Matt Cauz
CFL.ca
EASTERN SEMI-FINAL: B.C. Lions at Hamilton Tiger-Cats
(1) Let’s get the obvious point out of the way first. Hamilton did not run DeAndra’ Cobb nearly enough. Seven carries for a guy that dominated BC in the regular season is a joke considering that at no point was Hamilton down by more than two scores. The only explanation I can think of is that the team got scared to run the ball after Ricky Foley stopped Cobb cold on a second and three run on Hamilton’s opening possession. Cobb would not have another carry until 12:59 of the 2nd quarter.
(2) The other obvious storyline that needs to be addressed is the resurrection of Casey Printers. Even though he had yet to win a game as a starter you could see Printers getting better and better. Against Hamilton he could do no wrong throwing for 360 yards, one touchdown and more importantly no turnovers. Hamilton’s D had four sacks but easily could have double that total if not for the legs and overall strength of Printers. He absolutely embarrassed Jamall Johnson late in the fourth when Johnson came free on a blitz, wrapped up Printers but just couldn’t bring him down.
(3) Not a good day at the office for DB Geoff Tisdale who was repeatedly burnt deep by the Lions wide-outs. Two plays stick out for me. The first was a 48-yarder Tisdale gave up to Geroy Simon early in the 2nd quarter that led to a Lions field goal. Even more glaring was a 49-yard completion to Emmanuel Arceneaux on a 2nd and 15 with BC backed up at their own eight yard line. It led to another field goal, but more importantly the play gave B.C. a massive momentum swing in the field position battle.
(4) Give Hamilton and Kevin Glenn credit for taking B.C. to overtime. The Lions dominated early but penalties and poor execution in the red zone kept the Lions from running away with this game in the first half. Glenn threw for a ton of yards, 437, but he left a lot of yards on the field. Near the end of the 3rd Glenn under threw Marquay McDaniel and then on 2nd down he overthrew a wide open Drisan James who had a clear path to the end zone. On the flipside Glenn was masterful on the game tying touchdown drive going 6-of-9 for 97 yards and a touchdown to Dave “Mr. Second Down / Sticky” Stala.
(5) Is Dave Stala really good enough to have more than one nickname? At one point in the 2nd quarter Rod Black referred to him as “Mr. Second Down”. Now that’s just a lousy nickname, no cache at all. I’m betting no one actually calls him that. But a possession later Duane Forde referred to him as “Sticky” after his diving finger tip touchdown catch. Well now that’s a way better handle. Black sensing the nickname momentum was shifting gleefully jumped on the bandwagon excitedly calling Dave “Sticky Stala” as TSN went to break.
(6) Duane Forde’s greatest moment came later on when he actually made a King Kong Bundy reference! Imagine my surprise to hear Forde evoke Bundy’s name while discussing how the B.C. Lions offensive line was dominating Hamilton in pass protection. You can have your Chris Cuthbert’s and Al Michael’s, but I doubt either man would compare Bundy’s signature move of asking for a 5-count with the way the Lions tackles were abusing Khari Long. Bravo Duane. May I suggest a Killer Bee’s analogy when discussing Anthony Calvillo and Avon Cobourne?
(7) The final result was not that surprising. B.C. had better overall talent, they played a tougher schedule and Casey Printers managed to stay healthy. I hope that Hamilton can build on their momentum from 2009 into a winning season in 2010. For the Lions they’ll need Brent Johnson and Ricky Foley to generate consistent pass rush on Anthony Calvillo if B.C. has any chance of winning the Eastern Final. This should be a great game featuring five 1,000 yard receivers, two 1,000 yard rushers and a fascinating QB battle between Calvillo (the best in the game) vs. Casey Printers (potentially the most dangerous QB in the playoffs).
WESTERN SEMI-FINAL: Edmonton Eskimos at Calgary Stampeders
(1) I’ve decided to limit myself to just one Patrick Kabongo reference. Loved watching him before the game; bouncing up and down trying to challenge the entire Calgary roster. Vegas had the Stamps as an 11.5 favourite against Patrick. On the flip side I can’t believe that it was Jeff Pilon challenging Kabongo. They’re both offensive lineman, shouldn’t they secretly get along? I hate seeing an O-lineman on O-lineman crime. That’s always such a shame.
(2) Speaking of Pilon, I killed him earlier this season for pass protection issues, but I thought he played a near flawless game protecting Henry Burris. I didn’t notice one time where he got beat badly on Sunday.
(3) I think Calgary must be feeling good about trading for Romby Bryant and Arjei Franklin.
(4) Solid all around game for Dwight Anderson. The play that stands out for me was Anderson being able to stay step for step with Efrem Hill on a deep ball and then stripping the ball away at the last second. Anderson was on an island and wiped out any chance for a big play, forcing Edmonton to punt.
(5) This game was all about missed opportunities. Calgary failed three times to score touchdowns in the red zone in the first half while most of Edmonton’s chances for a big play were snuffed out by dropped passes.
(6) Henry Burris did a phenomenal job running the zone read. Burris’ instincts were correct the majority of the time. This was never more evident than at the end of the game when the Stampeders were trying to run out the clock. On second and four Burris faked the handoff to Joffrey Reynolds, allowed Kai Ellis to come crashing in and then bootlegged to his left for a wide open six yard gain, essentially ending the Eskimos season. Burris’ 63 yards rushing was one yard off his season high, which also came against Edmonton.
(7) Speaking of running, Joffrey Reynolds was the best player on the field rushing for 127 yards and amassing 162 total yards. Late in the game he was like Mariano Rivera, just closing the door on any chance for an Edmonton comeback with his 43 yards rushing. You know your line is doing a good job when everyone knew Calgary was going to run the ball and they were still able to generate first downs on the ground.
(8) Edmonton can you please throw out that play action pass to Mathieu Bertrand? It never works, and Bertrand just gets killed every time. Is it really worth it for a two yard gain? Just an ugly play all around.
(9) Edmonton’s deficiencies in the secondary were never more evident than on Burris’ two touchdown passes. Arjei Franklin and Romby Bryant must have felt lonely with no one even close to covering them. On the first touchdown Edmonton’s defensive backs were focused on Nik Lewis, leaving Franklin uncovered while Romby Bryant abused Byron Parker on his 29-yard score.
(10) Uhhh why were the Calgary fans doing the wave late in the game? It was third and one with two minutes to go. Henry Burris is getting set to run a QB sneak to put the game away and you have the fans doing the ridiculous wave. I couldn’t believe my eyes!
(11) Calgary vs. Saskatchewan should be an absolute classic. I want to see how Ben Archibald and Jeff Pilon handle John Chick and Stevie Baggs and how Darian Durant handles the kind of pressure that can only be found in the postseason.
CAUZ on TWITTER for the Division Finals
Speaking of next weeks games I’ll be live tweeting both the Eastern and Western Division Finals. Please feel free to follow me, laugh at my spelling mistakes and offer up any comments on the games themselves. I can be reached at: @mcauz56
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