Jimmy Jeong/CFL.ca
“I can’t believe he threw that interception!”
That sentiment was ringing out among the Toronto, Hamilton and Montreal fan bases on Friday and Saturday night. Argonauts at Roughriders, Tiger-Cats at Stampeders and Alouettes at Lions, all these games were decided by more than a touchdown but all much closer than the score would indicate and, more importantly, in each case it was a late-game interception that sealed the fates for all three East Division road teams.
The similarities within these three games were quite remarkable. The Ricky Ray interception that was returned for a touchdown came after the offence had generated two first downs as Toronto had the ball on the Saskatchewan 51-yard-line. The reason Toronto was on offence at this point had much to do with TJ Heath’s excellent coverage on Naaman Roosevelt, knocking down a pass on second down forcing the Roughriders to punt.
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The Jeremiah Masoli interception came after the Tabbies had also produced two first downs and were on the Stampeder 45-yard-line. For Hamilton there was also a stellar defensive play that led to a Calgary punt, as Larry Dean knocked down a Bo Levi Mitchell pass about 13 yards back from the line of scrimmage. Without this deflection, Mitchell most likely connects with Eric Rogers, keeping the Calgary drive alive.
For Montreal, the moments leading up to the game-turning turnover were not similar, but like in the other two games there were two constants: The game was close in the fourth quarter when the interception occurred, and the interception led directly to a touchdown (See: Marshall, Nick) or indirectly as both the Stampeders and the Lions scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive, putting the game away.
So that’s the broad strokes, let’s get to the fun part: Can we blame the quarterback? Hey, if we give these guys all the credit when the team wins, the least we can do is place all the blame at these glamour boys’ feet when they gag up the costly pick. Let’s do this in chronological order.
First up: Ricky Ray.
Stakes: The Argonauts were down 17-12 with less than eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
The play: On a second-and-four, Riders coach Chris Jones brought seven, leaving single coverage all over the field. Ray threw a quick pass to his right that was picked off by rookie Nick Marshall (By the way, read this story on him… what a fascinating journey!) who returned it for a touchdown, turning a 17-12 game into a 24-12 one.
When you first see the play it looks like a bad throw by Ray. When you see the first replay it looks like Willie Jefferson had deflected Ray’s pass. That made the most sense as it was an ugly duckling of a throw by Ray and Jefferson is the sort of freak athlete where you just assume he must have found a way to get a hand on the pass. But upon closer reflection you realize this interception was the result of pass interference by Ed Gainey, who was riding the back of SJ Green, Ray’s intended target.
The crazy part of this play is that coach Marc Trestman did not challenge what was an obvious penalty by Gainey. This play should have been reversed. My best guess as to why no challenge happened was Ray’s pass looked so wobbly that there was no way it couldn’t have been deflected and as mentioned earlier, if Jefferson is near, we all just expect him to produce a big play.
Conclusion: I’ll give Ray 25 per cent of the blame for uncorking the sort of pass I used to throw in backyard football and 75 per cent to the coaching staff for not asking for a review. I will credit Toronto, who got back in the game with a James Franklin touchdown pass to Declan Cross, but Jerome Messam was able to run out the clock after the Argonauts had cut the lead to 24-19
Next: Jeremiah Masoli
Stakes: Hamilton is trailing Calgary 20-14 with just over 2:00 minutes to go.
The play: Oh boy, this one is ugly. On a first-and-10 Masoli, has Nikita Whitlock open on a shallow crossing pattern, but he is looking for something more significant downfield. Masoli rolls out to his left to try and buy time but is immediately flushed to his right by two Calgary defenders so he is forced to scramble to his right. Without being able to set his feet and on the move, Masoli tries to force a pass to Luke Tasker. Predictably this throw ends in disaster as Brandon Smith reads the play and steps in front of Tasker for the game-ending interception.
An impressive outing by Jeremiah Masoli was diminished by a costly late-game interception (The Canadian Press)
Conclusion: This one was all on Jeremiah. He was trying to produce a big play where there wasn’t one, all the while ignoring the safe play right in front of him. For anyone clamouring for Johnny Manziel, my message to them is to stop. You find me a quarterback who was under more pressure in Week 1. Playing on the road against the best defence in 2017 without much of a running game with so many people openly rooting for the backup quarterback. Masoli played a good game, throwing for 344 yards and rushing for one touchdown.
Finally: Drew Willy
Stakes: Montreal is trailing BC 15-10 with 9:40 to go
The play: On a first-and-10, Willy’s first read is covered so he starts to scramble in hopes of finding another option. From my amateur eyes it looked like Drew was thinking of turning up field to run, but the Lions had two players spying on Willy giving him nowhere to go. At the last moment he decides for a sandlot pitch to Eugene Lewis but in steps defensive back Garry Peters who gets his first career interception.
Conclusion: Much like with Masoli, this one is all on Willy. Drew received solid pass protection and more than enough time to throw the ball away if all options were covered. With plenty of time left in the game and this being a first down play, this was not one of those desperate moments that called for heroics from the quarterback. This was a bad decision as there is no way Willy could have seen Peters was in far better position to catch that pass than Eugene Lewis.
A really fun Week 1 where we learned that thunder and lightning are bad for football and that not every interception is exactly what it seems.
