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Week 11 of the Canadian Football League season probably wasn’t as compelling as the one that preceded it. That said this past weekend gave us some interesting stuff to discuss, following a fifth straight win for the Stampeders and a seventh straight for Saskatchewan.
When you add in a surprising first place tie in the East Division, you’ve got yourself plenty to talk about!
The countdown begins
The West Division, and the league for that matter, has two powerhouse teams right now: the 9-1 Calgary Stampeders and the 8-2 Saskatchewan Roughriders. Both teams vanquished archrival teams this weekend, sweeping three game season series in impressive fashion. 
Now there’s just one thing left: the Riders and Stamps to meet head-to-head.
It’s incredible to think that very likely the hottest rivalry in the CFL hasn’t had a chapter written in 2014. Calgary and Saskatchewan have scores of outstanding regular season classics against one another in recent years, and their playoff showdowns have made this rivalry what it is today.
Yet, more than halfway through the season, the standings are the closest these two teams have gotten. That’ll all change next month.
Their first meeting comes on Friday, October 3rd when Calgary visits Mosaic Stadium. The two teams will meet again on October 24th at McMahon Stadium, and unfortunately, we won’t see a third showdown this season.
Nonetheless, it’s not a stretch at all to say those two games will go a long, long way in deciding who gets an all important bye into the West Division Final in late November.
The best part is there’s a very good chance both teams will still be separated by just one game at the beginning of October.
Obviously, you can never write anything in stone, specifically in this league, but looking at the schedules, there’s not a lot that suggests either team will be coming in with a fresh loss on their minds.
Between now and the first Stamps-Riders meeting, Calgary will play a pair of East Division foes. The Stampeders play host to a flailing Toronto team on Saturday before visiting Montreal the following Sunday.
No slight against either team, but it would be a surprise if either knocked off the CFL’s best team.
The story is much the same when looking at the Roughriders. Their next game is on the road in Hamilton on Sunday before they return home for a game against the RedBlacks one week later. Again, with the way Saskatchewan is playing, something would have to go very wrong for them not to be 10-2 come October 3rd.
So, all that being said, one thing is very clear: these two perennial powerhouse teams are living up to that moniker once again.
The Riders have beaten the Bombers three times in recent memory, putting their prairie compadres in a tough spot when it comes to making the playoffs.
The Stamps almost lost to Edmonton in their first meeting, but imposed their will in back-to-back meetings the past two weekends.
And now the only thing left is for Calgary and Saskatchewan to finally meet on the field to decide who is best in the West.
Hold your breath
Two very prominent quarterbacks suffered injuries in the latter stages of their contests this weekend. It started Friday in our Nation’s Capital when Lions pivot Travis Lulay went down near the end of BC’s 7-5 victory over Ottawa. Two days later, it was Darian Durant of the Riders going down in Winnipeg as Saskatchewan completed a 30-24 victory.
At the time of this writing, the status of both is unknown.
The BC situation is unfortunate with an established silver lining. Lulay had gone almost a full calendar year (357 days to be exact) between regular season starting assignments and his return came at a very good time.
The former Most Outstanding Player had plenty of time to get himself, and the Lions, into a groove down the stretch. But he had also been given plenty of time to be eased healthily back into the lineup, so all things seemed to be in order.
Now, it’s not as if Lulay’s return was the most triumphant. Yes, BC ended up winning the game, but it was not a banner performance for either offence.
But it doesn’t matter; Lulay is still the best chance for the Lions to finish the season on a roll, and for them to win the playoff games they desire.
Not having him would be unfortunate, but whatever the case, there is something to feel good about.
Kevin Glenn is not as dynamic a player as Lulay, but he’s gotten the job done thus far. So, if BC needs to go back and rely on Glenn again, they’ll do so very comfortably.
After a rough start, Glenn seemed to be getting more and more in sync with the Lions offence, and he has an impressive supporting cast surrounding him.
I’m a little less certain when it comes to the case of the Riders. Durant has not been a stat machine this year, that’s very true, and he was just a cog in the machine on Sunday against the Bombers.
But he’s still lead them to eight wins, has a 2013 Grey Cup ring, and plenty of big game experience. Tino Sunseri does not, even though there’s a lot to like about the young backup.
The bad news is, the Pittsburgh product doesn’t have anywhere near the experience or pedigree of Durant. The good news, though, is that he’s playing on a very good team where the quarterback hasn’t had to be the most important piece of the puzzle thus far.
The Riders have three extremely capable running backs, a suddenly deep receiving core, and a terrifying defence.
Oh, and on Sunday, they scored a couple majors with their special teams, just for good measure. When you add in the fact Saskatchewan is playing a pair of East Division teams the next two weeks, you can feel a whole lot better about the situation Sunseri might be walking into.
Company at the top
Even three weeks ago, it would have been difficult to believe someone if they were to tell you that in the near future, the Montreal Alouettes would be the hottest team out east. They were struggling with, well, basically everything on the offensive side of the ball.
The Als couldn’t find a quarterback to feel comfortable with, their offence had very little balance, and they were losing games unlike we’ve seen in years. Once again, we’ve been reminded how quickly things can change in this league.
Granted, we’re talking about the East Division, but to see Montreal in a tie for first place is still something I didn’t think we’d see at any point this season. For the first time all year, they’ve won two straight, and they’re doing it because they’re getting contributions from everywhere.
Last week, Montreal got its ground game in gear to beat Ottawa. This week, they relied on some big plays defensively in a 38-31 home win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
When things were at their darkest this season, the Alouettes looked like a team with no dimensions. They couldn’t throw the football, so they couldn’t run the football, which means their defence was tired and was always playing in front of a short field.
The last two weeks, however, we’ve seen Montreal do one thing much better, which has trickled down to different parts of their game. Look, the CFL is still a passing league, and when you start throwing the football better, good things are going to happen.
Jonathan Crompton still has a lot to fine tune. He needs to find better touch on short passes and needs to get the ball away quicker, for instance.
But, as we mentioned last week, the fact he has shown he can stretch the field has made defences give the Alouettes aerial attack more respect. That opened up a better running game against Ottawa, and on Sunday against Hamilton, it really helped Montreal’s defence.
Yeah, they still gave up 31 points, but the Alouettes were more of a factor defensively than we’ve seen most of this season.
Because the offence was moving the football a little better, they were given better field position to work with and they weren’t on the field as much. It showed at different times in the game.
So, it’s great to see a two game win streak for Montreal, and it’s good to see a tie atop the East Division. But, now it gets tough.
The Alouettes roll into Edmonton on Friday before hosting Calgary the following weekend; those tests will be significantly tougher than those against Ottawa and Hamilton.
The best way for Montreal to put up a good fight is to do what they’ve done the last two weekends. Following that, let the chips fall where they may.
