Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Twelve Men Review (Week Fourteen) September 28-29)

The division leaders discovered that the road to domination isn't always going to be an easy one as both the Alouettes and the Lions suffered losses in week fourteen, a development which tightens up the races in both divisions quite nicely heading towards Thanksgiving.

And while the Lions weren't thumped as hard as the Als over the weekend, both games provide their respective coaching staff with much to work on for week fifteen.

The Argos also provided some positives for their coaches, as they went into Winnipeg and with veteran back up Jarious Jackson at the helm convincingly dismissed the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, which while not an unusual thing when it comes to the Bombers this season, would seem to have ended any thoughts that the Bombers may have had on a playoff position this season.

With their win the Argos remain very much in the chase for a first place finish in the East, the Bombers on the other hand, and once again facing the prospect of an absent Buck Pierce, would seem to have a lock on last in the CFL overall.

Just a few of the themes that developed over the weekend just past.

Montreal at Hamilton

The CFL's most mercurial squad, the Hamilton Tiger Cats, put on their invincible cape on Friday night, providing a dominating performance against the always challenging Montreal Alouettes.  Though to watch Friday night's game one would have to do a double check to see which team is where in the CFL standings at this moment.

Like they did two weeks ago, the Tiger Cats looked very much a team finally ready for prime time, offensively they ran a near perfect game plan, scoring frequently and taking advantage of their opportunities as they arrived.

Defensively they shut down Anthony Calvillo, no easy feat at the best of times, holding the Als to 28 points, most of those when it appeared that the Cats had the game well in hand.

Monttreal's old troubles of the early going once again began to bubble up from below the surface, a defensive squad that still has a number of holes to take care of, one which offers up too many opportunities to the opposition.

Montreal's defensive unit was incapable of stopping Henry Burris, the Ticat quarterback had an amazing Friday night, connecting of five Touchdown passes, going 28-32 on pass attempts overall for a total of 326 yards and directing an offence that provided for 41 points on the night.

The highlight reel night for Burris, was the second real glimpse of the Henry we all thought we would see this year, the previous outburst of Ticat offence came two weeks ago, only to be overshadowed by the Cats loss to Winnipeg one week later.

With the convincing win over the Als, the Cats perhaps have recovered some of their purpose this year, though considering their inconsistency thus far in the year, perhaps we'll wait for another week before declaring them back on track..

The reviews and previews of the Als and Cats can be found here.


Edmonton at Calgary

History was made in Calgary on Friday night, though it's an entry in the storied tale of the Eskimos that one imagines the Edmonton storytellers would rather not tell.

For the first time in Eskimo history, the team has gone 0 for September, an entire month of football without a win, a carryover from an August implosion that has dropped the Eskies out of the race for first and second for that matter, barely hanging on for a third place finish with even the prospect of a crossover chase now dimming with the return of the Ticats to winning football.

Friday night the northern cousins travelled south to meet the Alberta kin in Calgary and the Stamps with thoughts of first in the West still very much on their minds took care of business, sending the Eskimos back home with yet more things to mull over to pull out of their horrendous slump.

Calgary was quite efficient in their 39-15 dismissal of the Eskimos, spurred on once again by the galloping of Jon Cornish who passed yet another CFL milestone in his career of 1,000 yards in the course of the Stampeder rout.

Cornish accounted for 12 of the Stampeder points on his own with two TD runs including a 73 yard trot to paydirt that seemed to set the tone for the Stampeder beat down of the Eskimo defence, the latter a unit that just wasn't up to the challenge of the Calgary attack.

Kevin Glenn had another standout performance at the Stampeders helm, his success such, that even when Tate returns to the lineup, one wonders if it would not be folly to replace the QB heading down the CFL stretch towards the playoffs.

Glenn has answered any and all questions that may have arrived with him in May, the importance of a veteran QB as a back up never has been more apparent than as defined  by the seamless nature of the Stampeder playback that has evolved under Glenn in for Ralph Tate.

The win, combined with the Lions loss in Regina has the Stamps closing in on first place in the West, making Saturday night's game at BC Place a timely event with much in the way of ramifications for the division title.

Of the four games on the Thanksgiving weekend schedule, the Stamps and Lions offers up the most potential for drama and impact on playoff positioning.

The reviews and previews of the Eskimos and Stamps can be found here.


Toronto at Winnipeg

As an insurance policy, Jarious Jackson has clearly already proved his full value for the Double Blue, Jackson received his first start as a CFL QB in a couple of years on Saturday, pressed into action with the injury last week to Buck Pierce.

And with some serious confidence in view, Jackson took to the cause of keeping the Argos first place aspirations alive with full effort.

From the opening Argo drive, Jackson looked confident and in control of an Argo offence that didn't seem to miss a beat from the games when Ricky Ray was calling the signals. The Argos controlled the play of the first quarter for an astounding 12 minutes or so of the fifteen, a serious indication for the Bombers defence that the day was going to be a very, very long one.

Jackson had one of his best performances in a starting role since his days in British Columbia, his solid and unflappable demeanour in the Argo pocket, carried over to the remainder of the Argo offence which quickly have learned that there perhaps is little to worry about now, should Ricky Ray's absence be longer than they might like.

Granted the Argo cause was helped by playing the CFL's most frustrated squad, the Bombers who last week had suggested that the season was not lost, suddenly reversed field and gave every indication that indeed playoff tickets won't be a problem for River city residents this season.

Last week provided the return of Buck Pierce to the Bomber lineup, a lift to the Bomber spirits that left the Ticats on the sidelines wondering what film they had been watching the week previous, alas, all good things apparently come to an end and in the case of the Bombers that end came in the first quarter.

In those few moments that the Bombers offence had the ball in the first quarter, Buck Pierce was forced from the game after a nasty hit by the Argos Brandon Isaac, the hit left Pierce bloodied and dazed, resulting in a roughing the passer call to the Argos, though one has to wonder in an era of protecting quarterbacks why an eviction from the game wasn't provided to Isaac for the questionable hit.

Regardless, it sealed the fate for Pierce, who appeared briefly in the second quarter, only to disappear for the remainder of the game suffering from what the Bombers called head aches.

The injury should send alarm bells to the Bombers management that perhaps it's time for their QB to call it a career, with nothing to prove to the league about toughness, Pierce needs to think about his long term health, the frequency of his injuries and more importantly the nature of the majority of them being concussion based should suggest that Buck should think about Buck first from now on.

As for the Bombers, without Pierce they are but the team that everyone wants to play now, seemingly as close to a two point guarantee that the CFL can offer an opposing team this season.

The Argos took the two on Saturday, the lineup begins anew for the rest of the league over Thanksgiving.

The review of the Argos and Bombers can be found here.


British Columbia at Saskatchewan

The best line of the weekend in Regina went to Darian Durant who advised that anytime the Rider Nation can spend the afternoon loading up on Pilsner probably doesn't bode too well for the visitors.

And while the Lions didn't provide the Rider faithful with a full moon experience ala Jon Cornish, they no doubt heard  the Mosaic Field crowd for the first three quarters.

The Riders got off to a good start in the Saturday evening weekend closer for the CFL,  parlaying their early points into a pretty impressive lead heading into the fourth quarter, but as has been the case for Saskatchewan this year, those final fifteen minutes almost proved fatal once again.

The Riders dominated the first half, benefitting from injuries to key Lions starters as both Arland Bruce III and Geroy Simon were forced from the game owing to injury, those absences seemed to knock the Lions off kilter for the first three quarters, a lapse which allowed the Riders to gain a 20-7 lead heading into the fourth.

But then, like a few times this season, the Riders allowed the Lions back into the game, Travis Lulay finally got the Lions offence rolling thanks to some timely TD catches by Marco Iannuzzi who slipped into the Geroy Simon spot of the lineup.

Iannuzzi provided two of the Lions touchdowns on the night, both late in the fourth quarter, providing a scare to the Riders who no doubt had bad memories creep into their helmets as the clock was ticking down.

Darian Durant however, banished some of those memories with his own drive with a few minutes to go, which provided a bit of a cushion for the Riders, though in the end it was a timely interception by the Riders' Chris McKenzie which snuffed out the idea of yet another Miracle finish by the Lions.

A good thing for the lads in Green as all of that pent up Pilsner anger could very well have been directed at the home side had they let this one get away.

The loss by the Lions sets the stage for Saturday night and a showdown with the second place Stamps, Calgary has been nipping at the Lions heels for the majority of the season, Saturday night provides them with the chance to draw even for first setting up a fascinating run for playoff positioning towards November.

They will want to provide for a full sixty minute effort though if they wish to prevail against the Stamps, Calgary is more than capable of burying a team if the opportunity presents itself like Saturday's game with the Riders did.

Saskatchewan, while no doubt concerned about another fourth quarter stumble will take the two points, which moves them into a solid grip of the third place spot in the West, keeping alive their thoughts of further advancement to second and if all drops in place perhaps still a shot at first.

The next step for Saskatchewan a road game on Thanksgiving Day in Toronto.

The review of the Riders and Lions can be found here.

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