Gibson's Players of the Week (Week Six) August 7 , 2012

Week Six was a light work load for the CFL, with only two games scheduled as the CFL entered the bye weeks of August.  It made for less work for the CFL's Gibson's Awards panel, but there was still much to work with in all categories.

Brandon Whitaker kept the panel focused on the Als running game as he provided the spark to the Als victory over the Bombers.

Whitaker helped Montreal to collect the bulk of the awards with two highlights of the weekend, BC and Toronto sharing in the remaining two, leaving the Bombers shut out once again on the recognition tables.


CFL.ca Press release

Offensive Player of the Week

Brandon Whitaker, Montreal RB

The Alouettes running game jumped to life on the feet of Brandon Whitaker, as the Als running back collected 115 yards on 18 carries, he added to the Als offensive totals with another 64 yards through the air. It marks the second time this year that Whitaker has been named to the Player of the Week rolls.


Defensive Player of the Month

Adam Bighill, BC Lions, LB

The Lions defensive corps have been carrying the bulk of the weight so far for BC this season, steady in and out of each week of play. Much of that credit goes to the imposing force that has become the Lions front line and none more so imposing that Adam Bighill, who collected seven tackles combined with one QB sack and an interception as the Lions topped the Argos in a defensive battle. It's Bighill's second time on the rolls this season.


Special Teams

Sean Whyte, Montreal Alouettes K

The one consistent factor for Montreal so far this season has been the Als kicker Sean Whyte, who seemingly provides the spark in the Als line up from week to week. This weekend past it was Whyte who once again contributed key points when required for Montreal, connecting on 4 of 4 field goal attempts and adding on three extra points, half of Montreal's totals on the day. A solid day's effort that was noted by the folks at the Gibson's awards.

Top Canadian

James Yurichuk, Toronto Argonauts, LB

The Argos are still looking to sort things out both offensively and defensively, but the progress on the defensive side of the ball has been impressive as the double Blue work into form this season. One bright light for the D side is James Yurichuk, who had a strong game against the Grey Cup Champ Lions on Monday, Yurichuk had five tackles and one interception on the day, a performance that gained him the Canadian player of the week.

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Gibson's Players of the Week Archives for 2012

Twelve Men Review-- Week Six (ending August 6)

The CFL bye weeks provided for but two games as the August long weekend played out,  the Bombers  once again ended up on the negative side of the CFL ledger as the Alouettes came to town on Friday and grabbed the two points offered up to them.

The weekend came to an end in a defensive struggle in Toronto as the Lions took advantage of some Argo gifts and then knuckled down to hold off the Double Blue, taking a win back to British Columbia with them for their CFL vacation period.

The reviews of the week can be found below.

Montreal at Winnipeg

The Alouettes put the breaks on a two game losing skid, overcoming a sense of the plot line of Planes, Trains and Automobiles to eventually make it to Montreal and then claim victory in a hard played contest at Canad Inn stadium

The Als defensive squad played some solid and hard hitting football (perhaps a little too hard in one particular instance) on the way to a 36 to 26 victory over the Bombers, setting up yet a new round of discussion in Winnipeg as to whether Alex Brink will be able to hold the fort for the Bombers while Buck Pierce recovers from his latest injury.

Fridays game was the first road win of the year for the Alouettes, a rather astounding game note considering the Als dominance of the league over the last few seasons, though perhaps indicative as to their early season struggles this year.

Much of the Als early scoring on Friday came from the foot of Sean Whyte who connected on four for four in the early portion of play, the Als offence not getting untracked until the final quarter, Anthony Calvillo frustrated by stalled drives that left the Als deep in Bomber territory but unable to capitalize with majors when the chance arrived.

The Bombers offence likewise wasn't particularly effective until the final quarter, Alex Brink struggled to gain momentum on the Bomber possessions and frequently felt the pressure of the Alouetted defence, in one instance in the form of a nasty hit that should have been called as a penalty but remarkably did not result in injury for the Bombers QB.

The Als eventually took charge of the score board, propelling their points to the 36 mark, the Bombers countered but the game at that point was into the final moments and the comeback, such as it was, would not be near enough to take down the Als.

Both teams take advantage of their bye week to rest up and review the many troublesome aspects of their game plan,  offering much to look at and try to fix before they next take to the field again.

A look back at the Bombers and Als can be found here

British Columbia at Toronto

It was a defensive battle at Rogers Centre on Monday, the Lions Defensive unit proving to be the stronger of the two unites on this day, though to their credit the Argos defensive play kept their team in the contest until the very end.

The Argos surrendered some gift points early on through turnovers and those proved to be the margin of victory in the 18-9 Lions win, Ricky Ray offering up a number of uncharacteristic interceptions that provided the Lions with opportunity and field position early on.

The inconsistency of the Argos offence proved to be the biggest obstacle to their success, whether it was through turnovers, badly timed penalties or apparent brain cramps on the field, the victory wasn't so much earned by the Lions but gifted at times.

The troubles of the offence on the day, made for a long day for the Double Blue defence which responded well to the challenge, keeping Travis Lulay off balance for the majority of the game, though when the opportunity for some offensive punch presented itself, Lulay took advantage of it, some nice passing setting up scoring plays for the Lions, who while not scoring often, scored enough when it counted.

The Lions defence clearly had a good day against Ricky Ray, setting back the Argos offensive plans a bit, after some impressive games over the last few weeks, the Lions one of the stronger Defensive units that the Argos have faced thus far, highlighted the sill many pieces that need to be fixed in Argoland for Toronto to be a major threat this year.

Monday's play provides both coaching staffs with items to ponder heading into their bye weeks, for the Lions more of a case of tweaking some of their offensive plans, for the Argos perhaps requiring a bit more thought about overall plans and how to bring both the offence and defence closer to parity as far as game long performances go.

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