Pat Steinberg
CFL.ca
TORONTO — A very clear gap exists in the CFL’s West division as two teams sit at 5-2, while another two sport 1-6 records following week seven action. Only the Stampeders picked up a West victory over the weekend, evening things with the Eskimos who suffered their second consecutive loss.
Things are a little more bunched at the top out East, where the Als kept pace with the league-best Bombers, while Hamilton sits rather comfortably in third place, just two games back of first. The most amazing thing is one of the three six loss teams will be postseason bound, meaning all eight teams still have plenty to play for.
Not So Lonely at the Top
It was another day at the office for the citizens of Swaggerville, as the Bombers went into smother mode in the second half of their 30-17 win over the BC Lions. It’s not as if they were giving up a whole lot in the first half either, but once Winnipeg took the lead, they didn’t give Travis Lulay, Jarious Jackson, or anyone else in orange anything to work with.
In a lot of ways, this may have been the most impressive game I’ve seen from the Winnipeg defence, due to the casual way they went about their business. The Bombers seem to be playing with a certain confidence, a certain swagger if you will, and it’s gotten to the point where shutting down teams, racking up sacks, and forcing turnovers has become a regular occurrence.
Contributions seem to come from everywhere with the Bombers. They played a second game without Doug Brown and were also without Dorian Smith, yet didn’t miss a beat up front. It was Jason Vega, back after missing four games, wreaking havoc on the opposite side of Odell Willis (which makes sense with teams trying to neutralize the other guy), while the linebackers were up to their usual tricks. Joe Lobendahn and Clinton Kent did their thing, racking up tackles and stuffing the run at every stop.
Buck Pierce played another full game, and while he sprinkled in an interception, he was his usual efficient self. When Pierce is healthy, he is a very dangerous quarterback to play against, because of his accuracy. Yes, he took a few sacks on Saturday night, but he’s still getting the ball away much quicker than he ever has in his CFL career, which I really do believe will help him stay in more games.
Speaking of smothering, the Montreal Alouettes are making it very difficult for Winnipeg to pull away on top of the division, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. The Als were dominant from start to finish while handing Edmonton their second straight loss. I know Montreal led early and often on Thursday night, so the Eskimos weren’t going to run the ball a ton anyway, but I don’t think they would have had any success under any circumstances.
The Als swarmed to the ball carrier on any run play, the same way they did on short passing plays, making the 27-4 final score a little flattering for Edmonton. It’s amazing to think Chip Cox once took regular reps in the secondary, because there’s no question the guy was born to be a linebacker.
If I were part of the Montreal defensive unit, I’d probably be a little tired of questions and comments wondering if they were able to hang with the Bombers. Winnipeg is the benchmark right now, but Thursday’s win might have been a statement from the team nipping at their heels.
It’s not like the Montreal offence wasn’t on either, but we’re kind of used to them putting together timely drives and putting up first half points. There is no receiver tandem in the league that combines the speed, explosiveness and physicality of S.J. Green and Jamel Richardson, who were both at their very best against the Eskimos.
It’s that final attribute that makes those two guys the most fun to watch, as they’re such imposing figures to go up against if you’re in the secondary. They can combat any bump and run coverage with their own strength, and their ability to catch the ball in tight, tight situations is second to none. It also helps when Anthony Calvillo is throwing you the football, but it doesn’t change how good those two guys are.
We finally have a real battle on top of the West Division. Defensively, Calgary was a little looser than usual, especially in the secondary, but let’s not forget a good chunk of Saskatchewan’s points came in garbage time, which isn’t always the best indicator for either side. That said, for the first time this season, it was the Stamps offence carrying the larger portion of the mail in a victory, building off their victory at home over Hamilton the week before.
Henry Burris was on point with tons of time throughout the contest, and giving a former Most Outstanding Player that kind of protection is going to scorch any defensive group. There weren’t a ton of big plays for the Stamps, instead it was Burris finding all kinds of open looks underneath, which was thanks in large part to the return of Ken-Yon Rambo, who missed the prior week.
Having Rambo and Nik Lewis in the interior can hurt you in two ways, as the pair of slots can burn you with huge yards if they’re not covered effectively. Additionally, sometimes covering them effectively means things open up on the outside, which explains the big games from both Jabari Arthur and Johnny Forzani on the wide side.
For Arthur, it was a cool night, finally reeling in his first CFL touchdown after having that honor erased the week before after a video replay decision. I talked to him during the week of practice leading up to the game at Mosaic, and he was using the prior week as motivation.
“I always try to make the most of my opportunities,” he told me. “Now that I’ve had a taste, you could say, of the pay dirt I’m even hungrier to get there again, so my next opportunity, hopefully I’ll be able to make it so it’s not a decision.”
And getting one against the archrival Riders was on his mind heading in as well. “It wouldn’t be too bad,” he said. “It’d be absolutely great.” Well, Arthur had a career game, finishing with his first major along with 92 receiving yards, to lead his team in the category. It won’t be like that every night, but for a guy who’s struggled with injuries and had to bust his tail to move up the depth chart, an evening like Friday is well deserved.
Friends in Low Places
As I mentioned earlier, having three 1-6 teams may not make for the sexiest of matchups, but at the very least, it means every game is going to have meaning every single week. The Riders do have a ton of questions to answer, even after putting up 35 points against a pretty good Calgary team. Darian Durant threw for a ton of yards, but I wasn’t huge on his decision making throughout the game, especially when under pressure.
That word pressure has two meanings: pressure from the Stamps defensive front, and pressure when the team moved into scoring position. Durant’s bad throw in the end zone leading to Keon Raymond’s impressive return wasn’t his only head scratcher in the red zone.
However, Durant isn’t the only one needing to turn his game around quickly. I know Greg Marshall and Doug Berry are both taking a lot of heat right now, and with a 1-6 record, the head coach and offensive co-ordinator are justifiably going to be the targets of criticism.
However, I’m very skeptical a coaching change is really going to change much at this point. Receivers have been dropping passes, not helping Durant at all, and the team has had trouble converting red zone trips into six points. Andy Fantuz may very well return to the team from the Chi
cago Bears, but he can’t help the Riders right now; if they’re going to turn things around, it has to come from the group currently assembled.
The BC Lions weren’t able to build on their first win of the season, seeing a promising start wiped away by the aforementioned smothering Bombers defence. I was really excited to see the BC offensive line this season, and it may still be a work in progress, but to this point they’ve had a lot of difficulty opening things up for an effective running game.
Overall, their pass protection has been fine, but led by Ben Archibald, this front five has got to start helping to get a ground game established. It was an issue last year, and it’s been a contributing factor to BC’s 1-6 start.
Who would have thought a game featuring spitting rain and the Toronto Argonauts would have produced an offensive shootout? That’s exactly what we saw in Hamilton, but unfortunately for the Boatmen, they lost their sixth consecutive game, falling even further back of the Tiger-Cats in the East Division.
The return of Cory Boyd certainly buoyed (unintentional pun) the Toronto attack. Cleo Lemon put together some pretty impressive drives using his healthy runningback along with explosive games from Brandon Rideau and Mike Bradwell to post some solid yards totals en route to 32 points. Unfortunately, on a night where things finally seemed to click for Toronto offensively, they had some real difficulty making key stops.
Problems defensively for the Argos were in part to spending too much time on the field in their prior losses, but that wasn’t as much the case on Saturday. With the injuries they’ve suffered, Toronto is in a tough spot as it is, but what wasn’t acceptable against Hamilton was the shoddy tackling work we saw on some pretty big gains. I know the Argos are down names like Eiben and Pottinger, two guys who are tough to replace right away, but missed tackles like we saw against Hamilton are just going to add to the growing woes of the team.
