Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
Another regular season has come and gone and it took the final game of 2016 to determine just who would be hosting the first round of the playoffs. It’s always nice to have drama right to the end of the year. I understand the playoffs are upon us but I figured we should take a quick pause, breathe and look back on the top stories and trends from the last 20 weeks of football.
Let’s get the ugly stuff out of the way first, and by ugly of course I’m talking about the East Division. Not one team in the East finished with a winning record. There are a myriad of reasons those four teams struggled this year but the biggest factor, as always, starts at the quarterback position. Three quarterbacks finished with over 5,000 yards and over 25 touchdown passes (Mike Reilly, Bo Levi Mitchell and Jonathon Jennings) and they all play for Western teams. Due to injuries, youth or just straight up poor play, only one quarterback in the East managed to crack 3,000 yards passing — Trevor Harris — and he’s not even starting anymore. Not one quarterback managed to throw for even 20 touchdowns which, in a passing league, is just unimaginable.
Jonathon Jennings will be a player to watch throughout the CFL Playoffs (CFL.ca)
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Only the Tiger-Cats can “boast” a positive scoring differential of a whopping plus-five, which is less of a reflection of consistent good play and more about that 53-7 beat down of the Roughriders back in August. You know it’s been a bad year when the team with the most positive vibes right now, Montreal, didn’t even make the playoffs. The Alouettes lost a coach, a star receiver and still have no idea who their quarterback of the future is going to be, yet they finished the year strong.
The REDBLACKS began the year with a wildly entertaining 45-37 win over Edmonton in a Grey Cup rematch, managed a tie against Calgary and looked like a true contender until injuries at the quarterback position and the loss of Chris Williams derailed them. I still have no idea how Hamilton didn’t win more games and the best thing I can say about Toronto is … well … hey, BMO Field is a damn good place to watch a football game — seriously, there isn’t a bad seat in the house. You know what, let’s just move on, shall we?
The other side of this coin was just all the fantastic things we saw from the West. Let’s give out some awards! The award for “Most Surprising Team” goes to Winnipeg. The most important date for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was Feb. 9 when they signed Justin Medlock and Andrew Harris on the opening day of free agency. Yes, the first thing you may point to when analyzing Winnipeg’s turnaround year was the team’s league-leading 30 interceptions (that number is even more remarkable when you consider the next best team had 13 fewer interceptions) but there is no doubt the Bombers wouldn’t have made the playoffs without Medlock and his insane season or the steady play of Andrew Harris, who finished the year third in rushing and led all running backs with 631 receiving yards. General Manager Kyle Walters deserves a lot of credit for the Bombers’ 11-7 season.
The award for “Most Fun Team to Watch” easily goes to the Edmonton Eskimos. Ottawa may have finished with more passing yards and Hamilton somehow led the league in total touchdown passes but for pure entertainment, nothing beat Mike Reilly hucking it up to the league’s top two receivers in Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker. The two combined for 15 100-yard games and you could count for at least one spectacular catch from at least one of them every week. I hope everyone got a chance to really appreciate what they did on the field together because I have a feeling we may not see that again. The NFL could be calling for the sophomore Walker.
The award for “Sexiest Upset Team” goes to the BC Lions. The only organization to defeat a Bo Levi Mitchell-quarterbacked team this year, the Lions boast the second most dangerous receiver duo in established star Emmanuel Arceneaux and a star in the making in Bryan Burnham, who went from a modest 423-yard campaign in 2015 to an eye popping 1,392 receiving yards. No player had more plays of 30 yards or more than Burnham. Add to the mix Jonathon “I’m gonna win multiple MOP Awards” Jennings (congratulations on surpassing 5,000 yards) and everyone’s favourite linebacker duo of Solomon Elimimian and Adam Bighill and the Lions will be EVERYONE’s pick for the team that can beat Calgary.
Finally, the award for “Team that Resembles Goliath if Goliath had Anti-Sling Shot Spray” goes to the Calgary Stampeders. The Stampeders were the ultimate Swiss Army Knife team in that they could beat you in so many different ways. Calgary may not have that one dominant receiver that Edmonton, BC or Ottawa possesses but that didn’t seem to matter as Bo Levi Mitchell still finished second in passing yards and had a ridiculous touchdown to interception ratio of 32:8. If opposing teams decide to drop back eight to stop Mitchell well then that just means even larger holes created by the best offensive line in the game for the league’s leading rusher Jerome Messam to plow through. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, Calgary finished first in both fewest points and fewest yards allowed. Good luck with all that, rest of the CFL.
Speaking of awards, there are a couple individual races I am really curious to see who wins. For top Canadian I’m going to first throw out any of the kicking options. Sorry; beyond Justin Medlock, who is not Canadian and therefore not eligible, I just can’t consider any other kicker for this award — there are just too many talented skill position players to choose from. My heart is rooting for Andy Fantuz after suffering such a devastating injury but let’s be honest, this will come down to Andrew Harris vs. Jerome Messam. Messam had a slightly better year but Harris meant more for his team. That one will be close.
Andrew Harris has to have a shot at Most Outstanding Canadian (CFL.ca/Jason Halstead)
For top special teams player I’ll give some love to kickers and a tiny edge to Medlock. How many Bombers games were decided by Medlock kicking five or more field goals? Also, Medlock’s average length of field goal made was tops in the CFL. Of course, returners like Chris Rainey and Brandon Banks were damn fun to watch.
Continuing the theme of too close to call … how do you decide the Top defensive player? Charleston Hughes had the most dominating year; Elimimian was the CFL’s leading tackler and only six players had more sacks; while in Winnipeg, did anyone generate more big plays than Maurice Leggett? Good luck deciding this one.
Finally, when it comes to MOP, I could make easy arguments for both Mike Reilly and Jonathon Jennings, but in the end I have to go with the quarterback of the greatest CFL team we’ve seen in years who lost just one game. Bo Levi Mitchell would be my choice.
Now on to the playoffs!
