Introduction | Week 3 | Week 5
Hope everyone enjoyed their Canada Day weekend! We had some great football, including our first overtime game. Given that, let’s briefly review the overtime rules before we jump into the games.
In overtime, each team takes turns playing “mini games”. Team A starts on their own 35 yard line, and attempts to score. When their drive ends, either in a score or turnover, team B gets the ball on their 35 yard line and gets the same opportunity. Once each team has played a mini game, whoever has more points wins. If the game is still tied, they go to another overtime period and repeat the process. If the game is still tied at the end of second overtime, the game is declared a draw.
EDMONTON ELKS @ BC LIONS
Played: Thursday June 27
Final Score: EDM 21 – BC 24
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: EDM-4 BC-3 | Q2: EDM-8 BC-10 | Q3: EDM-0 BC-0 | Q4: EDM-9 BC-11
Game VOD
Man, Edmonton just cannot catch a break. This team would probably be higher up in the standings if they’d had a different schedule, but they had to run the gauntlet at the start. At the end of week 4, the teams they’ve played have a combined record of 12-2, and Edmonton have been competitive in all the games. They’re playing well on all sides of the ball for the most part, they’re a pretty good team. The two big issues continue to be turnovers and penalties. They gave up close to 100 yards in penalties this game, and multiple turnovers which all had a huge impact. When they can hold onto the ball and get out of their own way I can see a Grey Cup contender here. Unfortunately they always seem to be one mistake away from winning games. It was one thing last year when the team was bad and they were losing, but having the team be good and lose is a special kind of heartbreak. They have the bye next week, and then face Ottawa twice and then Hamilton. That’s going to be their best chance to pick up wins, so they need to dial it in this next couple weeks.
The Lions continue to look pretty comfortable out there. Their offensive line is doing a much better job of giving Vernon Adams Jr. time to get rid of the ball, which is making their offence much more reliable. He can scramble with the best of them, don’t get me wrong, but he shines when he has time to pick his targets. BC did have some issues on the kicking end, however. There was a high snap in the first quarter that robbed them of a field goal, and a seriously bungled punt gave Edmonton decent field position in the second quarter. That punt didn’t end up in points for the Elks, but it very easily could have. I imagine punter Stefan Flintoft (who is also in charge of taking the snap for field goals) is going to get a talking to after that performance, but ultimately the Lions won the game. BC would be handily running the West right now if not for a wildly over-performing Roughriders team. The Lions go to Hamilton next week, I’m looking forward to watching from the stands as my poor team gets clobbered.
MONTREAL ALOUETTES @ TORONTO ARGONAUTS
Played: Friday June 28
Final Score: MTL 30 – TOR 20
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: MTL-7 TOR-6 | Q2: MTL-6 TOR-0 | Q3: MTL-10 TOR-6 | Q4: MTL-7 TOR-8
Game VOD
This Alouettes team continues to be scary as hell. Their offence is strong and consistent, and their defence is just oppressive. They struggled a little with the Toronto defence in the first half, but in the second they put their foot on the gas and did not let up. One could argue that maybe Montreal’s stats are a little inflated as two of the teams they’ve beaten are currently 0-4, but I’ll keep arguing that that 0-4 Elks team is good, actually. Regardless, it will definitely be interesting when Montreal finally runs into BC and Saskatchewan. I was already pretty high on this team coming into the season, but they are seriously exceeding my expectations. I really can’t think of anything to nitpick. Sure, David Cote whiffed one of his field goals, but he landed the other three. There was a slightly spooky moment where quarterback Cody Fajardo got rocked and had to sit out a couple of plays, but he was right back in after no worse for wear. The Als return home next week to face a pretty solid Stampeders team, so we’ll see if they can stretch their winning streak to 5.
Toronto did this one to themselves. They played good football, but it felt like every time they gained a yard they’d go back two due to penalties. They were the most penalized team in the whole league this week, with 120 yards given up. That is just shy of double the yards given up by Montreal. The Argos were in this game for basically the entire thing, and they were close to mounting a comeback in the 4th quarter, but it was just too little too late. They did a good job of stopping Montreal in the first half, but then they started tripping over themselves. While Fajardo was stuck on the bench, they absolutely mobbed Als backup quarterback Caleb Evans, but ended up giving up 15 yards in penalties, giving up a golden opportunity to stop the Montreal offence dead. The Argonauts square off against the undefeated Roughriders next week, and they’re going to need to get this under control. Though given Saskatchewan’s penchant for penalties, they may not need to tighten their game up that much.
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS @ CALGARY STAMPEDERS
Played: Saturday June 29
Final Score: WPG 19 – CGY 22
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: WPG-3 CGY-0 | Q2: WPG-6 CGY-7 | Q3: WPG-0 CGY-4 | Q4: WPG-10 CGY-8 | OT: WPG-0 CGY-3
Game VOD
It has to be frustrating to be a Bombers fan right now. This is the best the team has looked all season, and they still can’t get it done. Their rushing offence is still great, but their passing is leaving a lot to be desired. With receiver Dalton Schoen stuck on the 6 game injured list, that problem is going to get worse before it gets better. Winnipeg didn’t get their only touchdown until the dying moments of the 4th quarter. While it did tie up the game and forced overtime, they needed that offence to click much sooner. Zach Collaros also sat out the entire second half after a gnarly hit. It made offence much more difficult going forward, but given the astounding number of quarterbacks that were injured last season, I’m glad they made him sit and take it easy. One major positive is that kicker Sergio Castillo seems to have gotten over his yips, and made all four of his field goals and put up most of the Bombers’ points. Winnipeg continues to hunt for their first win, and their rematch against Ottawa next week is probably going to be their best chance for a while.
Like Winnipeg, Calgary had their best success this game running the ball. It seemed like Jake Maier just could not connect on any pass longer than about 10-12 yards. Touchdowns were just as hard for this team to come by, as they didn’t get their first and only until about half way through the 4th quarter. The Stamps defence, at least, continued to put in work. They did a great job of stuffing Winnipeg’s drives, and forced the game into a field goal duel. Unfortunately, Winnipeg managed a last ditch drive that tied the game and forced overtime. Kicker Rene Paredes got the overtime field goal, and was well in front of the home crowd. This team has a solid defence, but their offence needs to get it in gear. Of the four receivers who got at least five targets, only Marken Michel managed to pull in over half. That number needs to get better if Calgary wants to compete for the Grey Cup. So far their only wins are against teams who are currently 0-4. Next week the Stamps stare down a Montreal team who haven’t lost a game since the middle of last season. God help them.
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS @ OTTAWA REDBLACKS
Played: Sunday June 30
Final Score: HAM 22 – OTT 24
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: HAM-7 OTT-9 | Q2: HAM-3 OTT-3 | Q3: HAM-3 OTT-0 | Q4: HAM-9 OTT-12
Game VOD
Well, there was good and bad in this game for the Tiger-Cats. Receiver Tim White finally looked like his old self again, putting up more yards in this game than the previous three combined. The Cats managed to avoid turning over the ball for the most part, and kicker Marc Liegghio continues to do solid work. I even have to admit that quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell is playing well, despite my initial misgivings about him possibly being over the hill. Unfortunately, penalties continue to be an issue. The Ticats committed significantly fewer penalties than they did last game, but they were still taking them in crucial moments. Punt returns were again not great this game. Even with White taking over return duties after Lawrence Woods III was injured, they still struggled to get good field position. Something needs to change there, and given that Hamilton just dropped their special teams coordinator Paul Boudreau, the front office clearly feels the same way. This Hamilton team needs a win in the worst way, and with BC coming to town next week, I don’t it’s likely to happen soon.
Ottawa may have won this game, but they didn’t exactly come out of it smelling like roses. Right out of the gate DeVonte Dedmon, who has otherwise been great, got stripped of the ball on the opening kickoff, which set Hamilton up for a touchdown in a strange mirror of what happened to Hamilton last week in Regina. Outside of that one blip, however, the Ottawa special teams unit continues to do well. The same cannot necessarily be said for quarterback Dru Brown. Brown threw a number of dodgy passes this game, and it’s a small miracle he wasn’t intercepted. The offensive line needs to do a better job protecting him, because when the pressure is on his decision making declines quickly. Their defence was solid, though, getting a number of sacks and generally making life miserable for the Tiger-Cats. The Redblacks still need a bit of polish, but I think they could get there. They travel to Winnipeg next week, and I think they have pretty good odds of picking up win number three against the Blue Bombers.
STANDINGS AT THE END OF WEEK 4
EAST
MONTREAL ALOUETTES 4 – 0
OTTAWA REDBLACKS 2 – 1
TORONTO ARGONAUTS 2 – 1
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS 0 – 4
WEST
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS 3 – 0
BC LIONS 3 – 1
CALGARY STAMPEDERS 2 – 1
EDMONTON ELKS 0 – 4
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS 0 – 4
NEXT WEEK: WEEK 5
Toronto @ Saskatchewan – Thursday July 4 9PM EDT
Ottawa @ Winnipeg – Friday July 5 8:30PM EDT
Calgary @ Montreal – Saturday July 6 7PM EDT
BC @ Hamilton – Sunday July 7 7PM EDT