From the Lions' Den

With the Lions on a roll, here's Solar Max's take on how they're doing it.

After the second bye in 3 weeks, some timing routes might have been off, some defensive calls might have been suspect, and the offence could have been forgiven if they had some trouble moving the ball. And for the first half, some of that was true. Montreal came into BC Place with their new and improved Offensive Line, a 4 game losing streak, and a coach mad enough to chew neutronium. “The Don” had never lost 5 in a row in his coaching career, and wasn’t about to start under the dome before 35,971 of the Faithful.

Als had some issues from the start. Kicker Damon Duval looked so uncomfortable walking on and off the field that one might have thought he would break in half on the 35 yard line. He gamely put his foot through Punts and Kicks alike, but he didn’t look happy about it.

The first half saw Montreal pressure Dave Dickenson often, not letting him release to one of his outlets in Smith or Clermont. Dave saw quite a bit of field turf close up, until finally finding Geroy Simon for the first of two TDs for the outstanding Slotback. On the Defensive side of the ball, Lions’ dbs had Superstar Ben Cahoon corralled for most of the evening, and especially in the first half. The Lions’ Defensive Line of Williams, Hunt, Wilson and Johnson sacked Anthony Calvillo 6 times, but Watkins took the hit of the game just inside the Goal Line to put Montreal ahead at halftime. A 3^rd down gamble to db Chip Cox also went awry, leading to great Field Position for the Lions In the 2^nd quarter.

Then the wheels came off for the Als in the Second Half. Dave Dickenson found Simon on a fly pattern on the first play from scrimmage of the second half, taking advantage of a breakdown in coverage over the middle. Simon was way too wide open to be ignored, and was in the endzone before one could say “Geroy”. From then on, Lions’ Defense dominated the Als Offence, sacking Calvillo another 6 times for a game total of 12, before we saw Nealon Greene and Marcus Brady.

Montreal went 7 in a row before getting “Lions 2005 syndrome”, dropping their next 5. For Lions fans, the question has to be what happens on Sunday at Mosaic against a ‘Rider squad that lost in Winnipeg 2 weeks ago, and had the bye last week? Do the Lions come after the ‘Riders, or do they retire to the den to digest their latest meal of roast lark? Does history repeat itself, as teams go on long winning streaks, and long losing ones? The 2006 Alouettes and 2005 Lions have some experience with just that very thing. How do the Lions play on Sunday, after winning 7 in a row? Like Kittens, or Carnivores?

The game in Regina should be a great one, with the 6-6 ‘Riders playing to hold off the 4-8 Eskimos for the 3^rd and final playoff spot, and the 9-3 Lions playing to hold off the 8-5  Stampeders and their high flying Offence.

Make a date for this one, sports fans. These tend to be ugly, but great entertainment.