No emotion, no intensity — no wins
This is how the B.C. Lions’ world ends:
In the first quarter, Ty Long ■ delivers a near-perfect 53-yard punt which Winnipeg’s Kevin Fogg fields near the boundary on his 12-yard line and returns 88 yards for a touchdown without being touched.
The Lions’ defence doesn’t allow ■ a touchdown over 60 minutes. Still, with three minutes left in the game, the Leos are losing 26-6, largely because Long has punted nine times.
In the game’s first 55 minutes, ■ quarterback Jonathon Jennings completes 14-of-28 passes for 138 puny yards while serving up two interceptions, including a 64-yard pick six to T.J. Heath in the fourth quarter. With the outcome decided, Jennings completes 10 of his last 11 for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
The Lions take 11 penalties for ■
97 yards in a game where every yard is important.
Add it up and there was no bang in Winnipeg on Saturday afternoon. There was only the whimper of hope dying for the Lions. After starting the season 5-2, Wally Buono’s team is now 6-9 and any chance of making the playoffs exists only in the theoretical sense.
The Lions are now in next year country. But, considering the uncertainty surrounding the franchise, even that takes on a dark tone these days. The 2017 season will be remembered for a lot of reasons in the Lions’ life story.
Unfortunately, none of them are good.
“Some guys are letting the whole thing engulf them,” Buono said afterwards, referring to the seven losses in eight games the Lions have suffered.
“They’re letting the whole thing weigh them down. It’s Game No. 15. You have to play with emotion and intensity.”
He was asked how that emotion can be created.
“That’s not possible unless you feel it yourself.”
But the only thing the Lions are feeling these days is the embarrassment of a lost season. On a raw day in the Manitoba capital, the defence allowed just 214 yards in net offence to Andrew Harris and Co., and keep the Bombers out of the end zone.
The problem was their effort was counteracted by a shockingly inept offence. Jennings did finish with a late surge, but while the last five minutes improved his numbers, they couldn’t hide everything which preceded it.
In the first half, Jennings threw for just 65 yards, 33 of which came in one play to Shaq Johnson, and drove his team into Bombers’ territory just once. In the second half, he gifted Fogg a room-service interception which resulted in a Bombers’ field goal, then watched as Heath stepped in front of a late throw to the sidelines and went 64 yards for a touchdown that iced the Bombers’ win.
“It was a lack of execution,” Jennings said when asked to identify the problem.
OK, that’s bad enough. But what’s more disturbing is both Buono and wide receiver Bryan Burnham referenced a lack of intensity and urgency when asked about the offensive woes.
Hello. You’re in last place and in danger of missing the playoffs. How much more urgency do you need?
“It’s football,” said Buono. “It’s a game of emotion. When you step on the field, you have to turn on the juices. When they played with urgency it was totally different.”
“The defence came to play,” said Burnham, who caught two late touchdown passes.
“Offensively, we didn’t want it enough. We didn’t get serious until the end of the game. It wasn’t serious for us until there were two minutes left in the game and we’re like, oh, we’ve got to do something.”
As mentioned, the Lions’ defence held up its end of the bargain. Harris was held to 52 hard-earned rushing yards and another 33 receiving yards while keeping up a running commentary with Solomon Elimimian and his colleagues. The unit also surrendered just one play of 20 yards or more, a 20-yard pass to Darvin Adams who was knocked out of the game by an Anthony Thompson hit.
“Just yipping and yipping and yipping,” Harris answered when asked about the byplay between he and the Lions.
“Andrew is a competitor and I’m a competitor,” said Elimimian, who finished with 11 tackles.
“We’re going to let him know. It’s personal pride.”
Elimimian was asked to characterize the feeling in the Lions’ room. “The vibe in the locker is sombre,” he said. “That’s a tough pill to swallow because this is a proud organization. Losing is unacceptable. This feeling, right here, sucks.”