Even though we would have all liked to see one more week of meaningful football in the regular season, we still got treated to a pretty stellar penultimate week of the 2013 CFL season. We got two thrilling finishes in what will and/or could end up being playoff previews, a continuing historic individual performance, and overall, a great weekend of football.
Outstanding to the letter
| Related: Week 18 Action |
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Montreal vs. Hamilton » Ticats rally to shock Als Winnipeg vs. Toronto » Argos clinch East Division Edmonton vs. BC » Buck backs BC over Edmonton Saskatchewan vs. Calgary » Cornish outduels Sheets |
The award this league gives out at the end of every season is called the Most Outstanding Player. Last year, it rightfully rewarded a record-breaking performance from Toronto’s Chad Owens. In 2013, Jon Cornish has already shattered a record he set one year prior, but that’s not the biggest reason he should be this year’s MOP.
Plain and simple, Cornish is having one of the best seasons a running back has ever had in this league. That’s why I can’t see any other choice for the league’s most prestigious award.
Two weeks ago we told you about the elite company Cornish would join if he entered into the 1,700-yard club. That was something he did easily against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday evening, running for 109 yards. As such, Johnny Bright, Earl Lunsford, George Reed, Willie Burden, Willard Reaves, Robert Mimbs, and Mike Pringle all have company in the exclusive club.
But, apparently, being the eighth runningback in CFL history to eclipse 1,700 isn’t enough for Cornish.
With his performance against the Riders, Cornish is now at 1,799 yards for the season and counting. His total to date already gives him the fourth best rushing season in CFL history with one more game to go. For the sake of the “club” conversation, one more yard will put him in the 1,800-yard group.
Only two others have membership in this elite club that Cornish could very likely join this coming weekend when the Stampeders visit BC. Fellow Stampeders great Willie Burden was the CFL’s first ever 1,800-yard rusher back in 1975 when he rushed for 1,896 yards on 332 carries. At the time, Burden broke the prior single-season rushing record (another Calgary great, Earl Lunsford in 1961) by more than 100 yards.
It was Mike Pringle who redefined the position in the 90’s, winning the rushing title six times out of seven years between 1994 and 2000. He didn’t win the crown in 1996 only because he spent a year with the Denver Broncos of the NFL.
He set the new single-season mark on two occasions with two different teams, first in 1994 with the Baltimore Stallions when he ran for 1,972 yards. His still-standing record season came just four years later in 1998 when Pringle ran for 2.065 yards.
It’s incredible that it’s been 15 years since someone has put up numbers like the ones we’re seeing from Cornish in 2013. There is no doubt he can be a polarizing figure for some, but the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player is not a popularity contest.
It’s an award to honour the league’s most outstanding performance. Kory Sheets and Henry Burris have both had incredible seasons in their own right, and deserve recognition. But it’s been 15 years since anyone has done anything like Cornish has. To me that is all you need to know.
Potential preview
Speaking of the Stampeders, they had their hands full with the Riders at McMahon Stadium in a crucial West Division meeting Satruday night. Not surprisingly, a late season meeting between these two archrival teams with an enormous amount on the line came down to the final minutes.
And it gave us a great preview for just how fun it might be on November 17th if these two reconvene at McMahon with even more at stake.
The biggest question I have with both teams is how much of the game plan was on display?
Despite BC still having a lot to say in this equation, there’s a fairly decent chance we’ll see the Stamps and Riders hookup in the Western Final. Knowing that, did either team hold anything back? Regardless of the answer, we do have some great storylines coming out of the game for both teams.
From a Saskatchewan standpoint, they had to be happy with how they got to Calgary quarterback Kevin Glenn in the earlier stages of the game. The defensive end rotation of Alex Hall, John Chick, and Ricky Foley continues to be an evolving process, but the entire defensive line had a relatively strong game at McMahon.
Chick lead the way with his two sacks, but there was pressure on Glenn for a good chunk of his night. Tearrius Geroge and Keith Shologan both had strong games from the interior to go along with the pressure the Riders can bring off the edge, and it gave Calgary’s offensive line fits throughout. 
The Stamps made their adjustments in the second half, but Saskatchewan showed they can get to quarterbacks against even the league’s best teams.
For Calgary, once again, everyone is talking about that same position. Drew Tate entered the game when Head Coach John Hufnagel decided to remove Glenn, knowing his front five were struggling with the Riders pass rush. Tate moved the ball well, throwing only five incomplete passes for 181 yards while setting up the game winning touchdown plunge from Cornish.
Personally, I don’t think there even needs to be a discussion when it comes to who the number one guy is come playoff time. Despite Glenn’s issues on Saturday, he’s still proven he’s the guy to get the job done on the most consistent basis. Yes, Tate always shows us flashes of brilliance, but it just doesn’t make any sense to me to start anyone other than Glenn for the rest of this year.
Continuity is important, and whether it’s fair or not, Tate has not shown us he can stay healthy for any appreciable stretch of time. Why take the risk of him going down only to have to make another quarterback switch when you can have the same, reliable, proven guy lead you in each and every game? We’ll see how hotly the discussion rages over the next three weeks as the Stamps prepare for either BC or Saskatchewan in the Western Final.
Absolute preview
Saturday afternoon gave us a certain playoff preview, and just as thrilling a finish. With Hamilton scoring 17 fourth quarter points at home to Montreal, they clinched a home date for the Eastern Semifinal in a couple week against that very same Alouettes team. If we get to see anything on November 10th like what we saw Saturday, we’ll be in for a treat.
The stunning Tiger-Cats comeback was spurred on not by Henry Burris and their vaunted passing attack, but instead by their defence and special teams. It was Brian Bulcke’s work in the fourth quarter that forced a key Troy Smith interception to Simoni Lawrence, which set up a Brandon Banks 45-yard touchdown scamper just a few seconds later.
Then on special teams, Luca Congi kicked a key field goal with under 10 minutes to go before Banks went to work again with his 106-yard missed field goal return with under five to go in the fourth quarter.
I didn’t watch the game live and knew that Hamilton put together a huge comeback to win, but I wasn’t aware how they did it when I turned on the PVR. I would have laid huge money on a Burris-lead fourth quarter with all kinds of big plays and fireworks. Instead, it was the other areas that got it done for the Tiger Cats, which has to be extremely encouraging.
Montreal, on the other hand, has to feel good knowing there may be a little authority returning to their offence. Smith was not perfect in just his second CFL start, but he brings a presence to the Als backfield that no one else has this season, not named Anthony Calvillo. You can tell he’s played in big games before, and you can tell he has some very impressive tools at his disposal.
I like how Smith delivers the ball when there is an opportunity. There is no hesitation in his release, and he makes darn sure that pass gets to where it needs to go. His reads and understanding of the Canadian game will continue to improve, but that only takes time.
He has one more regular season start and two more weeks of practice before he’ll travel to Guelph again for the Eastern Semi-Final. Will that be enough for him to master this league? Of course not, but it’s more time than he’s had so far, which can only be viewed as a positive. It’s even more promising to see a quarterback finally look to be in control of this offence, at the most crucial time of year.
Home cooking
Both the Toronto Argonauts and BC Lions have their final two games of the season at home. In both cases, they will be well served to finish on a strong note, even though the endgames of each team are a little different.
The Argos will be hosting the Eastern Final on November 17th, so they won’t be going anywhere for a good while. That’s great, but it would be better if they felt more used to winning football games at Rogers Centre.
Toronto’s 36-21 win over Winnipeg on Thursday night was just their fourth win at home this season, evening their record at 4-4. The record really doesn’t mean anything at this point, but it still is an important task to get things clicking a little better at home. Things were firing on all cylinders Thursday, thanks to Ricky Ray.
The Argos quarterback had about as perfect a game as you can possibly imagine. He threw just six incomplete passes while going over 500 yards and finished with three touchdowns. Games like that don’t come along very often, and when they do, they have to be recognized.
BC, on the other hand, won’t be playing any playoff games at home. Their November 1st game against the Stampeders will be their last at BC Place until 2014, so it means a whole lot less. That said, the value of finishing strong and finding a groove can’t be overstated with the Lions, knowing how uncertain their quarterback situation is.
If Travis Lulay can’t return for the Western Semi-Final at Mosaic Stadium, BC will have to make a decision as to who will replace him in fairly short order. Buck Pierce was the man who impressed most on Friday against the Eskimos, coming off the bench to replace an ineffective Thomas Demarco.
Head Coach Mike Benevides should reveal soon who he’ll go with come playoff time, which, presumably, will be the same guy he’ll start against Calgary to finish the regular season.
Whoever Benevides settles on needs BC’s week 19 game. Whether the Stamps play their full defensive personnel or not, the Lions need to finish strong, both from a schematic point of view and a mental one.
The former makes perfect sense, but it’s the latter that may be the most important. This is a BC team that will be fired up to play the underdog role, and if they can feel comfortable with the guy calling the signals in the process, they might not be such an underdog after all.
