Alouettes stomp Lions 50-17, and final score flattered a dismal B.C. team with big issues

It's quite something when a 50-17 final score is flattering to the loser, but that's exactly what happened with the Montreal Alouettes' East semifinal win over the B.C. Lions Sunday. This one easily could have been even more of a blowout, as the Lions put on a display of football even worse than anything the 2-16 Ottawa Redblacks showed this season. Their vaunted defence was okay at the start, but got run over in the second half, and their offensive ineptitude was utterly staggering. The loss means B.C. won't get a chance to compete in a home Grey Cup this year, ending the three-year streak of home Grey Cup victories the Lions started in 2011, but even more notably, it may indicate that big offseason changes could be ahead for the team. A close-fought loss would have been one thing, but rolling over and playing dead like this in a matchup they had an excellent chance to win and continuing their season-ending slide suggests that there are some big problems in B.C., and ones that won't be easily fixed.

The chief culprit for B.C.'s loss has to be quarterback Kevin Glenn, who delivered his worst outing of the season Sunday, completing six of 18 passes (33 per cent) for 64 yards with two interceptions. Glenn's a seasoned CFL veteran in his 14th season, and he's ninth on the league's all-time passing yardage list, but he looked like a helpless rookie Sunday, turning in maybe the worst performance of any quarterback this year. Running back Stefan Logan was okay, collecting 94 yards on 13 carries (some of those came in mop-up duty, however), and actual CFL rookie Travis Partridge threw for two touchdowns in relief, but that was all far too little too late thanks to Glenn's struggles. He was a decent backup for the Lions this season, and probably the best option out there with Travis Lulay missing all but one game, but Glenn was atrocious Sunday, and that was a big part of the Lions' demise.

There was lots of blame to go around Sunday, though. Paul McCallum got things off on the wrong foot, shanking a 17-yard punt early on, and while the B.C. defence started okay, keeping things to a 1-0 Montreal lead after the first quarter and a 15-3 halftime lead, they fell apart in the second half. The yardage they gave up wasn't terrible, and some of Montreal's touchdowns came on defensive scores (such as Jerald Brown's 103-yard fumble return for a TD), but the Lions committed plenty of dumb penalties and collapsed in the red zone, giving up six offensive touchdowns on the day. They also allowed lots of big plays, including a 64-yard touchdown dash from Chris Rainey.

The Lions had a generally good season (9-9 with a playoff appearance isn't bad for a year where your starting quarterback starts just one game), and if they'd merely lost a close one here, there might not be much push to change the status quo. The way in which they collapsed here (and down the stretch; they gave up 70 combined points in their last two regular-season games) makes a stronger case for a detailed reexamination of this roster and this coaching staff, though. There's a lot of talent on this team, but it sure wasn't clicking late in the year. Big decisions shouldn't be made on emotion, and some time will be needed to analyze just what went wrong here, but the manner in which B.C. was destroyed in Montreal Sunday suggests that major changes could be en route. It's going to be an interesting offseason to watch in Vancouver, especially as the Grey Cup party goes on without the home team.