Lions vs Saskatchewan

[Dial 9-1-1]

Did anyone watch this game? The first three quarters the Lions were squashed on offence and were getting picked apart on D. Surprisingly the RR were only able to put up 15 points.

Pierce looked like crap in his first few possessions then showed some jam and got the job done (thanks to some timely flags vs the RR).
Lions 19-15 winners.

Great finish!

[Regs]

What little I watched was painful... thank God for the bye!

[Reccos]

Buck Pierce played great and came in the worst point in the game as the Riders had all the momentum and were all of sudden seeing a win coming. They sacked him once but that was as much a lucky grab of his ankle as anything. He looked like a seasoned vet despite having played only one year of a pro set offence in college (his last year) with the rest of his 3 years running the option.

When Pierce came in the Lions were in a bit of upheaval - see the paper where they say all were yelling on the sidelines and the Lions were rattled - Geroy Simon said.

Pierce went 9 for 12 and 191 yards including that huge bomb to Simon who got to the one and he had 4 carries for 32 yards - the leading rusher for BC one of which was his TD. That last drive alone 5 plays and 92 yards says volumes of this guy's ability.

My only criticism is that Buono didn't make the change at the half as it is pretty clear that Printers is hurting and man was he struggling. He is not making the reads at all.

What I liked about Pierce was what he told the 1040 radio guys - that he kept looking downfield and when he saw the openings to run, he took them. I suspect that Casey was seeing Rider jersey and the blitzing opponents and just couldn't get his reads going plus that arm is still not right.

The Lions have a complicated offence that requires the QB to be astute readers of the defensive coverage. Lions run a lot of crossing patterns so if they blitz, the QB has to get it off quickly. If they are in man cover, he has to throw later. Casey was like a rookie last night and saw none of that and he didn't step into the pocket like Pierce did and this got him more time and protection against the back side. That is where Dave Dickenson takes the hits staying in there but Buck Pierce who is not banged up or hurt is very mobile and he can buy himself time and get out of there if he has to.

Pierce may be a rookie with limited experience at a pro offence but man is that guy poised and cool and able to read defences - something that is eluding Casey Printers right now but what the h*ll - he had no off season and limited training time this year so he will have moments of brilliance and disaster until he finds his game again.

[willis316]

Bet on the Riders to cover so I was satisfied with the result. Printers is not the same player and should stay out of action unitl he is 100%. Of course it did not help that the entire offence was self-destructing around him. We have a bye and a back up in Pierce that can come if (excuse me ) when Dickenson has a injury.