Hello, Junior Collins. Hell of a catch on Friday night. Also, Junior Collins’ mom is adorable. What? Can’t a guy show his softer side in this column once in a while? Check out Junior’s Instagram here, look at his mom’s face when he throws her his touchdown ball and tell me different.
You can’t.
Here are the Week 17 takeaways:
1. The REDBLACKS are Henry Burris’ team again.
With three games to go and a slim victory over the Hamilton Ticats to give them some breathing room atop the East, the Ottawa REDBLACKS could really use some stability to help build an overall air of consistency as the playoffs approach.
Quarterback Henry Burris was very, very good against the Ticats, completing 27 of 39 passes for 393 yards and a touchdown. He’d have had another if receiver Juron Criner hadn’t dropped an easy one. Burris rushed for two TD’s himself and galloped for a crucial first down in the dying moments, with Ottawa up by a single point.
The original plan was to have Burris direct the team all season long, with Harris ready to step in, perhaps even as early as 2017. It was a good plan, upended by an early injury to Burris but now that Smilin’ Hank has re-established himself, the REDBLACKS can ride him to the finish line as the number one guy, with the bonus that they’ve got a more than capable back-up to step in if things aren’t going right during a big game. Holloway and Barnes, anyone?
2. The Toronto Argonauts are… somebody’s team. But whose?
Drew Willy is sacked during Week 17’s game against the Riders (CFL.ca)
The Argos have a quarterback controversy brewing and it might be an odd one, the kind that comes during the off-season instead of during the campaign.
In three starts, Drew Willy looks far from comfortable in Double Blue. It is evident that the Argos have not provided Willy with what you would call sterling pass protection since they gave up a whole lot to get him in a trade with Winnipeg, it’s true. Beyond that, he does not look like the same Willy who raised eyebrows as a youngster in Saskatchewan and who looked just fine in Winnipeg before that team’s own pass protection failures subjected him to too much punishment (No such problems exist these days as the Bombers’ O-line has been terrific since the team began its winning ways).
With two games left to play, if Willy doesn’t look lights out against Calgary and Edmonton, Argos’ GM Jim Barker and Head Coach Scott Milanovich get to wonder if maybe Ricky Ray ain’t still their guy. And they’ll get to face an off-season of second-guessing. Maybe I shouldn’t say “get to” like it’s something to look forward to.
3. The BC Lions should have drafted Taylor Loffler. No, wait…
Loffler, the impressive rookie free safety for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, could have been had by the Lions in the second round of the 2016 draft and by all reports they considered taking him there. Opting to wait another round, by the time that pick came around, it was too late to secure the Kelowna, BC native’s services.
The 24-year-old Loffler showed the Lions what they’re missing, free ranging all over the field in Vancouver on Friday night, like he’d been launched by a giant elastic stretched to its limits between two posts. Loffler hauled in two interceptions and upset apple carts everywhere, particularly when one of the big hits he’s quickly become known for caused Lions’ receiver Bryan Burnham to cough up a fumble.
Had to be a tad uncomfortable for the Lions, right? Watching that play out? Hang on, now, because one of BC’s free agent signings in the off-season, safety Mike Edem, had himself a dang fine game himself. Two interceptions for the 3rd overall pick in the 2013 draft (by the Montreal Alouettes), who is only 27 years old himself so the Lions are set at the position, anyway. Everybody’s happy, right? Except, I guess, that the Bombers are a little bit happier having completed a sweep of the Lions in back to backers, taking over second place in the West.
4. 33 in green might be a difference-maker.
Joe McKnight had quite a debut for the Riders, rushing for 150 yards on 17 carries (CFL.ca)
Maybe.
Can’t really say that absolutely right now because running back Joe McKnight’s debut for Saskatchewan – attention-grabbing as it was – came against the Toronto Argonauts, the league’s worst at stopping the run (5.7 yards per carry).
It’s because of that that you have to take a bit of a wait and see attitude on McKnight, who ran around, through and in some case over Argos’ defenders all afternoon during Saskatchewan’s win in Toronto. Still, McKnight has the pedigree, having been a superb high school back and a star at USC before playing in the NFL, where he tore an Achilles tendon and was out of football until the Edmonton Eskimos used him on kick returns earlier this season.
After a couple of fumbles with the Eskimos, he came off the active roster and was eventually released. With 17 rushes for 150 yards against the Argos, McKnight showed acceleration, speed and power and you might be able to add him to the list of things for Roughriders’ fans to be excited about.
If he repeats the performance against Montreal, you might be a little more convinced, although surprisingly, the Als’ run defence is only slightly less watery than Toronto’s.
5. You don’t tackle offensive linemen.
We’ve had some good little sideline interviews at halftime this season.
Henry Burris looking into the camera and telling detractors to “shove it,” tops the list but there were a couple of good ones at halftime of the Calgary/Montreal game on Saturday. Als’ linebacker Kyries Hebert apologizing for dropping a little profanity when he explained he wasn’t having any of Calgary running back Jerome Messam’s halftime niceties.
“He’s tryin’ to talk to me so I’ll be nice to him,” Hebert said, before uttering a line about there not being friendliness on the field, complete with a bleeped out word that I’m sure we all know. Then, there was Calgary linebacker Alex Singleton, smiling as he said “you don’t tackle an o-lineman, you take the ball from him.”
Montreal centre Kristian Matte had done a nice job pulling down a tipped ball, but not so much with the securing of it as he took a few thunderous steps.
That’s when Singleton had struck, forcing and recovering a fumble. Once in awhile you get a little gold in those after thirty minutes chats although those are still far behind the “we just need to execute” ones on the halftime interviews scoreboard.
And finally…
Don’t throw at Tommie Campbell. Just don’t.
