CFL Week 6 Preview

Article by Duncan Gray

 

We're a quarter of the way through the 2015 regular season and one of the big stories has been just how even the teams are. In fact the CFL have come up with a statistic which says that 70% of the games so far have been decided in the last 3 minutes. It's no wonder that the Nissan Titan Power Rankings are being argued over.

 

1	Toronto Argonauts	Last week 2
2	Calgary Stampeders	1
3	Montreal Alouettes	3
4	Edmonton Eskimos	7
5	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	5
6	BC Lions	6
7	Ottawa REDBLACKS	8
8	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	4
9	Saskatchewan Roughriders	9

 

It's too early in the season to write off the 0 and 5 Roughriders. In 2011 the BC Lions also started 0 and 5. They recovered and went on to win the Grey Cup that year!

 

All four games are being shown live on BT Sport ESPN this week so set your recorder and enjoy.

 

Game of the Week

Back in week 2 the game between Montreal Alouettes and Calgary Stampeders gave us the first big surprise of the season. Montreal, having lost their two best quarterbacks the previous week, dominated the champions and won by 29-11. That was the game which saw Rakeem Cato make his debut at quarterback and become the rookie sensation of the season. This Saturday night they meet again in Calgary. At second and third in the Power Rankings we expect both teams to  put on a show.
The Stampeders (3&2) suffered setbacks last week, losing the game to Ottawa in overtime and also losing their star running back Jon Cornish with a broken thumb. He's been placed on the 6 game injured list. It's been a season where players have been coming up from practice rosters to make a name for themselves Tory Harrison will get his opportunity as replacement.

For the Alouettes, starting QB Jonathon Crompton is still a few weeks from fitness so Cato will continue to work with his excellent group of receivers, S J Green, Fred Stamps and Nik Lewis. Can they improve on their 2&2 record and keep pace with Toronto?

 

This week's TV Schedule   BC Lions at Winnipeg Blue Bombers  – LIVE Friday morning July 31, 01:30 hrs – BT Sport ESPN repeat Friday afternoon 17:00 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Saskatchewan Roughriders at Edmonton Eskimos – LIVE Saturday morning August 1, 02:00 hrs - BT Sport ESPN repeat Saturday morning 10:30 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Montreal Alouettes at Calgary Stampeders – LIVE Sunday morning August 2, 00:00 hrs - BT Sport ESPN repeat Wednesday morning August 5, 06:00 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Toronto Argonauts at Hamilton Tiger-Cats– LIVE Tuesday morning August 4, 00:00 hrs - BT Sport ESPN repeat Thursday morning August 6, 06:00 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN

 

 

The other games

 

The week starts with two West Division teams coming off bad results. BC Lions (2&2) let a 21 point lead slip last week while Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2&3) only managed to score 3 points against the might of the Eskimos defence. The Bombers will be relieved that Drew Willy is going to be fit to start at quarterback after his knee injury as back up Brian Brohm has yet to impress.  For BC, linebacker Adam Bighill, who recorded 13 tackles last week, is a player to watch.

 

Edmonton Eskimos (3&1) are the only team to have recorded three wins in a row so far and on Saturday they host the Saskatchewan Roughriders who've lost five straight. The result sounds like a foregone conclusion and, with the news that the Saskatchewan QB Kevin Glenn hasn't recovered from last weeks shoulder injury, the 'Riders are in deep trouble. The Eskimo's defence has conceded just one touchdown in the last three games. Mind you, I mentioned earlier what Rakeem Cato did to the Stampeders on his debut, maybe Glenn's back up Brett Smith can do the same. The Esk's struggled on offence last week until James Franklin took over at quarterback. Facing the 'Riders defence Matt Nichols is expected to get the start but he knows now he's under pressure.

 

Monday night sees regular season football finally reach Hamilton. After a long month on the road Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2&2) host their near neighbours in their first home game of the season. It's been a shaky start to the season for them but they were improved by the return of running back C J Gable last week. The Toronto Argonauts have been on the road since the start of the season too, in fact they don't get to play their first game in Toronto until next week. After their 21 point comeback to win last week their 3&1 record has earned them top place in the rankings. In the three games between these teams last season the widest margin of victory was two points, this should be a good one.

 

Ottawa Redblacks have the bye this week. Congratulations to them on last week's achievement of having their players take all three Shaw Player of the Week places.

The New Extra Point Rules

Article by Duncan Gray

 

One of the rule changes the CFL  introduced for this season was making the extra point after touchdowns longer and therefore more difficult. This wasn't a rushed change, the conversation about how the routine chip shot kicks were rarely missed has been going a long time. There was an article about it in the Canadian Football News in 1953.

 

The effects of the new rule were felt immediately. In the opening game of the season the first of the new kick attempts fell to the Montreal Alouettes' rookie Boris Bede. He pulled it to the left.

 

South of the border the NFL, of course, has decided to lengthen the PAT kick too. So, with the first quarter of the Canadian season now in the books and the NFL kick off getting closer, we thought we'd have a look to see how the change has gone and what the NFL has in store for it.

 

There are two intended effects of the new longer kicks.

1: to increase the number of extra point kicks which are missed and

2: to encourage teams to try more two point attempts

 

The new rules in the two codes are pretty much the same. In both the line of scrimmage for kicks will be 25 yards from the posts. The NFL two pointer is still run from the 2 yard line, in Canada it's been moved forward from the 5 to the 3. (Since Canadian football is played on a wider pitch with a deeper end zone I think their two pointer from the 3 yard line is probably slightly easier.)

 

Science, or at least maths, was applied when the Canadians set their rules. Judged from field goal records the new 32 yard extra point kick is expected to meet with a success rate of about 83% compared to the old rate of 99.5%. The 3 yard line was chosen for two point conversions as the expected success rate is 50% compared to 30% from the previous mark on the 5 yard line. Last season the two point conversion was attempted on 6% of opportunities. The CFL hopes that will be doubled this year.

 

I've added up what's happened in the twenty games played so far.

 

Kicks attempted	72
Kicks Missed	13
Success Rate	81.90%
Two Points attempted	25
Two points failed	5
Success Rate	80.00%

 

Teams have gone for two point conversions 25.8% of the time.

 

So the conversion rate for kicks is pretty close to the CFL's expectations. There are only two starting kickers who haven't missed one and there's been at least one miss in over half the games played. Interestingly, some kickers have been more successful with field goals than extra points from similar distances. It may be that the change is putting extra mental pressure on them, something for NFL teams to consider perhaps.

 

What's even more interesting is what's happening with the two point conversions.

The success rate has been well above the expected 50%. It's early days of course, the sample size is only 29 attempts (including overtime drives), but if that rate persists then simple arithmetic says the two point attempt should become the norm. The Calgary Stampeders have certainly caught on to it. In their latest game they went straight to two pointers, and since they're 6 for 6 on them why wouldn't they?

 

So have the new rules affected games? Well, during week 4 Calgary Stampeders beat Winnipeg Blue Bombers 26-25 in a game for top place in the West Division game.  Winnipeg scored the last touchdown of the game but Lirim Hajrullah missed the extra point. Calgary had also missed an extra point earlier in the game but it was the Winnipeg one which was decisive, it would have tied the scores.

 

 

 

CFL Week 5 Review

This week's Friday Night Football brought us another two thrilling games that weren't decided until the last minute. There is still no outstanding team in the league, four teams have three wins and even Saskatchewan, who've lost all five, look like they might beat any team on the day.

 

Calgary	26	Ottawa	29
Toronto	27	BC	30
Winnipeg	3	Edmonton	32
Hamilton	31	Saskatchewan	21

 

The Ottawa Redblacks supporters started getting on the backs of their players early on Friday night. The Redblacks hadn't scored in the first quarter of any game this season and against Calgary Stampeders they were quickly 11-0 behind. Henry Burris was failing to connect on long passes, receivers were dropping the shorter ones and the boos had started. Then they broke the streak. Burris capped a 9 play drive with a 24 yard touchdown pass to Ernest Jackson. From there the game became a quarterback duel with Burris and Bo Levi Mitchell both throwing for over 300 yards. The highlight was an 84 yard touchdown by Chris Williams in the 4^th quarter which gave Ottawa their first lead by three points. Unfortunately for them kicker Delbert Alvarado missed a couple of chances to improve the lead and Calgary were able to equalise with a field goal. Overtime started with a disaster for Calgary as they turned the ball over on the first play. Mitchell was sacked and gave up a fumble, leaving the way open for Ottawa to move into field goal range and for Alvarado to redeem himself with the winning kick. The Ottawa crowd were a lot happier as they left for home.

Highlights

 

BC Lions couldn't have had a better start to their game. Three drives brought three touchdowns, two runs and one pass, all scored by running back Andrew Harris. Between these the Lions defence intercepted the other Harris, Toronto Argonauts' quarterback Trevor, twice. The determination of this Argo's team has been impressive all season though and the momentum started to swing on the next drive when Trevor Harris connected with Kevin Elliott for a 54 yard TD. Their defence got a grip too and there would be no more scoring from the Lion's until they managed a couple of fourth quarter field goals. BC's Andrew Harris finished with a combined yardage of 129 yards with his three touchdowns, but it was Trevor who came out on top as he led his team to a comeback win. He completed 30 of 40 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns.

Highlights

 

 

Edmonton Eskimos had another rain soaked game on Saturday as they hosted Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Defences were on top  into the third quarter with the score at only 4-3 to the Esks. Then both teams made changes at quarterback. For the Bombers the change was forced, Drew Willy went off  after being hit high and low while being sacked. The Eskimos change was tactical, Matt Nichols was pulled in favour of rookie James Franklin. The game was all Edmonton from then. Their defence came up with two interceptions, last week's rookie find Shervin Bell hit form and Franklin threw three touchdowns from only eight passes. Expect there to be conversations about who starts at quarterback for the Eskimos next week.

Highlights

 

Hamilton Tiger-Cats completed their four game road streak with a win at Mosaic Stadium over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Hamilton's tailback C J Gable was back from the injury that has kept him out since the preseason and he made a welcome return the offence, contributing 135 yards rushing and another 29 from passes. For the 'Riders of course this was their fifth straight loss, the fourth at home, and will continue to be be the big topic of discussion in Canada. Once again they were competitive in the game, they had a seven point lead in the third quarter but they couldn't hold onto it. When Hamilton scored twice in the final quarter Saskatchewan had no answer. Having lost their quarterback Mike Reilly to a third quarter injury didn't help. Hamilton have their first home game of the season to look forward to next week, Saskatchewan face travelling to Edmonton who've won three in a row.

Highlights

Cumbletons Conclusions - A CFL Special

Article by Jonathan Cumbleton

The National Football League is in its down period before the pre-season begins but that doesn't mean that professional football isn't available to those of us in the UK. The CFL has fundamental differences that make it a different game; the field is a lot wider, there are only three downs and defensive lineman must line up a yard off the line of scrimmage. The game is still good to watch and has produced some significant NFL talent, most recently Miami Dolphins star Cameron Wake. There's also a large number of exciting players to watch that haven't caught on in the NFL including former Baylor record setter, QB Rakeem Cato, now a rookie with the Montreal Alouettes and WR Brandon 'Speedy' Banks who plays for Hamilton.

 

Regular guest on Sky Sports NFL coverage, Jeff Reinebold, provides an instant link for UK fans as the special teams coordinator for the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats.  Currently 1-2 in the CFL East Division their only win came in an impressive 52-26 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers but they are only a game behind two other teams.

 

Tiger Cats quarterback Zach Collaros was less than impressive in Week 4, 64% of his passes, going 27-42, on his way to 296 yards. Collaros threw for one touchdown and three interceptions and also lost a fumble. His interception percentage this season is already at 3.54% after two years of just over two percent. Collaros hasn't been all bad this year as he's clocked up 931 yards already (though this is inflated due to their complete lack of a running game) and is currently completing 70.8% of his passes. If he can cut out the interceptions Hamilton will make another push for the playoffs.

 

Running back has not been a position of strength this year and running back Ray Holley leads the team with 87 yards in three games. By contrast Shakir Bell of the Edmonton Eskimos ran for 144 yards on his CFL debut.

 

Luckily for the Ti-Cats the offence has been kept moving by the receiving game. Both Andy Fantuz and Bakari Grant are over two hundred yards with Grant on pace for his first 1000 yard season.

 

The Tiger-Cats have also been helped so far this season by the 100% record of kicker Justin Medlock, who knocked his sixth and seventh kicks through the uprights in week four.

 

The defence has been impressive at times this year and held Tyrell Sutton to only two yards in Week 4. Against the Blue Bombers and former NFL hopeful Brian Brohm they were stingy all day and also recorded two interceptions.

 

Help is on the way for Hamilton though. Both sides of the ball should get a substantial boost with the news that jack-of-trades running back C.J. Gable and Courtney Stephen are returning from injury.  On defence it's the return of national defensive back Courtney Stephen and linebacker Rico Murray, who has yet to suit up in 2015. Last year Murray led the team with five interceptions and finished third in team tackles with 63.

 

As the season draws on I'd really like to see more of Banks, a player that is a speed mis-match for most defenders, he could be something special in more than just the return game.

CFL Week 5 Preview

Article by Duncan Gray

 

Game of the Week

Friday night's late game features two teams who have 2 & 1 records, Toronto Argonauts are at BC Lions.

Toronto started the season with two wins and have had the week off to regroup after their defeat by the Stampeders. Their star quarterback Ricky Ray still isn't ready to return from injury but that's not a problem. With nine touchdowns and only two interceptions, Trevor Harris as stand in is maintaining the highest QB rating in the league. Interviewed this week he says he's determined to learn from mistakes he made in the loss and was talking up his favourite receiver Tori Gurley.
The Lions have won two straight games but they've both been against Saskatchewan, the only team without a win this season. The home game with Toronto is an opportunity to boost their ranking and prove they'll be contenders this season. The defence will have to step up though, they're pretty well last in every category of the stats so far

 

This week's TV Schedule   Calgary Stampeders at Ottawa REDBLACKS – LIVE Saturday Morning July 25, 0:00 hrs - BT Sport 2 repeat Saturday afternoon 16:00 hrs – BT ESPN Toronto Argonauts at BC Lions – LIVE Saturday Morning July 25, 03:00 hrs - BT Sport 2 repeat Saturday evening 18:30 hrs – BT ESPN Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Edmonton Eskimos – Recorded Monday morning 27 July, 06:30 hrs – BT Sport ESPN Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Saskatchewan Roughriders - Recorded Tuesday Afternoon 28 July, 17:30 hrs – BT Sport ESPN

 

 

The other games

 

Calgary Stampeders have the best record in the league at 3&1. With injuries continually affecting their offensive line they haven't been convincing though, two of their wins having been by just one point. A plus last week was running back Jon Cornish producing the sort of yardage we expect from him for the first time this season. Ottawa REDBLACKS (2&2) have slumped since opening with two wins. Their defence are playing well though, they held Edmonton to only one touchdown in week 4 and Henry Burris is still a reliable quarterback.

 

Saturday's game is an important West Division match up between Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2&2) and Edmonton Eskimos (2&1). Winnipeg were unlucky to lose in Calgary last week, essentially by one missed extra point. After their running attack impressed early in the season their passing has provided the recent highlighst. Drew Willy threw two touchdowns of over 75 yards last week to Clarence Denmark and Darvin Adams. The Esks weren't so exciting, they had to rely on field goals for their. win, but watch for Rookie running back Shakir Bell looking to build on his sensational debut of  last week.

 

Playing their fourth straight away game, Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1&2) are at Saskatchewan Roughriders (0&4) on Sunday night. Hamilton have been struggling for consistency. Last week's loss at Montreal was particularly disappointing and they'll be desperate not to fall behind their East Division rivals. The Roughriders will be even more desperate for the win though. They are already falling behind in their division and a third straight home loss would make their failures an even bigger media story than they already are. Despite the results, the Riders offence has gained more yards than any other team while the Ti-Cats have conceded the least yards. It' s an unpredictable one, even the bookies haven't chosen a favourite.

 

Montreal Alouttes have the bye this week.

CFL Week 4 Review

Article by Duncan Gray

 

It’s been yet another week of close games in Canada. Sooner or later favourites to win the divisions will emerge. Not yet though…

 

Hamilton Tiger-Cats 13 Montreal Alouttes 17
Highlights
This season looks like being a wild ride for Montreal Alouttes fans. They now have two wins and two losses for the season., the two wins have come against what were the top two teams of last season, the two losses were to last year's bottom two teams. Hamilton Tiger-Cats performance was flat, they never reached the heights they did when they demolished Winnipeg before their bye week. Quarterback Zach Collaros, who threw only nine interceptions in the whole of last season, threw three in this game. When Brandon (Speedy) Banks ran yet another punt back for a touchdown, only for it to be called back on a marginal holding penalty, it looked like the fates were against them.
Still, the Ti-Cats defence looked strong, particularly when they succeeded in keeping the Als out of the end zone on three consecutive downs from the one yard line. They didn't manage to shut down the Montreal quarterback Rakeem Cato though. Supported by receivers S J Green, Nik Lewis and particularly Fred Stamp, the rookie continued to impress,  running up stats of 23 of 34 for 264 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. The touchdown, thrown to Green on the very edge of the end zone, will go down as one of the plays of the year.

 

Edmonton Eskimos 23 Ottawa REDBLACKS 12
Highlights

It was a wet night in Canada on Friday. The rain kept falling in Ottawa and big plays were few and far between. The Edmonton Eskimos had most of the territorial advantage through the game but three interceptions thrown by Matt Nichols kept them out of the end zone. When the first touchdown came it was during a brief lull in the rain  in the fourth quarter and it was the Ottawa REDBLACKS who scored.  Henry Burris finished a 106 yard drive with a quarterback sneak. This gave Ottawa the lead at 12-11, but it didn't last long. On their next drive the Eskimos finally made the big play they'd been looking for. They scored on a 63 yard pass from Matt Nichols to Kendial Lawrence and that got them the lead back for good.

The big talking point of the game was the performance of 5 ft 8 Edmonton running back Shakir Bell who was making his CFL debut. Bell, who ran for 143 yards and looked as slippery as a bar of soap, is a modest individual. No one believed him when he credited all of his success to the offensive line.

 

 

BC Lions 27 Saskatchewan Roughriders 24
Highlights

It was a miserable night in Regina on Friday night too, and not just from the weather. The Saskatchewan Roughriders had lost all three of their games to date as the defence hadn't been able to defend a lead. In this game BC Lions scored touchdowns on the opening drive of both halves and the Riders never had a lead to defend. Travis Lulay was the Lions leader again. He surprised everyone by rushing for over 100 yards as well as passing for over 100.
At 0 and 4, the mutterings of discontent from the Saskatchewan fans are growing and Head Coach  Corey Chamblin is the target for all of it. His decision in the off season to replace most of the coaching staff certainly isn't paying off.

 

Winnipeg Blue Bombers 26 Calgary Stampeders 25
Highlights

The Saturday game was a fight for the clear lead of the West Division. The sun was shining for this one and it shone early for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers who had two touchdowns and a 16-0 lead with only ten minutes gone. It was down to Calgary Stampeders special teams to turn things around. Firstly they forced a fumble on a Bombers punt return which led to a touchdown three plays later, then they blocked a punt and ran the ball in for a second TD.

In the second half the sixteen all tie was broken when the Stampeders' running back Jon Cornish found his form for just about the first time this season. He contributed 66 yards on four carries to a 107 yard drive that gave Calgary the lead. Drew Willy then replied for Winnipeg with a 79 yard touchdown pass to Darvin Adams. Unfortunately, kicker Lirim Hajrullahu missed the point after. The teams managed only a field goal each in the 4th quarter and Calgary finished the winners by that single point.

CFL Week 4 Preview

Article by Duncan Gray

 

Week 4 Preview

Before the previews here are the latest Nissan Titan Power Rankings. They've shuffled a bit since we featured them after Week 1. Calgary are back on top as their two wins have come against the number two and three teams. They can cement that place this week as the play the fourth team.

 

1	Calgary Stampeders	Last week 3
2	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	1
3	Toronto Argonauts	2
4	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	6
5	Edmonton Eskimos	7
6	Ottawa REDBLACKS	4
7	Montreal Alouettes	5
8	BC Lions	9
9	Saskatchewan Roughriders	7

 

 

 

Game of the Week

 

The game features the bottom two teams in the ratings but after last week's overtime excitement we have to stay with Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions. They'll be in Regina on Friday playing the reverse fixture from last week. The 'Riders are the only team left without a win but all three of their games have been very close. In fact they've had a 4^th quarter lead in every one of them, last week by as many as 11 points. They've actually put up more offensive yards than any other team this season so to put an end to the losing streak it's the defence that needs to step up. This week's signing of  experienced defensive back Geoff Tisdale might be a start.

Back in Vancouver, Lions quarterback Travis Lulay was relieved when they got the win last Friday, declaring that it's given the team the confidence boost they need. BC fans will be pleased to see that Lulay passed for over 400 yards in the game, surely proving that he's completely recovered from his long term shoulder injury. Watch for him connecting with his new favourite target, the ex-Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Austin Collie.

 

This week's TV Schedule   Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Montreal Alouettes - LIVE Friday morning 17 July 0030 hrs – BT Sport ESPN Replay - Friday afternoon  17 July 1400 hrs – BT Sport ESPN   Edmonton Eskimos at Ottawa Redblacks - LIVE Saturday morning 18 July 0000 hrs – BT Sport 2 repeat – Monday 20 July 0730 hrs – BT Sport ESPN   BC Lions at Saskatchewan Roughriders - LIVE Saturday morning 18 July 0300 hrs – BT Sport 2 repeat - Tuesday morning 21 July 0600 hrs – BT Sport ESPN   Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Calgary Stampeders - recorded Wednesday morning 22 July 0600 hrs – BT Sport ESPN

 

 

The other games

Week 4 starts with the number two rated Hamilton Tiger-Cats coming off the bye week for their first East Division match-up of the season with Montreal Alouettes. In their last game the Ti-Cats gave a mauling to the Winnipeg team that narrowly defeated Montreal last week so on paper this doesn't look good for the Als. Hamilton's high power defence will certainly present the biggest test yet for the rookie quarterback Rakeem Cato, but expect more heroics from running back Tyrell Sutton.

 

Friday night's double header opens with a rematch from week 3 as the Edmonton Eskimos travel to Ottawa. The game in Alberta was a blow out and his first win will have given inexperienced Esks' quarterback Matt Nichols a confidence boost. The REDBLACKS are going to have to find something magical to turn things around. Maybe another sell-out home crowd cheering them on will make a difference.

 

Saturday night's game features the teams which are sharing the lead in the West Division table as  Calgary Stampeders host Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Both sides showed they have fighting spirit as they held on for their narrow victories last week. The Stampeders will start as favourites but so far they haven't reached the standard of the last year's Grey Cup winning team.

.

Toronto Argonauts have the bye this week.

CFL Week 3 Review

Article by Duncan Gray

 

It's been another fascinating week in the CFL. Three of the four games were decided by less than a score and there are now no teams with an unbeaten record.

 

Toronto	20	Calgary	25	Highlights
Saskatchewan	32	BC	35	Highlights
Montreal	23	Winnipeg	25	Highlights
Ottawa	17	Edmonton	46	Highlights

 

The extra preparation time the bye week gave Edmonton Eskimos proved to be a lot more valuable than the momentum the Ottawa REDBLACKS had from their two wins in a row. In Thursday night's game the Eskimos effectively shut down Ottawa's offence while they ran up 36 first half points, led by quarterback Matt Nichols who passed for three touchdowns.

The only highlight for Ottawa was their one touchdown and that was scored by the defence. When Matt Nichols tossed a shovel pass too many, 295lb lineman Zack Evans saw it coming, grabbed the interception and ran it back in the unmistakable style of a lineman for 66 yards and the score. However it was the Eskimos who've found the form that was expected of them when the season began. The REDBLACKS have a lot of work to do before these two teams meet again next week.

 

 

After his debut heroics last week it was probably too much to expect Rakeem Cato to be a superstar at quarterback for Montreal Alouettes again. He put up another good performance but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers managed to get more pressure on him. Twice in the first half, with opponents in his face, he threw bad passes which were intercepted and one was returned for a touchdown. Adding to the interception touchdown the Bombers got their second TD just before half time when they blocked a punt and recovered the ball in the end zone to establish a 19-10 lead. Montreal chased down the lead in the second half but they couldn't get closer than a 2 point deficit. How different would it have been if their top defender Bear Woods hadn't been injured last week?

 

The second game on Friday was in Vancouver, between the last two teams with a zero in the win column, BC Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Roughriders had led by as many as eleven points in this game but after both sides had exchanged touchdowns twice in the fourth quarter their lead was down to three. They tried to run out the clock by going for a third and one with a minute left but the Lions defence held firm and they forced a turnover. BC then struggled to make yardage but they were saved by Richard Leone who kicked a team record 55 yard field goal to take the game into overtime.

The 'Riders overtime experience from last week didn't seem to help. They had the first overtime drive but the Lions held firm again and restricted them to a field goal. The Lions then took only three plays to score the winning touchdown as Travis Lulay connected with Emmanuel Arceneaux from four yards.
The loss leaves Saskatchewan with three straight losses, the last winless team of the season.

 

Canada's biggest event of the year, the Calgary Stampede finished on Sunday. Ironically the Calgary Stampeders aren't part of it and that's why we had to wait 'til Monday night for their game with Toronto Argonauts.

This game changed in a couple of minutes in the second quarter. Calgary had established a 14-7 lead when they suffered game ending injuries to both their starting offensive tackles. CFL squads aren't as large as NFL ones so the number of replacements available are limited. Calgary were forced to switch a defensive lineman onto offence and adapt their tactics to the reduced protection they could give Levi Bo Mitchell. Working with a 22-14 half time lead the Stampeders showed their champion quality by restricting Toronto to two field goals in the second half and hanging on to win by five points.