THE CANADIAN PRESS
Perhaps the biggest ongoing story of the 2016 CFL season has been the dominance of the Calgary Stampeders. While many thought this might be the year the Stamps would fall back to the pack slightly, the reality has been the opposite. After their emphatic 45-24 win over the Edmonton Eskimos on Labour Day, the Stampeders have risen head and shoulders above the rest of the group.
The untouchable Stamps
Seeing the Stamps beat the Eskimos on Labour Day wasn’t a huge shock. Instead, it was the way they handled their provincial rivals that was so resounding. At no point, even when Edmonton had cut the deficit to seven points just before halftime, did it seem things were getting away from the home side.
Two things jumped off the page during Calgary’s seventh consecutive win.
Defensively, the Stamps were on point. Going up against the league’s most explosive passing attack, Calgary was able to render Mike Reilly and his aerial arsenal very normal. Reilly and his two stud targets Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker were never able to establish much of a rhythm and they have the Stamps to thank for that.
Calgary’s defensive front was well prepared and came to play with a solid game plan. Crucial to that plan was what the Stamps were doing up front, which was devastating from start to finish. Calgary’s front four was too much to handle all afternoon long, with relative newcomers like Frank Beltre contributing just as much as usual suspects like Charleston Hughes and Micah Johnson.
Reilly was under pressure all day long, was sacked four times and was hit hard numerous times on top of that. The outstanding work from that front four allowed the Stampeders to apply tight, tight coverage on Walker, Bowman, and the rest of Edmonton’s receiving threats. Calgary’s defensive blueprint was simple in design but deadly effective when executed to perfection.
We’ll put the magnifying glass on the defence a little more when analyzing the second takeaway from Monday’s Labour Day Classic. The way the Stamps set the tone to start the second half was the deciding factor in their impressive victory, at least for me.
The Eskimos had seized back a little bit of momentum thanks to a couple huge plays in the final three minutes of the second quarter, but their control was temporary. While I never got the feeling Calgary was close to relinquishing their grip on the game, a different start to the third quarter might have changed my mind. Once again, though, the Stamps put their D to work.
After Calgary’s first two-and-out of the afternoon on offence, the Eskimos got the ball for their first second half possession at their own 24. They wouldn’t progress much past there for the rest of the quarter; the Esks didn’t get past their own 40 until there were fewer than two minutes remaining in the third frame.
The way Calgary clamped down on its rival to start the second half was the mark of a dialed in team. In fact, “dialed in” is really the only way you could describe Monday’s effort from the Stamps; they were in control the whole way through. Without a loss since Week 1, Calgary has solidified its spot as the team to beat right now and that doesn’t look to be changing.
No exemptions
2016 has been a disaster for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and now they can add a heartbreaking loss to the Bombers on Labour Day weekend to the laundry list. Now at 1-9 and in need of a four game swing just to make the playoffs even a passing thought, the focus already has to be pointed at 2017. That’s disappointing in so many ways.
When Chris Jones took over as Saskatchewan’s head coach, general manager and VP of football operations, his job was not going to be an easy one. The Riders were in need of some drastic changes on the personnel side, which rendered this year as a rebuilding one. As such, I’ve tempered some criticism of the team’s horrible record, but some accountability is in order, too. Some of that accountability falls on Jones’s shoulders.
Yes, Jones deserves some leeway and some benefit of the doubt knowing the unenviable situation he was taking over. However, his in-game decision-making has left much to be desired this season; Sunday’s game against Winnipeg was no different.
BUY WEEK 12 TICKETS
» Friday, 10:00 p.m. ET: Montreal at BC
» Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET: Saskatchewan at Winnipeg
» Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Calgary at Edmonton
» Sunday, 4:30 p.m. ET: Hamilton at Toronto
There were multiple reasons why Saskatchewan saw its 11-year Labour Day win streak against Winnipeg come to an end; Tyler Crapigna’s tough afternoon and a fourth straight game without a first quarter point, for example. Well, you can add in Jones’s bizarre usage of challenge flags to that mix, too.
I did not like the late pass interference call on Justin Cox at all. It was marginal at best and wiped out what could have been a huge interception but officiating is a tough job and mistakes are made sometimes. These types of plays are exactly why the league allows coaches to challenge PI calls. Unfortunately for the Riders, that option wasn’t available to them.
Jones had already unsuccessfully used both of his allotted challenges earlier in the game. In both instances seeing him use a challenge qualified as a head-scratching move with one being more egregious than the other. Throwing a challenge flag on what was clearly an incomplete pass remains stunning to me. More importantly, it deprived Jones of a fourth quarter challenge on a much more disputable play.
By no means am I trying to point the finger at Jones for Saskatchewan’s awful start nor am I implying hiring him was the wrong call. Jones was brought in for the long term and to make any definitive judgments at this point would be premature. That said, decisions like what we saw on Sunday can’t continue to be made, whether it’s this season or next.
Agonizingly close
Man, the Toronto Argonauts bookended the 2016 Labour Day weekend with a pair of tough to swallow losses.
In Wednesday’s 16-13 loss to BC, the Argos saw Jonathon Jennings march 70 yards to set up Richie Leone’s game winning field goal with zeroes on the clock. Instead of getting a chance at overtime, the Argos fell below the .500 mark but with another chance to get things done in Week 11.
Five days later, Toronto ended the long weekend with another tough loss, this time to the archrival Hamilton. Despite holding first half leads of 20-7 and 30-17, the Argos could not contain the high-powered Tiger-Cats attack and fell 49-36. Toronto had both games right there for the taking and ended up falling in both. Both losses seem pretty costly, too.
Thanks to their missed opportunities, the Argos have dropped to 4-6 and are now vulnerable to a West Division crossover. If the playoffs were to start today, Toronto would miss the playoffs in favour of Edmonton as the latter would cross over to the east with a superior record. There’s still a lot of football to play but this is not an ideal situation.
On the bright side, the last two games are an improvement for the Argos. The first pair of losses during their current four game skid weren’t anywhere near as close as their last two, so perhaps they’re moving in the right direction. For Toronto’s sake, that needs to be the case or else securing a playoff spot is going to turn into an uphill battle.
Quick hits
Speaking of slumps, the Ottawa REDBLACKS may very well have ended one of their own on Thursday night. Their 19-14 win over Montreal wasn’t a masterpiece by any means, but after losing four of five, the REDBLACKS were in dire need of a win. Ottawa is on a bye this coming week before embarking on an extremely difficult stretch drive, so this win came at a crucial time.
Finally, let’s give a tip of the hat to Rene Paredes. Calgary’s kicker was perfect once again on Monday which is something we’re getting very, very used to. In going 3-for-3 against Edmonton, Paredes has now nailed 31 consecutive field goals to set the second longest mark in CFL history and the longest streak in a single season. Oh, and if you’re wondering who has the all-time record for consecutive field goals, it’s also Paredes with 39 straight in 2012 and 2013.
