Steve Hiscock, CFL.ca
Week 17 is in the books. It featured a whopping five offensive touchdowns and 18 field goals, and the kickers continue to earn their keep while offences face increasingly tougher defences. The star amongst those kickers is none other than wonder-kid Lewis Ward who broke the CFL record for consecutive made field goals to a standing ovation in the nation’s capital.
Here is a look back at the rest of the week that was!
We began the festivities with a game that from the very start felt relatively comfortable for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. QB Matt Nichols attacked the Redblacks boundary corner repeatedly on the opening drive of the game with great success. Little seemed to be working for Ottawa through the air but William Powell continued to prove why he is amongst the games best ball carriers.
That was Powell’s largest run of the night despite a solid effort to get him the football. Late in the game, down eight points, Ottawa went to their money man: Greg Ellingson.
Sitting down between zones and securing the catch in the clutch is great and all but it failed to meet the standard set by Ellingson’s two point conversion to tie up the ballgame.
Winnipeg would answer every call on Friday night, though, including this overtime touchdown pass to Weston Dressler.
Winnipeg wins in Ottawa, further strengthening their playoff hopes in the increasingly interesting West.
On Saturday night, the Argos travelled to Vancouver, and McLeod Bethel-Thompson did not enjoy the ride.
I know his arm got hit on that throw attempt but that’s an arm punt if I’ve ever seen one. After three quarters and four interceptions, Bethel-Thompson’s night was done and in came James Franklin – The QB we all thought would be the natural long-term replacement for Ricky Ray after his early season injury against Calgary.
Franklin looked as comfortable as he has all season Saturday night during that 4th quarter of play which included two touchdown passes. The first of which – finally – went to Duron Carter.
That spike seemed like a massive exhale of extended frustration if I’ve ever seen it. The second came with less than a minute on a great timing and accuracy throw.
All of that set us up for the lamest way for a football game to end. The dreaded onside kick out of bounds without giving the kicking team a chance to even punch the ball out of bounds.
Argos lose in BC which combined with the Montreal loss earns the Ticats a home playoff date.
Speaking of Montreal, where is the offence? Never has a five-point lead felt so comfortable as it did late in this one against Calgary but first a look at how we got there.
On his first drive of the game after explaining the intricacies of the CFL ball to TSN on the pregame show Johnny Manziel threw another interception. This one a diving effort from a fellow former Ticat, Emmanuel Davis.
To Johnny’s credit he kept slinging the rock, even from behind his own uprights.
Montreal even got the gift that is Bo Levi Mitchell on an off day, not once, not twice
But three times!
Regardless, it wasn’t enough as Montreal’s playoff hopes were ended by that dominant Calgary defensive line.
To end the week, we got a surprisingly entertaining game for the lack of scoring it possessed between Edmonton and Saskatchewan. Not many highlights in this one, until the Riders mountain of a defensive end Willie Jefferson showed off the soft hands he usually uses as battering rams to meet the quarterback.
That gave Edmonton one last chance at glory, and I’ll be damned if Mike Reilly didn’t make everyone and their grandma jump off the couch for half a second.
Hope everybody had a great thanksgiving weekend. It’s time to sort out division winners now as 30/32 games over the final four weeks feature divisional matchups. Enjoy!
