Steinberg’s MMQB: Turning the tables in the East

The 2015 Canadian Football League has been defined by close, exciting and unpredictable football. More so than I can remember in quite some time, very little separates the vast majority of the nine teams, and that was evident again in Week 7. The biggest reason for that is a vastly improved East Division. In all reality, it’s not even close how much better the East is this year as opposed to what we saw at this point in 2014.

Night and day

Three of four East Division teams came away victorious this past weekend, which is notable because two of those wins came against Western foes. At this point a year ago, it would have been extremely surprising to see a weekend like this based on how things had gone to that point. It’s because of weekends like this past one that the quality of football through seven weeks in 2015 has been so high.

In the first seven weeks of 2014, the East Division was quite a mess. Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Hamilton had played a combined 18 games against the West with a dismal record of 2-16 in those meetings. Because of that awful record against the West Division, and thanks in part to a quirky early season schedule, the 2014 standings in the East were not pretty.

Toronto 2-4
Ottawa 1-5
Montreal 1-5
Hamilton 1-5

Fast forward one year later and things are completely different. The worst record in the East is what led the division a year ago, as Montreal sits 2-4 and in fourth place. Everyone else is 4-2 and what’s even more impressive is when you pit the two divisions against one another. We’ve seen 16 interdivision games so far this year with the East holding the edge with 10-6 record. I told you the differences were night and day.

Ottawa leads the way when it comes to improved play, as the REDBLACKS continue to be one of the true positive stories of 2015. They boast one of the CFL’s best groups of receivers which in turn has showed us that Henry Burris can still get the job done, even in the latter stages of his career. But things aren’t just better on the offensive side of the ball. Ottawa is so much better defensively.

The REDBLACKS are allowing 25 points per game on average compared to a whopping 31.5 at the same time last year. The fact that Ottawa is allowing almost an entire converted touchdown less per game is a big reasons it sits tied for first in its division in early August.

Hamilton’s 1-5 record through seven weeks in 2014 was somewhat of a surprise and wasn’t necessarily representative of its potential. That was proven in late November as the Tiger-Cats were five points away from winning the Grey Cup. It’s safe to say their record this year is far more commensurate to the team they truly are.

After its 38-8 pounding of the Bombers on Sunday, Hamilton is the highest-scoring team in the CFL averaging just less than 32 points per game. The Ticats are also the East’s stingiest team defensively. In fact, with just 114 points against thus far, the Ticats are allowing fewer points than anyone other than Edmonton in 2015.

Toronto’s season started with the bad injury news of Ricky Ray, but that hasn’t slowed the Argos down one bit. Trevor Harris has been one of the league’s most impressive quarterbacks to this point, and his continued ability to make important plays in game-changing situations has defined his first six CFL starts. That was very much the case on Saturday as Harris and the Argos rallied for a 30-26 win over the Riders.

Even the Alouettes have shown vast improvement despite their 2-4 record. I’m not saying Head Coach Tom Higgins and the Als should be happy with where they sit, but you can’t deny they’re a much better group. One year ago, Montreal looked like it was sleepwalking in quicksand offensively, specifically at quarterback where the Als just couldn’t get a solid performance if they begged.

I’m not saying Rakeem Cato is the be all and end all, but he’s a much better option now than what the Als had going for them at this point last year. On top of that, SJ Green has returned to his high-end farm as he leads the CFL with 539 receiving yards. And just for good measure, Montreal is allowing the third fewest points per game in the league right now.

There’s still a lot of football to be played in 2015 so the story of the East Division has yet to be written. But from what we’ve seen to this point is extremely refreshing. The East couldn’t buy a win against West last year, so to see the tables turned this year is quite notable. All four East Division teams are markedly better from one year to the next. It’s the biggest reason why we’ve seen such enjoyable football through seven weeks.

Too close to call

All this Eastern love doesn’t mean the West Division is bad by any stretch. A big part of its 6-10 record against East Division foes is thanks to 0-7 Saskatchewan’s winless mark in three interdivision contests. But take the Riders and their dismal start out of the picture and one thing becomes abundantly clear: The four good West Division teams are really, really evenly matched.

Take the Edmonton Eskimos for example. We identified them last week as the early pacesetters in 2015, a claim we still stand by despite a 26-23 setback on Thursday night in BC. Edmonton’s second loss of 2015 ended up being by just three points against a pretty darn good Lions team. Close games like that have been, and will continue to be, the norm in the wild West.

There are plenty of examples of how close the West has been through seven weeks. Whether it’s BC’s dramatic overtime win over Saskatchewan in Week 3 or Calgary’s one point victory over the Bombers in Week 4, it’s rare to see a game played between two West Division teams decided by more than one possession.

The average margin of victory in eight West-on-West games this year is just 13 points. Only two of those eight games have been true blowouts, with five of them being decided by single digit points.

For my money, there’s only been one dominant team in 2015 and that’s the Eskimos. Even then, Edmonton isn’t even alone leading the West, as it sits tied with Calgary at 4-2. Winnipeg and BC may not be above the .500 mark right now, but both are capable of beating any divisional opponent on any given night. The West is still good, but it’s also hotly contested thus far. That’s a good thing as we’ve yet to get into the meat of the intradivision schedule.

Quick hits

Well, the nightmare that is the 2015 season for the Roughriders continued on Saturday night. The aforementioned Trevor Harris did it to them again, as the Argos scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to turn a 23-16 deficit into a 30-26 victory. Harris was money once again, which is getting less and less surprising every week. I was paying more attention to the other quarterback on Saturday, though.

Brett Smith deserved a second start for the Riders and he was significantly better against Toronto than he was in his debut against the Eskimos. Smith wasn’t incredible by any stretch, but he had a much better grasp of the offence and even showed a little explosiveness along the way. Saskatchewan finally gets a bye this week, so with even more time to prepare, I’m quite intrigued to see what Smith brings to the table in Week 9 against Calgary.

Speaking of Harris, that quarterback dilemma in Toronto becomes more and more interesting each passing week. The Argos are 4-2 and the play of Harris has been one of the biggest reasons why. The league’s leading passer has made it easy to forget who was supposed to start the season in Toronto.

Ricky Ray will be healthy at some point, and he’s going to start when he’s ready to return. At least I think that’s what is going to happen. Ray is still one of the league’s best pivots, and the old football adage of “you don’t lose your job to injury” is still accurate more often than not. Each time I see Harris play, however, makes me a little more interested in the decision Scott Milanovich is going to be forced to make whenever Ray is good to go.