Pat Steinberg
CFL.ca
An emotional week all about family
While there was some great action on the football field this past week, it was all overshadowed by the tragic events of Tuesday afternoon, when the CFL lost one of their own.
The passing of Richard Harris affected the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but covering the Stampeders here in Calgary, it became very clear just how close the Canadian football family really is. In an eight team league, everyone is going to be affected, because the CFL truly is a very close-knit family.
I don’t believe it was a coincidence what we saw in Winnipeg on Thursday night, where the Bombers rode their defensive line to a 25-20 win over the BC Lions to improve to 4-1 on the season.
It was another dominant night for the Winnipeg defensive front, combining for six sacks; it was Harris’s unit and they did him proud. Talking to my colleague Arash Madani on Friday afternoon, I was told a great story of the relationship between Harris and Doug Brown, and the bond that formed and grew in their time together.
Brown wondered aloud during Wednesday’s walkthrough how the Bombers could do their late coach proud.
He has his answer.
Mounting Frustration
While it was difficult circumstances for the BC Lions to play under on Thursday, the fact of the matter is Wally Buono’s team is 0-5 and is currently the worst team in football.
Personally, I don’t know how he’s not at his wits end.
The Lions have lost four of their five games in the final minute, three of which have come by a touchdown or less.
When the margin separating victory and defeat is as thin as it is right now for the Lions, and everyone else in the CFL, little mistakes are going to have much larger implications.
Missed opportunities can be picked out all along the road for BC; netting only three points on five forced turnovers against Calgary, dropping a red zone interception against Hamilton, and seeing Dobson Collins drop three balls against the Bombers are all examples of how the details can really come back and bite a football team.
While Collins had a rough game on Thursday, including a silly 15-yard penalty, there’s not one person contributing to BC’s winless record.
However, when the team is playing in close football games on a regular basis, the timely mistakes have got to be eliminated. Remember, the Lions had a dreadful start to last season and still went to overtime in the playoffs, but if they’re to have a turnaround like that again, it better start soon.
The Riders had an opportunity of their own to distance themselves from BC but were unable to do so, falling for the fourth time at home, this time to archrival Calgary.
The now 1-4 Roughriders had some really bright spots in their 22-18 loss, and I don’t think things are as bleak as they seem in a lot of ways.
After winning their first game on the road in Montreal, the Riders’ defence looked like a solid unit for a second-straight outing, putting real pressure on Stamps quarterback Henry Burris right from the get-go, sacking him three times in the process.
The secondary was strong for the most part, making it difficult for the Calgary offence to bust anything big, and they were able to get the job done on special teams as well.
Even though kicker/punter Eddie Johnson had an epic shank on a field goal attempt, his work pinning the Stampeders deep with his punts was very much on display, and it was an impressive display at that.
In a field position game like Saturday’s affair, Johnson did a very good job putting his team in a position to be successful.
Unfortunately, the Riders offence sputtered, especially down the stretch. Nobody had a particularly bad game, but down by four points in the fourth quarter they just couldn’t get the ball into scoring position.
Not having names like Andy Fantuz and Rob Bagg is going to have an effect, but as head coach Greg Marshall said leading up to the Montreal game: those guys aren’t coming back, and they’ve got to win with the group assembled right now.
Speaking of the Calgary defensive group, I was certainly wondering how they were going to adjust to the loss of Juwan Simpson at middle linebacker. Well, they did just fine, with Robert McCune stepping in and performing admirably for the Red and White, which really shouldn’t surprise all that much.
There is one word above all others to describe the Stampeders defence under coordinator Chris Jones: versatility.
Jones prides himself in being able to move defensive linemen to linebacker, linebackers to boundary half, and a number of other permutations along the way.
McCune is a perfect example, as he’s seen reps at defensive tackle and defensive end this season as well. There were a lot of questions about the defensive side of the ball heading into this season, but the Stamps have been able to answer them time and time again.
Hamilton’s 34-26 win over Montreal showed me a very cohesive group on both sides of the ball, as the –Tiger-Cats try to keep pace with the rest of the East Division.
Defensively, I really liked how defensive coordinator Corey Chamblin mixed things up to make life difficult on Anthony Calvillo.
Hamilton mixed up their looks throughout the game and did not back down from their tight coverage when the Als had the ball in the fourth quarter, trying to drive for the game tying score.
However, it was when Hamilton had the ball where things were most impressive, as Kevin Glenn had plenty of time to spread the ball around to six different receivers, including former Montreal tailback Avon Cobourne.
Marwan Hage anchors the Hamilton offensive line, and they were in-sync on Friday night, helping Glenn to his second consecutive solid night.
We’ll finish this week with the early season “same old story” in the Edmonton Eskimos.
In their Week four win over Calgary, it was the defensive group needing to stay calm and composed with the game on the line.
On Friday, the Eskimos found themselves trailing Toronto in the fourth quarter and once again relied on Ricky Ray to lead the charge.
Ray utilized arguably the most dangerous weapon in the league in Fred Stamps to do so, finding the receiver in the endzone for the game-winning score.
Not only did Stamps catch Ray’s 21-yard strike for the major, he also caught two important passes to setup the winner, catches of seven and five yards.
Stamps may not be the fastest or tallest receiver playing, but his combination of quickness and smarts makes him the threat he is right now.
Edmonton is 5-0 and it’s not a fluke; these guys are playing good football, and they’re showing poise and guile when games are on the line.
