CFL.ca
Hey there, referee Kim Murphy. At one point on Saturday night, I heard you say the words “that penalty is refused.” Come on, now. We don’t “refuse” penalties in Canada. Too harsh. We “decline” them. Politely.
Very politely.
Here are the takeaways:
1. THE ARGOS CAN CATCH PASSES BUT NOT A BREAK.
They haven’t had their entire first string receiving crew together at all this season. Diontae Spencer hasn’t played a down. Kevin Elliott was injured in the opener and hasn’t been back since. Tori Gurley has missed the last two games.
Always, someone has been out and someone else has shown the ability to step in. Wallace Miles, Phil Bates and now Devon Wylie have all filled the void quite capably. Kenny Shaw, who answered the bell to take Spencer’s spot at the beginning of the season, has emerged as a bona fide breakout star, punctuating his CFL arrival with a spectacular catch and crash during Monday night’s win over Montreal.
Quarterback Ricky Ray was showing that he was starting to find the groove and Argo fans must have been licking their chops over the prospect of getting the likes of Elliott, Gurley and Spencer back in the line up. Now, Ray goes down.
Total: Zero breaks caught. As for Ray’s back-up, Logan Kilgore, Argos’ GM Jim Barker told me a couple of weeks ago: “We feel like Logan is ready now. That, if he is called upon, he can go in and he’ll perform at a high level.”
We’re about to find out if that is true.
2. NEVER TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF THE GAS.
The Edmonton Eskimos did precisely that on Saturday night. Moreover, they pulled their car into a convenience store parking lot and left the engine running because they were “just hopping in for a bag of chips and a pop.” But then, they got distracted by the magazine rack and ended up browsing for 20 minutes.
More than enough time for the Ticats to wander by and go “oh, hey. Free car!” What in the name of Hugh Campbell happened there? It’s not like the Eskies were seen crowd surfing Flo Rida’s mosh pit at the break.
Could it be that the Ticats used halftime to pore over crucial Eskimo blueprints smuggled into them by a droid? I saw two very different headlines following this game: 1) Ticats Wipe Out 25 Point Deficit. 2) Eskimos Squander 25 Point Lead. The headline you favour likely depends on whether you prefer green with your gold or black but I do know this:
For something like that to happen, it takes two to tango.
3. ANDY FANTUZ CAN KICK EQUALLY WELL WITH EITHER LEG.
Andy Fantuz scored two touchdowns in the Ticats win over the Eskimos in Week 5 (CFL.ca)
After touchdown number one against the Eskimos, he drilled one into the stands with his left leg. Touchdown number two, he did the same with his right. Notable exclamations on what were two superb major score receptions.
On the first, he made a nice adjustment from looking over his outside shoulder, recalibrating, and then looking over his left to haul in a Jeremiah Masoli pass that was a little off target. On number two, Masoli was right on the money in a small window and Fantuz brought it in over his right shoulder in very tight coverage.
In case you haven’t noticed, Andy Fantuz is a top ten receiver in both yards and receptions in 2016. His 2015 numbers were underwhelming but then again, he missed half the season with an elbow injury.
So, yes, while one takeaway on Fantuz is that he is ambipedal – I looked it up; it’s the foot version of ambidextrous – the larger takeaway is that anyone who counted him out needs to reconsider that position.
4. CHRIS JONES IS TRUE TO HIS WORD.
Riders’ head coach Chris Jones ran a more aggressive defence in his team’s win over Ottawa (CFL.ca)
Remember Saskatchewan’s Week 3 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos? That’s the game where the ‘Riders roared back to take a 36-33 lead with seconds remaining, before losing in overtime.
That overtime happened because Jones had his defence play passively in the last few seconds, allowing the Eskimos to easily move the ball into field goal range for the tie. “If I had a do-over, I would probably be a little bit more aggressive…” Jones said afterward. Well, how about a lot more aggressive.
After Tyler Crapigna kicked the ‘Riders into a 30-29 lead against Ottawa, there was still 1:03 left on the clock. On Ottawa’s first down, Jones dialed up a 6-man rush and a sack. On second down Jones had a much more aggressive version of short-pattern pass coverage, forcing a deep ball that was incomplete. On third and fourteen, he let a three man rush do the job and Ottawa QB Brock Jensen ran out of steamboats.
5. EVERYONE IN SASKATCHEWAN HAS GAME FACE.
Always. Right from the get go.
Look at this kid. That is some sunglass-wearing, intensity-showing, locked-in kinda game attitude there. How old is that kid? Barely six months? He or she already has a Chris Jones kind of down-to-business thing going there.
Put that kid in a fully buttoned up black golf shirt and put a mic on those ear covers and you’ve got an extraordinary mini-Jones there. Has that kid uttered its first words yet? Because I’ll bet my bottom dollar those words will be “bring ’em out.” Or “George Reed, GOAT.”
And Finally… Don’t think I forgot about you, Chad Owens. That catch was stoopid. Nope, not enough O’s. It was stooooopid.
