By Greg Frers,
CFL.ca
Montreal Alouettes (7-6) @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers (7-7)
After six straight losses, the Alouettes and their fans are scratching their heads trying to figure out what has gone so wrong with this team. I have been getting some flashbacks to the struggle the B.C. Lions went through late last season and trying to determine if there are some similarities.
Unfortunately, when you win games as the Als did in the first half of the season, sometimes the weakness of the team gets overshadowed. The criticism through the seven-game win streak was that the Alouettes were not as good as their record was. The conclusion is that those criticisms were correct.
Much like the Lions in 2005, the core of the team is still solid and often all that is required is to tinker with some of the weaker areas. Anthony Calvillo needs to gain some confidence in the pocket to allow his vision to remain downfield, to make his reads and connect with his receivers.
Earlier in the season, I questioned how much this team missed the employment of Doug Berry and I will raise it once again. How does the most dominant offensive line in the CFL turn into five players acting as individuals rather than a cohesive unit? Berry has done a masterful job in Winnipeg managing to protect his quarterback with an offensive line that changes personnel every week because of a rash of injuries.
Montreal owner Bob Wetenhall is getting nervous that the big Thanksgiving Day game against Edmonton is not going to gather enough interest from the Montreal fans to fill up the Big O. Well, I think he should be a bit nervous.
The revolving door of Blue Bomber offensive linemen continues yet again this week as Garrick Jones will not play because of an ankle sprain. The good news is that Mike Abou-Mechrek, Val St. Germain and Matt Sheridan should be back practicing this week. This patch-work offensive line was great against Montreal on Sunday giving room for Charles Roberts to do his work rushing for 159 yards on 19 carries. I have been amazed at the fact that with all the changes at offensive line Winnipeg has only given up 29 sacks this year.
Bringing in Derek Armstrong has worked out great and finally Winnipeg has a receiving threat to go along side Mr. Stegall as Armstrong caught seven passes for 70 yards. This game will show CFL fans if the Bombers are going to be a legitimate contender for the Grey Cup in 2006.
Calgary Stampeders (9-5) @ Toronto Argonauts (7-6)
Special teams coach Craig Dickenson is making a nice name for himself this year in Calgary. The Stamps return game has really developed over the past few weeks. J.R. Ruffin has the best punt return average in the CFL and Marcus Howell sits just behind DaVon Fowlkes of Hamilton for yards gained on kick off returns.
Although Sandro DeAngelis has stolen the headlines this week kicking six field goals in the first meeting between these two teams, punter Burke Dales gets my vote for special teams player (along side DeAngelis) with his 50.8 yard punt average which consistently pinned the Argos deep into their own territory for the entire game last Saturday.
What has impressed me most about this Stampeder defence is how they pursue to the football on every play. I was always taught that the offensive opponent may beat the first defender, but he sure will not be able to beat the next three that are in pursuit. The Stamp defence leads the CFL in fumble recoveries with 17. Fumble recoveries are all about effort to getting around the football and Calgary is excellent at hustling to the ball.
Former Toronto offensive coordinator Kent Austin may have been harsh and demanding but he was very good at keeping all of his players accountable and he was able to piece the offensive puzzle together and push Damon Allen further than he had ever been pushed before. Talking to those in the Argo organization, they said that Austin had lost the ability to connect positively with his players. You know what, who cares if he was disturbing his players, he was able to push his offence to be successful enough to win a Grey Cup in 2005.
The question now is, in Week 7 with a record of 2-5, should the Argos have fired Austin when he was without his starting quarterback? Allen was not able to get completions downfield against the Stamps and maybe this is the new CFL that all quarterbacks and offensive coordinators need to get used to. Throwing across his body will ultimately end in interceptions which Allen currently throws more often than touchdowns to date.
Although it bothers me that Allen blamed the special teams for the loss against Calgary last week, he does have a point. Toronto started deep in its own zone way too many times and for a team that employs two return specialists in Bashir Levingston and Keith Stokes, I was expecting a more explosive return game from the Argos this year.
B.C. Lions (9-4) @ Hamilton Tiger Cats (4-11)
B.C. head coach Wally Buono has been under criticism for his decision to have kicker Paul McCallum attempt a punt single on first down to win the game in overtime against Saskatchewan on Sunday. My opinion is that it was not a bad decision at all. Sometimes in the course of any game the head coach needs to make a decision in less than 20 seconds that will either make you look like a genius or look like a fool. Buono is a great coach because he is willing to be aggressive and make a decision, and this had been the trademark of his talents through his career.
Aggressive decisions are crisp and often a team will respond to confidence rather than a coach that shows indecision. There are not too many times that Buono has been wrong, and this is why he tends to find ways to win games. In overtime, starting on the 35-yard line, it is a very solid decision to have McCallum punt the ball because a single wins the game and with a 50 kilometre per hour wind at his back, and the fact that he had been kicking so well through the game, the single and the victory was pretty much assured.
Those that say why not rush the ball twice to get a bit closer should consider the fact that exchanges from centre, quarterback and running back are never guaranteed and fumbles late in games have been commonplace this year. Roberts did a nice job of trying to offer up the game to the Als this past week as he fumbled deep in the Winnipeg zone and yet Montreal quarterback Marcus Brady did one better and gave it right back to cost them the opportunity to win the game.
Earlier in the season Winnipeg quarterback Kevin Glenn tried his best to lose a game against Edmonton as he fumbled late in the game on a quarterback sneak. If it were not for the immaculate 100-yard touchdown reception by Mr. Stegall to win the game, many would be questioning sloppy play calling by Berry late in that game. Fans have all the right in the world to be critical because they buy the tickets to the game, however, given the circumstance I would not feel inclined to hang Wally Buono on this one.
It is amazing what having a positive frame of mind and having fun with the game that you love can do for player’s performance. Living away from his family and the weight of the world on his shoulders has really bashed Hamilton quarterback Jason Maas in 2006. Spending some quality time in Edmonton with friends and family has reminded Maas that the opportunity that has emerged to be the starting quarterback in Hamilton is supposed to be fun. Against the Eskimos, Maas threw for 388 yards which was the first time that he had thrown over 200 yards since the second week of July.
Kamau Peterson and D.J. Flick are making good cases for themselves to stick around for awhile in Steeltown and Jesse Lumsden showed that he has a second gear when he turned a simple screen pass into a nice gain late in the game last week. It may be misleading to say that this team is the hottest team in the East Division because beating Edmonton back-to-back is not something that should inflate anyone’s chest too much. With the same kind of enthusiasm defensively this week and a solid performance by the rejuvenated Maas, Hamilton may just give B.C. a nice test.
Edmonton Eskimos (4-9) @ Saskatchewan Roughriders (7-6)
I do agree that the 2005 Grey Cup champs needed to make changes to their aging ball club. The key to making changes is that you need to do so without upsetting the chemistry of the football team. Players and coaches are shaking their heads in Edmonton trying to figure out what has gone wrong. What is wrong is that you can’t just throw a bunch of athletes together on a football team and think that they will mesh together to be successful. We have seen a good illustration of that in Hamilton this year and Edmonton is unfortunately in the same boat.
Unfortunately, sport is a cruel business and Edmonton fans demand success which has been the norm for 34 year. When you lose, heads tend to roll and when one of those heads is CFL icon Hugh Campbell, life is pretty much upside down in northern Alberta.
New general manager Eric Tillman has done a nice job of bringing his connections into play in Saskatchewan creating a blend of both Roughrider teams. I was not sure where receiver Yo Murphy was going to fit into this team but he was able to make an immediate impact last week against a tough B.C. defence catching seven passes for 99 yards.
I do believe that the Riders has really turned around offensively when they have not found themselves playing catch up in games and therefore getting the green light to attack teams with running back Kenton Keith. Keith once again racked up over 100 yards on the ground which was the third time he has done this year. Keith has erupted in the second half of this year and now has a 6.5 yard average.
It will be very interesting how the playoff match-ups end up as the B.C. Lions have only lost four games this year and three of these losses came at the hands of the Roughriders. I am always amazed at how some teams just match up well with other teams. Saskatchewan, led by a strong and improved pressure defence, is a team that could be the sleeper in the 2006 playoffs.
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)
