Pat Steinberg
CFL.ca
The most resounding thing I took away from a wild Week 12 of the CFL was just how different individual teams can look from week to week. The Lions and Riders have rectified their seasons and are the two most extreme examples of turnarounds this season.
Then, when I look at the Bombers, Stampeders and Eskimos over the last month, and it’s been nothing if not bipolar. Up and down play like that will make the smartest of coaches go bald early, but it certainly ups the intrigue level going into each and every game.
These guys are for real
The skeptics had their doubts about the BC Lions heading into Saturday’s Hall of Fame game against the Calgary Stampeders. I can understand some skepticism, but even the most glass-half-empty of thinkers had to like what they saw in Calgary.
The Lions had taken three straight wins prior to Saturday over a decimated Eskimos team and a last place Toronto group. Even though they didn’t allow a single offensive touchdown in those games, there was no doubting that facing the Stampeders was the real litmus test; a test they passed, especially defensively.
BC didn’t allow the Stamps into the endzone until the third quarter, after they dominated the point of attack all night long. The differed blitz looks really confused Calgary quarterback Henry Burris, and they also served to keep him on the run all night long.
I know Khalif Mitchell ended up without a sack on the night, but his work in the interior was extremely difficult to contain, and it allowed Brent Johnson to attack effectively off the edge. His ability to take double teams on occasion freed up other bodies on the blitz, and it allowed different positions to get in on the rush.
But it wasn’t just the pass rush doing the job against Calgary, even though that’s where a lot of the sexy stats get piled up. Once again, the Lions made life difficult on an opposing rusher, the same way they made Cory Boyd work for every single yard the prior two weeks.
When the opposing quarterback leads his team in rushing with 21 yards, it tells you two things. First, the aforementioned pass rush was very good, forcing him to scramble a couple times. Second, the schemed rushing attack could not gain any traction.
Joffrey Reynolds wasn’t able to gain anything up the gut while Jon Cornish was snuffed out on his three carries. BC tracked the ball carrier extremely well and allowed no carries into the secondary, with their tackling very good between the numbers.
Mix in a Paris Jackson/Tim Cronk blocked punt/fumble recovery touchdown sequence and the Lions came away looking really good on Saturday.
Saskatchewan’s 30-20 win over Toronto earlier on Saturday wasn’t nearly as pretty looking as BC’s, but it’s a third straight win nonetheless. The surging Riders were downright dreadful for a good chunk of the first half, yet still found a way to pull out a game they needed to and were supposed to win.
The offensive group needs to be thanking their counterparts on the other side for the job done in the opening 30 minutes, or else things could have been a little more lopsided heading into halftime.
I was very impressed with the defensive effort of the Riders as the first half played itself out. While they gave up yards, especially on the ground, they really tightened up when it mattered most and consistently forced Toronto to settle for Noel Prefontaine field goals.
The Argos left a ton of points on the field, primarily because they lined up against an incredibly able Riders’ defensive group. As the field got shorter, the defence became the definition of bend but don’t break early.
The linebackers were great when the Argos threatened, plugging holes up front. It was pretty much a tackling clinic all night from Barrin Simpson and Jerrelle Freeman.
Then, when the game was on the line, Chris McKenzie made the game’s biggest play, running a Steven Jyles interception back to the house to seal Saskatchewan’s third straight victory.
The defensive effort doesn’t overshadow the solid job the Riders did in the second half with the ball, but it was the thing that stuck out most to me. Darian Durant got things back on the rails for the final 30 minutes, helping Chris Getzlaf to his first signature game of the season.
But had Saskatchewan not held the fort early, his outstanding game would have gone for not.
The good
It was one of the good weeks for the Edmonton Eskimos, who put themselves back on top of the West Division with their blowout win in Hamilton.
This was a team riding an ugly losing streak into Labour Day before blowing out the Stampeders. They were the same team that followed that huge win with a lackluster effort in the return engagement at home.
Watching Jerome Messam go crazy was a lot of fun, when he’s teeing off on Hamilton defenders like he does when he’s on. Ricky Ray didn’t have to do much, but when he was called on, he was very good, benefitting from a ton of time to throw.
Oh, and I think we got the full weight of just how important a fresh, healthy Fred Stamps is to this football team. The way he singlehandedly spreads the field means D groups have to spread out, and then all of a sudden Messam is busting through the line.
It was really good to see the Eskimos return to what they’re best at on the defensive side of the ball: stuffing the run. Granted, being up 19 points at the half discourages the other team to hand the ball off, but it doesn’t negate the fact they were very difficult to run on. Avon Cobourne couldn’t find any open air, because Rod Davis et al were right there.
It wasn’t Swaggerville’s most resounding performance, but the Bombers got the job done in a close affair, cementing their spot on top of the East Division. Winnipeg’s 25-23 win over Montreal got a little too close for comfort, but they hung on, mostly because they were in a position to from their defensive work earlier in the game.
While they certainly didn’t have Anthony Calvillo on the run all night, they were definitely solid and effective, limiting YAC and getting to the ball quickly.
Buck Pierce stepped up this week, playing through a rib injury to help the Winnipeg offence put up enough to win. He threw one interception, but it was generally a fairly solid outing for him. He was accurate and deadly when opportunities presented themselves.
When Pierce is getting the ball away quickly and has adequate protection, he can really hurt you and help keep drives alive, and he was in top form on Sunday afternoon.
The bad
When things go south for the Calgary Stampeders, they seem to really go south. Saturday’s loss to BC didn’t see them unravel like they did two games prior against Edmonton, but it saw them make a lot of key mistakes when the game was still relatively close.
Calgary turned the ball over which hurt, and they took way too many penalties, which killed. The lack of Stampeders discipline hasn’t corrected itself through 11 games, and continues to be the Achilles heel on the team.
If this is to be a team taken as a serious Grey Cup threat, they cannot be extending opposing drives with needless penalties and stalling their own with silly five yard infractions. John Hufnagel has been harping on it for years, and it still lingers as a large problem.
For his part, Nik Lewis certainly never holds things back when it comes to publicly stating his opinion, and the same was true Saturday, with Calgary’s leading receiver unhappy w
ith how he was utilized in the gameplan.
“I get three (catches) in the first half like last week, and then I disappear,” Lewis told the media after the game.
“I don’t know what I need to do better, but if I’m doing something wrong then they need to come tell me I’m doing something wrong and I can correct it, but if that’s not the case then something’s got to change, because…when you got Korey Banks coming up to you after the game saying ‘thanks for not throwing you the ball’.
“I mean people see what I do in this league, I mean at least an attempt…it is what is. It’s not going to change, I’ve already addressed it, it’s not changing, I mean if I don’t have the ability to go out and get seven, eight catches a week, then I’m not who I thought I was.”
I know all teams get frustrated, and I know all teams have disagreements, but this is a Stampeders team that has underachieved since winning the Grey Cup in 2008, and these are the things that worry me a little bit right now.
