The BC Lions (8-9) take on the Edmonton Eskimos (8-9) for the West Division's final playoff spot, and possibly, the final postseason seeding in the CFL. While neither club wants to rely upon a possible Winnipeg loss on Sunday afternoon at Hamilton to claim a crossover position in the East Division, it does remain possible for all four West Division clubs to make the post-season in 2009.The Lions come into Friday's tilt versus the Esks after another disappointing loss to the Calgary Stampeders; their sixth in as many regular season tries and seventh overall including last year's divisional final. The Leos could have claimed a West Division playoff spot with a win and certainly had a victory in their grasp after Paris Jackson hauled in a 46-yard pass from Casey Printers to take a 26-25 lead with just under two minutes to go in the game. It was not to be however, as quarterback Henry Burris led a Red and White march down the field for the game's winning points off the foot of Sandro DeAngelis.
With a 12-year postseason streak on the line, the Lions will look for their third victory of the season over the Eskimos after taking the first two games between the clubs by 40-22 and 34-31 margins. The last time these clubs met it was Buck Pierce connecting with Geroy Simon for a 68-yard TD to pull out a win with just seconds remaining in the game and claim the season series. The Black and Orange will have to take the success they had on the road versus Edmonton and put forth their best effort on the season if they want another shot at both Calgary and Saskatchewan. The Eskimos meanwhile come to Vancouver after a 36-10 dismantling of the Toronto Argonauts last week and will try to reverse a trend that has seen the Leos win eight of the last 10 games between the two rivals.
GM and head coach Wally Buono will again put the ball in the hands of quarterback Casey Printers to lead his offence into battle Friday. It will be Printers' third start in as many weeks after rejoining the club in September. Over the past two games, he has thrown for 676 yards and two TD's on 41 completions including his 22/35, 337-yard performance last week. The athletic pivot was able to get out of the way of oncoming Calgary pass rushers for the most part, but he will require more help from the revamped offensive line if he is going to hang in the pocket and complete passes downfield against an Eskimo defence that surrendered 239 passing yards last week. The Eskimos rank last against the pass after 17 games having given up 5,016 yards to date.
Up front, the Lions certainly had their share of challenges versus Calgary, but should benefit from another week of practice with Dean Valli preparing to start his second game at centre in place of the injured Angus Reid. Three illegal procedure penalties and a ground game that averaged just 67 yards (41 of which came from Printers in scramble mode), forced the Lions into a one-dimensional passing attack and numerous second-and-long situations. At running back, A.J. Harris had a disappointing night rushing for just 26 yards on nine carries. The former Eskimo would like to face his old team for the first time on Friday but may give way to rookie Martell Mallett this week after he missed the Calgary game with a sprained ankle.
At receiver, Geroy Simon recorded 103 yards on eight receptions last week and has moved up to second place overall among CFL pass grabbers. Simon's total on the night was just behind rookie Emmanuel Arceneaux who notched 110 yards on six receptions including a 60-yard reception on the Lions' second offensive play of the game which set up a 1-yard plunge by Harris and an early 7-0 lead on the night. Paris Jackson also struck for two long gains (35, 46 yards) including a late touchdown that drew the Lions even on the night. The trio of Simon, Jackson and Arceneaux accounted for 304 of the 337 receiving yards last week.
On defence, the Lions will go from facing the dangerous Henry Burris to facing the equally lethal Ricky Ray as the Green and Gold pivot makes his only appearance under the dome in 2009. Ray will likely be looking for Fred Stamps as his primary target on Friday and for good reason as the sure-handed receiver leads the league with 1,300 yards on 79 receptions. Stamps was electric in his last outing versus BC, picking up a season-high 167 yards and a TD on nine catches. In the secondary, look for the return of safety Barron Miles this week as the veteran defender is set to return to the lineup for the regular season finale and possibly his last regular season game at BC Place.
Along the defensive line, the Lions will have to bring plenty of heat if the want to take Ray out of his rhythm and force the normally cool-headed pivot into some errors. Look for Ricky Foley and his league-leading 12 sacks to apply some pressure off the edge. Aaron Hunt did not appear to be hampered by the cast he donned to protect a broken hand suffered in Winnipeg. As a precaution, the Lions dressed back up Jeremy Gibbs last week who picked up a defensive tackle. Look for Gibbs to spell off both Hunt and Steve Williams again Friday. Edmonton has surrendered the second fewest sacks on the season (29) so getting to Ray will be a challenge enough, but taking six offside as a defence (four by the defensive line) as happened last week simply can't be repeated.
The Lions linebacker corps helped keep Calgary running back Joffrey Reynolds in check for the most part on Saturday. Calgary's likely nominee for Outstanding Player ultimately tore off a 29-yard scamper on the Stamps' final drive had but 73 yards on 13 attempts up until that point before taking advantage of a Lions blitz to help set up the winning field goal. This week, the trio of McKenzie, Armour and Glatt will try to keep a lid on Eskimos tailback Arkee Whitlock as they did in Edmonton a month back when the rookie had just 38 yards on 12 attempts. Last Friday against the Argos, the speedster racked up 114 yards on 15 carries and will likely be a tough load on the fast track at BC Place. Glatt and McKenzie combined for no less than 15 tackles against the Stamps and will be looked to for another big effort against the Esks.
On special teams, the Leos can't help but be pleased with the performance of Paul McCallum since his return to the line-up in October. The veteran kicker has been good on all 12 of his field goal attempts through four games. Obviously, McCallum would prefer to kick converts rather than field goals but his late season consistency may prove to be invaluable if the Lions can secure a spot in the playoffs. Linebacker Jason Arakgi, who returned to the field after missing a game with a strained quad muscle, notched two special teams tackles last week to draw within two of the CFL record of 37. Ryan Grice-Mullen had his best return of the season versus Calgary after taking a Sandro DeAngelis second quarter kickoff back 73 yards. The return came on the heels of a Calgary touchdown and gave the Lions a spark after surrendering their early 10-point lead.
It seems only fitting that the Lions' rollercoaster of a season will come down to the final week of play to determine their playoff destiny. Each of their past five games has been decided by three points or less and despite winning three of them, losing the last two has put the Black and Orange behind the proverbial eight ball in a possible win or go home scenario Friday night..
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