The B.C. Lions weren’t dead, they were just resting their eyes.
After a month-and-a-half-long slumber that resulted in five straight losses, the Lions — and their star quarterback — finally woke up during their visit to Vancouver Island, stomping the Ottawa Redblacks 38-12 in the inaugural Touchdown Pacific contest.
Here are my thoughts on the game.
One small step for Rourke, one giant leap for the Lions
Nathan Rourke was an infant when he left his birthplace of Victoria for life in Ontario. After dazzling in his return home, he may never leave again.
The Canadian passer took the step forward that we all expected in his third game back from the NFL, completing the final stage in his journey from abysmal to competent to outright brilliant. Right from the start, this game felt different. He marched the team down the field on their very first drive and carried the ball in himself on his second push from the goal line, celebrating his first touchdown back in the CFL with a spike so aggressive it caused him to fall over and knocked his helmet off. It was a display of raw personal emotion rarely seen from the typically team-focused passer.
The Redblacks had no answer for Rourke in the first half as he picked them apart through the air, completing 16-of-20 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns as the Lions built a 25-point lead before the intermission. He got some help by virtue of a soft pass interference call down the field on a flea flicker and was bailed out by Keon Hatcher on a risky throw that could have been picked, but was full value for the rest of the dominance. His reads were decisive, his throws were on point, and he pushed the ball downfield in ways he hasn’t since returning to three-down football.
The critics who so ravenously attacked the homegrown quarterbacking prodigy when he was struggling the last few weeks will be quick to point to the second half for evidence of their skepticism. There is no defending Rourke’s lone interception, which came on an ill-advised pass over the middle on his second throw of the third quarter, and he was once again stripped when Davion Taylor blew past Kent Perkins for a sack. The difference this time was that he battled through to recover that ball himself and never let the mistakes spiral.
Rourke remained poised and B.C. stayed the course instead of collapsing. He found Hatcher on a deep shot late in that same frame to set up a field goal attempt and added another touchdown pass in the fourth. All told, he finished with 325 yards passing, 29 yards rushing, and four total scores while coasting for much of the second half. It was shades of 2022.
There is no use sugar-coating things: this is the quarterback that the Lions need Rourke to be if they are going to make a run this year, any less won’t be good enough. With the pressure mounting and all eyes on him to start the most important week of the CFL calendar, he dismissed any doubts that he could still be that guy.
Victory is in the name
Saturday’s blowout will go down in CFL history as the first game played in British Columbia’s capital city of Victoria, as a sellout crowd of 14,727 crowded into Royal Athletic Park to enjoy the inaugural Touchdown Pacific showcase. They couldn’t have packed in another person if they tried — and frankly, I’m glad they didn’t.
Two years ago, I had the pleasure of attending Touchdown Atlantic when it was held in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. While this specialty game didn’t quite live up to its East Coast equivalent, the atmosphere was something to behold. Fans were right on top of the action in the intimate venue and remained loud even when the score was out of reach, providing a continuous spark to the Lions’ bench. You can put 50,000 people in BC Place and it can still feel like a vacuum; a quarter of that in Victoria managed to make it hard to communicate at times.
As anyone involved with the sport at the amateur level knows, Vancouver Island has a strong football community and Lions fans were out in full force. Some of those came from the mainland by way of B.C. Ferries just like I did — my return boat was filled with still cheering fans — but there was a strong local contingent as well. However, what astounded me most while walking the concourse pre-game was just how many were present from other fanbases. The Redblacks were well-represented but they were still probably outnumbered by those in Rider jerseys, with a speckling of other teams throughout the crowd. The only franchise I didn’t actually see somebody repping was the Montreal Alouettes, though I’m sure there were one or two faithful hidden in the mass of humanity.
The overall merriment of those in attendance was a remarkable sight given that there were plenty of reasons for them to revolt. As you might expect from a minor league baseball stadium in a small city, Royal Athletic Park was not fit for CFL consumption in the traditional sense and it was obvious that both paid security and event volunteers were in over their heads.
The lines outside the stadium were long and inched along at a painful pace before kickoff as fans were funnelled through a handful of bottleneck entrances. Once inside, the waiting would only intensify as people tried to seek some sort of reprieve from the nearly 30-degree heat. The beer tents were basically overwhelmed as I made my rounds and the line for the lemonade cart stretched the entire length of the stadium. Given that the northern stand was provided absolutely no shade on a windless day, it is a minor miracle that attendees weren’t dropping like flies.
Somehow, some way, the whole thing managed to go off without any major incidents and the most underrated city in Canada got showcased for a national audience — albeit with some significant technical difficulties from TSN. I hope this isn’t the last time Victoria gets the CFL treatment but if the league is going to return then several things are going to have to get tweaked. Fans shouldn’t have to wait hours for the basic necessities of life and television viewers should be able to rely on their broadcast feed. The novelty of a one-off game made all the hiccups worth it this time, but a lack of planning and chaotic execution won’t be so much fun the second time around.
Dugout dogs
Just as fans had to deal with significant challenges at the temporarily expanded venue, so too did members of the media — and we weren’t having nearly as much fun.
The press box is typically the best seat in the house, with excellent sightlines and everything a reporter needs to perform their duties effectively. That wasn’t the case in Victoria, as those covering the game were informed that they working from a baseball dugout in the southwest corner of the stadium. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to watch a football game from below field level but the view leaves something to be desired.
That on its own wouldn’t have been insurmountable, as the benefit of a press credential is that you can go almost anywhere you like. By mid-way through the second quarter, the media was also granted access to a handful of unclaimed seats in the grandstand but problems persisted. No spot combined all of the four essential elements needed for effective work: a place for a laptop, a good view of the field, electrical outlets, and strong WiFi.
If you wanted to plug in your computer and get a stable wired internet connection, a work tent was provided — only it was across the street from the stadium. There were no TV screens there or in the dugout, so good luck getting a replay. The CFL Media WiFi passcode will remain a mystery to anyone in attendance, as it was never communicated despite requests for it. With cellular data bogged down by the crowd, that made even tweeting highlights an adventure.
Making matters worse was that to see the field, you had to stand in direct sunlight for much of the game. Water and other beverages are typically provided for people whose job responsibilities prevent them from standing in an hour-long concession line, but there wasn’t a drop of liquid in sight. An early visit to the volunteer tent was largely unsuccessful as they had nearly run out of water themselves. In an only-in-the-CFL moment, it was the keeper of the Grey Cup himself, Jeff McWhinney, who was our saviour, going out of his way and outside of his job description to smuggle us three bottles of water after hearing of our plight. He deserves the Order of Canada for that action alone.
This is a whole lot of complaining from someone who was getting paid to watch a game and I’m sure I’ll hear about it online. The reality is that I personally have no problem with slumming it at an event like this because a lack of print deadlines is one of the many benefits of working for 3DownNation. I was quite content to jot down my observations by hand during the game before pecking out my thoughts at a snail’s pace on the ferry home — passive-aggressive tweets from Farhan Lalji be damned.
Most of my colleagues are not so lucky and the fact that Gemma Karstens-Smith of the Canadian Press was able to produce anything of substance for her employer is a testament to her incredible professionalism. We all expect to have to adapt our standards a little for this type of game, but this was frankly ridiculous. It was a failure of planning from both the CFL and the Lions that blindsided their employees on the ground and made a marquee game more difficult to cover. On a day meant to grow the product and expose it to more fans, that was a massive mistake.
Aiding and a-Betts-ing
After a horrific outing against these same Redblacks last week, the B.C. Lions’ defence looked like a whole different unit in Victoria.
Dru Brown was held to just 206 yards through the air after flirting with 400 in Ottawa and was sacked four times — a dramatic difference from Week 12. The easy storyline is that the re-addition of defensive end Mathieu Betts earlier in the week provided a spark up front and there is an element of truth to that. The CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Defensive Player didn’t have his best outing but still flashed pressure to finish with three tackles and a sack.
There was more to this performance though, as B.C. got better play from their defensive interior than they have all season. Fresh off of recording his best play as a Lion with a forced fumble last week, NFL veteran Christian Covington easily had his best CFL game in this one, equalling Betts’ statline while looking disruptive on other occasions. Josh Banks and Jonah Tavai both pushed the pocket from inside as well, while Julian Falaniko showed some value off the edge for the first time before being ejected late in the fourth quarter.
Pressure eased the burden on the rest of the defence but the back eight carried their weight far better against a banged-up Redblacks’ receiving corps. Collectively, the team knocked down eight passes, including several critical ones, but the biggest change was the lack of major busts and improved tackling that cut down on YAC yardage.
Veteran T.J. Lee was everywhere on the field from his new strongside linebacker position, finishing with nine defensive tackles and another on special teams. I thought Canadian linebacker Ryder Varga also had his best game in a B.C. uniform, finishing with four tackles and a sack — none better than a brilliant open-field takedown that forced a turnover on downs with Ottawa in scoring position in the fourth quarter.
As Betts remarked after the game, it’s a hell of a lot easier to play defence when you are sitting on the sideline for much of the first half and holding onto a commanding lead. As I’ve always contended in this column, the best defence is a good offence and that was true for the Lions. Still, Ryan Phillips’ unit finally looked like the group we’d gotten used to seeing over the last few seasons and that should be cause for celebration.
I think we just became best friends
They say that a quarterback’s best friend is a productive running back and while modern analytics would quibble with that assessment, it has certainly been the case for the Lions lately. Even more so than Rourke, William Stanback was the best player on the field in Touchdown Pacific and that’s nothing new — it’s been that way for the better part of a month.
The 30-year-old power back was a chain-moving machine in Week 13, keeping his legs churning and busting through first contact on just about every touch. He finished with 20 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown on the ground but was also the team’s top receiver, notching six catches for 78 yards. He might have had a receiving touchdown too, if only his helmet didn’t come off on a second-quarter checkdown where he spun off contact and had nothing but grass in front of him.
Part of the reason the Lions took a shot on Stanback in the offseason was because of the pre-existing trust between him and Vernon Adams Jr. In a short period of time, it seems a similar dynamic is developing between him and Rourke. It’s a throwback to what James Butler provided this team in 2022 and it will be vitally important down the stretch.
While Stanback led the team in both receptions and yards, Rourke did a good job spreading the ball around. Justin McInnis and Keon Hatcher both had over 70 yards and the struggling Alexander Hollins managed to get a touchdown, although he still caught only two of the seven passes thrown his way.
Though he was fourth on the team with four catches for 58 yards, Ayden Eberhardt seems to be the player who has earned the QB’s trust nearly as much as Stanback. He hauled in his first career touchdown and was also the one who drew the pass interference call on an early flea-flicker deep shot that helped the Lions pull away. When Rourke is warming up or getting extra reps in, Eberhardt has often been the one there to catch passes the past few weeks and it is paying off in terms of chemistry.
Unconventional track stars
Both special teams units are going to have some awkward moments in film study after this game, as DeVonte Dedmon and Terry Williams racked up a combined 334 all-purpose return yards. Ottawa’s speedster managed to get the bulk of that, notching a 54-yard kickoff return and a 73-yard missed field goal return, while B.C.’s less popular specialist inflated his stats with a 72-yard punt return.
Despite the big busts, none of those returns resulted in touchdowns — largely due to the efforts of some unexpected track stars. Williams must have had visions of his first career punt return touchdown but, in typically frustrating fashion, got tracked down from behind by Ottawa fullback Marco Dubois. It was an incredible hustle play by the six-foot-five, 227-pounder to gain ground on his five-foot-nine, 170-pound counterpart and it wasn’t his only impressive moment of the night. The Laval product also picked up 27 yards on a fake punt pass from Richie Leone earlier in the game, which ended up being the Redblacks’ longest play from scrimmage.
I was even more impressed with the effort from a couple of Lions after Sean Whyte sent a kick wide right in the third quarter. Dedmon looked to be home free down the right sideline but was tripped up by 315-pound right guard Sukh Chungh, who worked his way back to become the last line of defence after the miss. His shoelace tackle was only possible though because Dedmon got caught peeking over his shoulder at 283-pound Jonah Tavai, who got on his horse and was still tracking the returner more than 70 yards later.
I Knevel doubted you
Perhaps the most consequential event to occur in this game came on the Lions’ first series, when left tackle Jarell Broxton went down with an apparent knee injury. He would not return to the game and any long-term absence would be devastating for B.C., as the 31-year-old is by far the best player on a highly suspect offensive line.
Canadian David Knevel came off the bench to fill in as the blindside protector — a sentence that sends shivers down my spine as I type it — but he performed more than capable on what was a very solid night up front for the home team. Despite Lorenzo Mauldin IV and Bryce Carter both being in the lineup — the latter exited the game early — Ottawa’s pass rush was never a major factor.
I’m the elected president of the anti-Knevel brigade but he did his job in this one. I just hope it’s not one he is asked to perform for any length of time going forward.
Too many teamers
Specialists hold a unique importance in the CFL compared to any other league but the B.C. Lions have taken it too far.
The team was already in unprecedented territory this season by virtue of them dressing two long-snappers every week: Riley Pickett for field goals and Kyle Nelson just for punts. In Week 13, they took it a step further by adding a third kicker to the equation, playing Global Carl Meyer alongside American Stefan Flintoft and Canadian Sean Whyte.
The logic here is that Flintoft has underperformed as a punter this season and that Meyer, who averaged 38.5 net yards on Saturday, could upgrade the position. I don’t disagree with that point, but the South African rugby player doesn’t know how to hold, which made dressing his predecessor a necessity in an era when quarterbacks no longer waste practice time on that sort of thing. As a result, Whyte place-kicked, Flintoft kicked off and held, and Meyer punted.
There was a time when a kicker was expected to perform all three jobs competently, while your holder and long-snapper had other responsibilities on the team. Despite the CFL’s tight game-day rosters, B.C. has managed to split up those responsibilities amongst five separate players — the majority of whom can only do one thing well. That just isn’t sustainable in this league.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown
A lot has already been said online about Nathan Rourke giving Farhan Lalji the brush off during TSN’s halftime interview — you can read both sides’ post-game comments on the matter by clicking here — but a few things need to be made clear about the situation.
First of all, this is not a matter of Rourke having an ego or big-timing a sideline reporter. In fact, the opposite is true. I have never encountered an athlete so viscerally uncomfortable with his own stardom as Nathan. Not in an ‘aw shucks, credit to my team’ sort of way, but in a way that causes him to bristle at the mere mention of his own accomplishments. You can see it in the way his jaw clenches and his body stiffens in press conferences. There may be no task he hates more than talking about himself — it is the antithesis of what he wants to be as a person.
A halftime interview is that uncomfortable situation with the volume cranked up — particularly in a blowout when you are playing well. TSN wanted Rourke on camera because he was the storyline, but the quarterback despises being the storyline. He only values the collective.
The challenge with that is pro football is an entertainment business and Nathan is the CFL’s most marketable player. Whether he likes it or not, part of his job is to stand in front of the cameras whenever asked and politely deflect the questions about his own performance — that’s why he’s getting paid $200,000 in marketing money. He doesn’t have to enjoy it, he doesn’t even have to be interesting, but he does have to do it just like everybody else.
Personally, I’ll give Rourke a pass on this one occasion because the viral clip he generated will provide more discussion and exposure for the league than any cookie-cutter response. I’m not a big fan of halftime interviews in general and they are only ever worth a damn on the rare occasion they are unique, memorable, and conversation-worthy — which this moment was. But this can’t become a habit and he has to mature into his role as a spokesperson for the team and the league, even if he never enjoys it. That’s the price of getting paid to play the sport at this level.
Hometown flavourless
One of the best parts of the CFL’s Touchdown Atlantic series was getting to see guys from the Maritimes play in front of a hometown crowd for the first time, but there was shockingly little of that going on in the West Coast version of the game.
The Lions boast lots of homegrown B.C. content but nobody from Vancouver Island except for Rourke, whose connection is fairly tenuous. Canadian receiver Kieran Poissant, who played on special teams in this game, was the closest thing to a local product given that he played junior football for the Victoria-based Westshore Rebels, but he was raised in Regina. The only true blue Islander on either roster was Redblacks’ offensive lineman Dontae Bull, but the former first overall CFL Draft pick was a healthy scratch for his homecoming.
The person who got the most out of the game being in Victoria was the man who made it happen, Lions’ owner Amar Doman. This was his team playing in his hometown and winning big — it must have been a dream come true.
No rest for the weary
The good news? The Lions (6-6) are off the schneid and have re-discovered the formula for success on both sides of the ball. The bad news? They have to follow this game up by visiting the top-ranked Montreal Alouettes (10-1) on Friday, September 6.
No matter what happens on Sunday, B.C. will head into next week in second place in the West Division. Notch a couple of Eastern upsets over the Alouettes and Argonauts, and you could be sitting pretty heading into the second bye of the season. Come up short in those games and they could lose a lot of ground in the playoff race.
