The fourth quarter performance that ended the B.C. Lions’ playoff lives wrote the perfect epitaph for the team’s 2013 season.
A talented club was undone by its own inconsistency. A team with plenty of potential couldn’t make the big play when it was needed most. A group of players that had trouble to find their identity walked off the frozen field at Mosaic Stadium still looking for the answers that had eluded them all year.
Like Katy Perry with her makeup removed, the Lions showed their true face when they blew a nine-point lead and lost 29-25 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Sunday’s CFL Western Semi-Final. A win was within their grasp, but the Lions let it slip through their cold fingers.
“We let the game get away from us,” said running back Andrew Harris on the day the Lions gathered at their Surrey, B.C., practice facility to clean out their lockers. “It’s kind of indicative of what the season was like.”
The Lions’ season was a roller-coaster that climbed to high expectations then plunged to the frustration of squandered chances. It was a stomach-churning ride that ended with B.C. finishing third in the West.
“It’s one thing to lose a football game when you play hard,” said quarterback Travis Lulay, who played one of his best games of the season in the loss to the Riders.
“We played some football games where it wasn’t an effort thing, but it was an execution thing or a focus thing. We were too inconsistent this year. That plagued us. We need to be a more consistent unit start to finish.”
Bewilderment was a staple of the Lions’ season. The running game came and went like the tides in English Bay. Injuries to centre Angus Reid and promising rookie right guard Kirby Fabien bruised the offensive line.
Some nights Lulay showed the flashes that earned him the league’s most valuable player award in 2011. Other games he was forced to run for his life and looked to have problems finding open receivers.
A receiving group that promised to pick up the slack from the departure of veterans Geroy Simon and Arland Bruce never produced the one go-to guy. A defence that kept the Lions competitive in many games could still be burned for the big play. Combine the two and it might explain why this will be the first year since 1996 a Lion won’t win one of the league’s outstanding player awards.
Twice this year the Lions lost games to quarterbacks making their first-ever CFL start. B.C. was 3-6 on the road and just 5-5 against teams with a winning record.
“As an offence it took us a while to find out what we were good at, especially in the run game,” said offensive tackle Ben Archibald. “It just took us too long to find out what we were really good at and what we could be special doing.”
The play calling of offensive coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine has been under scrutiny for the last few years. The experiment of moving Keron Williams inside to defensive tackle from his end position never seemed to produce the desired results.
Injuries also were a factor. Lulay missed six weeks with a partially separated shoulder. He still hasn’t decided if he will undergo surgery.
Bruising linebacker Solomon Elimimian missed the playoff game with a hamstring problem.
Reid will undergo surgery next week to repair the two herniated discs that caused him to miss the entire season. He isn’t sure of his future.
“I really haven’t gone there because I don’t want to start chasing fictitious things right now,” said Reid, who will turn 38 next September. “I’ve really tried to focus on just getting this done and not thinking about beyond it.”
As the Lions players signed jerseys and shook hands they realized some will be walking out of the locker room for the last time.
Change occurs after every season, win or lose. Adding to the intrigue of this offseason is the CFL draft being held in December to help stock the new Ottawa franchise which begins play in 2014.
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” said veteran nickelback Korey Banks, one of several Lions who might not be back next year.
B.C.’s list of wants and don’t wants also might be influenced by next year’s Grey Cup behind held at B.C. Place Stadium.
“I think a lot of changes are coming with what is going on in the league,” said Williams. “A lot of guys are pretty much up on their contracts. We have a lot of veterans here.
“The Grey Cup is here next year. In order to win it you don’t want to be on a rebuilding phase.”
When Mike Benevides took over as head coach the Lions were coming off a Grey Cup victory. In his first year they were upset in the Western Final. This year they finished third, then lost a playoff game they easily could have won.
Benevides knows this is a slide that must stop soon.
“It’s definitely going to be an offseason of change, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “I know we will be stronger and better off for what we’ve gone through.”
