Orange and DBs look to crush Ottawa’s aerial attack
The B.C. Lions, still winless on the road this young CFL season, are in Ottawa tonight to tackle a Redblacks team fashioning a similar 2-2 record.
The Lions, still riding high following last Saturday ’s come-frombehind 20-17 win over the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers in quarterback Travis Lulay’s return to duty, know they’ll have to bring their best against the Redblacks.
The game starts at 4:30 p.m. at TD Place Stadium, and will be televised on TSN and carried on TSN 1040 AM radio.
THE KEY MATCHUP
Lions DB Anthony Orange vs. Redblacks WR Diontae Spencer
The receiver/returner is dynamic when he gets the football in his hands, but other than a Game 1 matchup with Duron Carter when he had 82 yards in catches and a touchdown, Spencer has had games of 11, 29 and 26 yards receiving. The Redblacks need to get him the football in space. Anthony Orange?
You may remember him as A.J. Jefferson (he changed his name), who played two games for the Redblacks last season before being released.
Five things to watch
1. A healthy Travis Lulay
The veteran quarterback led the Lions past the Blue Bombers last week in his first start since last September, when he had a season-ending ACL injury. Lulay threw for 326 yards against Winnipeg in a come-from-behind 2017 victory. Ottawa is the only opponent he has never reached 300 yards passing against (his best was 254 in 2015).
2. Trevor Harris needs to be Trevor Harris
In his team’s two wins, Redblacks QB Harris has averaged 343.5 passing yards; in the team’s two defeats (both against Calgary), Harris averaged 114.0 yards. Harris, who needs to move his feet around a bit to buy more time to find open receivers, says he has to be better, but the supporting cast needs to be better, too.
3. Ottawa’s offensive line must get nastier
Too often in last week’s loss to Calgary, Ottawa’s offensive line was getting schooled. The Stampeders didn’t need to try any trickery; they were bull-rushing over the Redblacks’ big boys who were trying to create a pocket for Harris and create running room for William Powell. They didn’t succeed on either front. Nolan MacMillan returns this week, but Evan Johnson is out.
4. Stepping up on special teams
One year ago, the Redblacks made special things happen on special teams. While they’ve been steady, they haven’t been explosive yet in 2018. One thing to watch: The punting battle between former Lion Richie Leone (averaging 48.2 yards this year) and B.C.’s Ty Long (averaging 51.6 yards).
5. Winning the turnover battle
So far on the season, the Redblacks are minus-3 in turnovers. Coming into this season, one of the things on Ottawa’s to-do list was limiting the number of times the ball was coughed up and creating more turnovers from the opposing team.
Said Redblacks’ DB Antoine Pruneau: “I’m not thinking we’re not doing a good job. I know we can get those turnovers. B.C. looks like a team that loves to put the ball in the air, throw up the 50-50 balls, so we’ll have our opportunities this week.”
INSIDE THE GAME
Ottawa won both games against the Lions in each of 2015 and 2017, but lost both games against the West Division opponent in each of 2014 and 2016 . ... The Lions overcame a 17-point deficit last week to beat Winnipeg 20-17, their largest comeback to win in any game since 2008 . ... Ottawa’s 150-yard offensive output against Calgary was the lowest in team history over 76 games since joining the league in 2014 ... The last time any Ottawa club was under 150 was the Renegades in their first year (114 yards on July 17, 2002) . ... Ottawa running back William Powell had his rushing streak of 90-plus-yard games stopped last week. He had 55 carries for 355 yards in games 1-3, but was held to 17 yards on eight rushes against the Stamps.