Matt Cauz
CFL.ca
Before I begin a much shorter column than Friday’s 1,400 word rambling I wanted to take a moment to respond to a couple comments left from said story.
To laddlaw,
I want to thank you for being the first person to accuse me of having an “eastern bias.” We set the over/under for how many weeks this would take at 3.5. Rest assured I took the under and collected a tidy sum. I was going to write a couple more points about Wes Cates and my love for Gene Makowsky (He ranks second behind Patrick Kabongo in my offensive lineman crush list) but at that point even I had to come to the realization that I had written enough.
To eskinator,
You wondered about me proclaiming that the 54-51 piece of perfection from opening night was the Game of the Year. I think it will be, but I hope I’m wrong. I often am. I would love to see several more games that beat out what we saw on Thursday night.
And finally to “50+ years fan”,
You criticized my inability to use the correct/Canadian version of “offence” and “defence”. You could not have been more right. I feel shame as a Canadian and someone who took a Liberal Arts degree. Since I don’t want to ever be considered a liar I cannot promise that it will never happen again. Jaime Stein, Mitch Ward and all the good people of CFL.ca always do their best to correct my frequent grammar mistakes but even they are not always going to be a match for my level of ignorance.
Moving on to this weekend’s action:
(1) I know we are only one week in, but isn’t it amazing what a competent quarterback can do for a team? Yes I understand that is a massive cliché but watching Buck Pierce run Winnipeg’s offence (see I used the right one!) you never would have known the Blue Bombers were a disaster offensively for most of the 2009 season. The one number that impressed me the most was 34:01. That was Winnipeg’s time of possession.
Last year the Bombers D (Maybe I should just use “D” and “O” instead of risking a random defense) spent way too much time on the field exposing them to big plays that were often the result of the squad simply being tired. Against Hamilton, they were given the treat of watching a real quarterback move the chains through the air and with his legs. Here’s hoping that Pierce continues to slide the proper way and realize that sometimes going for a first down isn’t worth risking his health.
(2) Forget the Kevin Glenn vs. Quinton Porter debate which I’m sure is coming; what about the Hamilton D giving up over 500 yards? Winnipeg did whatever they wanted to Hamilton’s D for large stretches of that game running at will while Terrence Edwards made big play after play. Now I’m not going to put all the blame on Jason Shivers, who was beat a couple times. I can’t think of many DBs that can cover Edwards one-on-one in that much space. On the flip side Simeon Rottier has to do a better job. The entire line didn’t do Glenn any favours.
(3) Great win by the B.C. Lions on the road but Casey Printers looked shaky for much of the game. He would mix a couple good decisions with a lot of bad throws, often forcing his intended target to stretch out and make a great catch. On the bright side, he didn’t turn the ball over and did enough to get the win. I have to give Printers credit for staying in the game after suffering an old school WWE crash into a table on the sidelines after being tackled. I was half expecting Ric Flair to hit him with a steel chair on the Lions next series.
(4) Flat out, I was surprised by Jamal Robertson. He may not be the fastest back in the league but his vision, his ability to read his blocks and break a whole assortment of tackles was on full display last night. Of course so was Edmonton’s inability to take proper angles.
No way should Robertson be able to run away from a defensive back. My favourite run of Robertson’s was his 44 yarder in the first half when he just embarrassed Greg Peach, breaking his ankles and making him tackle air. By the way, I don’t think that Peach is a good football name. Just sayin’.
(5) After putting up an impressive 116 yard rushing performance I think we can now officially drop the whole Arkee Whitlock had a horrible debut in 2009 storyline. I love watching him make guys miss. He’s the sort of back that can give you two moves in a small amount of space.
(6) Speaking of debut performances, Keron Williams put on a display of hustle and pass rush all night. Just a great signing by the Lions.
(7) My final point has nothing to do with football but it’s something that caught the attention of everyone I was with during the Lions / Eskimos game. Did you catch a glimpse of Kelly Campbell’s tattoo? He has a giant crown tattooed right on his neck! What kind of pain threshold does Campbell have to endure that kind of ink? Coming from a guy who can tear up when I stub my toe I was impressed. I was about to make fun of him when I heard he had left the game with massive cramps, but I quickly changed my mind after seeing his neck.
