The BC Lions are back in the win column snapping a rare 2-game losing streak with a 34-25 win in Montreal. It was another night of effective pass rushing and an explosive passing output from Vernon Adams Jr. The Lions head into their bye week with a win.
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Effective Passing Offense
Vernon Adams Jr. put together a really nice stat line in this game completing 21 of his 33 passes (64%) for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also rushed 8 times for 54 yards.
VA threw a nice ball early in the game to Keon Hatcher just over a Montreal cornerback for a 16-yard gain down the left side. He ran from pressure to his right for a 10-yard gain. Later in the game VA was pressured on consecutive plays and ran on both picking up 8 yards and then 17 yards on the ground. He made a 16-yard pass in the face of pressure down the middle.
The best play of the game has to be Alexander Hollins 62 yard catch for a touchdown which at first looked like it was going to possibly be broken up by a defensive back but it was thrown just out of his reach. Hollins caught it and ran the remaining 15 yards for the score. It was a well-placed ball despite Adams Jr. being hit as he threw.
All 5 of the Lions’ starting receivers had a productive game. Lucky Whitehead beat his man getting open for a 43-yard catch. Keon Hatcher was tied for first in catches with 5 and had a touchdown. Justin McInnis did a great job catching a short pass and spinning off a tackler before running downfield for a 19-yard play. Jevon Cottoy was once again a truck and led the team in YAC with 27.
Rushing Game Did What BC Needed
I thought Taquan Mizzell had another good game rushing for 68 yards on 14 carries. He also had his first career CFL rushing touchdown which was a 7-yard run to the right. Montreal’s defense played pretty well against the run so I thought Mizzell’s level of production was good.
No Sacks Allowed
BC did a pretty good job of protecting their quarterback and only allowed 1 sack which was reviewed and ruled to be roughing the passer, thus negating the sack.
Pass Rush was Rushing
The BC Lions had 5 sacks and just about every defensive lineman had at least 1 pressure with Mathieu Betts leading the way in the pressure department with 8 quality pressures in front of over 100 of his friends and family watching on in his hometown of Montreal. Woody Baron had 4 quality pressures. They did a great job of making Cody Fajardo’s day difficult.
Run Stopping
BC made some good run stops through the game but they also allowed a 69-yard run from William Stanback for a touchdown and a 43-yard run from Jeshrunn Antwi. BC did make enough quality run stops for Montreal to somewhat abandon the run and BC locked down the pass in the 4th quarter.
Locked Down the Pass Defense in the 4th Quarter
The BC Lions did a good job defending against the pass to the effect of not allowing many deep balls at all. While Fajardo finished the game with 308 passing yards, 172 of those were YAC.
Going into the 4th quarter Fajardo had 271 yards of passing offense and a touchdown. In the 4th quarter, BC locked it down as he completed only 3 of his 9 passes for 37 yards with 2 interceptions.
Another Accurate Game From Sean Whyte
Whyte made both of his field goals with the longest being 41 yards. He also made all 4 of his extra points.
Defensive Performances, Plays That Stood Out
Defensive Line
Mathieu Betts, Woody Baron and Sione Teuhema all had monster games. Betts put quality pressure on Fajardo on 8 different plays and also had 2 run stops. Teuhema had 2 sacks, and 4 run stops and put pressure on the quarterback twice. Woody Baron had a sack and put quality pressure on the quarterback 4 times, had a run stop in the 2nd quarter, and a good run tackle on Fajardo in the third quarter.
As usual, we saw a lot of contributors from the BC Lions’ defensive line. Josh Banks had a near pressure in the first quarter and hit the quarterback in the 2nd quarter. Tibo Debaillie put pressure on the QB in the first quarter and generated a QB hit. David Menard had a good run tackle in the 2nd quarter. Francis Bemiy had a pressure in the 1st quarter.
Nick Usher had a pressure in the 2nd quarter making his debut as a BC Lion against his old team that released him following the Shawn Lemon signing.
Linebackers
Bo Lokombo had 2 very good run stops as well as another good run tackle.
Ben Hladik had 2 run stops and a QB pressure. Manny Rugamba made a couple of run tackles and generated 3 pressures one of which he hit the quarterback on. Rugamba applied pressure on an incompletion in the third quarter that helped prevent Montreal from succeeding in a 2-point conversion. Rugamba also was there helping in double coverage on Quincy Mauger’s interception.
Defensive Backs
T.J. Lee was in 1 on 1 coverage with Austin Mack on the 31-yard touchdown that was caught in the back of the end zone. It was a well-placed ball and an amazing catch. The coverage from Lee was pretty good despite the play’s result. T.J. Lee played a pretty good game in which he made 7 good tackles on short passes and 2 others on a pass early in the game around 15 yards. Lee also provided good coverage on a deep pass incompletion, brok up the pass on a 2-point conversion, and had an interception in the 4th quarter.
Marcus Sayles made 2 tackles on short passes. Mike Jones provided good coverage through the game and did not allow any deep passes his way. Garry Peters had a good tackle on a short pass and broke up a pass in the 4th quarter and was there to help with coverage on the final offensive play for Montreal which was a deep attempt into the end zone.
Quincy Mauger had a sack, a run stop and a 4th quarter interception.
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