Lions 41, Redblacks 37: The Leos full a late comeback for the ages

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There have been nonetheless six minutes left in Saturday’s sport at B.C. Place, however followers have been already streaming up the aisles for the exits.

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Vernon Adams Jr. had simply thrown his third decide of the sport, and the B.C. Lions have been trailing by 16 factors to the Ottawa Redblacks. The followers’ fickle mindset was comprehensible; the Leos have been listless, had proven little chew all evening, whereas the guests have been chewing up the clock and the scoreboard.

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However there have been some followers who knew: “They don’t understand how CFL soccer works,” tweeted Lions fan @YoungJudd_1, a frequent customer to the group’s Surrey facility to observe follow. 

He was proper. A 120-yard missed subject aim return from Terry Williams, a well timed roughing-the-passer penalty by Ottawa, and a large landing catch by Fortunate Whitehead later, the dead-and-buried Lions had change into Lazarus, finishing an unbelievable, breathless comeback to win 41-37.

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NEXT GAME

Friday

B.C. Lions vs. Edmonton Elks

6:30 p.m., Commonwealth Stadium, TV: TSN, Radio: AM730

With the Redblacks on the B.C. 38-yard line on the sport’s closing snap, Woody Baron acquired his arms on Ottawa quarterback Dustin Crum, bear-hugging him till the officers blew the whistle. Baron ripped off his helmet, threw it within the air, and the Lions sideline poured on to have fun with him.

“Oh, man. It’s simply so loopy. … (The) group that didn’t surrender on me, after throwing three interceptions — and foolish ones, too,” stated Adams, who completed the evening with 327 yards passing and three touchdowns on 26-of-37 makes an attempt, cracking the 300-yard mark for the fifth straight sport.

A comeback win over Winnipeg when he performed for Montreal was the closest comparability he might consider, however “This one right here, it’s simply totally different, man. We’re on the home, we’re residence, I see followers leaving, giving up on us — we nonetheless love ya’ll followers, nonetheless come again out, child! — but it surely was superb, man,” stated Adams.

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“You might be 100,000 per cent proper,” he stated, when requested if this sport exemplified the CFL sport.

“Guys have been saying on the sideline ‘Hey, y’all know the final three minutes within the fourth quarter, that’s an entire quarter of its personal. So don’t surrender.’ They usually have been saying that after we have been nonetheless down two scores. So that you simply by no means know. You simply acquired to play till that whistle blows on the finish.” 

It was the seventh straight loss for the Redblacks (3-10), however they haven’t been blown out in any of them — a 10-point loss to Edmonton was the worst — as they’ve fallen by a margin of simply 4 factors.

“I don’t know if I’ve acquired phrases for it, to be sincere,” stated Ottawa’s Crum. “The previous weeks, I’ve stated annoyed. Tonight we simply let it slip. You may’t let that occur. You’ve acquired to be taught to win video games, (and) end them off, particularly in opposition to good groups like B.C. It’s simply disappointing.  We felt like we performed nicely sufficient to drag it out however errors on the finish form of value us.”

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Right here’s what we discovered …

HULK SMASH

Williams had but to return a kick of any type for a rating as a member of the Lions (9-4) since being traded to B.C. final September. The diminutive returner, who likens himself to the Hulk, had been Bruce Banner this season, however bulked up simply in time with a weaving, juking return 120 yards to the home off a missed Lewis Ward subject aim from 50 yards.

The landing made it 37-34 with 1:25 left, and it appeared just like the Lions had given their final gasp after the onside kick try failed. However the defence pressured a two-and-out, and Williams hit for one more huge return, taking the punt 24 yards to Ottawa’s facet of midfield.

“Simply watching (Ward) the entire sport. He’d been making them deep … however I at all times be able to make a play. By no means be scared. I’d wager on myself twice on Sunday if I needed to,” stated Williams. “When the fourth quarter began, I had 4 fingers up. It’s not over till it hits zero. I like the (CFL) sport. A minute can flip an entire sport, and we at all times believed.”

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After his second huge return. Adams hit Justin McGinnis tiptoeing down the sideline for a 20-yard acquire — the play stood as replays have been inconclusive whether or not he stayed inbounds — then a roughing-the-passer penalty moved them one other 15 yards nearer. Adams then discovered Whitehead at the back of the tip zone from the 16-yard line, and the miracle comeback had been accomplished.

The 19-point fourth-quarter comeback was the biggest in group historical past, and second-largest in CFL historical past.

CAUSE FOR CONCERN

Of their first six video games at residence, the Lions gave up a complete of 58 factors (9.7 ppg). However of their final two on the Dome, they’ve given up 67 — and extra regarding needs to be the vitality stage in each of them.

For all of the discuss of avoiding a banana peel sport coming into Saturday’s contest, and placing their Week 12 30-13 swan dive in opposition to Hamilton behind them, the Lions slipped up once more in a significant manner.

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“The one factor that bothered me at halftime was we form of had … a distant look in our eyes, and it was solely a one-point sport,” stated Lions coach Rick Campbell. “I don’t know what number of shut video games Ottawa has performed, however they’ve performed a ton. I don’t suppose that we have been overlooking them. There was zero of that. 

“I simply suppose it was like we have been ready for one thing to occur, as a substitute of constructing one thing occur.”

Adams had picks on back-to-back drives within the second half, the second going for a 50-yard decide six by Douglas Coleman when he scrambled needlessly and was late finding Keon Hatcher who was in first-down place.

“Foolish. Particularly the second. Throwing throughout my physique, and that’s the No. 1 rule for a quarterbacks. You don’t throw throughout your physique,” stated Adams, who devoted his sport to his agent Cam Weiss, who’d died earlier this week after battling most cancers. 

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“My group acquired behind me, and stated ‘we rocking with you regardless, we brothers.’ … And also you don’t get that loads. Typically guys simply sit right here and stare at you from the nook of their eye. However they have been there for me, and I admire that greater than something.”

The Lions didn’t convert a second down till the ultimate play of the third quarter, going 0-7 as much as that time.

They gave up 323 yards of web of offence to the CFL’s lowest-rated unit. A Redblacks group that wasn’t supposed to have the ability to cross had 233 yards by means of the air, and a Redblacks group that wasn’t supposed to have the ability to cowl held the Lions in examine for a lot of the sport.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

There have been some key factors within the sport the place Campbell’s play-calling wanted some additional clarification.

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With 10 minutes left within the fourth quarter, the Lions have been down 18 factors however acquired themselves into the pink zone, and confronted a third-and-8 from the Ottawa 18. B.C. went for it as a substitute of kicking the sector aim, and turned the ball over on downs.

“I at all times mirror on what I do and the selections I make,” stated Campbell. “My thought course of on going for it was strike whereas we’re down there and in that tight. It was going to take two touchdowns and two two-point conversions, so I assumed if we even acquired a landing — we missed it — we’ll nonetheless maintain going. If we have been additional out, I feel I’d kick a subject aim. However we have been struggling. We weren’t lighting it up — but. In order that was that.”

When Adams — by means of his third decide of the sport — was making an attempt to hit McInnis on a deep sideline route, the Lions might really feel the clock ticking away. B.C. pressured a two-and-out, getting the ball again with 4:13 left, and Adams marched the Lions down and hit McInnis to make it a 10-point sport.

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Once more, it appeared over when he was flushed out of the pocket and threw a desperation underhand toss to Whitehead on the 2 level conversion — it was knocked down — and the Redblacks recovered the following onside kick.

However the defence stood agency once more. Then Ward missed his lengthy subject aim try and not one of the offensive lineman on the sector had an opportunity at catching Williams, who was going full skip-to-my-Lou down the sideline.

With 1:25 left within the sport, and nonetheless down by three, Campbell eschewed the onside kick for a deep one, and Ottawa’s return was restricted to 17 yards. One other two-and-out, and the Lions have been immediately on the verge of profitable.

“It’s not typically you see the place you miss an onside kick, and then you definately get to kick off deep,” stated Campbell. “I at all times discuss with Jordan (Maksymic), I’ve a chart in my pocket, and I at all times discuss with him upstairs about how a lot time they will kill. We stated ‘let’s kick it deep, and if we cease them, we’re nonetheless gonna have time.’ And we thought their fingers group can be on, so hopefully we might pin them down there. Credit score to our gamers; however that’s how that every one went down.”

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RUN OVER

It’s past the beating-a-dead-horse analogy. It’s extra just like the horse died, the physique has been dug up, and whipped once more.

The Lions run defence acquired chewed up once more early on, albeit by an excellent operating group. The Redblacks had 101 yards dashing on the half, averaging 5.6 yards per carry.

The Redblacks first three touchdowns each got here off the legs of Crum, one off a designed run for 3 yards, a five-yard scramble, then one other short-yardage rating late within the third.

B.C.’s finest weapon of their run defence has been their offence; get out in entrance, forcing different groups to throw. However in shut video games, like Saturday’s, their deficiencies and hole administration have been laid naked. And that opened up the cross sport for Crum, who uncharacteristically began dicing up the secondary within the third quarter.

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However by the center of the third quarter, B.C. had made their changes, permitting simply 13 second-half dashing yards.

“We talked about simplifying and ensuring we have been in our greatest fronts to cease the run, ensuring we acquired the fellows on the sector that we need to cancel the run,” stated Campbell. “We talked about it at halftime. I feel we have been shedding the bodily battle on all sides of the ball. They have been making performs and we weren’t, however clearly we made sufficient performs on the finish to get it performed.”

A LITTLE HELP FROM A FRIEND

The Tiger-Cats did the Lions a large favour by beating the Blue Bombers 29-23 on Saturday afternoon at residence.

The loss dropped the Bombers to 10-4 on the season, which means the Lions might lose the rubber match sport with Winnipeg (Oct. 6, B.C. Place) and nonetheless win the West title.

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Former Lion James Butler had 88 yards and a landing on the bottom, however no run was greater than his 11 rush with 53 seconds left, which gave the Ticats a recent set of downs and salted the sport away.

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