There are always critical points in a season for any team.
The common denominator in any of those critical points is usually having to overcome adversity which can present itself in many forms.
It could be injuries, poor play, a tough part of the schedule, or as in the B.C. Lions case, generating effort.
You can break down all the X鈥檚 and O鈥檚 you want but when it came to Saturday鈥檚 30-13 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at BC Place Stadium it all boiled down to one thing 鈥� effort.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what bothered me today. I thought the energy they brought was better than ours and that鈥檚 not typical of our guys. I sure like this football team but I didn鈥檛 like the way we came at it today. I鈥檓 not sure why that was. We had a good week of practice. Everything seemed good and the guys seemed excited about getting back out there,鈥� Lions Head Coach Rick Campbell said after watching his team鈥檚 record drop to 7-4.
I鈥檒l give the Lions a pass on this one as each and every team will have - as the legendary Tom Larscheid would say - a clunker during the course of a season.
Now it鈥檚 up to the Lions to get back on track and if they鈥檙e to maintain any hopes of winning the Western Division, they鈥檒l need to beat the Alouettes in Montreal this upcoming Saturday.
It鈥檚 not going to be easy as the Als will be looking for a bounce back game themselves after getting drilled by the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg last Thursday. It was a tale of two halves as the Bombers led 20-17 at the half and then came out and scored 27 unanswered points to rout the Alouettes 47-17. The loss dropped Montreal鈥檚 record to 6-4, which is still good enough for second place in the Eastern Division.
I don鈥檛 like using the term 鈥榤ust-win鈥� when it comes to a game just over the half-way point of a season but it鈥檚 just that if the Lions want to maintain their aspirations of dethroning the Blue Bombers as the top team in the West.
After their visit to Montreal, the Lions enjoy their final bye week of the season before playing host to Ottawa, traveling to Edmonton and then entertaining Saskatchewan before Winnipeg comes to town on October 6th.
At the very least, the Lions need to be within one game of Winnipeg when the Bombers visit Vancouver. A win in their third meeting would give the Lions the season series over the Bombers 鈥� which is the first tiebreaker should the two teams finish with the same record.
To get to that point, the Lions need to run the table in the next month while the Bombers would have to drop at least one game in their next four. Winnipeg will have a home-and-home with Saskatchewan as part of the Labor Day extravaganza, then play in Hamilton before taking on Toronto at home.
Given that schedule, I can definitely see the Bombers dropping one game.
Which brings us back to the Lions.
This team has enough talent to win the division but it can鈥檛 afford any more 鈥榥o-shows鈥� during the second half of the season.
That means, as Campbell put it after Saturday鈥檚 loss, fighting their way out of it.
鈥淲hen things aren鈥檛 going our way for whatever reason maybe we can handle that better of digging ourselves out when things aren鈥檛 going our way for whatever reason. I think we just got stuck when it didn鈥檛 go our way. We never fought our way out of it,鈥� said Campbell.
Winning in Montreal isn鈥檛 going to be easy but the Lions need to show to everyone 鈥� and more importantly themselves 鈥� that they are still an elite team that鈥檚 capable of winning a Grey Cup.
EXTRA POINTS:
* Despite going 23 for 35 passing with 348 yards and a touchdown during pre-season action, the Jacksonville Jaguars waived former Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke on Monday. The Jags are hopeful that Rourke can clear waivers so that they can sign him to their practice squad but given his pre-season performance that seems unlikely. If claimed by another team, Rourke would have to be added to the 53-man roster.
* Former Lions defensive coordinator Rich Stubler passed away on August 27th at the age of 74. The most common word used to describe Stubler in many of the online tributes is 鈥榣ifer鈥� as the man basically lived for the game of football. Stubler鈥檚 鈥榖end but don鈥檛 break鈥� philosophy as a defensive coordinator saw him be part of five Grey Cup winning teams 鈥� including winning a championship with B.C. in 2000. Stubler had four different coaching stints with the Lions with his last being as the team鈥檚 defensive coordinator in 2019.
* Despite losing back-to-back games and being on the road, the Vegas books have instilled the Lions as 3 陆 point favorites against Montreal with the total sitting at 45 陆.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob 鈥渢he Moj鈥� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media. And check out his weekly podcast every Monday at Today in B.C. or your local Black Press Media website.
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