LIVE STREAM PPV: CFL – Winnipeg Blue Bombers @BC Lions Friday July 21 10:00p EDT (4:00a July 22 CEST)
The BC Lions (3-1) are back home after being on the road for three weeks and will play host to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2-1) Friday night at BC Place in Vancouver.
The Lions have not played at home since June 25 when they lost to the Edmonton Eskimos. Since then, BC has won three straight beating the Toronto Argonauts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, all on the road.
Winnipeg defeated the Saskatchewan Roughtriders in Saskatchewan and then lost to the Calgary Stampeders at home before downing Toronto a week ago in at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg.
The two teams last met in the Western Conference semifinal in 2016 when the Lions escaped with a last minute, come-from-behind victory over the Bombers. Winnipeg won both regular season games, both high scoring thrillers, 37-35 and 35-32.
Needless to say, the crowd at BC Place Stadium will be in for another down-to-the-wire battle.
The Lions are second in the Western division and have scored 119 points in four games while giving up an average of 21.75, second best in the CFL. Winnipeg occupies fourth in the West and has scored 86 points in three games while surrendering 94, an average of 31.5.
BC Lions running back Jeremiah Johnson (24) runs the ball during CFL action between the Eskimos and Lions in Vancouver, B.C., Saturday, June 24, 2017. (CFL PHOTO – Jimmy Jeong)
The two quarterbacks make an interesting comparison. The Lions will start Travis Lulay, who came off the bench a week ago in Hamilton to throw for 426 yards in a big in over the Tiger-Cats. This will be his first start since 2015 but the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player in 2011, Lulay is 40-26-0 in his career as a starter and 1-0 this year His numbers have him ranked first in the CFL in QUAR at 96.4.
Blue Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols is now 14-9 as a starter for the Bombers – 12-4 in his last 16 – and 20-16 overall after last week’s win over Toronto. He was 20 of 36 for 228 yards without a TD or an interception, numbers that saw his overall QUAR rating jump slightly to 67.1.
Lions running back Jeramiah Johnson is the second leading rusher in the CFL with 265 yards in four games and leads in rushing touchdowns. He has four. Bombers Andrew Harris has rushed for 170 yards and four touchdowns.
Nick Moore of the Lions has caught 340 yards in passes while Winnipeg’s Weston Dressler has 309.
Key matchup
Bombers safety Taylor Loffler and halfbacks Roc Carmichael and T.J. Heath vs. Lions slotbacks Manny Arceneaux and Bryan Burnham.
B.C. likes to attack the middle of the field with their two talented slots and the Bombers counter with Loffler, the most physical safety in the league, the CFL rookie Carmichael and the league’s interception leader in Heath. The Lions have arguably the most- talented receiving corps in the CFL, as the Lions trot out not only Arceneaux and Bryan Burnham, but also Marco Ianuzzi, newcomer Shaquile Johnson and former Bomber Nick Moore, who is coming off a game in which he posted a career-high 220 yards on 10 catches.
The Lions have won three straight, but haven’t posted a four-game win streak since the summer of 2012 (July 28-August 24). And the last time the club had a four-game streak with two different quarterbacks at the controls was 2007. The two QBs during that run? Dave Dickenson, now the head coach of the Calgary Stampeders, and Buck Pierce, the Bombers QB coach.
Winnipeg has rushed for 96 and 91 yards in their two wins this year and just 48 in its loss to Calgary. In the last three weeks across the CFL, the team with the most rushing yards has a 9-2 record.
AFI, Yare Media and the CFL
American Football International is collaborating with Yare Media and the Canadian Football League to present 2017 CFL games live. This is more than a livestream. This is a stream of the top flight TSN network television broadcast.
If you can’t watch it live, each game is available for 48 hours after the original broadcast.
