Growing up, was there ever a restaurant or dive bar that just seemed out of place? And because it didn’t fit in, were you always left wondering what the hell goes on in there?
For me it was a tiny hole in the wall coffee shop called “Donuts & Pizza”. I’m fairly sure somewhere on the sign was the word “classic”.
What the hell is classic about the combination of donuts and pizza? On their own they’re both glorious, but they serve no purpose on the same plate, they kind of cancel each other out.
| Is Buck Back? |
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Buck Pierce had a big night offensively Friday night, but it was a play he made without the ball that caught the attention of his teammates. |
I just have a perverse curiosity about that out-of-the way place that no one seems to notice. I just need to go and sit at their bar and see what’s happening on the inside. That’s sort of how I felt about the Edmonton-BC game last Friday night.
It would have been easy of me to wax poetry about Ricky Ray’s deep ball, or the climactic battle between Kory Sheet and Jon Cornish. Maybe it was because I haven’t been watching the Lions as closely as in years past, or maybe I just wanted to hang out in a sports environment that justifiably was going to be overlooked.
The Eskimos are out of the playoffs, the Lions are locked into the third slot in the West; on paper this game did not have much to offer.
So for everyone out at Halloween parties and missed the game here is what you missed.
No point burying the lead, this game was about the return of Buck Pierce.
Forget about sexy nurses, the best Halloween costume of 2013 was Buck dressed up as Michael Myers.
Just when you thought he was down and out, he rises back from the dead to lay havoc on the good people of Haddonfield…I mean Edmonton.
With Thomas DeMarco in charge, the Lions offence had one first down and four punts. Now I’m no mathematician-scientist but I don’t think those are the sort of numbers that guarantee success.
Mike Benevides and Jacques Chapdelaine had no choice but to bring in Pierce.
Early on it looked like a bad decision. The Lions’ offence was still producing more two-and-outs than points, as Pierce was either having his passes knocked down or he was missing wide open receivers.
With just over 6 minutes to go in the second quarter Nick Moore was wide open but Pierce didn’t put enough air under the ball, allowing the Eskimos Eric Samuels to recover and break up what should have been a big play.
Soon after this play, Chris Cuthbert uttered out this hilarious line: “This game has dug in defensively” which of course means these offences are still trying to figure things out. I love when broadcasters speak in code.
But just when you thought the game was lost, Pierce went to work.
I think the best way to describe what happened for the rest of the game is to say that Buck started doing “Buck Things.”
He was sprinting up field to lay the final block on a brilliant 54-yard touchdown run by Stefan Logan. This was not one of those typical C- level QB blocks that gets announcers so fired up just because it was the quarterback that was getting dirty. (Yes we get it, the quarterback is sticking “his nose into the play”, just calm down).
No this was a legit downfield textbook block that turned a 45-yard run into a touchdown run.
So we’ve seen “tough guy Buck”, the next version is of course “scrambling Buck”. This guy came out on the next possession as his mobility bought him enough time to hit Courtney Taylor for 20 yards and also allowed him to avoid getting sacked just long enough to somehow flip the ball to Andrew Harris on an eight-yard touchdown catch.
This was the freewheeling Pierce that we all love and makes us cringe. Tonight the only one cringing were the Eskimos.
What made Buck’s night so impressive was we saw the final evolution, the “get things done in the pocket Buck”.
Listen, you can only win so many games by escaping from scrambles, improvisation and the brand of organized chaos that Buck can bring to a game.
But it is just not sustainable for the long term; it will lead to wild fluctuations in offensive production and usually will get your quarterback hurt.
Then we saw Buck’s ability to attack downfield on the Lions’ next possession, as he threw a picture-perfect deep ball to the forgotten Emmanuel Arceneaux for a 43-yard touchdown.
Arceneaux has the skill set to be as dangerous as any receiver in this league, yet he has not had a 100-yard game since August. The Lions need to find a way to feature Arceneaux more prominently if they want to be a factor in the playoffs.
| Buy Now! Western Semi Tickets |
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For the BC Lions, the road to the 101st Grey Cup will start in Saskatchewan, as they’ll take on the Roughriders in the Western Semi-Final on November 10th. |
What had been a dormant Lions offence is now wide awake. If you ever want to see what it looks like for a team to “flip the switch”, this game was the perfect example. The Lions opened the game with seven punts; from that point on they would score six touchdowns.
Before I finish this column off I need to mention the other player who swung this contest: J.R. LaRose. I easily could have picked Stefan Logan but I’m going with LaRose, who actually started off the game in in a questionable fashion as he was well out of position on the first play from scrimmage which just happened to be Adarius Bowman’s 71-yard touchdown catch.
Thankfully for the Lions, LaRose would bounce back in a big way by doing something he had yet to accomplish since his first game in 2006, he intercepted a pass.
It may have taken him 108 games, but LaRose certainly picked the right time. At this point in the game the score was 10-1 for Edmonton and they were driving against a Lions team that looked dead in the water.
Instead, LaRose displayed the sort of hand eye control that’s usually seen from a defensive back with at least 40 interceptions to their credit, and managed to snatch a deflected ball before it hit in the ground.
The next play was the Logan 54-yard touchdown. LaRose, however, wasn’t done.
On the Eskimos’ next possession, the Mike Reilly to Bowman connection had once again propelled Edmonton back into the red zone.
On second down Reilly hit Nate Coehoorn, who had an easy path to the end zone. However, the Eskimo receiver was stopped well short due to LaRose picking the right angle and just getting enough of Coehoorn’s legs to trip him up, thus reducing a touchdown into a field goal.
The Eskimos were never in the game after that play.
For a game that was supposed to be about “momentum” this one ended up being about so much more. Let’s face it “momentum” is often a phony storyline used to create pre-game drama where none existed.
Well after watching what the Lions are capable of when they have excellent quarterback play, this game could have far greater ramifications once the playoffs start. The Lions have talent.
They have two dangerous receivers in Arceneaux and Shawn Gore, an entertaining 1-2 punch at running back with Logan and Andrew Harris, plus playmakers at every level of the defence.
The problem for this team has been at quarterback.
With the recent troubles of DeMarco and the injury to Travis Lulay, many had given up on the Lions as a team that could make some noise in the playoffs.
Trust me the level of booing that night in the first quarter told me we are dealing with an angry fan base. Well all that may have changed as a result of a game that was well under the radar.
Of course we can’t say that Buck will be the savior, but at the very least he gave the Lions not only a much needed boost, but he also has shown he can be more than just a solid emergency quarterback.
Simply put, he can be the guy who takes the Lions back to the Grey Cup.
I’m glad I stayed up for this out of the way game.
