By Greg Frers,
CFL.ca
Calgary Stampeders (3-1) @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-4)
Quarterback Henry Burris threw for 399 yards and receiver Nik Lewis inflicted some damage to the Ticats’ secondary with seven catches for 162 yards in their Week 3 meeting. It is hard to believe that the score against the Roughriders last Saturday was tied at halftime because the second half was nothing short of embarrassing for Saskatchewan. Credit offensive coordinator Steve Buratto for his halftime adjustments.
I’m not quite sure how Calgary was able to score 53 points with Burris throwing for only 263 yards but this team erupted offensively without imploding with penalties and turnovers as they had in previous games. When Calgary’s defence decided to shift gears and bring the pressure on quarterback Kerry Joseph rather than sit back, the game took a complete shift. The strength of this defence is in its front seven and they showed their prowess as they held running back Kenton Keith to only 30 yards and sacked Joseph three times. The Stamps have a very complete team and I anticipate that they will only get better as the year goes on.
With the firing of head coach Greg Marshall, look for the return of Ron Lancaster Sr. to the sideline for the Ticats. When Lancaster was questioned by CBC commentator Steve Armitage last week in Regina, Lancaster did not deny the fact that he could return to the bench. Unfortunately for the Hamilton fans, his return may bring flashbacks of the 2003 season when the Tiger-Cats went 1-17 under his leadership. This team is holding on by a thread and desperately searching for some confidence to turn this season around.
The score 23-22 was flattering for the Ticats in their last meeting with the Stamps, as Calgary offered up 17 of their 22 points on four turnovers and Jason Maas threw for only 211 yards. With the lowest QB efficiency rating, Maas and the Ticats offence has been nothing short of offensive. Maas has only thrown two touchdowns and has scored only six points in the second half of games this season. A case could be made to start Kevin Eakin, however, this move would make the front office look pretty foolish as they offered up a bag of money and two solid players to acquire Maas. Unless Maas is able to become confident making his reads down field and starts including offensive weapons into the game other than running back Josh Ranek, don’t expect the Ticats to claw their way out of this hole any time soon.
Saskatchewan Roughriders (1-2) @ B.C. Lions (2-2)
Any way you shake it, 53 points never looks good. So what hurt the Roughriders? Three big plays to Elijah Thurmon, Nik Lewis and Joffery Reynolds that all ended in majors. There is no way that you hold a team to 325 yards passing and they score 53 points on you. When the defensive secondary decided to get more physical with receivers they played much better. The Riders need to go back to the basics and start getting pressure on quarterbacks and improve their tackling.
I thought that their offence looked like they took a step forward. When Calgary decided to turn up the heat on Joseph, he was unable to finish his reads down field and their offence stalled. It was nice to see Jason Armstead get more involved, but they will need to establish running back Kenton Keith early against B.C. to slow down the pass rush. Keith has been largely ineffective so far this year considering the skill that we have grown accustomed to. I am surprised that offensive coordinator Tommy Condell has not incorporated a rushing attack so far this season. With a dominant offensive line, I believe you are not playing to your strengths when you don’t work to establish the run.
The Lions are very thankful to be away from the natural grass of Commonwealth Stadium and back on secure footing under the dome in Vancouver. The Lions’ tackling was horrendous and the timing was way off between Dave Dickenson and his receivers. The B.C. Lions defence has been having problems getting caught in their 30 defence when they decide to bring pressure and play without a safety.
Defensive coordinator Dave Ritchie, who is known for bringing pressure, will need to find ways to bring some heat without hanging his secondary out to dry. The Lions’ front seven needs to improve at stopping the run as they are conceding 129.5 yards a game and teams are seeing this as a weakness as this is where their opponents seem to be attacking them. If there is one glaring flaw in the Lions’ game right now it is their return game. Aaron Lockett has not met up to expectations averaging only four yards on punt returns and their coverage teams have been inconsistent thus far.
Montréal Alouettes (3-0) @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers (3-1)
Who would have thought that in Week 5 the battle for first place in the East would have been between these two teams. What has become evident to me is the offensive mind that Blue Bomber head coach Doug Berry is. For seven years he was a strong influence in establishing a dominant Alouette offence. Now, with his absence, we can compare the Montreal offence to Hamilton and Toronto. Anthony Calvillo is averaging only 237 yards passing per game, and at this pace Ben Cahoon may be the only receiver that eclipses the 1,000-yard benchmark that was commonplace for Al receivers in the past.
Montreal is a team right now that barely squeezed victories from the 0-4 Tiger-Cats. It has been a complete roll reversal as the defence has now become the strength of this team rather than their offence. The story lines are strong in this game as Calvillo was hit often and often hit late by Bomber defensive linemen in Week 1. The battle in the trenches will be fierce.
Winnipeg has made a believer out of me. Right now their defensive statistics are an accurate description of their dominance on the field. I can appreciate that playing a struggling Toronto Argonaut team twice can pad some stats, but the speed and confidence that they are playing with right now is fun to watch. The strength of a defence always starts with the front seven, and with a league leading 14 sacks and their ability to establish an iron wall against the run, this front seven is very good.
Since Week 1, Kevin Glenn has yet to throw an interception which has gone a long way in getting them to 3-1. You can see Glenn’s growth through the first four weeks of work. Berry may be creating the next Calvillo. What does concern me is that Milt Stegall and Charles Roberts represent over half of their offence. As teams find ways to minimize their effectiveness, other players will need to assert themselves.
Greg Frers played 10 seasons in the CFL with the Calgary Stampeders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions and has been a panelist on the CFL on CBC since 2003.
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily of the Canadian Football League)
