The B.C. Lions got their offensive groove back on Saturday night in Vancouver but were forced to lean on their defence late, surviving a fourth-quarter push by the Calgary Stampeders to win 38-24 and clinch a playoff spot.
Here are my thoughts on the game.
Rolling weighted dice
The Lions might as well turn BC Place into a casino because Nathan Rourke ensures that, in the end, the house always wins.
The Canadian quarterback was sensational yet again as he racked up 414 yards passing and four touchdowns, the majority of which came in the first three quarters. The incredible plays came in waves: a gorgeous touchdown throw to Justin McInnis on a corner route early in the game, a perfectly-placed dart to Jevon Cottoy on a wheel route in the end zone, effortless pocket manipulation, and a surgical TD drive to begin the second half.
To paraphrase my esteemed colleague John Hodge, Rourke is throwing every pass right now as if it might cement the goal posts in place and stitch in the 55-yard line with gold thread. And yet, you could also make a compelling and factual argument that Rourke was the reason that this game was close at all, courtesy of two regrettable fourth-quarter interceptions.
“Obviously, we made it a little bit too exciting there at the end. We’re a better team than that — that’s on me,” Rourke acknowledged post-game. “Feeling a lot of relief right now that we pulled that one out.”
Some mistakes are inevitable in football, and, as poorly timed as it was, I’d put Rourke’s first interception into that category. James Butler crossed the QB’s face at the last minute in protection and nearly stepped on his toes, forcing a missed throw that went directly into the hands of Anthony Johnson. Given the field position surrendered, the defence was put in an extremely difficult spot, and a touchdown was almost unavoidable.
The second pick was a different story. With Miles Brown wrapped around him and spinning wildly, Rourke blindly hucked the ball into the middle of the field in the hope that Butler would be there. Instead, it hit Micah Teitz in the chest. It was a horrific decision with blatant disregard for the protection of the football and cannot be defended.
Still, that very same desire to keep a play alive until its dying breath is what led Rourke to his fourth progression on his final throw of the night and set up Butler for a back-breaking 44-yard catch-and-run. If you want to watch a magician, you’d better be okay with losing a few rabbits, and that’s exactly how Rourke’s turnovers need to be regarded.
That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be critiqued or criticized — heck, Rourke will be the first to do it himself. But his unbelievable playmaking ability ensures the odds are forever on the side of the Lions and that they’ll roll double sixes far more often than snake eyes. Frankly, it is a style of play that has unjustly fallen out of favour in this era of risk-averse coaching, but I’ll happily take 20 interceptions a season if the trade-off is 50 touchdowns.
Dismissing the inevitable
Not too long ago, a comeback attempt like the Stampeders began to mount in the fourth quarter of this game would have felt like a death sentence. With two bad turnovers swinging momentum over to their opponent’s sideline and the offence stagnant, it would have been only a matter of time before the defence imploded and a 31-9 lead evaporated into thin air.
For the second week in a row, that wasn’t the case. In fact, despite the myriad of bumps and miscues on the road to victory, defeat never felt like a rational possibility. Simply put, the transformation of confidence that this team has undergone is the greatest the franchise has experienced since the infamous 0-5 start in 2011.
“That stuff is extremely powerful,” head coach Buck Pierce admitted. “I think over the last number of months this season, the guys just show up to work, and they believe in each other. They all want to be the reason that you win football games. As a professional athlete, that’s what you want.”
There were plenty of examples of it throughout this football game. Rookie safety Jackson Findlay bailing out the defence with an end zone interception after T.J. Lee was torched by Erik Brooks for 55 yards. Seven McGee giving his team prime field position late in the game. Carl Meyer and his suddenly stellar coverage unit pinning Calgary at their 15-yard line when they were still within seven points. However, nobody exemplified the principles of resilience and complementary football better than Robert Carter Jr.
The rookie cornerback was targeted on a couple of Calgary’s biggest offensive plays: a 58-yard deep shot to Damien Alford that set up an early field goal and Clark Barnes’ touchdown catch that began the comeback. In the words of his teammate Lee, Carter was “shaken up a little bit by the adversity” but refused to let it define him, coming up big with two huge fourth-quarter interceptions.
The game was essentially decided when he high-pointed his second pick, but the first was an incredible play that altered the course of the contest. Carter baited Vernon Adams Jr. on the throw to Tevin Jones, sitting on the flat route while keeping his hips open to rob anything thrown behind him. I had a gorgeous view of the play from the auxiliary press box in the corner, and Jones looked wide open right up until he wasn’t, with Carter closing in a heartbeat.
“We’re more together, I can say that. We’re just stuck together now,” the 22-year-old said of the Lions’ newfound resilience. “Even when adversity hits the table, we’re all together. It’s a brotherhood. I think we’re really seeing it now.”
When the Lions were struggling to close out games, Pierce and defensive coordinator Mike Benevides both took a lot of heat for their failure to set the right expectations and change the culture. Now that the formula has been found, both deserve an equal amount of credit for instilling a sense of belief where only creeping dread once existed.
Calm before the (lack of) storm
I’m unsure that this statistic has been properly vetted, but Nathan Rourke claimed after the game that this was the ninth different offensive line combination that the Lions have used this season. At a position that generally requires continuity for effectiveness, it is remarkable how well the unit continues to play.
This week’s group featured professional bowling ball impersonator Kory Woodruff kicking out of position to left tackle to fill the shoes of the injured Jarell Broxton, while rookie Brandon Yates made his first career start at left guard after three weeks on the practice squad. Both were victimized by Clarence Hicks for a sack on separate occasions in the first half, as Woodruff was caught flat-footed anticipating an inside blitz that never came, and Yates failed to pick up a stunt inside. However, the only other sack fell directly on Rourke due to a misread RPO, making this a pretty good night against a defensive line that still includes arguably the CFL’s best defensive player in Jaylon Hutchings.
Now, Rourke’s unique skillset continues to hide a lot of warts, but you can’t begrudge the big men up front for blocking for a savant. They’ve done their job well despite sometimes difficult circumstances, some of which could be cleared up by the time the Lions return to the field.
Broxton — who could, and perhaps should, win Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman this year — and Dejon Allen — the high-priced offseason trade acquisition who won that same award in 2023 — are both expected to be back from injury after the bye. The latter has been out of the lineup since suffering a torn bicep in Week 3, and his re-addition would create an impressive starting five, upgrading arguably the biggest weak spot in right tackle Chris Schleuger.
Bull market
We’ve been talking an awful lot about the Lions’ shiny new defensive line additions recently and the resurgent play of CFL sack leader Mathieu Betts, but we may have forgotten about the best player on B.C.’s defensive line.
Jonah Tavai has been a reliable rotational contributor since the day he stepped foot on a CFL field, but the vertically-challenged spark plug has quietly emerged as the second-best defensive tackle in the league over the second half of the season. He’s always been technically sound and disruptive, but his statistics are now accurately reflecting his down-to-down effectiveness, and all-star voters need to take notice.
“Absolutely,” Pierce grinned when asked if the media had failed to give Tavai his proper due. “He’s an amazing teammate and individual. When you watch him work, it’s impressive. He’s what you want as a coach and as a teammate to his guys, the way he plays, he practices. What he means to our locker room is massive.”
The Lions’ defence amassed six sacks in this game, and while Tavai was only credited with two of them, his bulldozing pressure up the middle caused the majority. He’s as responsible as anyone for this defensive turnaround and may be the only player who can claim to have played at an elite level all season.
As for the unit as a whole, 23 of their 41 sacks on the season have come in the last five games. Robert Carter Jr. summarized it best: “They’re unblockable.”
The Cottoy-lyst
The Lions got another tremendous receiving performance from the CFL leader in Keon Hatcher, as he hauled in seven catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns. However, it was another pass catcher who provided the spark for the team’s offensive explosion.
Canadian Jevon Cottoy made his return from the injured list and looked as physically dominant as he’s ever been, finishing with seven catches for 99 yards. It began with an impressive diving grab in traffic to kickstart B.C.’s first scoring drive and only got better from there. The six-foot-six, 235-pounder double-fisted the football with Adrian Greene hanging off of him like a leech on the next drive, then dragged his feet to secure the touchdown on the ensuing play while out-muscling Jaydon Grant in the end zone. He also deftly found space for 36 yards on the scramble drill in the third quarter, setting up yet another B.C. touchdown.
Cottoy has long been the Lions’ most underutilized weapon, sometimes to the point of me wondering whether it was worth the considerable cost of keeping him around. Buck Pierce has found novel ways to get him the football this season, and the offence is better off for it.
Two-factor authentification
B.C. has the ultimate security system thanks to their new two-headed backfield.
On an average down, there is no more reliable safety net than James Butler. Though he finished with just 42 rushing yards on a quiet night along the ground, the 30-year-old still caught six checkdowns for 97 yards. Rourke’s unpredictability and abundance of trust in the back make those catches anything but easy, as exemplified by the late-breaking fastball that he was forced to snag on the final series, but Butler makes the most of every one.
Then, when the game hangs in the balance, enter Zander Horvath. He had just two carries on this night, but one of them was a 33-yard touchdown to ice it. Tired defenders just can’t contend with a fresh-legged 230-pounder coming in to grind out a victory.
What is beginning to take shape is the formula for winning football on the prairies in November. B.C. has been embarrassed twice in West Finals because they couldn’t run the rock during a Winnipeg winter. That doesn’t seem like it will be a problem this year.
Pole position
Not to jinx it, but with three weeks remaining in the 2025 season, the Most Outstanding Player award is Nathan Rourke’s to lose.
With all due respect to the hopefuls across the league, the only other viable candidate right now is Hamilton’s Bo Levi Mitchell, who leads the CFL in both passing yardage and passing touchdowns. Rourke is in second place in both of those categories, but has played two fewer games than the Ticats’ QB and has the same number of 300+ yard games (10). He also sits eighth in rushing yardage and third in rushing touchdowns, something Mitchell couldn’t have dreamed of in his best years.
The narrative for voters will be between a future Hall of Famer reborn in the twilight of his career and a homegrown phenom with the potential to become the best ever. That’s as compelling a decision as we’ve ever had to make, but I know where my ballot is leaning.
A kick in the… well, you know
My sympathies this week go out to fullback Riley Pickett, who was at the centre of one of the most unfortunate series of events I’ve seen this season.
Not only was he assessed a questionable 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty for what amounted to standing up too aggressively after a play, the referees seemed to miss that the player he knocked over — former Lions draft pick Daniel Joseph — went suspiciously straight-legged at the end of the interaction and delivered six studs straight into Pickett’s wedding tackle. Whether it was poor timing or ill intent, the result was Pickett penalized while clutching his nether regions. A humbling moment, to say the least.
Until Lions become legends
The B.C. Lions bestowed former linebacker Solomon Elimimian with the ultimate honour on Saturday, officially retiring his No. 56 jersey to a massive ovation from the home crowd.
Official jersey retirements are especially rare in pro football, given that many position groups only have a finite number of digits to choose from. The Lions have done it more than anybody else in the CFL, tying the Montreal Alouettes, but Elimimian is still just the 11th player to be honoured this way. I can think of no one more worthy of the historical recognition.
When 56 was patrolling the field, no one was safe. His relentless motor and wanton physicality were only matched by a razor-sharp intellect that allowed him to dissect the ambiguity of the play in front of him milliseconds faster than anyone else. His 2014 season remains arguably the greatest by a defensive player in CFL history, and he has the M.O.P. hardware to prove it. Seeing anyone else running around the field in that number would just feel wrong.
Years ago, when Elimimian retired, I wrote about the significant impact he had on me as a young football player, as well as my experience with him as a cub reporter. It centred around a proverb the Hall of Famer once shared that has stuck with me for over a decade: “Rise and rise again until lambs become lions.”
You do that enough times, and lions become legends. Congratulations to one of the greatest ever.
Save me a spot
There are several good candidates out there if the Lions were to ever retire a 12th jersey, but one of the best is still on the team.
Halfback T.J. Lee has been virtually synonymous with this franchise for over a decade. While I wasn’t a huge fan of bringing the 34-year-old back out of desperation, it was nice to see him move into second-place in franchise history with his 600th tackle on Saturday. When it’s all over, his No. 6 should have a spot reserved in the rafters.
Right kind of rivalry
Nathan Rourke bested his former teammate Vernon Adams Jr. in more than one way this week, as they also squared off in a friendly charity competition in support of KidSport Canada. If there was any question about the relative marketability of the two players, this should settle it. As of publishing, Rourke has raised $1,780 for his side, while a late surge from Adams has him at just $475.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter who raised the most money; it’s all going to an exceptional cause. As a high school coach who regularly has players take advantage of KidSport grants, I’ve seen firsthand the impact that just a small amount of financial support can have on a child’s life. It may not seem like much, but if just four more kids can play football — or any other organized sport — because of this friendly initiative, the ripple effects could be huge.
Kudos to both players for doing their part to raise awareness. Donations are still open if you feel inclined to help them.
First steps are the most important
With the victory, the Lions have accomplished something I wasn’t sure they were capable of even a month ago: clinched a playoff spot. Now, the race is on to determine whether their road will go through the East, be spent exclusively on the prairies, or feature a stop at home.
“It’s exciting,” Rourke said. “We knew that the way the West was shaping up early on, it was going to be anyone’s ball game. So often, that is the way in the CFL. We’ve just got to keep plugging away.”
B.C. will get a break next week via their final bye, then face a possibly eliminated Edmonton team and a Saskatchewan squad that might have already clinched first place. If they can take care of business in those games, and Winnipeg slips up against one of Edmonton, Saskatchewan, or Montreal, BC Place will be rocking for the West Semi-Final on Saturday, November 1.
