The Lions’ inability to convert in the red zone puts playoff hopes at risk
Even against the worst team in the East, B.C. offence unable to score a TD every time it got close to goal-line
Bryan Burnham cut to the chase as well as he can cut on a passing route.
The frustrated B.C. Lions slotback believes his last-place club beat itself Friday in a 24-23 Canadian Football League loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The see-saw struggle was finally settled when Sergio Castillo kicked a 50-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining at B.C. Place.
As much as a 6-7 last-place record is unsettling, the manner in which the Lions continually stalled in the red zone before 18,091 fans was beyond frustrating.
Burnham led the Lions with six receptions for 74 yards — including a 24-yarder with 4:24 left in the fourth quarter. That catch was followed by Jeremiah Johnson rambling for 19 yards. But the drive stalled and Ty Long booted a 20-yard field goal for a tenuous 23-21 lead.
“We settle for field goals when they were scoring touchdowns and you’re not going to win football games that way,” said Burnham. “At the end of the day, we got into position to win the game, but just didn’t take it. It was right there in front of us and we didn’t take it.
“We just have to want it more and fight for it harder. I don’t have much to say. There’s a lot going through my mind right now and there’s a lot of disappointment.”
There should be. It wasn’t just one red-zone gaffe. In the third quarter, quarterback Jonathon Jennings found Shaquille Johnson for a 48-yard reception, and from the three-yard line, the Lions couldn’t covert two passes and didn’t give the ball to Jeremiah Johnson, who was having a strong second half.
The Lions had to settle for a 10-yard field goal to pull to within 18-14 when they could have taken the lead. Long finished with five field goals — a good night for any kicker — but it wasn’t good enough Friday. That says a lot.
Considering Jennings had several long strikes in going 22-for-33 for 345 yards, the fact he couldn’t find his favourite targets in Burnham and Manny Arceneaux once inside the red zone was unsettling.
The only major the Lions managed was when Jennings scampered from two yards out in the first quarter to cap a methodical 10-play, 52-yard drive in which the pivot looked like he had regained some lost mojo.
“We’ve got to do a better job of getting in the end zone when we get to the red zone,” he understated. “We have to make more plays because we just didn’t do enough.
“We just didn’t make it happen and we had some opportunities down there but we didn’t take advantage. We have to figure out a way to get better.
“It’s very frustrating. I thought we moved the ball and did some things well and maintained control of the ball but just didn’t finish.
“That obviously bit us in the butt at the end of the game.”
Of course, it wasn’t supposed to be this way — at least on paper. The Tiger-Cats were 2-9 and had surrendered a league-worst 381 points, a whopping 34.6 average per outing as East Division cellar-dwellers. They were also giving up a league high 347.4 yards a game and in this latenight cat fight, they were supposed to suffer the most damage.
Instead they inflicted it when it mattered most.
That’s going to lead to plenty of navel-gazing. How else do you explain Johnson finishing with 91 yards on 14 carries after combining with Chris Rainey for just 14 firsthalf rushing yards?
The Lions found their offensive balance in the second half, but seven penalties for 60 yards took the starch out of drives. That speaks to the individual and collective resolve to remain disciplined.
The trickle-down effect is that the bye week could mean goodbye to the playoffs unless the Lions find their way in a hurry.
“I want to figure out ways to win football games and get into the playoffs,” vowed Jennings.
“I’m going to do everything I can to scratch and claw and make that possible. Hopefully, everybody is feeling the same way.
“We have to do everything we can to get better. I’m going to watch film and make sure I tune up the body during the bye week. I think we can all use that and come out fresh. We have to make sure we don’t make the mental errors and beat ourselves.”
Allowing Alex Green to rush for 140 yards on 13 carries kept the Lions off balance defensively because agile quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was elusive and also found Luke Tasker seven times, including a major. Shamawd Chambers and Brandon Banks had six catches apiece.
But it was the lack of red-zone success that really cost the Lions.
“I thought we made some bad decisions on the reads as far as runpass options,” said Lions coach Wally Buono. “We get the big play by (Shaquille) Johnson and the ball is on the three-yard line. You score there and it’s a huge play.
“We didn’t execute there and it cost us four points (the Lions kicked a field goal on the stalled drive) and it cost us the game.”