Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
TORONTO — Mark’s Labour Day Weekend is finally here and the favourites are starting to emerge. Other details, however, remain shady.
The Stampeders are the unequivocal favourites through 10 weeks of the 2016 Canadian Football League season, going unbeaten in eight straight and building a three-point lead atop the CFL West Division. What else should we keep an eye on going into this weekend and the second half of the season?
Duron Carter is out; the Argos play twice; Shakir Bell has shaken up the Esks’ backfield; and Bo Levi Mitchell looks like a pretty good mid-season bet for Most Outstanding Player.
With that, we have some questions to ask in the Week 11 rendition of The Weekly Say.
Here are nine pressing questions for Week 11:
1. Is Bo Levi Mitchell the MOP favourite?
The Stampeders have been the CFL’s best team through the first 10 weeks of the season, but has Bo Levi Mitchell been the best quarterback?
It’s not uncommon for the best team to also have the best quarterback considering no other position drives success or failure like the one lining up under centre.
Mitchell has the Stampeders’ offence playing at a high level, ranking first in the league with 30.9 points per game and third in the league with 391 yards of offence per game. The Stampeders have 204 first downs (second in the league) and have given the ball away only 11 times — the fewest in the league by far, ahead of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at 17.
That all starts at the quarterback position, where the 26-year-old Mitchell has thrown 15 touchdowns against just four interceptions while still ranking second in the league with 2,857 passing yards.
» Mitchell still on top in the QB Index
Bo Levi Mitchell has the Stampeders in a good spot so far in 2016 (The Canadian Press)
Still, the Katy, Texas native faces plenty of competition and the debate can be made for a number of other players. Trevor Harris, while the sample size his smaller, is on pace to break records for his 81.1 completion percentage and 136.5 efficiency rating. Adarius Bowman is just shy of 1,000 yards (he has 956) at the halfway point, giving him a realistic shot at becoming just the fourth receiver ever to eclipse 2,000 in a season. Then there’s the guy getting him the ball, the league’s passing leader in Reilly.
The biggest number of course might be Calgary’s 7-1-1 record (and eight-game unbeaten streak) — in the end, can anyone touch what Mitchell’s done so far?
2. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers: Buying or selling?
The 5-4 Bombers, gunning for second place in the West. Who could have guessed that a month ago?
Yes, four straight wins have put the Bombers in a position to contend this season and they’ve got a chance to win their next two with a home-and-home against the struggling Riders. But on the shoulder of Matt Nichols and an opportunistic defence that has forced a league-high 33 turnovers (the next closest teams, to put it in perspective, are Hamilton and Montreal at 22), is the Bombers’ recent run sustainable?
CFL.ca columnist Matthew Cauz presented the question in his column on Tuesday and was met with some resistance.
On one hand, Nichols has done an admirable job stepping in for Drew Willy and sparking the Bombers’ offence, throwing six touchdown passes and just one interception (Drew Willy threw four interceptions during the team’s 1-4 start). On the other hand, the Bombers’ offence is still only the sixth most productive in the league, including eighth in the CFL with 288.1 passing yards per game.
As good as the Bombers’ defence has been, can the wins keep on coming even if the turnovers dry up?
3. Should Shakir Bell take over the starting RB job?
With John White on the shelf, Shakir Bell took his opportunity and ran wild with it on the way to a 138-yard performance against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. That name may be familiar to you as Bell flashed greatness in a brief stint last season with the Eskimos.
True, the Riders are allowing a league-worst 101.6 rushing yards per game, but on the flip side, White has struggled in his first year back from injury with a 4.48 yards per carry average while the Esks’ ground game has averaged just 85.1 yards per game (still third in the league, but nowhere near the mark of 105.4 yards per game averaged a year ago).
White’s skills in pass protection and catching the ball out of the backfield are a plus for an offence that leans on throwing the football, but is it time for the Eskimos to think about deploying Bell on a more permanent basis?
4. Will the Riders win on Mark’s Labour Day Weekend?
The Riders showed signs of life in their Week 10 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos, especially in the second half when they rallied from a 22-3 halftime deficit to make it a one-score ball game when it was all said and done. Still, at the end of the day, Saskatchewan is 1-8 and sitting at the bottom of the league standings.
That’s actually one win better than a year ago at this time, when the Riders were 0-9 going into Labour Day before picking up win No. 1 with a 37-19 victory in Bob Dyce’s first game as a head coach. Some optimism? Maybe not, but there’s still time to turn it around.
This year’s Sunday afternoon clash features two teams headed in separate directions as the Riders have lost five straight while the Bombers have won four consecutive contests — but on Mark’s Labour Day Weekend, we all know that anything can happen.
Can the Riders come up with a win and close the gap on the Bombers in the West?
5. Will Trevor Harris break the completion percentage record?
It’s no mystery why the REDBLACKS decided to go with Trevor Harris when he returned from injury.
Harris was simply the best when he took over from the injured Henry Burris in Week 1, and while an injury of his own in Week 5 put the show on hold, the first-year REDBLACK picked up exactly where he left off in a Week 10 loss to the BC Lions.
Harris’ 76.7 per cent completion percentage against BC leaves him at 81.1 per cent on the season and on pace to not only break but shatter the all-time single-season record of 77.23 per cent set by Ricky Ray in 2015.
In what’s quickly becoming the year of the quarterback in the CFL, can Harris sustain his highly-proficient passing rate and set his old mentor’s record?
6. Can the Argos score a double-double in Week 11?
It wasn’t long ago the Argos were heading into the bye 4-2 and in top spot in the East, full of momentum and optimism in the midst of their first season at BMO Field. Oh how things change.
Two one-sided losses later and a tough stretch of games on the way, including two in six days, and Scott Milanovich has some work to do to get his team back on track.
The good news is no one in the East has gained any ground — the REDBLACKS, Ticats and Alouettes all lost in Week 10, while the Ticats have lost two of their last three and the REDBLACKS four of their last five.
Oh, and there’s good news about playing two games in six days, too — as fast as the wheels went off the track for the Argos they can be firmly planted back on.
With Ricky Ray back under centre and a full complement of receivers, how will the Boatmen come out looking after Labour Day?
7. Despite a 4-5 record, do you view the Ticats as elite?
The first CFL Simulation has come out and to no one’s surprise, the Calgary Stampeders are widely considered the favourite to appear in and win the 104th Grey Cup this November in Toronto. The field is wide open after that, but according to the numbers, the Ticats are the clear-cut number two.
This season hasn’t started exactly how Kent Austin might have envisioned for the Tabbies, but through 10 weeks of play there isn’t much to complain about in Hamilton: Zach Collaros is back and healthy and playing like he did in 2015; the defence has returned to its dominant form despite some new faces; and no one else in the East has been able to create any separation.
At 4-5, the Ticats are as well off as anyone in the East and with any kind of hot streak in the second half of the season could end up running away with the division.
Of course, the REDBLACKS, Argos and Alouettes might have something to say about that.
Despite their record, are the Ticats in the conversation with Calgary and BC as the CFL’s elite teams?
Fan Poll
Despite being below .500, are the Ticats an elite team?
Yes
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No
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8. With Duron Carter out, who needs to step up in Week 11?
Duron Carter will not play in Week 11 as his appealed one-game suspension has been reviewed by a neutral arbitrator and upheld. What does that mean for the Als’ chances against the Ottawa REDBLACKS this coming week?
There’s no doubt Carter’s absence will make an impact. Carter was unstoppable in the Alouettes’ upset win over Ottawa a couple of weeks ago, hauling in a pair of touchdowns and leading the game with 126 yards on five catches in a 43-19 win.
The dynamic 6-foot-3 receiver plays a crucial role in the Als’ offence, but this week Montreal will have to get by without him. That means it’s someone else’s time to shine.
While playing without both Carter and S.J. Green was likely never envisioned by Offensive Coordinator Anthony Calvillo, the Alouettes do have other weapons to lean on like Kenny Stafford, Tyrell Sutton, Nik Lewis and B.J. Cunningham. Plus the veteran quarterback Kevin Glenn had his way against Ottawa last time out himself.
Who needs to step up the most at this crucial point in the season for Montreal?
9. What’s the key to second-half success for the Lions?
A successful first half of the season has put the Lions in a position to contend for both the West Division and to ultimately win a Grey Cup Championship. The Lions enter Week 11 play with the second-best record in the CFL, a top-notch defence and one of the most electrifying young quarterbacks in the league.
What do the Lions have to do to be successful in the second half of the season and solidify their status as a league powerhouse?
It starts with protecting the football better. The Lions may be the CFL’s second-best team but have turned the ball over 18 times, giving them a turnover ratio of minus two – tied for third-worst in the league. On the other end of that, their defence has only forced 16 takeaways also the third-worst in the league.
Red zone percentage is another area the Lions will look to improve. So far this season they’ve converted on only 53 per cent of their visits inside the opponents’ 20, a number that ranks them fourth-worst in the league despite making a CFL-high 34 trips.
What’s the most pressing improvement the Lions must make in the second half of the season in order to take the next step forward?
