The 11th week of the Canadian Football League season was bookended by crazy finishes favoring the road team in both Edmonton and Winnipeg.  The meat of the sandwich, however, had a pair of home teams each putting up more than 40 points en route to blowout wins.  With an ultra-tight West Division juxtaposing an ever separating East Division, the crossover comes more and more into play each passing week.

Quick hitters

Kan't Stop Kackert
CFL.ca's Monday Morning Quarterback Pat Steinberg says the emergence of Chad Kackert has taken a load off of Argos QB Ricky Ray's shoulders. » Watch: Kackert runs wild vs. 'Cats

I’m very curious as to how Edmonton is going to manage its quarterback situation.  The Eskimos have seen two straight really solid games from Kerry Joseph in relief of the injured Steven Jyles, but there’s a good chance the latter will be good to go against Hamilton this weekend.  Typical football thinking says you can’t lose your job due to injury, but should that line of thinking rule your decision making at all costs?

Joseph has thrown three touchdowns to go along with just one interception since taking over the reins of the Edmonton offence.  He’s made smart decisions and has been very conservative with the ball, electing to overthrow receivers instead of forcing a bad pass on plenty of occasions.  Joseph has always had his limitations, and at 38 years of age, those limitations have become more numerous.  However, he’s also managed his unit very well and shown a veteran savvy that is needed for an Eskimos team still finding their way.

The big question now is: who starts Saturday?  For me, I’d go with Joseph for a third-straight week.  I know the team has a longer term plan for Jyles, but they’re also locking a tight battle with Saskatchewan and Calgary for second in the division.  

From what I’ve seen the last two games, even without a win, I believe Joseph gives the Eskimos a better chance to win.  Until that is no longer the case, I don’t see any reason to change, injury or not.

There isn’t a whole lot to say about BC’s 43-10 win over Montreal on Saturday, because it was very, very decisive.  The Lions looked like the class of the Canadian Football League and didn’t relinquish control of that game after a very eventful opening quarter.  Even with Geroy Simon the sidelines, it was the best offensive effort we’ve seen this season from BC.
    
In his second full season as starter, quarterback Travis Lulay is still finding his way, but make no mistake about it: he is an elite CFL pivot.  Lulay hasn’t struggled in my eyes, but his production has been lower than what it was last year.  That’s understandable, though.  The rest of the league has adjusted to what Lulay is all about, and he is adjusting to that at the same time.  With an entire season and playoff run to study, deciphering trends becomes a little bit more doable.

 Lulay is a versatile quarterback, and what we’ve seen this season is nothing more than part of his growth.  His game against Montreal (four touchdowns), however, shows you what he’s still capable of.

Wild things

The week started on Friday night with the Labour Day Classic rematch between the Stampeders and Eskimos, with the venue shifting to Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.  Calgary fans held their collective breaths, as Esks kicker Grant Shaw pinned his potential game winning field goal right off the goal post, a feat that would rarely happen if actually attempted.  

The miss sealed a 20-18 win for Calgary and it also marked Shaw’s second miss on a potential game winner in as many games against his team’s provincial rivals.
    
From a Stampeders perspective, they won the line of scrimmage battle once again, especially on the defensive side.  We raved about Corey Mace and Demonte Bolden in the interior of the defensive line following Week 10, and for good reason.  

They helped bottle up the Edmonton run game time and time again and made life difficult on numerous occasions for quarterback Kerry Joseph.  Overall, Calgary’s defensive front was just as good this time around, and possibly even a little bit better.
    
The tackling display the Stampeders put on was extremely impressive, as they limited four Eskimo running backs to 48 yards combined.  It was such a solid performance that I really think it altered the strategy of Edmonton slightly, as they just couldn’t escape tackles or find ways to earn positive yardage altogether.

I thought the Esks might try using Cory Boyd a little more than they did, as he was the only fresh back having not played at McMahon on Monday afternoon.  He only touched the ball twice, but in the long run, the run game was just no match for the Calgary front.
    
The Calgary running game doesn’t need a whole lot of ink here, because, well, what can we say here that hasn’t already been said about Jon Cornish of late?  The guy has been out of his mind the past few weeks, adding another 185 yards to his league leading 827.  He and his line have been totally in sync since they shuffled things up front prior to Week 7.  

The team moved J’Micheal Deane to right tackle and inserted Spencer Wilson at left guard; the move has since worked like a charm.  

During a five-game stretch, Cornish has racked up 628 yards and has averaged 7.7 yards per carry.  Yep, that’s a little different than 199 rushing yards over the five games to start the season.  His symbiotic relationship with his offensive line is the biggest reason for the Canadian tailback’s recent success.
    
Sunday afternoon’s finish to Saskatchewan’s 25-24 win in Winnipeg was even crazier than what we saw in Edmonton to start the week.  I’m not going to say anything new about Tim Burke’s decision to favor a Mike Renaud punt over a makeable Justin Palardy field goal.  

I didn’t believe it was the right call at the time and the way it played out was exactly why most were against the decision to punt.  Burke is in a tough spot to begin with, but he did see his players come out and word hard for him after an embarrassing loss on the road one week prior.  As a coach in an unenviable spot, making things worse on yourself is something you cannot afford. 

That’s exactly what Burke did in the latter stages of his team’s eighth loss of the season.
    
I will give the Bombers credit, because even with the unfortunate finish, they came to play and were in a solid position to win the football game.  All I wanted to see from this team was a group of athletes play with pride and passion.  Winnipeg did that and then some, especially defensively.  

They were composed, yet intense, and they tackled with a focus that we haven’t seen much of this year.  That type of effort can be duplicated by the Bombers, and if they’re going to want to play for something down the stretch, it’s the type of effort we’ll have to see a lot of.

Let’s look at it realistically.

Hamilton lost again and they hold just a one game advantage on the Bombers for third in the East.  Yes, I know the Riders would cross over the way things stand right now, but the Bombers should be taking one step at a time.  Chasing down the Tiger-Cats is a realistic goal, and there have been some positives in three of the last four games for the Bombers.  They will require some help for us to start talking playoffs, but things need to start with a little forward momentum.

Making his mark

Whatever reasons the Toronto Argonauts had for releasing Cory Boyd a few weeks ago, they were made more convincing thanks to the presence of Chad Kackert.  There is a pretty good chance that he will earn Offensive Player of the Week thanks to his outstanding afternoon in Toronto’s decisive 45-31 win over Hamilton on Saturday.  

The California kid was the leading rusher and receiver for the Argos, finishing with 239 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns.

It’s the most resounding performance we’ve seen from Kackert since he took over from Cory Boyd at running back, but it’s not as if the guy hasn’t been productive.  In his four games as a starter, Kackert has registered a very impressive 553 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns.  

He’s been a huge part of the Toronto attack, applying himself well in all situations.  He may not be the biggest body out there, but I’ve really liked how Kackert has applied himself in the blocking game.  His versatility has been very similar to Boyd’s, too, proving himself to be a good check down option on top of his fairly consistent work on the ground.

I don’t think we should be all that surprised.  Kackert was a very highly touted running back playing high school football in California, and he saw the bulk of carries in his final year of college at the University of New Hampshire.  Now that he has been given his shot for the first time in pro football, Kackert has done the job extremely well, and has helped diversify the Toronto offence in the process.
    
More than anything else, a consistent running attack has taken the pressure off of Ricky Ray at quarterback.  The Argos have won three of four games since their swap at in the backfield, and Ray hasn’t been asked to take the team on his shoulders.  On Saturday, his team put up 45 points, but he didn’t throw for a touchdown.  

In Toronto’s two other wins over that same span, Ray threw for one major in each game.  Compare that to the other three Argos wins this season where Ray had seven touchdown passes and you’ll start to see a trend.
    
With Kackert doing his good work in the Toronto backfield, the team isn’t relying on their quarterback to finish off all their scores.  Ray has still been very good, but seeing his team get scoring from their run game, their special teams, and their aerial attack has to be a weight off of his mind.  With Chad Owens, Kackert, and Ray, the Argos have transformed their offence in the matter of one season, and it’s a driving force behind their 6-4 start.