Of all the storylines for Week 19 the one that had me the most intrigued was to evaluate Ricky Ray’s first start in 362 days and the obvious juxtaposition with Jonathon Jennings just starting to make a name for himself with the BC Lions. The obvious angle would be to focus on the two signal callers, one whose career is entering the final stages versus the other where the story is just starting to be written.
But then I noticed a slight slip-up by a player who rarely makes mistakes. Adam Bighill missed a tackle; in fact he got exposed as Brandon Whitaker froze him on a quick juke-step and than just blew right past him. Now to be fair this is the sort of scenario where the offensive player wins the majority of the time. Whitaker had just caught a pass from Ray and there was no one within a ten-yard halo except for Bighill. Whitaker had all the space in the world to work with and Bighill was isolated, point running back.
Now that last sentence you could easily accuse me of saying that Bighill isn’t athletic. There is enough code in that sentence to say that he gets by on “guile” and film study to overcome some sort of athletic deficiency. That could not be further from the truth. First off, this is a man who two years in a row collected nine sacks on the season. He has picked off seven passes and recovered six fumbles during his 397-game career. Clearly this is someone who has generated many explosive big plays defensively.
One play in particular highlights the makeup of the Lions fifth-year linebacker. In the second quarter, Ray dumps off a pass to one of the fastest men in the league, Chad Owens, who is running a shallow crossing pattern. If you pause the play right when Owens makes the catch you notice that Bighill is right there, step for step with the man who set a league record for combined yardage in 2012 and manages to take him down before he has any opportunity to do some damage to the Lions’ secondary. Yes I know he is built like a fire hydrant mixed with a bicep but Bighill is an athlete in all senses of the word. He is that perfect linebacker who covers the field sideline to sideline. You don’t rack up all those statistics and All-Star awards without being physically gifted.
The other play I wanted to highlight again falls in the category of easy to miss but was sneakily important. In the third quarter with the score 15-12 for the Argonauts, Bighill tackles Whitaker after a two-yard gain. The play is so non-descript that it doesn’t even warrant a replay. But the play is quintessential Bighill as he diagnosis Whitaker’s movements as he tries to bounce it outside. Bighill gets by one block and makes a sure tackle turning a possible second down and four to a second down and eight.
Now I know that doesn’t sound like much, but ask any quarterback how much more difficult the longer second down conversion is and you can start to appreciate that little play. Ricky Ray would miss his target on 2nd and long and the Argonauts would be forced to punt. On their next possession Jennings would throw his second touchdown pass of the day giving the Lions an 18-15 lead, and they would not trail again, a small moment in a big game for the Lions who clinched a playoff spot with their win over the Argonauts.
