Pat Steinberg
CFL.ca
Even with four less teams playing in week eight of the CFL season, the number of storylines wasn’t affected one bit on Thursday and Friday night. One game lead to a massive shakeup on the sidelines – a move that I certainly don’t agree with – while the other raised even more questions about a once mighty, unbeaten team. This bye week thing might be okay after all.
Wrongfully accused
Greg Marshall and Doug Berry certainly were part of Saskatchewan’s horrid 1-7 start to the season. That’s a fact nobody can argue with. However, to relieve both of them of their duties following a 24-18 loss to the Toronto Argonauts on Thursday night seemed extremely shortsighted.
Marshall was signed to a three year deal at the beginning of the year, a decision that was endorsed by Ken Miller and the high brass of the Riders. To deviate from that plan so early seems a little silly to me, even with a terrible season to this point.
It’s pro sports, however, so I can come somewhat understand. It becomes a little less hard to believe in Regina, where success really is the only thing that matters, especially with three trips to the Grey Cup the last four years.
The more disturbing part of the decision was seeing the Riders deviate from their plan while also using members of the coaching staff as scapegoats.
As I said earlier, coaches aren’t above reproach when it comes to something like this. But watching eight Saskatchewan games this season, I put the onus far more on the players than I do on the coaches. Sure, it’s the job of the coaching staff to prepare their players, but fundamental football isn’t part of that preparation.
I haven’t quite been able to figure out how Marshall and Berry were responsible for Darian Durant’s sudden regression in decision making. His red zone intentional grounding gaffe on Thursday was yet another example of head scratching choices from Saskatchewan’s quarterback.
Chris Getzlaf has had far more difficulty than we’re used to holding onto the football, although I will give him a pass for the drop in the endzone late in Thursday’s loss, as he was covered beautifully.
The kicking game has let the Riders down as well, and not on difficult 40 and 45 yard boots either. It’s been miscue after miscue for this team, and I just can’t see how the coaching staff can be responsible for these types of lapses.
Deep six
Six was just about enough for Jim Barker and his Argos, and I feel like Barker’s head probably exploded on the sidelines as he almost saw a huge lead evaporate in the fourth quarter on Thursday night. However, the Argos held on for a six point win, snapping a six game losing skid in the process.
I had wondered aloud on the airwaves Thursday afternoon if that night’s Toronto-Saskatchewan game might have all the hallmarks of a really exciting, explosive game, and it wasn’t without reason. The markings were there, in theory: two desperate teams, two struggling defensive groups, yet still plenty of playmaking ability offensively.
I was not correct.
While the fourth quarter lent itself to some fireworks, the first 50 minutes of football at the Rogers Centre were very difficult to watch. I don’t think the Argos really care about that though, as they were able to convert on their opportunities. It was a conservative game plan on the attack, but after his strongest game of the season in a losing effort, Cleo Lemon did a fair job of managing the football.
I said this last week, but even with a pair of teams with six losses and one more at seven, there’s still meaningful football to be played at every step here. Yeah, the Riders are 1-7, but they’re also just a game back of a playoff spot, and they have more meetings to go with the Lions.
With BC and Toronto both sitting at 2-6, all of a sudden that foreign concept of an Eastern crossover becomes kind of interesting, because it just hasn’t been a viable option the past couple of seasons. That may still happen, but it means we’ll see urgency, at the very least, in games where the records don’t necessarily match up.
Question period
I know the Edmonton Eskimos have a ton of injuries to deal with, and I know they’re taking their toll right now, but I’m baffled as to what we saw on Friday night at Commonwealth Stadium. Without their top four receivers, it was going to be a tough grind offensively for the Eskies, but it was more than just injuries that played a part.
In scoring just one point, I picked up on two things. First, where has the Edmonton protection gone? When they were on top of the world at 5-0, it seemed like a Sherman Tank couldn’t get near Ricky Ray, and he was smoking defensive backfields as a result. But things have taken an alarming step backward seemingly every week, and it culminated in a disastrous offensive showing on Friday night, resulting in just one point scored.
I spoke to fellow CFL.ca columnist Dave Campbell earlier in the week to set up the pending matchup, and he pointed to frequent tinkering with the offensive line as a reason why we’ve seen some regression. Even when winning, Eskimos head coach Kavis Reed wasn’t happy with the looks he was getting from his line, despite very strong protection and some good results when running the ball.
Edmonton has tried numerous tackles and we’ve seen Patrick Kabongo move back and forth between left and right guard. I think this has a part to play in why the Eskimos haven’t been anywhere near as good blocking for Ray or opening up holes for their backs.
The poor protection also seemed to rattle Edmonton’s quarterback. For a second straight week he was making poor decisions even when not under pressure. To see Ray toss up three interceptions clearly has a lot to do with a comfort level, or in this case, a lack thereof.
If the Esks can shore this problem up, I think they’ll be in good shape for the second half of the season when the likes of Fred Stamps, Jay Barnes and Adarius Bowman return to the lineup. There’s no doubt Ray can still light things up, but he’s got to have a little more time, and a little less opposing body mass in his face.
Good decisions
While names like Ray and Durant would fall under the “not so good” heading in the decision making category, that was the complete opposite while watching Travis Lulay play on Friday against Edmonton. The Lions pivot mixed things up very well, and what I liked was how he took underneath looks without hesitation throughout the night.
Edmonton did a fairly solid job covering the deep ball, so instead, Lulay relied on his physical receivers to do the job after the catch, as was witnessed on touchdowns from Akeem Foster and Geroy Simon (moving him into third on the all time yardage list in the process, passing Darren Flutie).
Edmonton was allowing far too much in the flats, and instead of forcing things, Lulay was smart and concise all night long, having his first real signature game this season.
I still have a lot of faith in the Lions, despite their low record, now sitting at 2-6. They’ve got some really strong assets on their team, starting with Lulay, but going much further than that. Even though he hasn’t put up a ton of yards and hasn’t been utilized all that heavily, Jamal Robertson is still a dangerous, dangerous threat. He averaged close to six yards per carry on Friday night.
I wouldn’t mind seeing BC use the ground game a little more, because that offensive line has open
ed up some nice holes throughout the year. Ben Archibald was a huge reason for the success of Joffrey Reynolds in Calgary, and he’s been an immediate boost to the Lions run game.
Seeing Robertson back in the lineup was an encouraging sign. Mix Archibald and Robertson in with some playmaking ability on the defensive side, the acquisition of Arland Bruce, and you’ve got a lot to be excited about.
