Arthur Ward/CFL.ca
We’re four weeks into the 2018 season and there’s one trend that jumps out to me more than any others: how unpredictable things have been. For the first time in a long while, the league feels wide open any given week, regardless of division.
Perhaps this will change as the season progresses, but it sure does feel like the gap between the West and East Divisions has closed a little bit. As a result, we’ve seen exciting and unpredictable results, which makes for an exciting product.
The trend continued in Week 4 on at least two fronts, too. The week started Thursday in Regina with a seemingly reeling Riders group coming off a tough loss to Montreal the week before. Going up against an impressive looking group of Tiger-Cats, the Riders looked to be in tough; so much so, every CFL.ca writer chose Hamilton in our weekly picks.
RELATED:
» CFL Rewind: Highlights from Week 4
» O’Leary: Argos’ first win a positive step
» Bighill comes back to haunt former team
Marcus Thigpen‘s late touchdown helped the Riders pull off an unexpected win early in Week 4 (Arthur Ward/CFL.ca)
But give Saskatchewan credit: they employed an effective “bend but don’t break” defensive strategy, made a few big plays on either side of the ball, and held on for an 18-13 win. Very much was the same two days later at BMO Field in Toronto, as the Argos entered in somewhat of an underdog role against Edmonton.
Winless Toronto was without Ricky Ray at quarterback, had struggled mightily in all facets defensively, were going up against a powerhouse Eskimos offence and only got one pick their way, courtesy Jamie Nye, from our group of writers. Once again, though, the script got flipped.
In his first start in double blue, James Franklin led an impressive opening drive and then closed things out with a clutch series to put the Argos ahead for good. Toronto got on top of their run-stopping issues in a big way and were able to force the Esks to leave points on the field, employing “bend don’t break” very much like the Riders did.
In years past at this time, we’ve already started to see significant separation between teams, and usually between divisions. 2018 has been different, though, and even the team at the top of the pile doesn’t seem as head and shoulders above the rest as we’re used to.
The Calgary Stampeders are 3-0 and are full marks for it, but let’s not forget how close two of their three wins have been. Calgary’s wins over Hamilton and Ottawa could easily have gone the other way, which isn’t a criticism on the victorious side at all. Instead, it’s just another example of how things seem to have tightened up a little bit.
So what’s behind this increased parity early in the season? For me, the biggest culprit is what we’ve seen from a pair of East Division teams. Despite their loss to the Riders, the Ticats look to have made legitimate steps forward and are proving their 6-4 finish to last season was the real deal.
Similarly, 2-1 Ottawa looks like the real deal. Trevor Harris remains one of the most consistent quarterbacks in the league, which couples nicely with an extremely dangerous group of receivers. With the league’s most dangerous tailback in William Powell, the REDBLACKS are once again one of the most dangerous offences in the league.
Buy Week 5 Tickets
» Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET: Calgary at Ottawa
» Friday, 9:00 p.m. ET: Toronto at Edmonton
» Saturday, 10:00 p.m. ET: Winnipeg at BC
It’s still very early, but this nine-team league seems extremely tight right now and lacks the tiered feel it has in years past. Calgary might be in a category of their own at the top, but the gap to the next group isn’t substantial. The same is true with Montreal at the bottom of the pile, because they’re not that far off from the rest of the pack.
The seven teams in the middle are as closely packed as you can get, which is why we’ve seen a ton of unpredictable results so far. While it’s impossible to predict the future, this trend looks like it has a decent chance of continuing. From the outside, that’s good news, because unpredictability usually translates to excitement.
Hey, it’s Franklin
The aforementioned James Franklin was a huge topic on the Week 4 edition of the CFL Fantasy Podcast with Hannah Nordman, Jeff Krever, and yours truly. While he might not have had a banner Fantasy debut with the Argos (if you haven’t already, you can sign up and build your Week 5 team in CFL TSN Fantasy right here), I have to admit he impressed me with his poise and ability to get the job done when it mattered most.
I’ll give Mr. Krever credit here, because he’s been the most bullish person I know on Franklin, and has been for quite some time. Franklin came out of the gates strong and finished his first drive as a Toronto starter with a two-yard touchdown plunge. He saved his first touchdown pass with the Argos as a starter until they needed it the most.
Down 17-12 with just over three minutes remaining, Franklin found Declan Cross for a five-yard major to complete an impressive drive that started seven minutes earlier from the Toronto 35. Yes, Edmonton was able to contain the Argos’ offence for a vast majority of the game and dominated time of possession, but they left too many points on the board.
As a result, Franklin was put in a position to drive the ball down the field against his former team to win the game, and he did just that. In a situation he really hasn’t been in before in this league, Franklin showed me he could execute with the pressure on. That’s a huge attribute to have, and it stands to reason his quarter-to-quarter consistency will only improve as he gets more meaningful game reps.
James Franklin hands the ball off to running back James Wilder Jr. during Saturday’s win over Edmonton (Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca)
Saturday was a big win for the Argos, especially after having their run defence shredded in a pair of losses to Calgary and Saskatchewan. Toronto held CJ Gable and the Edmonton rushing attack to just 56 yards combined, which helped them buckle down once in their red zone defence.
They’ll need to employ similar tactics in their Week 5 rematch with the Eskimos. It’ll be another chance for Franklin to strut his stuff, and we’ll see if he can carry the momentum of his final drive into Friday’s showdown at Commonwealth Stadium.
Quick hits
Would it surprise you to know Jeremiah Masoli leads the league in passing attempts through four weeks? Yep, with 149 attempts, Hamilton’s Masoli has thrown the ball more than any other quarterback, including Mike Reilly. It just shows you how much confidence Head Coach June Jones has in Masoli, as the team is using him in a far more traditional way than perhaps many thought. Yes, he can run the ball, but Masoli is proving he’s a very proficient pure passer, too.
Finally, it was nice to see Matt Nichols back on the field as part of Winnipeg’s 41-19 win over BC on Saturday night. More than anything, it was good to see Nichols come back on the low end of his four-to-six week recovery, because that’s encouraging. And I guess we shouldn’t be surprised the Bombers were victorious with Nichols under centre; they’re 22-10 in games Nichols has started and completed.
