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Two straight losses to two sub-500 teams have questions being asked about the Lions’ status as Grey Cup contenders
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Published Aug 01, 2024 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 6 minute read
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Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Ontaria Wilson (80) catches the pass as B.C. Lions’ T.J. Lee (6) defends during first half CFL action in Winnipeg Thursday, August 1, 2024. Photo by John Woods /THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Welcome to Friendly Manitoba; where the shirtless, beer-fuelled fans razz you relentlessly, and the football team grinds up any dignity you have and spit it out.
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On Thursday night at Princess Auto Stadium, the B.C. Lions played their worst 60 minutes of football this season, falling 25-0 to a Winnipeg Blue Bombers team that had won just two of their previous eight games. The last time the Leos had been blanked came three years prior on the same turf, to the same team, but to the tune of 45-0.
“We got our butts beat is what I think happened,” Lions coach Rick Campbell said post-game. “From start to finish, and we could not get anything going. You don’t see that too often in the CFL. So I’ll credit them, they had a good game plan. They played well and we had a bad day at the office, I’ll tell you that.”
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Aug. 11
B.C. Lions vs. Edmonton Elks
4 p.m., Commonwealth Stadium, TV: SN Pacific, Radio: Sportsnet 650
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While that October 2021 game was a Winnipeg offensive onslaught from the start, Thursday night’s contest was an offensive faceplant by the Lions. Until midway through the fourth quarter, the only Lions drive over eight yards was for 22 in the second quarter — it lasted a whole four plays, too! — and had finished the game with seven two-and-outs on 14 drives.
Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., who had been so masterful at fitting the ball into small windows early in the season, was completely off track, putting up just 74 yards and an interception on 8-of-17 passing.
A wobbly, end-over-end throw in the third quarter that was yards away from everyone except the Bombers’ bench summed up his night, and that night ended for Adams early in the fourth quarter.
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The play after connecting on his only 20-yard pass of the night, Winnipeg’s TyJuan Garbutt dragged him down for a sack, tweaking the same right knee that Adams hurt last year, knocking him from the game — and likely longer.
“We’re gonna definitely have to get it further looked at. The initial assessment, from what they told me, is it’s probably something on the order of weeks — not months or longer. So that’s the good news part of it,” Campbell said. “But it would be irresponsible to say that’s 100 per cent. He needs to get some tests done … but does not have look like a season-ending thing.”
B.C. Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. (3) throws against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers during the first half Photo by John Woods /THE CANADIAN PRESS
Campbell had planned on taking Adams out of the game if the Bombers had scored again, but they took that decision out of his hands with their fourth sack of the night.
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“We weren’t benching him; I was explaining to him that wasn’t about benching, that it was was about the big picture and keeping him healthy,” Campbell said. “And ironically, or whatever the word is, he ends up getting hurt. He’s our guy. Really good player. He’s our MOP and I look forward to having him back.”
If the last two performances punctured the good-feelings balloon about the Lions cruising into a Grey Cup at home, the injury to Adams set it on fire. The Lions have been through this before; when Nathan Rourke went down with his Lisfranc injury, it only took one game of Michael O’Connor and Antonio Pipkin under centre for B.C. to go out and trade for Adams.
The Lions have a backup in Jake Dolegala, who was 2-7 as a starter for Saskatchewan last season, and he completed one of three passes in relief Thursday — with the 6-foot-7 pivot having two batted down at the line of scrimmage.
But is he the guy to bring home the treasured CFL chalice to B.C.? Before the Calgary game, Adams was on pace to reach the 6,600-yard passing plateau that previously Doug Flutie had inhabited. That production is tough to replace.
To stop him, the Stampeders pulled out an old playbook on Big Play VA two weeks ago: drop guys into coverage and get pressure with three rushers. The Bombers did the same. It was why, as a team, the Lions converted just one of 15 second down chances, had four first downs, and put up 102 yards of net offence. Of their 14 drives on the night, just two reached double-digits in yards gained (22, 26).
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Stamps drew up the game plan for slowing down #BCLions offense & #Bombers are following it well. Rush 3-4 and keep an LB close to spy VA when he steps up. The receivers aren’t getting much separation with so many in coverage. BC D doing everything they can but are getting no…
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) August 2, 2024
If they got B.C. into a second-and-long — and they did quite often — the Bombers pinned their ears back and got after Adams while blanketing his receivers. The Lions (5-3) need to figure out what went wrong both in Winnipeg, Calgary, and the bye week in between to get back on track.
There was no question the Bombers (3-6) were better than the two-win team they were coming into the night, but it took until Week 9 for them to look more like the team that has finished first in the West the past three seasons. Even if the offence was missing receivers Kenny Lawler, Dalton Schoen and Drew Wolitarsky.
“They’re a better team than we gave them credit for. I mean, we knew that (they were good) but they came out and played a better game. Fair and square, they won,” said cornerback TJ Lee.
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B.C. started the game with a string of three two-and-outs, which got snapped with an ill-advised Adams pass to Keon Hatcher on the side, as Tyrell Ford stepped in front of him to make the pick.
But the game somehow remained close. A 60-yard Sergio Castillo field goal had Winnipeg up 6-0 until 28 seconds left in the half, when Zach Collaros hit former Lions Lucky Whitehead — seeing his first CFL action since B.C. released him — to put them up 13-0 at the half.
Never has a 13-point lead seemed so insurmountable. With Adams off-target, running back William Stanback never getting a look, and the Lions bend-but-don’t-break defence wilting under the Bombers pressure and 31-degree temperatures, there didn’t seem to be a way back.
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The only question was if they were going to suffer the same indignity that they’d inflicted on Edmonton twice last year — the improbable CFL shutout. Their best chance to put points on the board came in the third quarter when Sean Whyte lined up for a 41-yard field goal, but the Lions elected for some trickery with a pooch kick, turning it over on downs.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros (8) gets sacked by B.C. Lions’ Ben Hladik (46) during the first half Photo by John Woods John Woods /THE CANADIAN PRESS
The only time they saw the end zone was walking through it — and the inevitable trash talk from the most vocal of the 31,589 fans at Princess Auto Stadium lining the bleachers over the narrow tunnel — on their way to the locker-room.
The Lions visit the Edmonton Elks on Sunday Aug. 11 before returning home the following week to host these same Bombers. Expect them to be as friendly to them as the Blue and Gold were on Thursday night.
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Will Adams be back in time? That’s TBD. But TJ Lee thinks he’ll be there.
“We understand this is football and injuries are gonna come,” he said. “He’s down today. But, you know, storms and clouds will pass. He’ll be ready come back, ready to play. We just got to build him back up as a team … We love him, good, bad and ugly and (he’ll) bounce back. Football is a game of resilience, and it’s a long season.”
jadams@postmedia.com
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Courtesy : https://theprovince.com/sports/blue-bombers-25-lions-0-in-a-season-of-ups-and-downs-this-was-rock-bottom