VANCOUVER – One day during training camp B.C. Lions’ middle linebacker Adam Bighill pulled second-year defensive end David Menard aside for a chat.
“I told him listen man, you are going to have a great season,’” Bighill remembers. “I think you are a great player and I’m excited to watch you play.
“I told a lot of people that even before the season started.”
Bighill’s confidence in Menard, and the rest of the Lions’ defence, seemed misplaced early in the season. But the Lions (7-11) will head into Sunday’s Western Conference Semi-Final against the Calgary Stampeders (14-4) with a defence that has finally found its roar.
“I feel like the last third of the season we were really starting to click as a defensive unit,” said Bighill, who led the CFL this year with 121 tackles. “One of the best things we’ve done is played more consistent team football.”
To prove Bighill’s point, the Lions gave up an average 28.1 points during the first 10 games of the season. Over the next seven, before Saturday’s meaningless 28-7 season-ending loss against Calgary in a game where both teams rested many starters, that was reduced to 25.2 points. Not huge, but a step in the right direction.
In the first 10 matches B.C. allowed an average 392 yards a game, 22 first downs, and gave up 52 per cent of second-down conversions. In the next seven that dropped to 314 yards, 17.7 first downs and the second-down conversations shrunk to 38 per cent.
For the early part of the year the B.C. defence in a state of flux. Jabar Westerman started at defensive tackle but then was moved to end. The original plan was for newcomers Mic’hael Brooks and Zack Minter to be tackles. An injury kept Minter out of the lineup until Sept. 3.
In the secondary, T.J Lee, Eric Fraser and Steven Clarke were all new. When Solomon Elimimian, last year’s CFL most valuable player, was lost for the season on Aug. 15, he was replaced by second-year player Alex Hoffman-Ellis.
Like a good stew, it took the defence a while to simmer and develop some flavour.
“The guys were having to learn,” said Bighill, B.C.’s nominee for the league’s most outstanding player and outstanding defensive player award. “Sometimes it’s trial by error.
“The first six games we gave up balls over our head that should never have happened. You can’t give people free points and expect to win. There were times we struggled. Guys are steadily improving.”
How much better are the Lions? In the first 11 games B.C. managed 21 sacks. In the next six they had 25.
There were times this year when Lions defensive co-ordinator Mark Washington must have felt like a school teacher. He had to show patience while his students mastered their lessons.
“It has a lot to do with the maturation process,” said Washington. “We had a lot of turnover on defence with new players. A lot of young guys that were trying to get acclimated not only to the league but to our system.
“We knew it was going to take some time for these guys to get going. Now that they are playing a lot better, hopefully we can continue with that.”
Menard, who the Lions took 32nd overall from the University of Montreal in the 2014 draft, is one of the players who has advanced his game.
The six-foot-one, 265-pound native of Chicoutimi, Que., finished the season tied for second on the Lions with six sacks. Five of those came in the final six games.
“I think I am working pretty much the same way, maybe it’s the outcome that is a little different,” said Menard.
“I always see the game the same way. I always do the same things.”
Menard, who usually rotates into the defensive end position, said playing his second full season has helped slow the game down.
“From game one to game 15 I got a little bit more mature in the game,” he said. “I see stuff I didn’t used to see because I was a bit more nervous. I wasn’t used to the play book. My vision has expanded to the game.”
Bighill’s vote of confidence in training camp did a lot to settle Menard’s nerves.
“Any time I have a teammate telling me those kind of things I appreciate it a lot,” he said. “It’s not like a coach telling you stuff. It’s the guy next to you.
“When he told me that, it boosted my confidence a little bit. If he told me that I had to believe it myself. I changed my approach to the game.”
The Lions’ defence has received passing grades for the last part of the season but will face its biggest big test at McMahon Stadium Sunday.
Stampeder quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell’s 4,551 passing yards are second to Ottawa’s Henry Burris (5,693). Only Toronto’s Trevor Harris has thrown more touchdowns (33) than Mitchell’s (26).
Calgary also has the league’s leading receiver in Eric Rogers and third-leading rusher in Jerome Messam. The Stampeder offence lead the league in scoring (452 points), was tied with Montreal for giving up the least sacks (33) and was third in time of possession (31:27).
“There’s no doubt they are a very talented offence,” said Bighill. “They’ve proven that week in and week out all year.”
Washington said the defending Grey Cup championships are experienced and well coached.
“We know they are going to come with a very solid scheme,” he said. “They play disciplined. They don’t make mistakes. They don’t beat themselves.
“We have to make sure we play disciplined so that we can force them into things we want.”
The Calgary offensive line has been riddled with injuries which could open the door to the Lions putting more pressure on Mitchell.
“He’s sackable like every other quarterback,” said Menard.
“There are some quarterbacks that when they feel pressure they want to escape really quick. Bo Levi, he wants to throw the ball. That doesn’t make it easier, but you know he’s going to stay in the pocket maybe half a second longer.”
After a slow start the B.C. defence has finally found its stride. Washington hopes the Lions can stay in the race for at least three more games.
“You want to come out of the gate in July and June, you want to come out fast,” he said. “If you don’t come out fast you better be playing fast in October and November.”
