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.