It was ugly.
And I’m not referring to the city of Winnipeg – that’s a given.
It was the CFL game at Princess Auto Stadium in which the Winnipeg Blue Bombers shut out the B.C. Lions 25-0 on Thursday night.
Losing the game was bad enough but the Lions also lost starting quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. for an indefinite period after he hurt his right knee when being sacked by Winnipeg’s TyJuan Garbutt early in the 4th quarter.
“The initial assessment of what they told me is that it’s probably something on the order of weeks, not months or longer. That’s the good news part of it. It would be irresponsible to say that’s 100 per cent (accurate). He needs to get some tests done and all of that, but it does not look like season-ending or anything like that,” Lions head coach Rick Campbell said after the game.
Even with Adams Jr. under centre for the first three quarters, the Lions had no answers against the Bombers defence.
Yes, the Bombers had come into the game having only allowed one touchdown drive or less in four of their last five games but the Lions made them look like the ’85 Chicago Bears defence on steroids.
How bad was it?
The Lions could only muster four first downs and 102 yards of offense on the night.
Adams Jr. final totals were 8 for 17 passing for 74 yards with an interception. Jake Dolegala came in relief after Adams Jr. got hurt and went 1 for 3 for 12 yards.
Asked what happened, Campbell was succinct.
“I think we got our butts beat is what happened from start to finish. We could not get anything going and you don’t see that too often in the CFL. I’ll credit them. They had a really good game plan and they played well. We had a bad, bad day at the office – I’ll tell you that,” said Campbell.
At 13-0, the score at halftime said that the Lions were still in the game.
Yet the thought of the Lions scoring 14 points in the second half seemed like an impossible task.
The Lions defence tried to hold the fort, but as the game went on, they clearly started to fade.
That didn’t come as a surprise as Winnipeg dominated time of possession having the football 41:52. To put that into perspective, that was the third highest total since the CFL started keeping track of that stat in 1996.
“We were very optimistic about it (at halftime) but we played a lot of plays on defence. We tried to hold it but eventually their running game started getting going and that was the catalyst for the rest of the game,” said Lions halfback T.J. Lee.
As for the quarterback position moving forward, Dolegala will get first crack with Chase Brice acting as his backup.
The 27-year-old Dolegala spent three seasons as a backup in the NFL before signing with Saskatchewan prior to the 2022 season and would make 10 starts for the Riders over the course of two seasons. Ironically enough, his career-high in passing came against the Lions when he threw for 409 yards in a 33-26 loss at BC Place on September 29.
What Dolegala lacks in mobility he makes up with size (6’6”, 240) and arm strength although accuracy has been an issue for him throughout his career.
If Dolegala falters, don’t be surprised if Brice gets a look. The Lions were happy enough with his play in training camp that they released veteran Dakota Prukop, who was expected to be the short-yardage specialist, and kept Brice.
The Lions (5-3) are still in good shape but the gap is closing between them and the Bombers (3-6) and the Calgary Stampeders (3-4).
Two weeks ago, the Lions were in cruise control on a five-game winning streak.
All of a sudden, it’s gut check time.
OVERTIME:
*Adams Jr. 74 yards passing was good enough for him to move past Don Moorhead for 11th on the Lions all-time passing yardage list with 8,742 yards. A University of Michigan product, Moorhead played for the Lions from 1971 to 1975 after leading the Wolverines to a Rose Bowl win in 1969. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth round of the 1971 NFL Draft but the Saints wanted Moorhead to play running back, so he signed with B.C. The reason the Saints wanted Moorehead to play running back? They had drafted a quarterback second overall in the same draft. The quarterback? Archie Manning.
*The Lions had two players return after long layoffs. Receiver Keon Hatcher returned to the starting lineup and had 3 catches for 28 yards. It was Hatcher’s first game back since he ruptured his Achilles in last year’s Western Final against the Bombers in Winnipeg. Defensive tackle Nathan Cherry also made his season debut and was credited with one tackle. Cherry tore his left ACL last August 20th in Saskatchewan.
*Next up for the Lions is a trip to Edmonton to take on the Elks on Sunday, August 11th with kickoff at 4pm (CKNW 980; TSN). The Bombers have a bye week and then will make their only visit to B.C. on Sunday, August 18.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob “the Moj” Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
