Lions flag mental miscues, aim to shore up discipline against Esks
The B.C. Lions have lost two consecutive games, but it wasn’t the Ottawa Redblacks and Calgary Stampeders who beat them.
It was the B.C. Lions themselves. Both CFL contests turned on crucial, preventable mistakes. Against Ottawa, a late time-count violation forced the Leos’ offence to settle for a field goal, then sit helplessly on the sidelines as the Redblacks drove the length of the field for the winning touchdown.
Against Calgary, while within one score near the end of the third quarter, Anthony Orange’s head-smacking objectionable conduct penalty — he lightly kicked the ball toward the Stamps’ bench — extended what was a dead drive, ultimately resulting in a Calgary touchdown that pushed the lead to 25-10.
While they weren’t the sole reasons for the defeats, if you subtract those mistakes, it might be a 4-2 Lions team facing the Edmonton Eskimos (5-2) tonight at B.C. Place Stadium, instead of one that’s 2-4 and last in the West Division.
“There’s no solace in losing,” said coach Wally Buono. “Honestly, that can be an excuse … everybody saying you’re close. But we’re not paid to be close. Sports is about results, and there’s either positive results or negative results.”
It’s not so much the penalty yardage that has hurt B.C., but the timing. The Leos have actually given up the third-fewest penalty yards in the league (459), with only Toronto (451) and Winnipeg (417) racking up less.
Looking deeper, B.C. tops the charts with 20 procedure/offside calls, and defensively their nine total illegal contact or pass interference calls (nine) is right in line with the league average.
“It’s the penalties that we get, at the times that we get them, that are game-changers,” said Orange, who took to Twitter after the Calgary game to apologize to fans.
“When we do those things, we’re hurting ourselves,” said Orange. “We know we’re a good team. Watching the game against Calgary, they’re undefeated and we felt like we could have beat them. Minus those administrative penalties, the stuff that we can control … we can hopefully put points on the board and win those games.”
Considering the short week and task ahead for Orange and his defensive backfield teammates, that’s going to be a big challenge. The Eskimos boast arguably the league’s best aerial attack, led by quarterback Mike Reilly.
The former third-string Lions QB leads the league in yards (2,320), attempts (241), touchdowns (14), and quarterback rating (95), piloting an offence whose 421 net yard average is second only to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
He’s also the best in the league at going deep, completing 50 per cent of his 48 long balls for 892 yards and nine touchdowns — all tops in the CFL.
In their last meeting at the beginning of June, a 41-22 Eskimos win, Reilly had 326 passing yards and three touchdowns as Edmonton scored 39 points over the final three quarters.
“We know what he’s going to do. It’s no secret,” said Orange, who might be a little tired this week from lack of sleep after welcoming a baby girl, Cecilia Lynn Orange, into the world on Tuesday night with his partner.
“He’s going to feed his receivers, get deep balls down the field. We have to be on top of our stuff, eliminate the big plays and simple mistakes, and I think we’ll be all right.”
The Esks have three players in the top 10 for receiving yards, with receivers Duke Williams and Derel Walker leading the way with a league-best five touchdowns each. Williams is the CFL pacesetter with 713 yards, while Walker is fourth with 617 — 101 of which coming on a touchdown catchand-run bomb in a 33-30 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Week 1.
“We make the game only as difficult as it is … They’re human,” said defensive back T.J. Lee. “The way I see it, 90 per cent of those games (we lost) we played super solid. We’re better than our record. The record means a lot, though. It shows that we have a lot of work to do. Whether we clean up the smaller things or not, that’s huge in determining our (future) record.” GRID BITS: Kelowna-born Chad Brownlee, who was a sixth-round draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 2003 (190th overall), and is now riding high on the Canadian country charts with his new single Dear Drunk Me, will perform at halftime at B.C. Place Stadium as part of the CFL/TSN Thursday Night Football promotion.