The Leos come into Saturday's game following an important 43-28 series-clinching victory over the Edmonton Eskimos last Friday. The club has now won six of its last seven games and holds the all-important tie-breaking advantage over division rivals Edmonton and Saskatchewan. Toronto comes into Saturday's game traveling through three time zones and in the midst of a seven-game losing skid. Their most recent setback came at the hands of Montreal last Saturday by a 43-34 margin.
The Leos and Boatmen met earlier in the month with BC holding on for a hard-fought 24-20 win on October 3rd and have not dropped a game to the Double Blue since 2004.
GM and head coach Wally Buono will face his longtime on-field foe Don Mathews as the two bench bosses wrestle for the all-time coaching win title. Buono currently sits second to the 'The Don' with 226 career wins, but has narrowed the gap to just five victories this season.
On offence, quarterback Buck Pierce may look back on October 17, 2008 as the date he established himself as one of the league's bright stars after completing 25 of 40 passes for 378 yards and three-touchdowns. The performance came in the face of a strong Eskimo pass rush not to mention two unnecessary roughness calls on Pierce's former college teammate at New Mexico State, Siddeeq Shabazz. The battered and bruised Lions pivot played the entire second half on a tender ankle, but stood tall in rallying the team to three fourth-quarter scoring drives including two TD passes to Geroy Simon. Look for Pierce to start versus the Argos on Friday as the offence looks to build on its 518-yard showing last week.
Up front, the Lions managed to control the line of scrimmage as well as their emotions going into a testy rematch versus Edmonton. The result was a shutout in the sack department after the Eskimos put four on the board the week previous as well as a 102-yard rushing performance by the resurgent Charles Roberts. A strong ground game and ample time for Buck Pierce to deliver the ball resulted in the team rolling up 33 first downs and maintaining a 12-minute advantage in time of possession. Toronto has notched 27 sacks on the year to rank sixth and has surrendered 2,594 yards on the ground to rank eighth.
At receiver, Geroy Simon bounced back from a one-catch, six-yard performance two weeks ago to rack up 126 yards and two TD's on seven receptions last Friday. Simon currently sits second in receiving yards (72, 1,286) trailing only Calgary's Ken-Yon Rambo (92, 1,314). Paris Jackson enjoyed a spectacular night of his own, hauling in eight receptions for 127 yards as well as a slick 25-yard TD in the first quarter. The lofty total put Jackson over the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career. Rookie Ryan Grice-Mullen made his pro debut with a three-catch, 52 yard night including a 27-yard reception in the fourth quarter. Running back Charles Roberts also chipped in with 43 yards on three catches.
On defence, the Lions needed and received some help from the offence on the night but also managed some big plays of their own including three turnovers in the win over Edmonton. In what seems like a 'good news, bad news' scenario, the defence limited the Eskimos to just eight offensive plays in the first quarter but one of those plays was a 47-yard passing play to the Esks' Kelly Campbell. Through two quarters, Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray had 214 passing yards with 129 of those yards coming on just three plays. In total, the Lions gave up 367 passing yards on the night while limiting the Eskimo running game to just 32 yards. Trailing 21-17 at halftime, however, the Leos would give up just a single TD in the second half as well as forcing three fumbles (including a blocked field goal) and three punts.
Up front, the defence pushed their league-leading sack total to 58 with Otis Floyd and Ricky Foley getting to Ray. Foley also forced a Ray fumble on his sack which was recovered by teammate Cam Wake. Despite being held without a sack on the night, Wake remained force throughout the game and capped it off with a monstrous field goal block which preserved the 15 point margin of victory for the Lions and the season series versus Edmonton. Fellow lineman Aaron Hunt also had a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter after Ray and running back A.J. Harris got their signals crossed.
When the Eskimos did run it was for limited gains as the D-line and linebacker corps surrendered a total of just 32 yards on the ground. Otis Floyd notched two defensive tackles and a knockdown in addition to his fourth sack of the season while Javy Glatt added four tackles to his total giving him 77 on the year - good enough for fourth overall in the CFL.
In the secondary, the Lions will look for improvement as the post season approaches and big plays can quickly become game breakers. Facing the likes of Ricky Ray with man coverage for a fair chunk of the game is a task not easily executed, especially given Commonwealth Stadium's slippery surface; but holding the Eskimo offence to a single TD in the second half last week is worth noting. Despite Ray's totals over two games, the Lions remain the third-ranked defence versus the pass (4,402, 275.1) and have plenty of playmakers of their own that can turn a game around. They will face a Toronto offence that had some measurable success versus Montreal as Kerry Joseph completed 22 passes for 400 yards and three TD's with no interceptions.
On special teams, kicker Paul McCallum likely had as much to do with the Lions coming up with enough points to take the season series with the Esks. His decision to run for a first down late in the fourth quarter not only kept the Eskimo offence on the bench but helped the Lions to another touchdown. McCallum was also good on all three of his field goal attempts and now sits third overall with 166 points. Return man Ian Smart had a nifty 32-yards dash to open the game and now sits just 94 yards back of Eric Blount's 1,695 return yards mark set in 1998.
The Lions have placed themselves in position to take a run at first place, however, they will need to focus their efforts versus an Argonaut club playing for jobs in 2009 and hope to get some help from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as they take on the Stamps.
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