SURREY, B.C. — The B.C. Lions' defence isn't used to getting criticized.
After years of dominant performances, the Lions's defensive unit has faltered in 2015. It occupied the CFL's basement in passing and rushing yards allowed heading into their tilt with the surging Edmonton Eskimos last week.
The stats sheet doesn't read much better now, but one half of football showed that the Lions can still get it done.
Down 23-10 at the break, B.C. held Edmonton off the scoreboard over the final 30 minutes in what would turn out to be a 26-23 victory. It was a result that improved the Lions to 3-3 on the season and at least temporarily halted the questions about their inability to stop opponents through the air and on the ground.
"We heard about how bad our defence was," Lions linebacker Solomon Elimimian said this week. "Guys know what's going on. It was a personal challenge. It was a challenge to us to prove the critics wrong."
The Eskimos, who came in having won four straight, managed just 139 yards of offence in the second half against a team that had given up nearly 425 yards per game coming in.
Adam Bighill, who leads the CFL with 46 tackles, said a Lions' defence that has a number of younger players trying to find their footing in the league finally stepped up after weeks of frustration and near misses.
"It wasn't so much the adjustments as it was playing sound, fundamental football," said the linebacker. "Everyone had to do their job. You turn on the tape and you watch it, everybody was taking turns making plays, as they should. That was really the difference. Moving forward that's what we need to do."
Lions quarterback Travis Lulay said it was nice to see the defence step up and give the team a chance, especially when B.C.'s offence was struggling to get first downs for long stretches of the second half against Edmonton before a late surge to get the win.
"Criticism is part of the game and those guys heard some things," said Lulay. "To their credit they just kept playing, slugging hard. If we were to ask them what they did differently between the first half and the second half, it wasn't magic, it wasn't a bunch of different calls, it was just purely focus and execution.
"Those guys buckled down and found a way to get it done."
There was also plenty of talk about the Eskimos' No. 1-ranked defence, which came into Vancouver having surrendered just one touchdown over its last three games. The Lions said they used as motivation.
"They're doing something that basically I'm used to doing," B.C. defensive back Ryan Phillips said. "That's the style of football and the style of defence I'm used to playing here. We wanted to make sure we matched their intensity."
B.C. travels to Hamilton on Saturday to take on the Tiger-Cats (4-2), a club that has scored 31, 34 and 38 points during its current three-game winning streak and is undefeated at Tim Hortons Field since it opened last season.
The Lions know two quarters won't necessarily change the course of a season, but the steps taken in the comeback victory over Edmonton that stopped a two-game slide were encouraging.
"When you're not getting wins and you're giving up a lot of points you're going to hear the criticism and everything's going to come along with it," said Phillips. "It's up to us to change that. We took a step forward last week and it's all about how we build from this point on."
