Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca
Today’s column is brought to you by Jet Smurf.
Let me explain. So there I was on Saturday night enjoying the long weekend when I received this Tweet from, I’m guessing, an ardent Winnipeg Blue Bombers fan:
@cfl waiting for @mcauz56 & rest of “experts” to pick the Ti Cats next week over BBs. Some1 please take look their record last 25g. Wake up
— Jet Smurf (@JetSmurf) August 5, 2017
First off, the use of “experts” to imply that I am not in fact an expert does not bother me as I have never professed to be one. Some of the writers who make weekly picks may be offended that you lumped me with them because they are actual experts.
But I can see why Smurf Bomber fan would be upset: His team has a better record playing in the West and yet we unanimously picked the Ottawa REDBLACKS to beat Winnipeg on Friday night. If not for some late Matt Nichols/Justin Medlock heroics we may have all been right. Instead, the Bombers were able to pull out another last-second victory.
But this column is not about what’s going on in Winnipeg, nor is it an apology to someone on Twitter; it’s all about my belief that the Ottawa REDBLACKS will win the East Division and will return to the Grey Cup. There’s a reason I picked Ottawa at home to win last week. Because I still have faith they will turn it around.
We focus so much on the players Ottawa lost, and we should — this team took a major hit in free agency. The REDBLACKS lost five 2016 East Division All-Stars in Chris Williams, Ernest Jackson, Abdul Kanneh, Damaso Munoz and Mitchell White. It’s hard enough to replace starters let alone that level of talent.
Henry Burris summed it up on Sunday via Twitter about the roster turnover, stating: “You can’t take the leadership of a team away and expect the same results. This is not the same REDBLACKS team from the past two years!!!”
Now this of course set off a chain reaction of emotion among Ottawa fans and I’m sure miffed a couple players. Burris on Monday clarified (backtracked?) his tweet at REDBLACKS practice on Monday, saying “Everybody thought I was calling out leadership. This is going to be a very good team, but to hold them to the standard of what we had last year is unfair. There are so many new faces on this team, give them a chance to grow. Change in the locker room brings change on the field.”
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After scoring the Grey Cup-winning touchdown, Ernest Jackson is catching passes for the Als (The Canadian Press)
I agree with Burris, this is going to be a good team — soon. Of course there was going to be growing pains when you lose that many veterans but let’s also remember who is still here. At quarterback, you have the starter from the 2016 East Division All-Star team in Trevor Harris. He is the best quarterback in the East, leading the entire league in touchdown passes, ranking second in yardage while completing more than 70 per cent of his passes. Darian Durant has thrown more interceptions than any other quarterback, I still believe in Zach Collaros but that team is a mess and who knows how many games Ricky Ray will end up playing in 2017?
Ottawa still has All-Star talent on the offensive line with SirVincent Rogers and Jon Gott, the current receiving leading is Greg Ellingson while Brad Sinopoli is not far behind sitting fourth in yards. And defensively, All-Star defensive tackle Zack Evans and corner Jonathan Rose are still on the roster so it is not exactly like the cupboard is bare.
My message to the fans would be to not panic. This is not a bad team, just a wildly frustrating one. I would also be screaming from the hills if I was a REDBLACKS fan considering all the missed opportunities. Just look back at their cursed start to the year. They blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead to Calgary in Week 1; they were leading Toronto 12-1 at the end of the half after holding them to a staggering minus-47 yards offensively yet still lost by one in Week 3; they gave up 14 points in the final 2:16 of the first half that cost them in a 23-21 loss to the undefeated Edmonton Eskimos a week later and then we all just witnessed this past week’s late game collapse against Winnipeg.
I’m not excusing the team for these losses — we’ve seen plenty of dumb penalties, questionable play calling and many back breaking turnovers but again, this team is closer than you may think. Fans don’t want to hear it but sometimes bad luck just happens and right now Ottawa is on the wrong side of it. Plus, I would rather lose close than get blown out. Close losses will eventually lead to wins while a blowout just means your team isn’t that good.
Trevor Harris ranks first in the CFL in touchdown passes and second in yards ahead of Week 8 (Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca)
Their five losses have been by just 13 points, they have nearly beaten the league’s two best teams in Calgary (twice) and Edmonton and they are currently tied with fellow Easterners Hamilton and Montreal with 11 turnovers. That all smells to me like Ottawa could be due for a market correction in the second half of the year. They have scored more points than anyone in the East and while winning the East is akin to getting top grades in Summer School, this REDBLACKS team has gone 20-15-1 and 3-1 in the playoffs the last two years while winning the East Division in back to back seasons. What I’m trying to say is there is still plenty of talent on this team and time to turn it around.
So again Ottawa fans, there is plenty of reason to still be optimistic and to Jet Smurf, I’ll be taking the Blue Bombers against the Tiger-Cats this week in CFL Pick ‘Em.
