Courtesy Vancouver Sun:

The B.C. Lions will take advantage of the bye week afforded the CFL’s West Division champions to do something they rarely find time for during the regular season: Scouting themselves.

Lions head coach Wally Buono said Tuesday one of the luxuries of any week off during the long CFL campaign was the ability for the coaching staff to sit down and analyze their own club.

“We’ll be doing some self-scouting this week,” said Buono, whose Lions have nearly two weeks to get ready to face the winner of Sunday’s West semifinal between the Calgary Stampeders and the host Saskatchewan Roughriders. “The coaches will be looking at what’s been working for us and what hasn’t.”

The official party line, naturally, is that the Lions don’t have a preference whether it’s the Stamps or Roughriders they play in the Nov. 18 contest that sends the winner to the Grey Cup in Toronto. The Lions were 3-0-1 against Calgary this season and 2-1 vs. Saskatchewan.

“What difference would it make if we did have a preference?” Buono said. “It’s not going to change the outcome of Sunday’s game.”

When he does get down to focusing on the winner of Sunday’s semifinal, Buono says he doesn’t expect to notice much difference.

“Both those teams have good athletes at quarterback and they both have good special teams, particularly in the kick-return game,” he noted. “I’d have to give a slight edge to Saskatchewan on defence because of the continuity of a veteran coaching staff.”

Buono describes the Calgary defence, which gave up the most points in the league this year, as “one in transition.”

That’s because the Stampeders made a switch in philosophy (from a three- to a four-man front as their base defence) after the firing of coordinator Denny Creehan and his replacement by defensive backs coach Tim Burke.

It’s a move the Lions, at least indirectly, had something to do with — the change coming just two days after they handed the Stamps a 42-9 thrashing Sept. 29 at BC Place.

One thing Buono and his staff are bound to notice during their self-scouting is the seven QB sacks Calgary hung on the Lions this past Saturday in the regular-season finale at BC Place. It’s not the kind of stat you want to see heading into the playoffs, especially on a team with quarterbacks who at times seem as breakable as fine china.

“Were the seven sacks the result of the changes we had to make on the O-line for that game?” Buono said. “All I know is I was not impressed by seven sacks allowed.”

While his staff appreciates the extra time to prepare for the West final, Buono isn’t sure just how much of an advantage it represents.

“With the extra week you might be able to spot something that could give you a slight edge,” he acknowledged. “But we won’t know whether it’s significant or not until after the game has been played.”

- The Lions are still awaiting word from the league on whether there will be any extra disciplinary action — be it suspension or fine — to offensive tackle Jason Jimenez for the block that broke Stampeder defensive tackle Anthony Gargiulo’s leg on the final play of the first half last Saturday.

“Everybody regrets it resulted in an injury,” said Buono. “I guarantee you, though, it didn’t happen after the whistle.”