White Noise

Introduction | Week 1 | Week 3

The season continues! Lots of ups and downs on this one with some surprising outcomes!

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS @ OTTAWA REDBLACKS
Played: Thursday June 13
Final Score: WPG 19 – OTT 23
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: WPG-0 OTT-10 | Q2: WPG-10 OTT-6 | Q3: WPG-7 OTT-0 | Q4: WPG-2 OTT-7
Game VOD

I know I keep banging this drum, but there is something wrong with this Winnipeg team. Zach Collaros only made fifteen of his thirty-one pass attempts. He just could not find his receivers. They still managed to slightly outperform Ottawa in passing yards, but the Redblacks racked up over three times as many running yards as the Bombers did. Combine that with Collaros getting sacked multiple times and throwing two interceptions, and it’s not surprising that Winnipeg didn’t win this one. The Bombers did pull off some impressive plays and turned them into two touchdowns, but there were more drives that ended two and out. I’m completely baffled at this team. This is the best score they’ve put up so far, and they still have yet to crack twenty. This was, admittedly, a close game, but close does not cut it. Some adjustments need to be made for next week to win against the Lions.

This Ottawa defence was hot all game long. They did not give the Bombers a moment to breathe, and also managed to snag two interceptions in the process. Beyond that, they put up a rock solid defence in the fourth quarter to stuff Winnipeg’s last chance drive with only fifty seconds left on the clock. This game looks very different without Damon Webb’s huge dive to block a touchdown pass that would have given Winnipeg a substantial lead. Their offence also put in a very solid performance, particularly on the ground. Ryquell Armstead ran for 95 yards, good for second most of anyone in the game, including all the receivers on both teams. A win like this is a huge morale boost, especially for the home opener. I’m really liking what I’m seeing from this team. They have to face down a scary Montreal team in their own house next week, though. We’ll see if they can carry this momentum forward and take them down a peg.

MONTREAL ALOUETTES @ EDMONTON ELKS
Played: Friday June 14
Final Score: MTL 23 – EDM 20
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: MTL-7 EDM-7 | Q2: MTL-10 EDM-6 | Q3: MTL-0 EDM-0 | Q4: MTL-6 EDM-7
Game VOD

Montreal’s defence have really been putting in work this season. They made two huge interceptions, one of which was in their own endzone and set them up for the touchdown that won them the game. That’s the second time in two games a Montreal player has snatched points away from the other team at the last possible second. The defence harassed Edmonton all night long, and kept the pressure up on McLeod Bethel-Thompson. The offence played well, but they did have issues finishing drives. They moved the ball, but stalled out outside of field goal range surprisingly often. They started out the game very hot with a fast touchdown, but were unable to keep that momentum going. Running back Walter Fletcher had an amazing game, making some incredible runs and catches, and picking up a touchdown. This team is still very scary, but I would like to see the offence finish stronger.

I really think this Edmonton team is better than their record shows. Unfortunately, they now sit 0-2 in the standings. Their defence is playing solid, but the offence is letting them down. Most concerning is how often McLeod Bethel-Thompson is throwing interceptions. While the Al’s did end up punting on the first, the second was critical to them winning the game. If that second interception doesn’t happen, this is an Elks win by a significant margin. The Elks also need to improve on finishing drives. After a fast touchdown on their second possession of the game, they only kicked 2 field goals until the last minute of the 4th quarter. Even then, Montreal managed to delay that drive until only 30 seconds were on the clock, and Edmonton could not recover the onside kick. They kept it close until the end, but a handful of errors on offence were all it took to take away the win.

CALGARY STAMPEDERS @ BC LIONS
Played: Saturday June 15
Final Score: CGY 17 – BC 26
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: CGY-7 BC-0 | Q2: CGY-3 BC-14 | Q3: CGY-7 BC-3 | Q4: CGY-0 BC-9
Game VOD

While Calgary didn’t come away with the win, I think they still had a lot to be proud of. In particular, their defence made life a living hell for Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. There were some plays where the Stamps were sending 8 guys to run Adams down, and it worked more often than it didn’t. Calgary even managed to block 2 extra point kicks on touchdowns. While the offence did put in a solid showing, there were a few unfortunate turnovers, one of which cemented the win for BC. I’m liking quarterback Jake Maier more the more I see of him; he’s got a good arm and can scramble with the best of them. It’s just unfortunate that they couldn’t quite crack BC’s defence. If they can reduce their turnovers, I think this team could be really scary.

The Lions had a real rough start to the game. Vernon Adams Jr. spent most of the first quarter running for his life as it felt like half of the Stampeders’ roster was barrelling down on him every play. Things got a little better after some adjustment, and Adams started being able to get the ball out. The passing game continues to be this team’s strong point, but bringing in William Stanback has had a huge impact in their running offence. The most important play of the night was also one of the stranger ones as BC linebacker Josh Woods batted a Calgary fumble out of bounds to give BC possession with less than 4 minutes left in the game, which the Lions used to extend their lead. Not exactly the flashiest play, but without it this game looks very different. One thing that concerns me about this team is Adams’ decision to stay in for short yardage. Most teams will employ a quarterback whose job is specifically to pick up short 1-2 yard gains to avoid potentially injuring their starter in a very physical play. Adams has been choosing to stay in for short yardage, which I’m not a fan of. If he gets injured, that will be a huge setback to this team.

SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS @ HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
Played: Sunday June 16
Final Score: SSK 33 – HAM 30
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: SSK-7 HAM-3 | Q2: SSK-0 HAM-17 | Q3: SSK-10 HAM-7 | Q4: SSK-16 HAM-3
Game VOD

Well, that was a heart-breaker. The Cats did a great job of extending the lead early and spent most of the game up two scores. They were even the recipients of a gift from god when a fumble call on running back James Butler got overturned by illegal participation on Saskatchewan, which kept Hamilton’s drive alive and lead to a touchdown to seriously extend their lead. Unfortunately, we then saw something we didn’t get to last week; a classic fourth quarter meltdown. Hamilton only scored three points in the fourth quarter, and completely threw the game away with an interception while they were tied with less than a minute left. On offence, this team relies too heavily on receiver Tim White and running back James Butler. Both players are very good, but if you only run plays involving them it becomes very predictable and easy to counter. In fact, despite the sheer number of times the ball was given to White and Butler, all of the Ticats touchdowns were scored by other receivers. On defence, they really need to force turnovers. This team is pretty decent at stopping the play, but they have yet to get a single interception or to force a fumble. Rounding out the problems is special teams. Lawrence Woods III averaged a little under thirteen yards per return, which makes the offence’s problems moving the ball even worse as they start with worse field position. I really don’t know what the solution is going forward, but they need to figure something out.

I swear the weirdest games I’ve seen at Tim Hortons Field are always when Saskatchewan comes to town. This team isn’t bad, but they seem to manage to squeak out wins at the last minute. Maybe that’s just my perception though. They literally won this one in the final minute when the ball bounced off of Tim White and into the waiting arms of Riders linebacker CJ Avery. I really don’t know how to assess this team. I don’t think they’re bad, and their defence did a great job controlling things, especially the run, and their offence was pretty strong. They play very undisciplined, constantly getting penalties, but it doesn’t seem to matter. I’ll be the first to admit, it makes exciting football watching the Riders scramble their way to a miraculous fourth quarter win, I just don’t think it’s going to be enough going forward. Hamilton and Edmonton are not exactly top tier teams in the league right now, and once the Riders start playing against teams like Montreal I think they’re going to come up short. At the very least, they need to focus on discipline and stop taking so many penalties.

STANDINGS AT THE END OF WEEK 2

EAST
MONTREAL ALOUETTES 2 – 0
TORONTO ARGONAUTS 1 – 0
OTTAWA REDBLACKS 1 – 0
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS 0 – 2

WEST
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS 2 – 0
CALGARY STAMPEDERS 1 – 1
BC LIONS 1 – 1
EDMONTON ELKS 0 – 2
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS 0 – 2

NEXT WEEK: WEEK 3

Ottawa @ Montreal – Thursday June 20 7:30PM EDT
BC @ Winnipeg – Friday June 21 8:30PM EDT
Edmonton @ Toronto – Saturday June 22 7PM EDT
Hamilton @ Saskatchewan – Sunday June 23 7PM EDT

Introduction | Preseason Week 3 | Week 2

The regular season begins! We’ve seen these teams experimenting and trying out new players, now we see how they play when points are on the line.

MONTREAL ALOUETTES @ WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
Played: Thursday June 6
Final Score: MTL 27 – WPG 12
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: MTL-7 WPG-3 | Q2: MTL-7 WPG-2 | Q3: MTL-4 WPG-0 | Q4: MTL-9 WPG-7
Game VOD

Alright, I knew this Montreal defence was scary, but my god are they a frightening bunch. The Alouettes defence absolutely smothered the Bombers, and pulled out some truly remarkable stops. The big highlight of the night was defensive back Marc-Antoine Dequoy making a beautiful interception in his own endzone to deny Winnipeg a touchdown and hold their lead in the second quarter. Even when Winnipeg was able to put drives together and threaten to score, the Als’ defence held them back and forced them to kick. I certainly don’t want to take anything away from Montreal’s offence, though. Fajardo, Philpot, and the rest of the gang played great football after a bit of a rocky first quarter. If the team is playing this well now, they’re going to be very scary once they’ve settled in and gotten comfortable.

I know I said it last week, but what is going on in Winnipeg? This did not look like the Bombers team that I know and loathe. While Collaros and Oliveira still looked great, the offence really struggled to find a rhythm. A large part of that can be attributed to the aforementioned Montreal defence, but now the special teams are struggling. Winnipeg had a hell of a time trying to return punts, with most returns being under ten yards. More concerning was the performance of kicker Sergio Castillo, who only managed to land one of his three field goal attempts, and also missed the extra point on Winnipeg’s only touchdown. Castillo was a dynamite kicker last season, so this kind of performance is very out of character and deeply worrying. If we count the preseason, the Bombers have now lost three games in a row, all of them blowouts. They need to get their act together fast if they want to be in the Grey Cup conversation this year.

HAMILTON TIGER-CATS @ CALGARY STAMPEDERS
Played: Friday June 7
Final Score: HAM 24 – CGY 32
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: HAM-0 CGY-6 | Q2: HAM-7 CGY-13 | Q3: HAM-0 CGY-3 | Q4: HAM-17 CGY-10
Game VOD

Well, Hamilton certainly set the tone for this game by getting a penalty for too many men on the field on the very first play of the game. Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell had a lot of trouble getting the ball to his receivers for most of the game. Eventually they figured it out, and managed two touchdowns and a field goal in the fourth quarter, but by then it was too late. They put together some solid drives, mostly off the back of running back James Butler, but had to settle for field goals as they were repeatedly stopped at the last moment by the Stampeders’ defence. They kept it competitive though, and if they could have gotten the offence rolling earlier, this game looks a lot different. Frustratingly, this team is still taking unnecessary penalties on offence; things like too many men or time count violations. This was a recurring problem last season, and it makes me uneasy as a fan to see the team still playing so undisciplined.

The Stamps continue to look like a very solid team. Like the Cats, they had most success on offence with the run, powered by running back Dedrick Mills. However, Maier had much more luck finding his receivers than Mitchell did. On top of solid offence, the Calgary defence were also playing very well. They repeatedly stuffed Hamilton’s offence, sometimes at the very last moment, and kept points off the board. Calgary also got the only interception of the game courtesy of Mitchell throwing the ball directly into Stampeders defensive back Demerio Houston’s arms. Calgary played solid, well rounded football, and were very much rewarded. We’ll see if they can carry that forward, or if the cracks will start to show when they play better teams.

SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS @ EDMONTON ELKS
Played: Saturday June 8
Final Score: SSK 29 – EDM 21
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: SSK-7 EDM-3 | Q2: SSK-0 EDM-8 | Q3: SSK-1 EDM-7 | Q4: SSK-21 EDM-3
Game VOD

Saskatchewan came out of the gate strong this game with an early touchdown, but quickly cooled off. They spent all of the second and third quarters doing damage control, only getting a single point across both quarters. In the fourth quarter, however, the Riders looked like a completely different team. They scored twenty-one points while holding the Elks to a measly three. Saskatchewan forced three turnovers, all of which resulted in points. Honestly, the last five minutes of this game is worth a watch. Fumbles on both sides, and a mad scramble from Edmonton that came up just short. Receiver Shawn Bane Jr. was the hero of the night, pulling in all of the Riders touchdowns and putting in just a phenomenal performance. A slightly more dubious honour goes to Riders offensive lineman Logan Ferland for getting himself a penalty I’ve never seen before by fully punching Edmonton’s Leon O’Neal Jr. in the face and earning himself an ejection from the game in the process. If the Riders can get their offence to be a little more consistent and generally play a little more disciplined, they’ll be looking a little more like a playoff team.

Edmonton looked pretty good for most of this game. Unfortunately, they had absolutely rotten luck in the last quarter. Multiple fumbles and interceptions stopped them dead before they could get any momentum going. Moreover, penalties were a constant problem. They didn’t have anything quite as dramatic as Ferland’s right hook, but they did spend a fair amount of the game walking backwards. It would be nice to have a single thing to point to to explain the loss, but there really isn’t any. Edmonton played well for most of the game, and even during that disastrous fourth quarter they got an interception that gave them the chance to tie it up with thirty seconds on the clock. There’s the bones of a good team here. McLeod Bethel Thompson, Geno Lewis, Kurleigh Gittens Jr., there are great players here. They just need to figure out how to make it all work. Hopefully they can figure it out by the time a scary Alouettes team comes to town next week.

BC LIONS @ TORONTO ARGONAUTS
Played: Sunday June 9
Final Score: BC 27 – TOR 35
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: BC-0 TOR-6 | Q2: BC-20 TOR-10 | Q3: BC-4 TOR-10 | Q4: BC-3 TOR-9
Game VOD

BC came out of the gate on this one looking strong. They put together three very quick touchdowns in the second quarter, including one off of a sack immediately after Toronto took possession. Unfortunately, the Argos defence came out in full force after that. On the next possession they intercepted the Lions and turned it into their own touchdown. BC kept the game within two or three points for another quarter and a half, but a costly fumble killed their momentum, and Toronto were able to solidify their lead. BC’s biggest problem was their inability to stop the Argos from blitzing quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. Adams was too busy running for his life for most of the second half to make good passes. Even with their problems, they put up very respectable numbers. The Lions rely heavily on the pass, so they need to make sure that pocket holds for long enough for Adams to get the ball away.

I really wasn’t sure how Cameron Dukes was going to fare as Argos quarterback, but he’s proving himself. Toronto’s offence focused on running the ball and making short passes, and that worked out quite well for them. After the initial flurry of BC touchdowns, the Argos started playing great on both sides of the ball. It turns out even after losing the best quarterback and one of the best running backs in the league this is still the team that went sixteen and two last season. Toronto didn’t pull off dramatic or startling plays, but a solid offence complemented by a defence that ate the BC offence alive just pushed the ball down the field and scored points. Sometimes that’s all you need. If you’re planning to watch any of these games in full, make it this one. Exciting back and forth all game, even if the Argos ended up winning.

STANDINGS AT THE END OF WEEK 1

EAST DIVISION
MONTREAL ALOUETTES 1 – 0
TORONTO ARGONAUTS 1 – 0
OTTAWA REDBLACKS 0 – 0
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS 0 – 1

WEST DIVISION
CALGARY STAMPEDERS 1 – 0
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS 1 – 0
EDMONTON ELKS 0 – 1
BC LIONS 0 – 1
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS 0 – 1

NEXT WEEK: WEEK 2

Winnipeg @ Ottawa – Thursday June 13 7:30PM EDT
Montreal @ Edmonton – Friday June 14 9PM EDT
Calgary @ BC – Saturday June 15 7PM EDT
Saskatchewan @ Hamilton – Sunday June 16 7PM EDT

Introduction | Preseason Week 2

Today we cover the last of the preseason games, and look forward to what the regular season will bring.

Introduction | Preseason Week 1 | Preseason Week 3

We have a full slate of games this week, so let’s just jump right into it.