‘Only one way to go’ for embattled B.C. Lions defence after disappointing opener

Photo courtesy: David Dermer/B.C. Lions

It’s only been one game, but the B.C. Lions’ defence may have hit rock bottom in their season opener.

The unit allowed 489 yards to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, mustered zero turnovers, and produced just a single sack. They surrendered an average of 8.7 yards per play and enabled the defending Grey Cup champions to convert 63.6 percent of their second-down opportunities. Resistance was both light and futile.

The good news ahead of Friday’s matchup with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats: things can only get better from here.

“There’s only one way to go from our last week’s performance,” veteran defensive back T.J. Lee told 3DownNation this week. “I’m very optimistic. More optimistic now, knowing how bad it could get.”

Criticism of the Lions’ defence is nothing new. Mike Benevides’ group was raked over the coals for much of last season, before the revival of the pass rush and the re-acquisition of Lee prompted a late resurgence. A weakness at the start of the year became a strength down the stretch, before faltering somewhat in the playoffs.

There were high expectations for the continued upward trajectory of the unit this offseason following the addition of two seasoned all-stars in defensive tackle Casey Sayles and linebacker Darnell Sankey. The optimism that permeated training camp didn’t manifest once the real bullets started flying.

Fans were quick to revert to their criticisms from last year, and some analysts quickly backed them up. Former CFL and NFL quarterback Chris Streveler took to social media with a film study of the deciding touchdown in the loss to Saskatchewan, dubbing it a “stupid defence.” Head coach Buck Pierce, who coached Streveler in Winnipeg, bristled at that comment, throwing his full support behind his group.

“Listen, I support what we’re doing here. I know what the guys do every day, and where we’re getting to. We’ve got to clean some things up, just like everybody right now. We’ve addressed them, and we’re gonna continue to work to get better,” he said.

“I think, overall, I saw some good things. Sask has a good offence, and they did some nice things. I think there are things to be cleaned up every week, but I did see some good things out there from the defence, for sure.”

According to Lee, the sorts of criticisms levelled by Streveler and others are unavoidable when you don’t live up to your own standards.

“We’re in a position to be critiqued as professional athletes, and that’s one of those things. We’re going to be heavily critiqued when we win, heavily critiqued when we lose. It just comes with the territory, so we can’t get caught up in narratives,” he said. “We have to write our own narratives, and we can help ourselves with our play.”

The secondary was viewed as the Lions’ only major question mark throughout the offseason. The team made no attempt to significantly upgrade the position in free agency, instead bringing back aging leaders in Lee and Garry Peters. After losing Robert Carter Jr. to the NFL, there was a belief that the next wave of talent could be found more or less organically.

That hypothesis is on shaky ground after the defensive backfield was shredded by Trevor Harris in Week 2. With Peters on the shelf with a knee issue that has plagued him since last year, rookie Tyson Russell and newcomer C.J. Coldon formed the starting tandem at cornerback and struggled to contend with the Riders’ star receivers. Halfback Ronald Kent Jr. and safety Jackson Findlay were also victimized on major busts.

However, Lee believes the current personnel group will find their footing and that no major changes are needed.

“We work with the crop that we have, with the people that we have, and we make corrections. No one’s gonna be perfect at the start of the season. Everybody has to gel together and communicate the blind spots in the coverage. It’s all about communication,” he insisted.

“Those guys deserve to be here, they work to be here, and they’re only going to be getting better because they’re young, and there’s a lot of room for growth.”

If there is one thing that B.C. isn’t lacking, it’s teachers. Lee can be included in that group after getting the unit right last year, but it is also the area in which Benevides excels most as a defensive coordinator. Notably, his staff also includes two former DCs for the Lions, Ryan Phillips and Mark Washington. Experience is not an issue.

The proof will be in how much the team can improve on a short week, before facing another potent offence led by a savvy veteran quarterback in Bo Levi Mitchell.

“We’re adjusting all the time, that’s what we do in this league,” Pierce said. “We’re looking at everything that we can do; it’s not just defensively. We’ve got to play complementary football with the other phases.”

The B.C. Lions (0-1) will visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1-1) at Hamilton Stadium on Friday, June 19, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EDT.