Jubilation.
That鈥檚 the best way to describe the Lions 41-38 overtime win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this past Thursday at Tim Horton鈥檚 Field in Hamilton.
It also could have been sadness had a few plays gone the other way.
Which lens you choose to examine the game dramatically impacts your opinion of said contest.
There鈥檚 an average of 150 snaps per CFL game.
Most of the time in close contests, the game might be decided by five or so plays.
When looking at 鈥榯he game鈥� we usually make our judgment on those five or six plays.
In Hamilton, the Lions got a turnover in overtime when safety Cristophe Beaulieu caused a fumble that was recovered by defensive lineman Dewayne Hendrix. Five plays later, kicker Sean Whyte hit a 19-yard chip shot field goal to win the game for the Lions.
In the end, all those in Lions Nation were happy.
But what would have happened if Hamilton鈥檚 Tim White didn鈥檛 fumble the football?
What happens if Hamilton scores a touchdown and the Lions fail to respond?
Now Lions Nation looks at the game through a different lens.
For the most part, the entire body of work is the same except for those few plays.
CFL legend Ron Lancaster had a saying 鈥� you鈥檙e not as good as you think you are when you win and you鈥檙e not as bad as you think you are when you lose.
Wise words by a wise man.
It鈥檚 a fine line between winning and losing some times and that鈥檚 why this agent always has the tendency not to get too excited about the close wins or too despondent about the close losses.
Unlike some of my colleagues in Hamilton who were planning a Grey Cup parade route in The Hammer after six consecutive wins, I looked at that streak from a different perspective.
A win against a Chad Kelly-less Argo team, a pair of victories against a sub-par Ottawa squad, a win against B.C. in which who knows what would have happened if the officials hadn鈥檛 missed a flagrant offside against Hamilton late in the game which forced the Lions to punt and a four-point win over the Edmonton Elks in which Kaion Julien-Grant dropped a pass for a sure touchdown which would have given the Elks the lead with a little over a minute left.
Yes, you have to be good to win the close games but, on most nights, you also need to be on the right side of those five critical plays to win a game.
It鈥檚 great that the Lions found a way to prevail in Hamilton but when you look at the entire body of work there is plenty of work to be done whether it鈥檚 on defense or special teams.
Giving up 38 points isn鈥檛 a recipe for success. Neither is allowing an 84-yard punt return for a touchdown or allowing a quarterback to throw for 249 yards in the second half as the Ti-Cats Bo Levi Mitchell did.
I guarantee you those points would have been brought up had the Lions lost in overtime but they didn鈥檛, so most overlook them.
You know who can鈥檛 overlook them?
Head coach Buck Pierce and the Lions coaching staff.There is a lot of work left to be done before this team reaches Grey Cup contender status but it鈥檚 about improving week-to-week.
And you do that by examining the entire game and not being satisfied because you found a way to be on the right side on a couple of plays.
Extra points:
- One area of concern for the Lions has been depth and the club hopefully addressed that issue with three signings this week. Signed to practice roster contracts were defensive lineman Anthony Bennett, and Celestin Haba as well as receiver Hergy Mayala. Bennett and Haba both spent time with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2023 and 2024 before playing for Ottawa and Toronto respectively this season. Mayala has appeared in 72 CFL games with Calgary, Montreal, Edmonton and Toronto having played in seven games for the Argos this year
- Despite hitting the game winning field goal in overtime, Whyte鈥檚 streak of consecutive field goals was snapped at 33 after he missed a 52-yard attempt in the second quarter in Hamilton. Ironically, Marc Legghio of the Tiger-Cats also saw his streak come to end when he failed on a 42-yard attempt late in the second. Legghio had connected on 34 straight up until that point.
- Next up for the Lions is a home date with the Montreal Alouettes Saturday, August 16 at 4 p.m. at BC Place (TSN; CKNW 730: Sher E Punjab Radio AM 600). The Als come into the game having lost two straight games and will be without the services of quarterback Davis Alexander. His replacement 鈥� McLeod Bethel Thompson 鈥� was lifted in the 23-22 loss to Edmonton last Friday at home. As a result, Montreal coach Jason Maas has indicated that he will probably stay with Caleb Evans at quarterback.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob 鈥渢he Moj鈥� Marjanovich writes about the B.C. sporting scene for Black Press Media. This column is brought to you by:
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