# 2016 BC Lions season

The 2016 BC Lions season was the 59th season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 63rd overall. The Lions finished in second place in the West Division and finished with a 12–6 record. It was only the third time in franchise history that the Lions had finished in second place, and the first time they have done so since 1986. In each of those three years, the Lions hosted and defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West Semi-Final.
This was the team's second stint under now tenth-year head coach, Wally Buono, and his 14th season as the general manager. Buono took over the position following Jeff Tedford's resignation on December 2, 2015. The Lions improved upon their 7–11 record from 2015 and qualified for the playoffs for the 20th straight year, which is the second-longest streak in CFL history. After winning the West Semi-Final against the Blue Bombers, the Lions lost to the Calgary Stampeders in the West Final.
For the seventh consecutive season, the Lions held their training camp at Hillside Stadium in Kamloops, British Columbia with rookie camp beginning Wednesday, May 25 and main camp beginning on Sunday, May 29.

## Offseason
### Free agents

| Position | Player | 2016 Team | Date Signed | Notes |
| WR | Emmanuel Arceneaux | BC Lions | December 17, 2015 | Two-year contract |
| DB | Steven Clarke | BC Lions | May 24, 2016 | Signed with Titans before being released. |
| LB | Rennie Curran | | | |
| OL | Kirby Fabien | BC Lions | December 15, 2015 | Two-year contract |
| DB | Eric Fraser | BC Lions | December 18, 2015 | Two-year contract |
| RB | Andrew Harris | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | February 9, 2016 | |
| LB | Alex Hoffman-Ellis | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | February 9, 2016 | |
| DB | Josh Johnson | Jacksonville Jaguars | February 12, 2016 | |
| RB | Pascal Lochard | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | February 9, 2016 | |
| QB | Travis Lulay | BC Lions | February 8, 2016 | Two-year contract |
| OL | Matt Norman | | | Retired |
| OL | Jovan Olafioye | BC Lions | January 14, 2016 | Three-year contract |
| DB | Cord Parks | Edmonton Eskimos | May 26, 2016 | |
| RB | Chris Rainey | BC Lions | February 9, 2016 | |
| DT | Khreem Smith | | | |
| WR | Courtney Taylor | BC Lions | August 9, 2016 | |
| OL | Dean Valli | | | Retired |

### CFL draft

The 2016 CFL Draft took place on May 10, 2016. The Lions had eight picks in the draft, including two fourth round selections from Hamilton and the loss of their fifth round pick in a trade for Tim O'Neill.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 5 | Charles Vaillancourt | OL | Laval |
| 2 | 12 | Anthony Thompson | DB | Southern Illinois |
| 3 | 23 | Brett Blaszko | WR | Calgary Dinos |
| 4 | 30 | Dillon Guy | OL | Buffalo |
| 4 | 32 | Shaquille Johnson | WR | Western Ontario |
| 6 | 48 | Brennan Van Nistelrooy | DB | Alberta |
| 7 | 57 | Nathan O'Halloran | FB | Windsor |
| 8 | 65 | Boyd Richardson | DL | British Columbia |

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Score | Record | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| A | Sat, June 11 | 6:00 p.m. PDT | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 28–16 | 1–0 | TSN | Mosaic Stadium | 16,141 | Recap |
| B | Fri, June 17 | 7:00 p.m. PDT | vs. Calgary Stampeders | L 21–31 | 1–1 | None | BC Place | 17,630 | Recap |
    # Games played with colour uniforms.

## Regular season
### Standings

West Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
| Calgary Stampeders | 18 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 586 | 369 | 9–1 | L1 | Details |
| BC Lions | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 545 | 454 | 5–5 | W3 | Details |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 22 | 497 | 454 | 5–5 | W1 | Details |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 549 | 496 | 5–5 | W2 | Details |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 350 | 530 | 1–9 | L3 | Details |

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Score | Record | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| 1 | Sat, June 25 | 7:00 p.m. PDT | vs. Calgary Stampeders | W 20–18 | 1–0 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | BC Place | 21,386 | Recap |
| 2 | Fri, July 1 | 4:00 p.m. PDT | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 28–3 | 2–0 | TSN/RDS | Tim Hortons Field | 24,123 | Recap |
| 3 | Thurs, July 7 | 7:00 p.m. PDT | vs. Toronto Argonauts | L 14–25 | 2–1 | TSN/RDS2/ESPN2 | BC Place | 18,921 | Recap |
| 4 | Sat, July 16 | 4:00 p.m. PDT | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 40–27 | 3–1 | TSN/RDS | Mosaic Stadium | 31,014 | Recap |
| 5 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 6 | Fri, July 29 | 7:00 p.m. PDT | at Calgary Stampeders | L 41–44 (OT) | 3–2 | TSN/RDS2/ESPN2 | McMahon Stadium | 27,651 | Recap |
| 7 | Thurs, Aug 4 | 4:00 p.m. PDT | at Montreal Alouettes | W 38–18 | 4–2 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | Molson Stadium | 19,125 | Recap |
| 8 | Sat, Aug 13 | 7:00 p.m. PDT | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 45–38 | 5–2 | TSN | BC Place | 21,213 | Recap |
| 9 | Fri, Aug 19 | 7:00 p.m. PDT | vs. Calgary Stampeders | L 9–37 | 5–3 | TSN | BC Place | 21,341 | Recap |
| 10 | Thurs, Aug 25 | 4:30 p.m. PDT | at Ottawa Redblacks | W 29–23 | 6–3 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | TD Place Stadium | 24,677 | Recap |
| 11 | Wed, Aug 31 | 4:30 p.m. PDT | at Toronto Argonauts | W 16–13 | 7–3 | TSN | BMO Field | 17,509 | Recap |
| 12 | Fri, Sept 9 | 7:00 p.m. PDT | vs. Montreal Alouettes | W 38–27 | 8–3 | TSN/RDS | BC Place | 18,107 | Recap |
| 13 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 14 | Fri, Sept 23 | 7:00 p.m. PDT | at Edmonton Eskimos | L 23–27 | 8–4 | TSN/RDS2 | Commonwealth Stadium | 26,934 | Recap |
| 15 | Sat, Oct 1 | 7:00 p.m. PDT | vs. Ottawa Redblacks | W 40–33 | 9–4 | TSN/RDS | BC Place | 19,703 | Recap |
| 16 | Sat, Oct 8 | 1:00 p.m. PDT | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 35–37 | 9–5 | TSN | Investors Group Field | 24,284 | Recap |
| 17 | Fri, Oct 14 | 7:00 p.m. PDT | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 32–35 | 9–6 | TSN | BC Place | 19,520 | Recap |
| 18 | Sat, Oct 22 | 4:00 p.m. PDT | vs. Edmonton Eskimos | W 32–25 | 10–6 | TSN | BC Place | 22,831 | Recap |
| 19 | Sat, Oct 29 | 4:00 p.m. PDT | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 24–6 | 11–6 | TSN | Mosaic Stadium | 33,427 | Recap |
| 20 | Sat, Nov 5 | 4:00 p.m. PDT | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 41–18 | 12–6 | TSN | BC Place | 26,481 | Recap |
    # Games played with colour uniforms.
    # Games played with white uniforms.

## Post-season
### Schedule

| Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Score | Record | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| West Semi-Final | Sun, Nov 13 | 1:30 p.m. PST | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 32–31 | 1–0 | TSN/RDS/ESPN3 | BC Place | 19,176 | Recap |
| West Final | Sun, Nov 20 | 1:30 p.m. PST | at Calgary Stampeders | L 15–42 | 1–1 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | McMahon Stadium | 32,115 | Recap |
    # Games played with colour uniforms.
    # Games played with white uniforms.