In three decisive weekend games the BC Lions, Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders put the feet squarely on the back sides of the Edmonton Eskimos, Hamilton Tiger Cats and Calgary Stampeders.
In rather stunning fashion Friday, Saturday and Sunday were nightmares for the losing sides as they suffered some severe punishment in games that were thought to be of a challenging manner heading to kick off.
Friday night's Leos / Eskimos game set the pace, with the Lions exacting revenge on an Eskimo team that had spent a good portion of the week leading up to the game complaining about how dirty the Lions were.
In the kind of material usually seen on a bulletin board leading into a championship game, the Lions fed off the love and took it to an Eskimo team that couldn't seem to find the right approach to dealing with the Grey Cup champions.
BC controlled the play for most of the game with ferocious tackling, some superb play in the defensive secondary and an offensive burst that must have made Jacques Chapdelaine proud (oh wait, he was on the other sideline for this one wasn't he, hmm, apparently the Esks haven't learned the entire Chapdelaine repertoire yet).
Dave Dickenson who got off to a rough start, threw for 230 yards and one Jason Clermont TD as the Lions took control in the second half and never looked back. It was the BC Defense however which had the monster game, frequently rushing into the Edmonton zone, knocking bodies everywhere and picking off three Ricky Ray passes, while Ray threw for a fair amount of yardage, there was no finish to their drives and the picks and two Brent Johnson sacks, took their toll on last week's player of the week honoree. By the end of sixty minutes, the fistfights were outnumbering the Eskimo points on the board as the Lions soundly dismissed them 29-9.
As if picking up the vibes from BC, the Toronto Argonauts went into the Tiger Cat lair and laid on a whupping that won't be taken well by the Ti Cat faithful. With Michael Bishop anointed as the starting QB, the Argos began to roll early and often as Bishop provided perhaps the exclamation point for his quest to keep the starters job for good. With a huge crowd of over 28000 at Ivory Wynn, Bishop and the Argonauts made it a long and uncomfortable night as they took a commanding 22-2 lead early in the third quarter and never looked back, finally calling it a night with a 30-5 victory.
Defense would appear to be a problem in Hamilton as they have given up some 67 points in their first two games. The secondary was scorched and the defensive line had trouble holding back the rush as the Argonauts began to get on a roll that should help to defuse any problems regarding the Quarterback controversies of the last two weeks.
When Hamilton had the ball Jason Maas had little time to do anything as the Argo line would crash through the ticats O line and send Maas running in fear of his life. With little time to set up his passes proved to be problematic as there was little time or space for his receivers to reel anything in.
It's said that Ti Cat owner Bob Young made one of his few pre game speeches to the team, perhaps that will be a tradition that goes by the wayside until the Cats get their act together.
Sunday afternoon brought us the expected treat of a Calgary / Saskatchewan showdown, with a huge Mosaic Park at Taylor Field crowd basking in the sun, the Riders gave their fans everything they could hope for.
What appeared to be a tight and controlled game in the first quarter gave way to a wild ride of an affair halfway through the second as the Riders exploded from an 8 - 8 tie to score 17 points in the final five minutes of the first half.
Kerry Joseph tossed for four touchdowns and recent acquisition Wes Cates (cut adrift by the Stamps) haunted his old team with two touchdowns on the rush. Once the floodgates had opened there was no holding back the Green avalanche of points, with the Riders knocking off the Stamps 49-8.
Henry Burris had a particularly painful time of it at the stadium he once called home, as the Rider defence made his day an uncomortable affair, with sacks, interceptions and hurries that left the Stamp QB scrambling and just a little confused. He gave way to Akili Smith as the former Cincinnati Bengal pick tried to regain some ground in the fourth quarter, throwing six completions on 15 attempts but suffering a couple of dropped passes by his receiving corps.
The game was best summed up by Calgary coach Tom Higgins, who obviously didn't like what he had seen. "They beat us on field position, they beat us on turnovers, they beat us pretty much every which way, so hats off to them."
Compared to the weekend massacres, the Thursday game was a veritable barn burner, as the Alouettes managed to at least not lose by more than 9 points. Thursday's game had the Milt Stegall story as its central focus as Stegall attempted to snap the CFL record for touchdowns, it didn't turn out to be Milt's night on Thursday, but compared to the carnage of the weekend, he and the Bombers will take a win and another shot at the record anytime.
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