PLAYOFF HOPES ALIVE
Lions have coughed up fourth-quarter leads six times this season, but didn’t this time
Lions hold off Argos, edge closer to post-season.
TORONTO — Only the B.C. Lions could have managed such a coup, one began to think, when the team was on the point of wringing another spectacular defeat from the jaws of victory.
Dark forces have enveloped the Canadian Football League team this season in the fourth quarter, a frightful frame in which the Leos have coughed up leads six times in 2015.
No. 7 appeared to be in the cards after the Lions almost blew a 27-15 advantage. The Toronto Argonauts rallied behind a blocked punt by Travis Hawkins (he scored on a 23-yard fumble recovery), a fumble at midfield by Andrew Harris (that led to a Toronto field goal) and a blocked field goal attempt (by the Argos’ Ricky Foley). Voila. The Lions were on the point of being completely undone again.
Miraculously, they survived, on veteran halfback Ryan Phillips’ 46th career interception in the final minute, to secure a 27-25 victory before 14,236 fans in the last game the Lions will ever play at Rogers Centre.
“This is the first game we’ve kind of won like that,” said head coach Jeff Tedford. “It started going a little bit south on us. But people kept plugging away. Tonight, I think, did a lot for us. We kept playing. We kept believing somebody would make a play. And that’s kind of what happened.”
With the victory, the Lions moved to 7-10, eliminated the 5-12 Winnipeg Blue Bombers from playoff contention and made sure the 6-10 Montreal Alouettes can’t slip up in their final two games to close the regular season. Montreal could still deny the Lions a 19th consecutive playoff berth as a crossover participant from the East in the West Division playoffs. But a loss by the Als Sunday afternoon in Edmonton means the Lions will be celebrating.
“For us to be in this position, to be within sight of a playoff spot, after dealing with all the defeats and circumstances earlier in the year, and to see us building as a team, is great,” Phillips said. “We’re a young team (16 firstyear players) and we’re coming together. And we’re coming together at the right time. Guys like (Alex) Bazzie and (Mic’hael) Brooks are stepping up and making plays. We’re making progress at the right time.”
Bazzie, a defensive end, had a pair of sacks and Brooks, a defensive tackle, had three tackles and a sack as the Lions defence and pass rush, maligned earlier in the season, limited Argos quarterback Ricky Ray to 227 passing yards and a single touchdown throw. (Ray has 14 games of at least 300 passing yards against the Lions in his CFL career).
Over their last six games, the Lions have recorded 25 quarterback sacks. Over their first 11 games, they had just 21. And they needed every takedown, every tackle against the Argos, considering the discombobulation happening in other phases of the operation.
Quarterback Jonathon Jennings was intercepted twice, Harris and Lavelle Hawkins both lost fumbles, and poor Richie Leone had two kicks blocked (one on a punt, the other on a field-goal attempt) and missed a pair of converts.
After a one-yard touchdown run by Harris put the Lions ahead 24-15, Tedford elected to have Jennings toss a two-point convert to Bryan Burnham to save Leone from any further embarrassment. The rookie kicker has missed 11 PATs this season. Granted, they’re not easy or routine anymore.
“We’ll have to take a look at that,” the coach said. “We’ve got to get him (Leone) over the hump. If we can’t, we’ll have to look at other alternatives. We believe in him. He’s a talented guy. We need to see some results.”
Jennings is certainly doing that. Though far from spectacular, and guilty of at least one ill-advised throw that led to an interception (he was bumped in the backfield by Harris on the first and was thrown off his rhythm), the rookie quarterback was Cool Hand Luke when it counted. After tossing a 44-yard touchdown pass to Hawkins to open the scoring, he found the veteran wideout on a 36-yard pass late in the game when it was pivoting in Toronto’s direction. It was the kind of “gutsy throw” (Hawkins’ words) that most veteran quarterbacks are loath to make under pressure.
“He (Jennings) stood in there and threw a beautiful ball,” Tedford said. “To deliver a ball like that, under circumstances like that, said a lot about him.”
On two, back-to-back touchdown drives in the third quarter, Jennings was aided by no less than eight Argo penalties. But the essence of quarterbacking is to make the other team pay for its indiscretions, and he did.
“It wasn’t great. We’ve got a lot to learn from it. But we won,” Jennings said. “That’s all that matters at the end of the day. It shows we have a really good team, but we’re capable of more.”
Indeed, the Lions are capable of playing beyond game No. 18. And who could have imagined that just a short time ago?