Pat Steinberg
CFL.ca
TORONTO — An injury has cost one of the CFL’s most exciting players a good chunk of his season in Edmonton, while a disappointing start has lead to a coaching change in Toronto. Although both really are too bad, I can’t help but be happy with what we’ve seen so far in the 2011 season.
The Unfortunate Part
The firing of Chip Garber from Jim Barker’s Argonaut staff on Friday came the day after the team dropped to 1-5 on the season, falling 36-23 to Montreal at home. While the Argo defence was nothing to write home about that night, I find myself feeling bad for Garber, because the entire situation surrounding the Boatmen hasn’t been the easiest this season. It’s not necessarily a surprise Barker would make a change to his staff after his team lost five straight games and have had trouble keeping opponents out of the endzone.
Yet there’s another part of the equation that would make it difficult to coach any defensive unit: an offensive group that hasn’t controlled the ball. The Argos defence has been on the field for far too long this season, because they just haven’t had the ball enough. On Thursday, Toronto’s offence was on the field for over ten minutes less than Montreal, which has been a theme throughout the season.
Seeing the Saturday news regarding Eskimos receiver Fred Stamps and the emergency surgery he underwent was news no CFL fan wanted to see. Stamps has had a blistering start to the campaign and quickly established himself as one of the most dangerous threats in the entire league, leading all receivers with 619 yards through the air, and sitting second in both catches and touchdowns. That said, knowing what we know now, GM Eric Tillman’s quote rings true.
“Football is secondary at a time like this,” Tillman said Saturday. “Fred will be in our thoughts and prayers during his recovery.” Stamps was hurt early in the game yet still played through the four quarters, which says a lot about his pain tolerance. The surgery though had to be done, leaving fans to eagerly await his return. That said, four to six weeks without one of the league’s most dynamic players is going to make for some interesting decisions for Edmonton offensive coordinator Marcus Crandell, especially coming off their first loss of the season.
Clash of the Titans
That loss came Friday night in Winnipeg as the Bombers drew even with the Eskimos at 5-1 after an impressive 28-16 win. Let’s be honest: this game was a completely one-sided affair for the final 45 minutes, with the Bombers allowing just 7 points in the final three quarters. Defensively, they were, well, who they are.
No Doug Brown? No problem for Winnipeg, who had Ricky Ray on the run all night, and were clearly in his head come the fourth quarter, with Ray making horrible decisions even without gold helmets in his face. This defensive unit is scary good and Edmonton’s offensive line, which had been so strong previously, was under siege all night long.
But just as impressive was the Buck Pierce-led Winnipeg offence, a group that crushed the time-of-possession battle in the second half, and a group that looked completely in sync. First of all, it was great to see Pierce finish the game, because we all know it has been a struggle for that to happen on a regular basis. Two weeks ago, when Pierce torched Toronto, I called it his best CFL outing to date.
But Pierce was very strong on Friday night, showing a lot of the same traits he did against the Argos, picking his spots extremely well, getting the ball away in lightning quick fashion, and putting it where only his rangy receivers could find it. He took a few licks, especially early, and got better as the football game went on, so there are a number of positives to take away from his night. Oh yeah, and that touchdown run of his might be on a few year-end shows come December.
A Little More Like It
A lot more like it, in fact, for the Montreal Alouettes in their previously mentioned win over Toronto on Thursday night. The Als struck at will it seemed as Anthony Calvillo seemed totally over the eye issues stemming from that game against the Riders two weeks ago. Completing nine of his first ten passes, Calvillo passed Damon Allen for first on the career completions list in rather ho-hum fashion, just doing the stuff he usually does. Yeah, he was very good, but he had a little help from his friends.
Runningback Brandon Whitaker turned out a workhorse effort, taking the team on his back for the sport of it at times, and piling up 150 yards on 19 carries. Now, it would have been nice to see him punch one in for a major, but his contributions were star worthy even without scoring six. Besides, seeing Dahrran Diedrick having a career night in unselfish fashion is usually pretty gratifying for a back anyway.
I grow a larger fan of Whitaker’s every game, because I love the way he throws his body around in blocking for his aforementioned quarterback, plus I haven’t seen a runningback pick up a blitz better than he has all season. He’d be valuable enough in that capacity, so seeing him put up nights like he did on Thursday is icing on the cake.
Speaking of some unselfish play, we saw Stampeders runningback Joffrey Reynolds peel off the field late in Calgary’s 32-20 win over Hamilton to give way for Jon Cornish’s touchdown run. Talking to Reynolds after the game, the story was a pretty good one. Apparently Cornish wanted in and Reynolds was a little dazed anyway, so he said go for it. It worked out pretty well, with Cornish’s score sealing Calgary’s second straight win, a game where their offence looked a little more like what we’ve come to expect from them.
I stress a little bit, because it wasn’t all pats on the back following the win in the Stamps locker room. “The fact we were able to go out there and finish the first drive was obviously a plus,” said head coach John Hufnagel. “There’s some drives we didn’t finish…one was because of a dropped pass, so I think we took a step upward, getting better, but still a big mountain to climb.”
The league’s leading pass catcher was a little less complimentary, as he talked to us after the game. “I’m not too happy about the way we played,” Nik Lewis said, who’s raked in 34 catches. “That’s my point of view. Maybe my point of view is wrong.”
I guess I can see Nik’s point of view, as the Calgary offence went a little cold for parts of the game. There were a few very bright spots, however. First off, they opened the game with a major, scoring on the first drive and setting their strongest tone thus far this season. More importantly, the Stamps drove the ball down their opponents’ throat in the fourth quarter for a second straight week, converting on a number of key first downs.
“As the game goes on, I think we get stronger,” Henry Burris told me. “It kept our defence on the sidelines, kept our guys well rested…kept their defence on the field and some of their guys started to get tired and we started hammering away.”
Finally
The battle of the West Division’s two worst teams resulted in a desperately needed win for the BC Lions, and even more questions for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. It was great to see Geroy Simon in MOP form, ripping the Riders for over 100 yards in the first half alone, and showing his young receiving corps how to run a CFL field. He and Travis Lulay were very strong, and overall the Lions impressed from both sides of the ball.
Anchored by Ben Archibald, I really liked Lulay’s protection. You&rs
quo;ve got to give that line credit for what they’ve done all season in front of Jamal Robertson. He’s averaging more than five yards a carry, and while he hasn’t been the most frequently used part of the BC offence (mostly because they’ve been playing from behind), Robertson has benefitted from some great run-blocking work in the trenches.
I really like how the Riders defensive unit is progressing, and they’ve been fairly solid since the team won their first game against the Als. It’s a shame that the team is struggling as mightily as they have been when they have the football. Right now, the Saskatchewan offence is lacking any real dynamic punch, and as a result the play calling has become a little predictable. That’s not even a knock on the man calling the plays. At this point, I think he’s working with what he’s got, but it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to get Weston Dressler into space when defence’s are keying on Saskatchewan’s top explosive weapon.
Chris Getzlaf caught a touchdown pass on Friday night, which could prove to be huge for him, but it just feels like his connection with Darian Durant has been a little off. That’s got to correct itself quickly, because a dynamic Getzlaf means a dynamic Dressler, which might mean more than 11 points.
