Steinberg’s MMQB: Is Collaros the MOP favourite?

I know it was premature when I brought up the idea of an East Division crossover in the early stages of the season. Well, now here we are 12 weeks into the 2015 campaign and we still need to be talking about it. That’s why Winnipeg’s Banjo Bowl win on Saturday was so huge. If the season were to end today, we would not see a crossover from either division. But it still is a very real possibility.

Not going away

If we’re going to see an East Division crossover for the first time in CFL history, it’s all going to rest on the shoulders of the Montreal Alouettes. Yet, the biggest reason why this is as strong a possibility as it is is due to the three other teams residing in Montreal’s division.

Ottawa isn’t going away, and the REDBLACKS’ 31-18 win over the BC Lions on Sunday was another example of why. The off-season moves made by the REDBLACKS transformed them from an expansion team to a group capable of competing for a playoff spot. Their big five receivers were on display against in Vancouver while Ottawa’s much improved defence continues to do the job.

Despite their three straight losses, the Argos look like a better team and are in a far better spot than where they were a year ago. As for Hamilton, well, what they’ve done this season doesn’t need much more explanation. They’ve been one of the CFL’s truly elite teams all season long and are far better positioned now than at this time in 2014.

So now it’s all down to Montreal. The bad news is the Alouettes missed a golden opportunity to further their playoff chances when they lost to BC in Week 11. The good news, on the other hand, is the Week 13 schedule which has the Als hosting Winnipeg. Why is that important? Well, the Bombers just happen to be one of the West Division teams Montreal would need to pass to crossover.

The Als have some pretty big quarterback questions to figure out. That’s the first important task they need to tackle if we’re going to see four Eastern teams make the playoffs. That said, Montreal and Winnipeg are fairly evenly matched, so a win next weekend isn’t out of the question.

The best part about all of this is what it means for the league. The Tiger-Cats are playing in a loud, brand new building and winning. The Argos are playing stellar football in Canada’s largest market. And a second year team in our nation’s capital is exceeding all expectations and winning games on merit.

The odds are likely stacked against an East Division crossover this year. Because a crossover team cannot be tied with the team they’re trying to overtake from the other division, it’s always the most difficult way to make the playoffs. However, the Als are right there for it, and if they can start to string some wins together, they could have the benefit of two roads to the 2015 postseason.

Welcome back

The Edmonton Eskimos needed a win against the Calgary Stampeders, plain and simple. They got that on Saturday night, but they also got something potentially even better: An emphatic return from their franchise player. Mike Reilly was stellar in his first start since Week 1, and the Eskimos did what they needed to do: Snap a 12 game losing streak against their provincial rivals.

I won’t lie, I wondered if Reilly was going to be limited a little bit in his first full game back. By no means do I think there was any medical risk to him returning, but with long injuries like this one, you always wonder if a quarterback is ready mentally. Well, that question was answered rather emphatically.

Reilly wasn’t limited at all, as he attempted 40 passes and didn’t look anything but fine on his feet. After watching him on Saturday, you have to wonder how important it was for him to get into the Labour Day showdown.

When I spoke to Reilly last week, he talked about how important it was to get hit and test his knee in the first game of this set with the Stampeders. You have to think that spot duty a week ago helped Reilly answer some questions and silence some internal doubts.

Whatever the case, Reilly looked great in his return, and now this Battle of Alberta is even more intriguing going forward.

Edmonton has finally snapped its dismal streaks against the Stamps (overall and at Commonwealth). The Esks were simply better than Calgary on Saturday night, not just offensively. If you’re a CFL fan, that’s exactly what you want to see.

These two teams meet once more in the regular season (Week 16), and there’s a fairly decent chance we see them tangle once again in the playoffs. Prior to Saturday, it would have been tough to convince me that Edmonton could win a playoff game against Calgary. I feel like we’re a whole lot closer to all bets being off now.

The pacesetter

The race for the 2014 Most Outstanding Player was a heated and interesting one. One year later I don’t feel that’s the case at all. If you ask me, Hamilton’s Zach Collaros is running away with the award in 2015 and I’m not sure he’s going to be caught.

Right this instant; Collaros is the league’s best quarterback. No one is playing at a higher level, and no one has been more important to his team’s success in my eyes.

If you just went and looked at stats and hadn’t seen a game this year, you’d see the same thing. Collaros leads the CFL in passing yards (3,286), passing touchdowns (24), and quarterback rating (113.2) through 12 weeks. He’s also thrown fewer interceptions (eight) than his closest statistical competition of Toronto’s Trevor Harris and Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell.

But this goes beyond stats. Collaros is the Hamilton Tiger-Cats right now. The Ticats don’t have an overly dynamic running game right now. In fact, Collaros is only 126 yards behind Ray Holley who leads Hamilton in rushing yards right now. With a running game that isn’t one of the league’s best, the Ticats rely much more on their passing game than some other teams.

We’re also not talking about the most star-studded group of receivers, either. That is by no means a knock on Luke Tasker and Terrence Toliver, but in terms of recognition, Hamilton’s receivers aren’t of the same ilk as teams like Calgary and Ottawa. Granted, if those two guys keep playing the way they are, that might change in the near future.

The point is that everything runs through Collaros. He’s helped turn Toliver and Tasker into feared receiving threats. He’s done this without a consistent running game. And he’s doing it at the age of 27.

What does it for me most, though, is what happens when I think about how things might look if Hamilton didn’t have Collaros right now (knock on wood). I can’t think of any team who would miss a player most than the Tiger-Cats would miss their quarterback. That puts this over the top right now, and unless things change dramatically, I think Collaros is leading this MOP race by a few laps.

Quick hits

The BC Lions are in trouble. As they fight furiously to hold onto a West Division playoff spot, they’re looking at a brutal schedule the next couple weeks. BC has road showdowns with Calgary and Edmonton on the horizon.

With losses in three of their last four games, they haven’t played the caliber of football recently they’re going to need against high-end teams like the Stamps and Eskimos. They better figure out a way to find that level, because that crossover thing we talked about earlier happens to be a huge threat to the Lions right now.

The Bombers picked up a huge win over the Riders on Saturday and Matt Nichols won his debut. But Winnipeg’s new quarterback still needs to work on the main reason he was traded from Edmonton: Turnovers. Nichols was on the hook for three turnovers against the Riders, but one of them stands out to me.

I can’t really blame Nichols for the one interception he threw, because his receiver needed to make that catch. His first fumble was a tough one and not on him either. But it’s the second quarter fumble that Nichols needs to learn from. If he’s going to take off and run, Nichols has to protect the football, and he didn’t in that instance. Nichols turned over the ball too often in Edmonton , and the Bombers need that to change if they’re going to stay in the playoff picture.