The Canada Day weekend is supposed to celebrate our great country coast to coast but it was the West Division opponents sweeping their eastern rivals in convincing fashion.  The defending Grey Cup champs are off to a good start, the Riders gave their fans some early positivity after the nightmare that was 2011, the Eskimos looked as stingy as last time we saw them, and the Stamps made quick work of a perennial powerhouse.  Yup, we’ve got lots to cover as the regular season is underway!

Defence first

You have to give the Stampeders some credit for how they were able to confuse their opponents, basically from start to finish.  They racked up just one quarterback sack, but the Stamps had pressure all night long in the face of Anthony Calvillo and forced him to make numerous bad throws.  Coverage was tight, mostly because the push up front from guys like Torrey Davis and Charleston Hughes allowed the secondary to bump and press Jamel Richardson and S.J. Green, thus neutralizing their physical advantage.

“We just came to play football,” linebacker Juwan Simpson told me in the locker room postgame.  

“When you get 12 guys all with the same mindset, it’s hard to stop, so we had a good mindset, we prepared for them all week, we knew it was going to be a tough challenge…so I just think guys responded well.”

But Calgary wasn’t the only team getting the job done on the defensive side of the football.  I don’t want to gloss over the lights out performance of the Riders offence, but I think I was more impressed with their work defensively in their 43-16 blowout of Hamilton.  Besides, I don’t think the MMQB needs to come on here telling you how good Weston Dressler was.

Right away, you could tell there was something different on the Saskatchewan front, and it played a factor all game.  I think Odell Willis played a big part, as big #11 on the right side looked like the impact player the Riders lacked all of 2011.  Willis may not have showed up on the stat sheet when it was all said and done, but he was a big reason why Keith Shologan was in Henry Burris’s grill all night long, and a big reason why defensive coordinator Richie Hall had no qualms sending his linebackers on blitzes all night long.

While Burris racked up some yardage in the first half and the Tiger-Cats kept it close, the unrelenting push from that capable front made for a forgettable final two quarters.  The Riders defensive backfield really answered the bell in the second half, acting as the perfect ying to the front four’s yang.  Coverage became tighter and Burris’s progressions became more and more frustrating, because there weren’t very many open looks.

Edmonton’s 19-15 win at home to Toronto was much less resounding than Saskatchewan’s opening weekend win, but the Eskimos looked just as painfully frustrating to play against defensively as their West Division counterparts.  Employing very similar schemes and philosophy from one year ago, Edmonton put on a tackling clinic and just didn’t let the Argos get their night in order when it was time to make a stop.

Lead by JC Sherritt’s 11 tackles, the Eskimos swarmed to the ball the same way they did en route to a home playoff date one season ago.  It was a constant trait in Rich Stubler’s defence last year, and that carried over very noticeably with Mark Nelson’s group last night.  That shouldn’t be a surprise.  Nelson coached the linebackers last season and Edmonton saw a sizeable chunk of their tackles come from the middle tier of the defense.  On Saturday night, the starting three of Sherritt, T.J. Hill, and Damaso Munoz combined for 22 tackles.  Coincidence?  I don’t think so.

Atypical?

I can’t remember the last time we saw a Montreal Alouettes offence look as out of sync as they did on Sunday night’s week one finale in Calgary.  Attending the game in person, it just didn’t seem like the well oiled Montreal attack that we’ve come to know.

It started early on as Calgary opened an 18-0 first quarter lead thanks in large part to a Richardson fumble.  We’re talking about one of the game’s most physically dominating receivers and a guy who rarely has the ball stripped from him.  Well, it just so happened the ball was there for the taking on what seemed like a simple catch-and-turn for the Als, only down three points at the time.  But what Juwan Simpson told me was a “routine tackle” turned into a forced fumble and a 63 yard return on the recovery for rookie safety Keenan MacDougall.  And Montreal just couldn’t seem to reel it in afterwards.

Calvillo would throw two interceptions on just 174 yards and 16-for-31 passing Sunday night, and I can’t honestly tell you when I’ve seen him look as flustered as he did against the Stampeders.  Some credit has to go to the home side, but it was the reaction from the all-time passing leader that really struck home with me.

I was in a group of reporters who caught up to Calvillo on the McMahon Stadium turf following the 38-10 loss and was able to witness a visibly frustrated quarterback.  I’m out west so don’t get to see the Als up close on a regular basis, but I’ve been covering this great league for seven years and I can never remember Anthony as sour as he was after this one.  Granted, it was immediately following the game on the field, but his responses, while not wordy, spoke volumes.

“It was just a pathetic performance on us,” Calvillo said afterwards.  “Especially myself, so, we’ve got to accept that and move on.”

Calvillo was the asked to elaborate by a colleague about why an experienced offence couldn’t seem to find their rhythm.

“I don’t know how many times I keep telling you guys, it doesn’t matter what we did the year before, we’ve got to come back and perform this year, and today we didn’t do it.”

Anyone reading this column is fairly aware that one game does not make a season, or anywhere close to it.  But it was something we’re not used to seeing and it was something the greatest quarterback of our era didn’t appreciate being a part of.

Running through Vancouver

Same teams, same result.  That was the story on Friday night at BC Place when the defending Grey Cup champion Lions sealed a week one win with 17 fourth quarter points en route to a 33-16 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.  It was a comprehensively strong performance in all areas for the Lions and it left me with one phrase ringing through my head: to be the man, you have to beat the man.  Well, the man looked pretty good.

Travis Lulay wasn’t incredible.  But the BC quarterback made the smart decisions on virtually every occasion.  Paul McCallum didn’t have a field goal longer than 36 yards, but he made all four tries easily, picking up right where he left off last year.  Khalif Mitchell didn’t record a single tackle or sack, but was the scary and disruptive force that made him so effective last year from start to finish.  These are the BC Lions.

Wally Buono transformed his team into a well oiled machine in the second half of the season last year, and that machine went beast mode on the rest of the CFL en route to a championship.  To start this season, the working parts under Mike Benavides looked in tip top shape, and when all those parts work in harmony, this team is without question the best team in the country.

Mitchell doesn’t need to have a multiple sack game to be important.  If he’s effective, it means Eric Taylor can be the man with the sacks.  If Lulay doesn’t throw for four touchdowns, that’s okay, because he’ll throw for one and run for two more.  And, well, Paul McCallum doesn’t miss field goals on the worst of days.  

Oh yeah, and Geroy Simon became the CFL’s all time leading receiver on Friday night during this impressive performance.  It was fitting, too, to see one of the league’s foremost ambassadors pass Milt Stegall for top spot on a 56 yard reception down the sideline.  It struck me, because seeing Geroy haul in a pass running in a straight line is just as possible as him catching a well thrown ball in traffic on a crossing route.  The guy will go down as one of the most versatile and impactful receivers to ever play the Canadian game, and while I wasn’t there in person, it was an honour to watch Simon achieve his feat live on TV.  Good stuff.