying to make alterations to improve, but not just blowing the whole thing up and pointing the finger somewhere else. That’s what good leadership is. He did a good job helping us weather that storm.”
They beat Ottawa back to back, got the better of an Alouettes team that didn’t have Vernon Adams Jr. at the helm, then dismantled Toronto to get to 5-10.
But the hole was so deep that, even if they run the table, including a win in Edmonton on Saturday, the Eskimos would also have to lose their remaining two games for the Lions to claim the crossover playoff spot.
“We’re all aware of those situations and scenarios,” said Reilly.
“But I think, more importantly, we’re aware of what has got us success in the win/loss column the last four weeks, and that’s not caring about any of that stuff.”