It was an ugly November morning when this agent woke up to get ready for the B.C. Lions end-of-season media availability session Monday. By the afternoon however, a stiff wind had blown away all the storm clouds and it turned out to be a glorious fall day.
After a disappointing 2024 season, the Lions are hoping that it is a harbinger of things to come in 2025.
After two consecutive losses in the Western Final to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, this was supposed to be the year the Lions were to get by their arch-rival and advance to the Grey Cup game being held in Vancouver.
Instead, the Lions struggled to a 9-9 record and lost the Western Division Semi-Final on the road to the Saskatchewan Roughriders by a score of 28-19.
Forget about making it to the Grey Cup.
In a year in which Lions owner Amar Doman pulled out the checkbook mid-season to bring back quarterback Nathan Rourke and defensive end Mathieu Betts from their NFL tryouts, the Leos didn鈥檛 even earn the right to host a playoff game.
So where did it go wrong?
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we were consistent enough. Our record was reflective of what we were. We did some really good things at times and at other times we didn鈥檛. I think we lacked in making plays when we had to," responded Lions head coach and co-gm Rick Campbell when the subject was broached. "There are times when you have to make a play to get off the field on second-and-long, or make a big play on offense, or have special teams come up with a big play. That鈥檚 what we lacked and where we fell short.鈥�
A 5-1 start was followed by a 4-8 skid that had everyone wondering what happened including Lions co-gm Neil McEvoy.
鈥淚 think this football team underachieved. We had a lot of success at the beginning of the year and we just hit a wall for whatever reason. Over the next month or two, we will have to figure out why we hit that wall,鈥� added McEvoy.
The list is long and plentiful when looking at the reasons why this team fell short. Yes, the quarterbacking situation featuring Rourke and Vernon Adams Jr. was a rather odd dynamic that has been well-documented but there were so many more pressing issues.
The Lions had a big-play offence during that 5-1 streak at the start of the season but the league figured out a way to take away those big plays as the campaign progressed. An offence which produced 15 explosive plays (30 yards or more) in the first seven games could only manage 15 more in the remaining 11, with three coming against Montreal in the 27-3 win to end the regular season.
Red zone production was another issue that haunted the offence throughout the year. The Lions鈥� offence had the most opportunities within the opponent鈥檚 20-yard-line in the league but could only find the end zone 28 out of 57 times. That 49.1% success rate was eighth in the CFL.
The Lions defence, although finishing in the middle of the pack statistically, made opposing passers look like future Hall of Famers by allowing a 107.2 efficiency rating. To give you an idea of how bad that is, the CFL鈥檚 all-time leader in passing efficiency is Dave Dickenson at 110.3.
The defence could only muster 11 interceptions, which was dead last in the CFL.
Getting off the field was also an issue for the Lions as the opposition converted 49.1% of the time on second down which was the highest percentage of all playoff teams. That problem surfaced again in the playoff game as the Roughriders were 16 for 24 in second down conversions for a 66.6% clip. Again, for comparison, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were the CFL鈥檚 top-ranked team in second down conversions as their defence held opponents to a 42.3% success rate.
To be fair to defensive coordinator Ryan Phillips鈥� unit, the loss of middle linebacker Josh Woods to a torn ACL in the pre-season had a huge impact. Woods was expected to continue his trajectory as an impact player before his season was cut short. Losing Woods and his unique skill set was a blow that the unit never really did recover from.
The question now is what happens next? Does this organization blow it up?
Or does the front office tinker with the lineup and add some missing pieces?
Judging by what we heard during the end-of-season sessions, you can bet on the latter.
鈥淚 think we have a lot of pieces here that are winning pieces. I think we need to be strategic in free agency where we can add one or two impact players that can create big plays and that is going to make a big difference for us,鈥� noted Campbell.
Barring some sort of unforeseen circumstances, Adams Jr. will be traded after the Grey Cup and decisions will have to be made on 33 players who will become free agents. That contingent includes Betts, all-star receiver Justin McInnis, running back William Stanback and tackle Kent Perkins.
And then there is the future of McEvoy and Campbell.
Doman and Lions president Duane Vienneau will meet with McEvoy and Campbell to review the season and discuss what needs to be done moving forward.
Campbell probably has enough currency in the bank to survive the 9-9 campaign. Coaches usually get terminated because of their team tuning them out or because of a loss in consumer confidence. I think the bigger concern in this case would be the latter as Lions鈥� fans weren鈥檛 too happy with the team鈥檚 performance in 2024.
If Campbell is to return, it wouldn鈥檛 shock me in the least to see some changes with his coaching staff on both sides of the ball. Football is a results-oriented business and unfortunately someone will have to pay the price for a team that fell short of some major expectations.
And as far as those off-season moves go, they probably will determine the fate of both Campbell and McEvoy.
I doubt very much that ownership will settle for another season like this one.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob 鈥渢he Moj鈥� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
