The Canadian Press
HAMILTON — “You’re going to go through a game like this every year. You don’t want it ever to be, but it is,” said Lions head coach Wally Buono following his team’s 40-10 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field on Saturday.
It certainly wasn’t pretty for the Lions on Saturday night as their offence gave up six sacks and three interceptions, of which two were returned to the house for touchdowns by the Hamilton defence.
“We just got whooped, didn’t come to play,” said quarterback Jonathon Jennings following the game. “I made poor decisions and we just didn’t capitalize on any opportunity we had. It was just a tough game. Sometimes it goes like that.”
Despite the loss, however, Buono is remaining optimistic. For a coach who’s stood on the sidelines for 482 games with a headset on, including five Grey Cup rings, it’s likely a safe bet to listen to the man and what he has to say.
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Short-term memory will be the theme for the Lions this week as they look to move past the loss to the Ticats last weekend and look forward to the Argos at home in Week 17. (Johany Jutras, CFL.ca)
“I don’t believe our preparation was poor. There was nothing Hamilton did that we didn’t practice, we didn’t expect. We knew the wind was going to be a major issue. We knew that early in the game you had to keep things under control because if not it was going to get out of control. But they made plays, they moved the football, they scored and we didn’t, and before you know it, it’s 14-0. When you get the home team going, the home crowd going, it’s going to be tough.”
Odell Willis has had his share of experience in the league to back up Buono with his philosophy. Now in his tenth season, Willis knows a thing or two about shaking off big losses like the one on Saturday.
“In 2015, Hamilton did the same thing to us and we ended up winning the Grey Cup,” Willis said of his time spent in Edmonton. “At the end of the day, it’s just one game. You don’t let that one game bother you. You just find out what you did wrong, correct it, and just move on to the next game.”
And with that, the Lions remain positive as they look to push past the loss and look forward to the remaining five games on their schedule, starting off with the game against the Argonauts.
“The league is not going to stop just because we got out tail whooped, the world’s not going to stop, life goes on,” said Willis. “So instead of sitting around and pouting, and being sad or mad about the situation, you just figure out what you can do better to make the situation right.”
The Lions will begin their week’s preparation for Toronto on Tuesday before their Saturday matchup with the Argos, and perhaps hope to get some similar home-field advantage that Buono saw while in Hamilton and hope that trickles into their surroundings at BC Place.
“We just have to go back and look at it so we can come out from the beginning of the game and not the second half of the game, and play fast and BC defence,” Willis said.
With the Lions having five remaining games and most of the West Division having a bye week remaining before the end of the regular season schedule, the only thing the Lions can do is simply put the game against the Tabbies behind them. Following their game against Toronto this week, the Lions have four games against West Division opponents that can have major implications on the playoff picture, and now is not the time to let your heads hang low.
With files from BCLions.com
