Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
If you wanted to explain why you love the CFL to someone unfamiliar with the product, all you would have had to do is show them Week 2 of the 2017 season. Bookended by two 80-plus point thrillers, Canada Day Weekend had a little bit of everything with a premium on entertainment.
Let’s do that again
It’s a shame we won’t be able to see the Calgary Stampeders and Ottawa REDBLACKS hook up again this season, at least not until the playoffs. Four of the last five times these two teams have met, we’ve seen highly entertaining shootouts featuring lead changes, overtime and late game heroics. Thursday’s showdown at McMahon Stadium was no different.
Calgary’s 43-39 win to kick off Week 2 seemingly had everything you could think of in a football game. We saw a punt return touchdown for each team, a quarterback sneak go 60 yards for a touchdown, highlight reel catches and late game fireworks that ensured this game was in the balance right until the end. Of all the games the Stamps and REDBLACKS have played in recent memory, this one might have been the best, and that’s saying a lot.
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Andrew Buckley celebrates after running for a 60-yard score on a QB sneak (Larry MacDougal/CFL.ca)
Since their Week 3 deadlock meeting in 2016, Calgary and Ottawa have gone to overtime on three occasions and were very close to making that a fourth time on Thursday. Of course, November’s Grey Cup showdown was decided dramatically in extra time, while these teams played to a 31-31 tie last week.
There’s just something special, and somewhat unexplainable, about when these two teams hook up. And, as such, this rivalry is starting to build. Whether it’s in this year’s Grey Cup or via the crossover, I know I’m not alone in hoping these two teams go head-to-head again in the post-season, because we’re likely in for another classic.
In a win and tie so far this season, the Stamps have lacked the consistency they desire, but they’ve looked explosive and sometimes unstoppable in the second halves of both their games. A beat-up Calgary defensive group has given up a few more points than they would have liked, but they showed improvement from Week 1 to Week 2.
As for Ottawa, I’d be pretty frustrated in that locker room right now. The REDBLACKS have played two really solid games but have just a tie to show for it. Trevor Harris looks like the real deal once again and still has a bevy of extremely dangerous weapons. At this point, Ottawa has been the victim of some timely and costly mistakes, but even at 0-1-1, they still look like the best team in the East Division to me.
The last three meaningful games the Stamps and REDBLACKS have played have been against one another. That’ll change for the rest of the season, but here’s hoping they’re playing another meaningful affair when the weather is a little colder.
Depth test
The old saying “if they didn’t have bad luck, they’d have no luck at all,” has never been more accurate when describing the Edmonton Eskimos. With a pair of victories to open the season, we should be talking only about how strong a group the Esks look right now. Instead, in both games so far, Edmonton has seen a key player go down with a major injury, and that has put a bit of a dark cloud over both triumphs.
In their 23-19 win over Montreal on Friday night, the Eskimos lost running back John White with a suspected torn ACL and he’s likely out for the long term. White’s injury is the third devastating one to a key player this season in Edmonton as he joins linebackers Cory Greenwood and J.C. Sherritt who are both done for the season.
White’s injury is a devastating turn for one of the CFL’s most dynamic running backs (The Canadian Press)
For a team with so many reasons to consider them a title contender, major injuries like this is tough to see. The Esks are already facing a massive depth test defensively with the loss of two important linebackers, and now they’ll have to get by without White, who is one of the league’s most productive running backs when healthy.
As bad as I feel for the team, I feel even worse for White. There’s no doubting the guy’s productivity, and he got off to a killer start to the season with 104 yards and a touchdown against the BC Lions. In fact, White was in quite the groove dating back to late last season when he was busting off 100 yards per game on a regular basis.
It took a while for White to get into a rhythm last year, as he was coming back from a major Achilles injury that forced him to miss the entire 2015 season. Essentially, White is looking at missing his second full season in three years if this knee injury is as catastrophic as we’re led to believe. That’s hard to wrap your head around for such a talented player.
This isn’t new territory for White and you know he’s going to work his tail off to be back as quickly as possible. And, unfortunately, with serious injuries to important players like Sherritt, Greenwood, White, and John Ojo in recent years, Edmonton has gotten used to this, too.
On the bright side, though, they’ve overcome their circumstances the last two seasons, including a Grey Cup in 2015. And, even better, the Eskimos look really good to start the season and are full marks for their 2-0 record.
Tough to swallow
Earlier we talked about how frustrated Ottawa must be to have played some really good football with only a 0-1-1 record to show for it. I would imagine it’s a similar feeling for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and their fans.
The Riders dropped to 0-2 this season thanks to a 43-40 overtime loss to Winnipeg on Saturday night. From an objective standpoint, I loved every minute of the game. We had lead changes, drama and an incredible atmosphere in Mosaic Stadium’s grand opening. The place was electric, looked beautiful and got a great football game to christen it…minus the result for the home team, of course.
The Riders were dealt their second straight loss to open the season on Canada Day (Matt Smith/CFL.ca)
Saskatchewan has been agonizingly close to winning both games, which is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has to be tough to swallow seeing a couple of makeable field goals decide both losses. You win as a team and lose as a team, but Tyler Crapigna has missed crucial kicks from 45 and 33 yards in consecutive weeks.
Crapigna doesn’t deserve all the blame, of course. After all, the Riders held a 17-3 lead at one point on Saturday night only to see the Bombers score 24 unanswered into the third quarter. Nonetheless, Saskatchewan has played some good football and has nothing to show for it, and you can understand some frustration.
Fear not, though, because all is not bad in Regina. The Riders have done some really good things through two games and the results will start going their way if those trends continue. On offence, I’ve liked Kevin Glenn at quarterback and Nic Demski has emerged as a really reliable target at receiver. Defensively, Sask has been able to force some turnovers and they’ve done a nice job getting after opposing quarterbacks, too.
More than anything, I’m comfortable saying the Riders look significantly better than they did a year ago. Sure, they started 0-2 last season, too, but I see a team that looks far more complete than they did then, or even at the end of the 2016 campaign. That’s a big positive, even with an 0-2 start to this season.
Quick hits
Speaking of Saturday’s win for the Bombers, was there a soul watching who thought Justin Medlock was going to miss on the final play of the game? Perhaps I’m letting my man crush show through, but Medlock showed us again why he is the kicking gold standard in this league. He nailed five field goals against the Riders and drilled the winner to leave no doubt. It’s what the guy does every single week.
Finally, I saw my guy Tony Allen get a little love on the site late last week, which was awesome. Tony and I know one another through the Alberta radio circuit and you’re not going to find a bigger fan of the Stampeders, or the league, than him. He co-hosts the Rouge Radio podcast, watches every single game religiously and has a helmet collection to marvel at. Fans like Tony are what make this league so awesome.
