Pat Steinberg
CFL.ca
It’s kind of a bittersweet article I write today, as my first season having the privilege of typing up the Monday Morning Quarterback just happened to be one of the most incredible Canadian Football League seasons I can remember.
We had outstanding theatre right down to the very last week, with five teams in contention for two division titles. We had compelling coaching stories, incredible season turnarounds, record breaking performances, quarterback controversies, a newly renamed city in Manitoba. Best of all, the fun is just getting started.
What a ride
It would be impossible to go through all the great CFL stories in the amount of space I’m allotted for this specific column, but I’m thinking of doing a “Top 10 Stories of the Year” for my year end column once the Grey Cup has been hoisted. As I typed that very last sentence, I’m already sweating, because I can’t really be certain if I’ll be able to narrow it down to just ten.
That being said, the most resounding thing I take from the 2011 season is that you just couldn’t predict what would happen week in and week out.
Even with two teams that finished well out of the playoff hunt, there was a feeling right from the very get-go that every week had a matchup had upset potential, and every week had a battle that could provide fireworks and compelling drama.
Having the privilege of missing just less than a handful of games all year, I can tell you how much I enjoyed the action this year. I can also tell you how disappointed I was on weeks when I knew I had to watch two or three games on PVR and wasn’t able to catch them live to fully get caught up in the action. Good stuff all around.
Put a bow on it
Week 19 was the perfect way to wrap up the season in a lot of ways, because the storylines were perfectly set heading into the postseason. The way the West Division shook down gave us three possible division winners on the final weekend of the season, all three teams with the prospect of hosting a home playoff game heading into their matchups.
In the end, all three teams won their games, meaning it was all about the tiebreakers.
It started with a career performance from receiver Adarius Bowman and the Edmonton Eskimos, who used his 226 yards and two touchdowns to narrowly squeak by the Riders 23-20 on Friday night. Once again, Saskatchewan was game to play some tough football even knowing their playoff fate had been sealed long before, and they gave their division rivals all they could handle.
The Riders were playing in Ken Miller’s last game with the organization, and he had to be happy with how they went out, even in a losing effort.
“I asked the players before the game to play hard and play with confidence and I think they did that,” Miller said. “We didn’t make enough plays to win but I think the team acquitted itself reasonably well.”
Calgary got off to a stellar start thanks to some huge plays defensively and on special teams, and they survived a very late and effective push from the Bombers to temporarily give themselves hope in their quest for a home playoff date.
The Stampeders’s 30-24 win over Winnipeg gave newly crowned starting quarterback Drew Tate three straight wins heading into his first playoff action. It also was a huge win for the defensive group, who have had their struggles with consistency throughout the year, but really came to play in the final three games of the year.
Montreal was unable to take advantage of Winnipeg’s loss, as they failed to lock up the East Division while being beaten handily 43-1 on the road in Vancouver. It was an exclamation mark on an incredible turnaround for Wally Buono’s Lions, who showed us here at the MMQB why we were so high on them at the start of the season.
Four sacks, four passing touchdowns, and a solid ground attack were key for BC on Saturday night, and all season long as they turned a 1-6 start into an 11-8 finish.
Now what?
The East Division Semi-Final sees 10-8 Montreal host 8-10 Hamilton on Sunday afternoon in a game that worries me significantly for the defending Grey Cup champions. It worries me for two reasons.
The first concern has to do with the Als themselves who limp into the postseason literally and figuratively. We touched on their injury issues last week, and there’s no question they played a significant part in Montreal’s three game skid to end the season.
But it was also worrying to see the Alouettes come out in such a flat manner with an opportunity to lock up another Division crown. The team looked completely out of sorts and not ready to play, which was in stark contrast to their west coast opponents.
“We were completely dominated tonight,” said Montreal head coach Marc Trestman. “We played a team that came with a sense of urgency. They played fast, they made plays and collectively we didn’t show up as a football team.”
That quote isn’t something we’re used to hearing from Trestman, and while it very well may be a one off, it was shocking to see that effort on a night with so much on the line.
The second worry focuses on those tough-to-figure-out Tiger-Cats. Hamilton is one of those teams that can be startlingly efficient offensively when they’re in a groove.
They weren’t nearly consistent enough in 2011, as their 8-10 record would speak to, however they have the game breaking ability to make any team in this league pay in any given game. The Ticats scored 30 or more points on seven different occasions this season, and they did it against playoff teams like BC and Calgary.
They also stumbled into the playoffs, but with a beat up Montreal secondary, this has the potential to be a game that isn’t decided until the fourth quarter.
Out west, it’s the Battle of Alberta once again as the Stampeders head up to Commonwealth Stadium. While the Eskimos won the tiebreak, they have yet to face Tate, who has certainly given the Stampeders offence a different dynamic.
Tate makes quick decisions and gets the ball away extremely quickly, but seemed to have some issues figuring out Winnipeg’s varying defensive looks on Saturday afternoon. That’s the biggest key for Edmonton defensively this Sunday.
If the Eskimos can mix their coverage packages effectively, they can force some bad throws and miscommunication as the former Iowa Hawkeye adjusts to the CFL game in a starting environment. Tate’s been pretty good with it thus far, but there are a few throws every game that don’t go to the right place.
Seeing the runningback matchup in the Western Semi-Final should be a lot of fun, as Calgary’s Jon Cornish faces Edmonton’s Jerome Messam. The two team nominees for Most Outstanding Canadian are two of the most exciting players in the league, and have the ability to bust a game wide open at any time. This pair has helped the resurgence of the Canadian tailback which is great to see, so I’m hoping both can strut their stuff in a big way at Commonwealth.
And the nominees are…
I got into a great on-air discussion with my colleague Arash Madani Friday afternoon, as we started to debate and discuss some of the team nominees for the Gibson’s Finest Player of the Year awards. As the group gets whittled down to a nominee from each division, there are some really interesting races to watch.
While the East Division nod for Most Outstanding Player will likely go to Anthony Calvillo, it’s really just as set in stone who will get it out West. BC&rsqu
o;s Travis Lulay has been at the forefront of his team’s incredible 10-1 finish to the season, putting together an expectation-exceeding first full season starting in this league.
His touchdown to interception ratio was almost three to one, which is pretty incredible if you compare it to the year before. Lulay’s 2010 season saw him throw eight touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 318 attempts; this year, he threw 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in just shy of 600 attempts.
The only problem for him would be that Calvillo guy, who threw three less picks and the same amount of majors while also being the only CFL pivot up over 5,000 yards.
I am really intrigued to see who ends up getting the defensive nods this year, as there are so many worthy names in the mix. The eastern nominee could be any one of Winnipeg’s Jovon Johnson, Hamilton’s Justin Hickman or Montreal’s Chip Cox. Johnson led the league with eight interceptions while no one had more than Hickman’s 13 sacks, but I’d want to see Cox get the call.
The sixth year pro didn’t lead in any defensive category, but truly was Mr. Everything for the Als, especially as the injuries started to ravage their secondary. Cox is as sure a tackler as you’ll find in this league, he can be sent on the blitz (three sacks), he can stop the run, and being a former DB, can be dropped into coverage as well (three interceptions).
The aforementioned Cornish vs. Messam battle is a great debate, with Messam playing the whole season and Cornish posting positively stupid numbers. I lean towards Calgary’s runningback, because a 7.3 yards per carry average doesn’t lie.
The Kansas product arrived in such a large manner this season, and it was because every single time he touched the ball he was getting Calgary close to, or converting on, a first down. In a three down league, having a diminutive threat like Cornish good for a large chunk of yardage almost every touch is invaluable.
There are a ton of other debates to be had, which I’m sure will play out in the comments section, but those are the three that have captured my attention most. With 19 weeks in the books, let’s see what other history will be written in the next three!
