Posts
Riders 28 – Lions 19
I woke up this morning with a pounding head, a queasy stomach and no voice… turns out I was a little excited about our playoff victory and celebrated very enthusiastically.
What A Game!
The Lions scored on their opening drive. A drive that should have ended on the third play with an interception that we dropped and a drive where I swear there was procedure on BC that got missed. But they scored and drew first blood. But then Sean Whyte (the most accurate kicker in the regular season) doinked the PAT. In retrospect that doink ended any momentum BC had because from that point on we were the better team. They fought hard and stayed in the game but they were chasing the whole time. We tied with game early in the second and never trailed from that point on.
It boiled down to mistakes and missed opportunities. They made a lot. We made very few. Adams threw 3 INTs (more on that later). Harris had zero turnovers. Their kicker doinked 2 kicks. Ours made all his. In the 4th quarter they settled for FGs, we scored TDs.
Trevor Harris was the leader we hoped for when we brought him in last year. In our most important game of the year, he rose to the occasion. Completed 79% of his passes, did not turn the ball over, produced TDs rather than settled for FGs. Hell I don’t recall many 2 and outs. We dominated time of possession and kept our defense rested. Speaking of guys who delivered what we hoped for, this is why we went out and got Ouelette. He’s a physical playoff performer. Emilus was another guy who stepped up. Early in the season I was critical of him because of his inconsistent hands (may have even compared him to Chris Getzlaf at one point) but in the back half of the season and on Saturday he has been bringing his best consistently. Lastly how awesome is it to be able to replace your left tackle mid game with your centre (well your right guard who is currently playing center)? Ferland is developing in a Gene Makowsky level talent.
The calling card of a Corey Mace defense is stop the run and create turnovers. That’s exactly what we got. The run game was a complete non-factor and we picked off VA 3 times (and as previously mentioned should have had a 4th). The pressure created by our front 4 definitely impacted VA and led him to some questionable throws. I have no clue what he thought he saw on that first INT. Unless he just forgot that Marcus Sayles no longer was on his team? That second INT… do you know how bad you have to be to throw a pick to Lokombo? Its actually unprecedented. No other QB in the CFL has done it… ever. Bout time the safety made an impact. The last pick… well that’s just Milligan being his usual outstanding self. In true Riders for we gave up over 300 yards but in the second half when it mattered most, we allowed just 2 FGs and got turnovers when it mattered most.
It
was a total team effort. Credit to Mace and his staff we looked well prepared.
Its also looking like Mace is growing as a head coach. He is making better game
management decisions. That 2 point convert made a huge difference in how the
end of the game played out.
It was a great night and for those of us that suffered through the last 2 years it was definitely something to be savoured. Honestly the only blemish on the night was how awful that halftime Kiss cover band was. I don’t know if they normally sound that awful or just did not properly warm up their voices for the cold weather but they honestly would have been better off to just do karaoke in Pil Country. Quality would have been similar, entertainment value would have been better.
Other
random thoughts:
-
I
need to know what’s going on with Lanier. Maybe he’s in Mace’s doghouse, maybe
he's not quite fully healthy but I really don’t understand leaving him off the
roster. For all the hype, having Armstead on the roster for 5 carries is not
effective use of an American spot.
-
I
guarantee Lauther had the green light to dribble kick at some point but BC scouted
it well and covered it religiously.
-
Was
it just me (and maybe a few ryes) or should BC not have had a lot more time
count violations?
4 comments:
I believe Lanier was a healthy scratch.Caleb sanders and Baldonado are really developing nicely.
But I would be shocked if we don’t see Lanier soon. He is paid big money for a reason.
Those doinks were definitely the wind making up for that Winnipeg-Montreal punt debacle. Nice to see the luck back on our side. One of BC's late field goals was almost blasted far right as well.
Full points for the win. Bring on the Blue Bombers!
Was there an issue with Baldonado interacting with the fans at the end of the game. I didn't see it and can't find any reporting on it.
Anon 1 - Sanders has been playing well. Baldonado is coming into his own but for the highest paid DL to be sitting there a healthy scratch in a must win game tells me something has to be up.
Bryce - the wind giveth a taketh away. The hook on that one FG was crazy. Also on one Lauther FG it just died halfway through the endzone like it hit a wall.
Anon 2 - I didn't hear anything about Baldonado... but then again I was a few ryes deep post final whistle.
Post a Comment