Last quarter miscues once again altered the CFL landscape in week five, a disturbing trend for fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who watched their team surrender a sizable lead for the second week in a row.
Week Five brought Henry Burris back to Saskatchewan, this time in the uniform of the Tiger Cats and his efforts provided for another Cat victory in most exciting style.
Likewise, entertaining finishes came to both Winnipeg where the Blue Bombers claimed their first victory of 2012and Montreal, though for the latter the fans were left disappointment as the visiting Argos claimed victory.
The only blowout of the weekend was found in Calgary, where the BC Lions finally unleashed the offensive display that CFL fans have been waiting for since Canada Day.
The reviews of the week that was can be found below.
Edmonton at Winnipeg
Good things come to those that wait, or in the case of the Blue Bombers, good things come to those that finally get to play at home.
Despite some last minute nerves, the Bombers prevailed on Thursday night, topping the visiting Edmonton Eskimos 23-22, thanks to the efforts of their defence, a steadier performance from QB Alex Brink and a gift from Steven Jyles, who fumbled away what may have been an Eskimo victory late in the fourth quarter.
It was an unfortunate end (if you're an Eskimo fan) for what appeared to be an Eskimo comeback in the making, the excitement of the final minute of the game a contrast to the tedium of the first quarter of football that provided for a 1-0 score.
Things improved a bit in the second quarter and then into the second half, offering up some of the CFL's more intriguing scoring plays with safety's and single points.
Still, there was time for some offence, Alex Brink had a solid game for the Bombers, calming perhaps some of the anxiety of the Bomber faithful of a season without points and despite the game changing fumble in the final minute, the Esks Jyles had success in leading his team downfield, only the finish on some drives was lacking for the Green and Gold.
It wasn't the most seamless of CFL contests, mistakes and turnovers were instrumental in the outcome, but for a team with a 0-4 record heading in to week five, a victory, by whatever means was no doubt a welcome thing.
You can review the points of interest of the
Bombers and Eskimos here.
Toronto at Montreal
Two of the more familiar of CFL quarterbacks were back into battle on Friday night, as the Toronto Argonauts brought their new look Ricky Ray led offence into Molson Stadium, the chance to stake a claim to first place in the East on the line for the rebuilding Argonauts.
Montreal, showing signs of a team that perhaps is in need of a rebuild, has not been able to call on that resolve of swagger that once was their calling, the days of complete domination in the East seemingly part of the storied past of the Als last decade.
Calvillo, who has been playing injured since the season started and while he had some success on the day, the outcome was perhaps dictated by the Argos defensive backs who held off the Alouette aerial approach and picked off the Als QB at a key moment of the game, snuffing out an Alouette drive.
The Als defense had a long day on the field, the struggling Als offensive woes left their defence on the field for lengthy periods of play, something which tends to wear down a defence and makes for scoring opportunities, which the Argos took advantage of.
Between fumbles and interceptions, the Argos had more than a few opportunities to salt away a victory, leaving with three instead of seven on more than a few opportunities. It was that inability to score majors that made for a closer score than perhaps the game warranted, still at the end of the day it's the team that takes the two points that claims the victory and in this case the Argos claimed the game and a share of first in the East with Hamilton.
You can look back at the
Argos and Als contest here.
Hamilton at Saskatchewan
For the second week in a row the Rider Nation sat back in shock as the Riders, seemingly cruising to a certain victory suffered a late game collapse which handed victory to the opposition
With a 19 point lead as the fourth quarter began, the Riders and their fans most likely thought that the sun drenched afternoon was to be a celebration of the return of the Riders domination of the CFL standings.
With memories of last weeks last minute loss to Calgary still fresh in their minds however, one imagines that the faithful in the stands began to get worried as the Ti Cats began to gain momentum, taking advantage of Rider gifts in turnovers and pushing the Riders defensive squad to the breaking point.
The twin themes of concern in Saskatchewan as they head into the CFL's bye week will be why their defence can't hold the line when the game is winding down and how Darian Durant is making key mistakes at the most untimely of moments.
Hamilton salvaged what started out as a long, long afternoon as Henry Burris hit his stride in that fourth quarter, taking the Cats down the field on one drive, taking advantage of the field position provided by his defence on another, and suddenly the seemingly certain Rider victory was in doubt.
Burris capped off the comeback with a final 90 yard drive for the final Ti Cat points on the day and the 35-34 lead that would prove the final margin of victory.
Though there would be some last minute drama, in the play of a missed field goal that left the Rider fans to contemplate all that had gone wrong in the final fifteen minutes.
The Rider collapse complete, the Cats took the victory, their first in Regina in twelve years, as a momentum builder for the rest of the season.
The first half struggles aside, it was yet another step for the Ti Cats who after an early season hiccup have battled back to start to resemble the squad that most thought would be the rising squad of the East in 2012.
On the other side of Mosaic Field came the questions of what has gone wrong after the Riders remarkable early season start, if not for defensive meltdowns and badly timed turnovers Saskatchewan could very well have been 5 and 0 heading into their break, instead the last two weeks give them much to work on before they take to the field once again.
A review of the Riders and Ti Cats
can be found here.
British Columbia at Calgary
Finally, the much anticipated explosion of the BC Lions offensive squad finally took place. Travis Lulay and the Lions schooled the Stampeders on Saturday as to what a first string offence can look like when it's firing on all its cylinders.
The Lions took quick control of the game and left little doubt as to which team was going to be coming out of the evening's work with the victory. Providing the kind of display that many remember from the Lions march to the Grey Cup last fall, Lulay finding points from any number of options, while the Lions Defence shut down the Stamps quite impressively.
In fact, such was the nature of the Lions defensive play, that the discord within the Stampeder huddle quickly came to a boil, Jon Cornish seemingly weary of running into Lion defenders, lashed out in frustration over the woes of the O line.
Cornish was held to less than stellar numbers on the day, the Stamps also had trouble holding onto the ball at times, turnovers aiding the Lions in their domination of the play.
And while Kevin Glenn had a statistically decent day, those misplays would stall out any thoughts the Stamps might have had of making it an interesting day.
The Lions owned the play clock for most of the day, Lulay leading long time consuming drives downfield, normally collecting the seven points when all was said and done.
The Lions performance brought to an end the losing streak of two that the Lions came to town trying to understand, though judging by their performance on the day, they clearly found out what had gone wrong in the two weeks previous and addressed it.
The Stamps get a week off to regroup and perhaps get everyone back on the same page, the Lions in the meantime are off to Toronto, looking to improve on their record and bring the Argos, currently sharing first in the east with Hamilton back down to earth after a few weeks of successful football for the Double Blue.
A look back at the Lions and Stamps
can be found here.
