The back end of the Labour Day Classic games have provided for some space atop the standings for some and a descent to the depths of the CFL rankings for others and yes the usual suspects are in both locations.
As the CFL makes the turn from the midway point towards the finish line of the 2012 season parity is ruling for the most part with the exception of two locations, Hamilton and Winnipeg where parity is but a dream, the reality there is of a season gone very, very wrong.
While the Tiger Cats and Blue Bombers seek to find answers to questions that grow by the game, the rest of the league is just trucking along, swapping wins, edging ahead in the standings then stumbling a bit to allow for some catch up, a pattern that most likely seems destined to continue through until November.
Reviews of the week just passed as follows.
Saskatchewan at Winnipeg
When it comes time to publish the reviews of the 2012 Blue Bomber season, the working title of the study should be "as many was as possible to LOSE a game", Sunday the Blue managed to add yet another item to the lengthy, lengthy list of miscues of 2012, snatching defeat from what seemed to be a sure victory.
A misguided coaching decision to punt rather than attempt a field goal set the stage for a Saskatchewan comeback that put the 25-24 exclamation point on two weeks of horror for the fans of the Bombers.
The Bombers, heading into the final moments of the game looked poised to claim victory, something that has eluded them for most of this season, only to watch in disbelief as back up quarterback Drew Willy led the Riders down to field goal range, setting the table for Sandro DeAngelis to successfully make a 40 yard game clinching field goal with no time on the clock.
Willy, led a cast of back ups in the Banjo Bowl, taking over for the injured Darian Durant in the first quarter, finding a few familiar faces standing beside Durant on the sidelines, still the Riders' B squad while not dominating, found success when required to keep pace with the Bombers.
Surprised to find themselves still in the game as the final minutes were ticking down.
Bombers head coach Tim Burke took the responsibility for the botched call, admitting that in retrospect the field goal attempt would probably have been the better option with the game on the line.
His intention of course was to pin the Riders deep in their own end with an out of bounds punt. By his conservative choice and a ball that didn't bounce out, the Riders were able to launch the final drive with time on the clock.
Willy securing some confidence for his coach led the team down the field and then turned the ball over to DeAngelis who played the final tune on the banjo for this year with his successful kick.
The Bombers loss, adds to the litany of mistakes and missed opportunities that have marked much of this season.
More things to keep the radio talk shows lively for another week we imagine in the Manitoba capital.
The previews and reviews of the game can be found here.
Montreal at British Columbia
The Alouettes have found BC Place to be the black hole of the CFL for more than a few years now, last Friday once again reaffirmed that theory, as the Lions administered a thorough thrashing of the Als in front an enthusiastic home crowd.
Travis Lulay shook off a sub par performance of Labour Day weekend to connect with a battalion of receivers on Saturday, putting points up at will it seemed on the way to the Lions convincing 43-10 victory over the Als.
As a testimony to the Lions depth at the receiver position this year, the Lions managed to put the 40 plus points on the board without the services of one of the league's marquee players in Geroy Simon. Simon, who was left on the sidelines to tend to injury watched along with the crowd as Lulay picked apart the Als secondary.
Montreal's rather impressive winning streak came to a sudden end on Saturday, a performance that more resembled the struggling Als of the early season than the dominating squad of August. The loss clearly suggesting that despite equal records of 6-3 going into the game, only one of the two teams was on top of their game on this weekend.
Besides the obvious defensive problems on Saturday, there were the struggles to get the offence moving that Anthony Calvillo had, the numerous and untimely penalties and atrocious special teams play that did much to make the Lions work easy on the weekend play.
The victory moved the Lions further to the top of the West standings, the loss gave the Argos the advantage in the quest to claim the top spot in the East. Rankings that are still close mind you, but with clear definitions as to the teams that may remain at the top by November and which ones could stumble further before we make it to the Grey Cup.
The previews and reviews of the game can be found here.
Hamilton at Toronto
The Argos scored by the air and by the ground, a dominating performance that really wasn't done justice by the final score of 45-31, the Argos claiming both victories in the annual Labour Day back to backs.
It was the break out game for Chad Kackert, who ran for 239 yards, both by the run and the pass, securing 3 of the Argos TD's on the game and perhaps finally putting to rest any concerns over his placement at the top of the Argos running game depth chart.
Saturday also gave the Argos another outstanding performance from Ricky Ray who directed an Argonaut attack that accumulated 500 yards of offence, 331 of them in the air, surrendering only one interception on the afternoon.
By far the final result could have been much worse for Hamilton, on a pair of drives the Argos stalled out, not even collecting points on field goal attempts that went wide.
Penalties provided a bit of hope for the Cats, who took advantage of a number of Argo mistakes to gain a few points that made things close, but once again it was a game that was more than a bit frustrating for Kevin Glenn who still has yet to get untracked in his role as the Cats marquee signal caller.
His cause was not aided by a star studded receiving corps that suddenly is having problems reeling in routine passes and frequently provide that key play that brings a drive to and end.
Things that head coach George Cortez needs to sort out rather quickly, with the CFL season heading towards the playoffs now, the learning curve surely needs to come to an end in Hamilton, otherwise they'll be studying the playbook in an off season that starts on Halloween.
The previews and reviews of the game can be found here.
Calgary at Edmonton
The Battle of Alberta turned into a sweep for the southerners, as the Stampeders on the strength of the running game of Jon Cornish and a hit goal post by the Eskimos eked out another late victory taking four points for the standings in the back to back games around Labour Day.
Cornish, who is quickly becoming the most reliable running back in recent years in the CFL, once again took the Stamps on his shoulders and galloped down the field, a 59 yard touchdown run with five minutes to go, providing the back breaking moment for the Eskimos.
The Cornish run put the Stamps ahead heading into the final moments of the game, though in true CFL style the game would not be settled until the last play of the game, a 42 yard field goal attempt that would have put the Eskimos into the win column doinked off the upright, a dead ball finishing off the Eskimos would be comeback sending the Stamps home with the bragging rights for the season.
The disappointing ending was perhaps an unfitting finale to a pretty impressive drive by Kerry Joseph, who engineered the downfield march to put the Esks in position to win the game and split the Labour Day weekend.
Alas, the stars would not align up for Kavis Reed and the Eskimos, the failed field goal attempt the second week in a row that the Esks would lose out on the chance to secure a 20-18 victory in the late going, a sudden losing skid that perhaps is more painful considering who they have lost two in consecutive weeks.
The win pushes the Stamps towards the Lions at the top of the CFL West, the Esks stumbling towards third, though playoff dreams still very much alive given the woeful state of football in both Hamilton and Winnipeg this year, even a total Eskimo collapse to fourth place would still at the moment be enough to gain a crossover berth in the East playoff.
Not that Edmonton is probably focused on that back door transit, competitive in both Labour Day contests, they are but a few tweaks away from storming back up the same standings that they currently have dropped on.
The previews and reviews of the game can be found here.
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