Matt Cauz
CFL.ca
“Attention must be paid.” -Linda Loman from ‘Death of a Salesman’
Stunned and speechless. I think that maybe the best way to describe how I was feeling on Thursday night around 11:55pm. Now I will not say this is the greatest CFL game I have ever seen, even though my instincts scream it was. Let me just say that Edmonton’s 38-35 victory over Calgary is the best regular season game I can remember in years, I can’t fathom watching a better game this year.
You know you have been watching a transcendent game when both teams have smiles on their faces at the conclusion, not just the winning team. You could see that both teams realized just how special the past three hours had been. Henry Burris had every reason to be upset. Despite passing for 479 yards and 3 touchdowns his team had still lost. Yet he still looked about as upbeat as any pro athlete could look after a loss. I hope people don’t look at his reaction and think he doesn’t care about winning. Trust me he does. This was just one of those games where both teams deserved to win, where everyone gave all they could and in the end someone had to win.
This will be the easiest story I write all year. Thankfully I had planned on focusing on the West since I had been spending far too much time on teams from the East Division.
When I sat down on Thursday night I didn’t expect to write a 2,412 Word column about just one game but this contest deserves it. Again to quote Willy Loman’s wife, “Attention must be paid”. I kept notes throughout the game.
1st QUARTER
-Both teams traded punts to start the game, who knew what we were about to get into. I was already thinking if I had made a mistake to try to focus so much of my column on one game.
-Henry Burris is close to breaking Doug Flutie’s Calgary record for career passing yards? How did I not know this? Has Burris really been in the league since 1998? I feel old.
-Fantastic design for Calgary’s first touchdown. Burris play fakes to Joffrey Reynolds and then dumps a short pass to TE Teyo Johnson who was in motion and was wide open for the easy score. The play action completely sucked in Edmonton’s linebackers, notably Mark Restelli who was responsible for Johnson. That play could not have been drawn up any better. 7-0 Calgary.
-Edmonton and Calgary are both forced to punt on their next possessions. The only highlight is Nik Lewis hurdling Bobby Keyes on the way to a nine yard gain. On any other night this would be a top five highlight, but in this game this play was about the 10th best play on the night.
-Yet another slow start for Ricky Ray and the entire Eskimo’s offense. They have been plagued by slow starts all season. Ray averaged about 400 yards a game last season vs. Calgary but tonight he’s started 1-for-5.
-Calgary’s Brandon Browner is doing a solid job early on shutting down Edmonton’s WRs.
-Speaking of good coverage, Jason Goss of Edmonton has been a force in the 1st quarter.
-Great sack by Dario Romero. He just blew past his man using a powerful swim/spin pass rush combination to get to Burris. By the way that is the most technical I will be in this column. I felt like Chris Schultz writing that last sentence, the only difference being I’m not afraid to grow a moustache!
-Edmonton ties the game at seven on a beautiful 49-yard touchdown pass to Fred Stamps. Ray does an excellent job stepping up in the pocket, buying Stamps enough time to get downfield burning Ronnie Amadi on the play. Edmonton had Stamps lined up in the backfield at the beginning of the play, looked like it had Calgary confused. 7-7
2nd QUARTER
-Calgary answers back with a touchdown of their own on a nifty (Yes I used the word “nifty” … just seems to work here) option play to Jon Cornish. This touchdown looks just like Calgary’s last. Burris fakes a run to Reynolds, Cornish goes in motion from right to left and takes a quick pitch from Burris for yet another untouched touchdown. Do the Eskimos’ defensive coaches use game film during a game? Do they even communicate with their linebackers? How can you get fooled on essentially the same play twice for a score? Seriously Edmonton’s linebackers have about as much self discipline as Mickey Rourke at an underage Co-Ed Kegger. At this point of the game you could start to feel that a phenomenal game was coming. 14-7 Calgary
Quick Stats: Burris is 14-8-129 yards and a score so far.
-Edmonton answers back with a nine-play touchdown drive of their own. This drive brings up the first redemption story of the game, ladies and gentleman may I present RG Patrick Kabongo! The man is an absolute beast. Last week he was the goat for the Eskimos in their loss to Hamilton with a couple critical holding penalties. But on this drive he is dominant, giving Ray extra time to complete a 2nd & 11 pass to Stamps and then wiping out MLB Tray Blackmon on Calvin McCarty’s 6-yard touchdown drive. 14-14
-Yes the last three drives ended in touchdowns. This game just keeps getting better.
-After both teams exchange punts Calgary scores on a crazy quick 3-play, 77-yard touchdown drive culminating with Burris finding Jeremaine Copeland wide open on a crossing pattern. This play was just the first of many big plays allowed by Edmonton DB Jonte’ Buhl. Buhl was routinely abused by Calgary all night. It’s a good thing that Edmonton won the game otherwise more would be made of his tough night.
21-14 Calgary
-Time for our first nominee for best play of the night: Ricky Ray’s 27-yard touchdown run! The run could be broken down into three acts. Act One: Ray avoids a six man blitz breaking a tackle along the way. Act Two: Ray pulls an Allen Iverson breaking Brandon Browner’s ankle who is left flailing around on the ground. The Final Act: Tip toeing the sidelines and ploughing through two defenders. Great job by TSN showing the team’s reaction on the sideline afterwards, the guys were just pumped after Ray’s touchdown. I loved watching Ray laugh on the sidelines like even he couldn’t believe what just happened.
21-21 (Quick Note: Kudos’ to Ray for stepping up after his slow start.)
3rd QUARTER
-Redemption story #2 comes to the surface … sort of. The rebirth of Arkee Whitlock. Remember his disastrous game in Week #2? As I remember it he had about 6 fumbles, dropped ten passes and then told reporters right after that Warren Moon is the most overrated quarterback in CFL history. All right I may have made that all up, but you get the picture. On their first drive Whitlock gets the ball on three straight carries for 62 yards. He’s running hard and the O-Line has killed Calgary’s defensive front. Unfortunately that third carry ends with Matt Grootegoed ripping the ball away and Dwight Anderson returning the fumble 52 yards. On a side note Ricky Ray left the field gingerly. He must have tweaked something on the Anderson return.
-Jason Goss saves a sure touchdown to Teyo Johnson, knocking the ball away at the last moment. Just an outstanding play when you consider that Johnson has about seven inches on Goss. Calgary is forced to kick a field goal. Edmonton dodges a bullet after the long fumble return.
25-21 Calgary
-Whitlock again looks like a completely different running back, ripping off a 31-yard run. Nice call to feed him the ball after the fumble. Whitlock looks like a completely different back. Running with more confidence and power than his Week #2 stinker. The good times don’t last long as Whitlock is stopped on a 3rd & 1 run. To be fair, the stop had more to do with first year DL Tom Johnson just blowing the play up at the point of attack. Whitlock was doomed right from the start. Turnover on downs.
-Edmonton dodges yet another bullet as their D forces Calgary to kick a field goal. Edmonton has turned the ball over on consecutive possessions and the Stampeders only have six points to show for it.
28-21 Calgary
4th QUARTER
-Someone needs to get Glen Suitor to stop talking about Twitter. We get it Glen, you don’t know how to use this mysterious device force known as Twitter, but you have just aged yourself by about 10 years. I’m going to take a wild guess and say that twitter.com/glensuitor may not be the dynamic social network site that TSN had in mind.
Before we get to the final quarter I think it is important to mention there has been 729 total yards after three quarters.
-Yes Edmonton only finishes with a field goal but their drive to start the 4th quarter was an important one. The Eskimo defense had been on the field a lot in the 3rd quarter and needed a break. The 11-play 90-yard drive was just what they needed.
Two thoughts about this drive. (1) We need to get Patrick Kabongo a proper WWE style nickname. The guy’s last name is Kabongo; how hard can it be to come up with a good nickname? He just killed Trey Blackmon on an open field block that would have made Greg “The Hammer” Valentine proud. Now I’m not saying the hit was dirty, but it was close. It was one of those blocks that you notice even during the middle of a screen pass and then you laugh out loud when you see the replay. Poor Blackmon, I hope he is okay. Needless to say that Kabongo is now my favourite offensive lineman in the league. (2) Back to Whitlock again. He caught three passes for 37 yards on this drive and is starting to look like a legitimate safety valve for Ray. In Week #2 he dropped two easy touchdown passes and had a third one go off his shoulder pad that was intercepted. Is this the same guy? Again give credit to a player who could have had his confidence shattered before the season had barely started. (155 total yards at this point)
28-24 Calgary
-Calgary gets the ball back with under nine minutes to go and a four point lead. A long touchdown drive could effectively put this game away, instead Edmonton’s defence stiffens, forcing a 2 & out. The most shocking part of this sequence was the refs actually called an offside penalty on a wide receiver. To be fair, Jermaine Jackson was about 35 yards downfield when the ball was snapped.
-He’d been relatively quiet all game but here comes Tristan Jackson! His 71-yard punt return was a low point for kickers trying to tackle (Hang your head in shame Burke Dales) but a triumph for hustle as Dwaine Carpenter was the first guy blocked on the return yet still managed to get up and chase Jackson all the way down field to make the tackle. This game has officially changed into: “Thank God I stayed at home and watched this game” mode.
-If the sincerest form flattery is imitation than Edmonton just paid a huge compliment to Calgary on Ricky Ray’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Maurice Mann. Just like Calgary’s first two scores Edmonton run fakes it up the middle to Whitlock while Mann goes in motion and is wide open for an easy touchdown. Edmonton now has their first lead of the game with four minutes to go. At this point I am now starting to list the best games I have ever seen and wondering if this one is going to crack the Top Ten.
31-28
-Please TSN stop showing shots of Calgary Offensive Assistant Kevin Strasser. I think I speak for all fans when I say that no one is a fan of 15 seconds of a guy staring dead eyed at you with no emotion at all. I’m not sure if he was trying to steal my soul but I am fairly sure the man does not know how to blink.
-This was a remarkable day for Henry Burris and Jermaine Copeland and a not so good a day for Jonte’ Buhl. Third and ten, Edmonton has the blitz on and Burris is dropping further and further back. Somehow he manages to heave up a prayer to Jeremaine Copeland who comes up with yet another circus catch beating Buhl for 26 yards and keeping the drive alive. Copeland has that remarkable ability to make tough catches look easy. Calgary is still alive. Five plays and one gutsy third and short play later Burris again finds Copeland for a touchdown and again Buhl is the closest defender around. Burris is playing out of his mind going 6-for-8 for 67 yards and a score on the drive. Copeland is 10-164, TD at this point. Somewhere Fantasy Expert Nic Sulsky is going crazy trying to keep up with all the points and yards racked up tonight.
With 38-seconds left and Calgary up 35-31 this game is over … right?
Here is what I originally wrote on my notepad: “Oh my god how did Jackson get that return! Gets the ball to 42 yard line!”
Forget his athleticism, how about Jackson’s focus on the return? After fumbling the ball he somehow managed to get the ball back while keeping his eyes downfield the whole time.
The Eskimos have the ball on the 43-yard line; I can’t believe they have a shot.
Now here is the final note I wrote during the game: “WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fred Stamps touchdown catch. Great pass protection ……………. Great throw ……………….. Great catch post pattern”
Yes I overused the explanation point almost as much as I rely on the adjective “Great” but come on, when was the last time you saw a last second game winning touchdown pass with 15-seconds left?
Well I can’t think of anything else to say about this game so I will just agree with Chris Cuthbert who said he can’t wait until the re-match on Labour Day.
