Jim Lang
CFL.ca
EDMONTON AT HAMILTON (FRIDAY AT 7:30 PM ET)
The Argos have been going out of their way to hand second place in the East to the Tiger-Cats. However, the Tabbies keep failing to take advantage of their situation. If the Ticats end up on the road in the Eastern Semi-Final, it will be their own fault.
I find it very interesting that after Eric Tillman is hired as the Eskimos new General Manager, all of a sudden the team goes on a two game winning streak. From head coach Richie Hall on down, there isn’t a single member of the Eskimos who isn’t auditioning for a job in 2011.
A big reason the Eskimos have come to life all of a sudden is that Ricky Ray has snapped out of his season long funk. In the last two games, Ray has completed 77.8 per cent of his passes. Any time your starting quarterback is completing nearly 80 per cent of his passes, you are probably going to win most of your games. There also seems to be a sense of urgency in the Eskimos that was lacking during the dark days in the early part of the season.
I asked Eric Tillman this week why he thought the Eskimos have played so well the last two weeks.
“Our coaches have done a nice job of altering our offensive approach. By running the ball more often these past few weeks, we’ve really helped Ricky. When you have balance between the run and pass, it certainly helps your offensive line, and, by extension, your quarterback. With balance, defensive lineman can’t just pin their ears back and get up field like they do when it’s pass, pass, and pass again. A few weeks ago, Ricky looked like the mailman being chased by a Doberman pincher. Now, with the benefit of a productive running game, and better protection, he is playing very, very well.”
Eric has a point, in the last two games; the Eskimos have run for 245 yards and three touchdowns. Now, opposing defenses are being forced to respect the Eskimos running game.
Which brings us to the Tiger-Cats. After beating the Argos on Labour Day the Ticats are a disappointing 1 and 3 in their last four. Marcel Bellefeuille must sit in his office until the wee hours of the morning, staring at his video monitor, lamenting the fact his team could have second place in the East all but locked up by now. Now in fairness to Bellefeuille, his team scored 35 points on the road last week and still lost. Ticats defensive coordinator Greg Marshall has some serious work to do this week. Not only does the Ticats’ defence have to respect the Eskimos running game, they have to respect Fred Stamps. Last week Stamps shredded the Cats for 181 yards and a touchdown. The Ticats gave Stevie Baggs good money to come to the Hammer. It is up to him to starting repaying their generosity with a few sacks. Offensively Hamilton expects to have Dave Stala in the line-up after taking that nasty hit last week.
The forecast is calling for a perfect fall evening. It is vital that Hamilton get an early lead and get their diehard fans at Ivor Wynne Stadium involved in the game. Other than a free keg of beer served up by some Bud girls, the Box J boys would love nothing more than to have something to cheer about. For that to happen, the defence is going to have to do a much better job than they did last week. Bellefeuille knows his offence has the ability to score points against the Eskimos. It’s the D that is keeping the poor man up at night.
TORONTO AT SASKATCHEWAN (SATURDAY 5:00 PM ET)
A Riders win and they will clinch a home playoff game.
The Argos have good special teams, a good running game and a solid defence. What they don’t have is a bona fide star at quarterback. Like say, Darian Durant of the Riders. This isn’t meant as a slight to Dalton Bell. He seems like a good kid and with the right grooming, he could be a very good quarterback in the CFL some day. I only hope the Argos keep Bell around for a few more years and really give him a legitimate chance to learn and develop. He is likely to take a backseat to Cleo Lemon this week though as Lemon looks to be recovered from the concussion that kept him out of last week’s game. Whether Bell or Lemon end up getting the start, neither one of them is in the same class as Durant though.
Now the Argos might not have a star quarterback yet, but they sure do have a star running back in Cory Boyd. Boyd leads the CFL in rushing and because of injuries he has played two less games than the second place running back, Winnipeg’s Fred Reid.
Besides Durant, another concern for the Argos D is Riders receiver Andy Fantuz. The former Western Mustang has always been a reliable and productive receiver in the CFL. But this year Fantuz deserves to be mentioned among the elite receivers in the entire league. Last week’s 66 yard touchdown against the Argos is a great example of a player who continues to push himself to be better physically and mentally every week. Fantuz is the leader of the Riders amazing group of receivers. That group will be the biggest challenge facing Jim Barker and the Argos when they try to devise a sound defensive game plan against Saskatchewan. When Durant is in a groove and spreading the ball around, opposing defenses can’t possibly cover everyone.
The Argos know that in a road game like this in a hostile environment like Regina, their only course of action is to win ugly. That means sound, mistake free defence, a productive running game and good special teams. If the Argos end up in a shoot out with the Riders, they are dead meat. The other thing that Argos must avoid at all costs is falling behind early. The Argos aren’t built to mount a huge comeback and the last thing they want is to have that rabid crowd at Mosaic Stadium giving them the business for four quarters.
CALGARY AT MONTREAL (MONDAY AT 1:00 PM ET)
Like the Riders, with a win the Stamps will clinch a home playoff game.
While most people thought the Stamps might be able to beat the Alouettes on their home turf; I am not sure many could have predicted that kind of a blow out last week. After a tepid outing the week before, Henry Burris lit it up against the Als Friday at McMahon Stadium. Repeating a performance like that two weeks in a row against a team like the Als will be a difficult task to say the least. Both Ken-Yon Rambo and Romby Bryant enjoyed huge games against the Als secondary.
Marc Trestman and the Als are not used to losing games like that. In fact, last week’s debacle in Calgary was the worst loss the Als have suffered all year. It will be interesting to see how they deal with the injury to kicker Damon Duval. As Herb Zurkowsky of the Montreal Gazette reported, Duval has a tear in his right hamstring and won’t be in the lineup Monday. The injury to Duval will have a big effect of Trestman’s in game strategy. There will likely be a number of times in the game where Trestman feels compelled to go for it on third down instead of trusting a back-up kicker to attempt a field goal from a range he’s unsure of. That puts more pressure on Anthony Calvillo and the offence to not just move the ball up and down the field, but get into the end zone.
For John Hufnagel, all he has to do is ask his team to repeat last week’s performance. Of course, that is a lot easier said than done. But Hufnagel and the Stamps have a blue print of how to beat the Als and if they stick to their game plan, they should be alright.
B.C. AT WINNIPEG (MONDAY AT 4:30 PM ET)
The Travis Lulay era is alive and well in BC. Lulay didn’t put up Henry Burris-like numbers but he still did enough to help lead the Lions another crucial win in their drive for the playoffs. Once again, Korey Banks and the Lions defence are keeping the team in t
he game until the offence can put some points on the board.
Wally Buono didn’t win all those games by accident. Buono knows what it takes to make a winner in the CFL and he also knows that if a team can get hot at the right time of the year, anything is possible. Most people would glance at the Lions 5-8 record and not consider them to be a contender in the West. However the Lions are 4 and 1 since Labour Day and the CFL is famous for teams getting hot in the second half of the season and doing some serious damage in the post season. As hot as the Lions are right now, it appears they are also going to catch a bit of a break as they complete their home-and-home series with the Bombers.
The Bombers have announced that rookie Alex Brink will get the start at quarterback this week. Bombers coach Paul LaPolice is getting a tough education in life as a head coach in the CFL. After another heartbreaking loss, LaPolice is going into their game with the Lions with a raw rookie at quarterback. They say what doesn’t kill only makes you stronger. After all that he has suffered through this season, LaPolice will be stronger than Iron Man. The Bombers will put up a good fight in the ‘Peg. They always do. But I don’t like their chances starting a rookie against a team as hot as the Lions are right now.
– As a final note, this is Thanksgiving weekend. If you have any non-perishable food items, you can drop it off at your local fire hall. Unfortunately in a country like Canada, there are still far too many people who will need to use the food bank for their Thanksgiving dinner.
