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.