Minus Mitchell, Lions still roll over Riders

Ahead of Sunday's game against Saskatchewan, there were questions about how solid the B.C. defence would look in the absence of Khalif Mitchell and how well their veteran-heavy lineup would do against the Roughriders' youth. The Lions answered both of those questions emphatically with a dominant 24-5 win over Saskatchewan that was led by their defence and particularly by their veterans. It wasn't the greatest all-around performance they've recorded yet this season, as the offence struggled in the red zone early and took until the second half to really get going, but this was one of the best displays of defensive dominance in the CFL this year. If the Lions can keep that going, they won't need Mitchell to terrify opposing teams.

B.C.'s defence came into this week's action as a leader in just about every statistical category (yards per game, passing offence per game, rushing offence per game and much more), and they proved this week that they're about much more than just the suspended Mitchell's imposing presence up front. Rookie Jabar Westerman did well filling in at Mitchell's defensive tackle spot when he was asked to do so directly, as did sub Maurice Evans, but defensive coordinator Rich Stubler and head coach Mike Benevides got creative about replacing Mitchell, sometimes using only a three-man front and frequently bringing a variety of blitzing defenders from all over the place. They created tremendous pressure on Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant and caused him to make some horrid mistakes, including the floated passes that led to all three interceptions he threw on the day. Of course, some of that's on Durant (and it wouldn't be surprising if he turned out to have an arm injury of some variety, as the arm strength just wasn't there today), but the B.C. defence didn't give him a moment's respite, sacking him three times and forcing numerous early and unbalanced throws. That led to errors, and the Lions pounced.

The B.C. defence was dominant against the run as well, and that was another question heading into this week given Mitchell's ability to swallow up blockers. It turns out the rest of the defence did just fine; Keron Williams, Eric Taylor and Khreem Smith led the way up front, and they got incredible support from the linebacking corps, especially Adam Bighill (who had a team-high nine tackles). That helped keep Riders' running back Kory Sheets to just 28 yards on 10 carries. The secondary may have stood out the most, though, with safety Cauchy Muamba recording two interceptions (including a brilliant first one where he outfought the bigger Chris Getzlaf for a jump ball), corner Dante Marsh perfectly jumping a route and taking the resulting pick back 41 yards and Ryan Phillips, Korey Banks and Byron Parker all causing havoc in coverage. This secondary has always looked ridiculously talented on paper, but they really showed what they're capable of Sunday, and they were a key part of holding Durant to just 170 passing yards (with a 66.7 per cent completion rate, but the aforementioned three interceptions as well). This was a thorough destruction of the Saskatchewan offence, and that has to send a message to the rest of the league; even without a star like Mitchell, this B.C. defence can still be frightening.