The Canadian Press
Hello, Saskatchewan Roughriders. Looks like you’re feeling completely comfortable in your new place. Takes awhile for most of us. But, the offence has all the living room furniture in just the right spots and now it appears the defence has the utensils drawer all organized to its liking. Even got the answer to that classic move-in question “I wonder what THIS switch does?” So nice when a house becomes a home.
Here are this week’s takeaways.
1. CALGARY’S COACHES ARE THE MACGYVERS OF THE CFL
Over the course of the 2015 and 2016 seasons, an unusual spate of injuries along the offensive line had the Stamps scrambling to fill the gaps left by Bo Levi Mitchell’s fallen bodyguards. They even had to use the odd defensive lineman as a sub. Kept getting the job done anyway, tying for the league lead in QB sacks allowed in 2015, and then leading by a country mile last season. So far in 2017, it’s the defence that has been brutalized with injuries, forcing substitutions and leading TSN’s Chris Cuthbert to call them the “Duct Tape D.”
That defence was tremendous in Friday night’s victory in Winnipeg, a testament to a number of things: The Stampeders’ depth of talent, their coaches’ abilities to groom that talent in a pinch and the leadership abilities of vets like Alex Singleton and Josh Bell, to name just two. Betcha you could give Stamps’ Defensive Coordinator DeVone Claybrooks and his staff a rubber band, a paper clip, some chewing gum and a potato and they’d fashion a perfectly decent pass rusher out of them.
2. TRAVIS LULAY’S RUSHING SKILLS HAVE NEVER BEEN BETTER
And I’m not even talking about his touchdown run.
Sure, the veteran BC quarterback’s nose for a hole was on display during Thursday night’s win in Montreal, as he took a snap and found a breach in the Montreal defence from two yards out, giving the Lions a late lead they would not surrender. That was pretty good. But what was truly impressive, what was more dazzling, showing off impressive footwork and gear-shifting talents worthy of a Jeremiah Johnson, was his picking his way through traffic at the bench to find head coach Wally Buono after Lulay had detected what he thought was pass interference as he watched a replay of a Jonathon Jennings’ interception.
Lulay, watching the replay on one of those sideline tablets, sprang from his seat and dipsy-doodled his way through and around an orange and white gauntlet, getting to Buono in time so the coach could see it, too, and hurl his challenge flag in the nick of time. Did I see a straight-arm in there? There were some tremendous moves shown on CFL fields this week and I salute you, Naaman Roosevelt, Greg Ellingson, S.J. Green and Andrew Harris. And all the rest who wowed with some fancy-Dan manoeuvring. But Lulay’s sideline hustle? That was the best of the week and I’m giving him a newly-invented award called, I dunno, The Donny, I guess. Don’t get too excited about that, Travis.
There’s no cash or trophy or even a certificate associated with it. Just the pride you’re feeling. Let it wash over you.
3. YOU CAN BE YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY AND YET STILL WALK AWAY**
**Offer good only for those messing up in the first half.
Ask the Toronto Argonauts and the Ottawa REDBLACKS about that. On Saturday night, the visitors did everything wrong during the first half, particularly the opening quarter, where they took the first seven penalties of the game including three offsides and two for roughing. The Argos gobbled up penalties like a drunken frat boy bobbing for Skittles directly from the bin at a bulk foods store. At one point, Head Coach Marc Trestman was seen to slightly shake his head in disgust. That doesn’t sound like much but for Trestman – known for his consistently stoic and unflappable presence on the sidelines, that was akin to punching out an innocent Gatorade container.
Toronto took just three penalties the rest of the way, while the REDBLACKS took them during the second half. An errant snap that resulted in a Toronto major, another one that led to a failed point-after and an odd decision to dribble a ball on second and twenty from their own twelve yard line.
The lesson: Self-inflicted wounds are never a good thing but you have time to heal if you get them out of the way early.
4. NO, WE HAVEN’T SEEN EVERYTHING
That’s because, as mentioned above, Ottawa receiver Brad Sinopoli caught a short pass – behind the line of scrimmage – from quarterback Trevor Harris as the REDBLACKS operated out of second and twenty from their own twelve yard line. It was midway through the fourth quarter and the home side was trailing by four points. Sinopoli then dropped the ball to his foot and nudged it gently downfield, just a few yards, hoping to recover it. He didn’t, the Argos jumping on it and parlaying it into a field goal. You may have thought that it would have been Argo ball anyway, had Sinopoli recovered it, well short of the first down marker. Nuh uh. It would have been considered a punt and a change of possession, even without the defenders ever touching it.
Brad Sinopoli and the REDBLACKS attempted an unexpected play in the contest against the Argonauts on Saturday night (The Canadian Press)
A Sinopoli recovery would have resulted in an automatic first down on a technicality that some might consider kind of cheap (my hand is raised), a change of possession being declared even though there had never actually been a physical change of possession. It’s a loophole the league could consider closing down, although the way it turned out might be incentive enough to keep more teams from trying it. “No one is expecting it,” Sinopoli said after the game. Got that right. Nor would they be expecting it again anytime soon.
5. IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED, TRY, TRY, TRY, TRY, TRY AGAIN
How do both teams win a goal line stand? Well, your defence stuffs the other guys three times and then two more times – after getting nabbed for offside – before the offenders crack the plane. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ defence then went about snuffing out a two-point convert with an interception and had to feel good about their effort during that series. The Calgary Stampeders had to feel pretty good too, since they did come away with a touchdown after they figured out that they could climb through that open window right over there after banging their heads (five times) on a front door wasn’t budging.
Bonus takeaway: When it’s third and goal from the one and you’re defending the house, take a quick look down at your feet to see if either of them is encroaching past the goal line. If either of them are, step back a tad and leave your six-shooters holstered.
AND FINALLY…
Nik Lewis has a lot of really good nicknames (most of them coined by the man himself) but none better than the one dropped on him by TSN’s Duane Forde, who referred to Lewis’ impressive abilities to convert when he called him “the round mound of second down.”
