Peter Power/CFL.ca
Hello, Week 19. My, aren’t we a spicy plate of nachos? Even Argos vs Als has some intrigue to it with pride on the line. Still, that merely forms a bed of chips for the rest of the week’s ingredients. The other three games? That’s a mountain of jalapenos, bathed in a ghost pepper salsa, chased with a gulp of Sriracha sauce. I’m popping a boatload of antacids before I start watching on Friday night.
Here are this week’s takeaways.
1. PANIC BUTTONS ARE A DIME A DOZEN
So you counted Winnipeg out, eh?
Well, they’re back in and gaining altitude after belching black smoke, engines sputtering. So many observers grabbed their ‘chutes and headed for the emergency exits when they’d lost four in a row, including two to the arch rival Saskatchewan Roughriders.
All those changes that had been called for back then, don’t seem so necessary all of a sudden. Bench the quarterback? Fire the defensive coordinator? The head coach?
Nah, not so much. Of the teams trending upwards, the Bombers are about the trendiest right now, with four straight wins.
Panic button? Reserve that for quarterbacks who have to face that defence right now.
2. I’LL HAVE WHAT HE’S HAVING
We should all get the flu if that’s what it can do for a person.
So there he was, on Friday, missing practice and laying low on the eve of his team’s hugely important tilt with the Ottawa REDBLACKS. Mike Reilly charged his batteries as best he could and then almost singlehandedly (hello there, Bryant Mitchell) dragged his team’s offence out of the murk and muck in a game the Edmonton Eskimos absolutely had to win.
Reilly passed for 369 yards and, remarkably, ran for 72 more in the Eskies’ romp over the REDBLACKS. I say “remarkably,” not because Reilly can’t run; he can, of course. It’s just that, I don’t know about you, but when I’m aching with a flu bug, merely rolling over in bed is a gargantuan effort and has me feeling like I’m being pummelled with a hundred hammers. So, setting yourself up to be belted by high-flying linebackers and defensive backs would be a little more daunting, I assume.
What kind of flu was that, Mike? And how can I get it?
3. WAIT, THIS ISN’T HARD ENOUGH AS IT IS
The Lions passed the gut check in Calgary. After they first created it.
Just winning at McMahon would have been something for them, after learning of both Edmonton’s and Winnipeg’s wins earlier in the day and considering the Stamps were a perfect 7-0 at home. Yes, Calgary’s air attack has been blunted due to injury but they are still a formidable opponent, especially for a team that has shown a propensity to come up short on the road.
And when the Lions played themselves out of a laugher and into a white-knuckler with some sloppy play late in the first half, it appeared they were well on their way to a frustrating and disappointing – as well as playoff-dashing – loss. A fumbled punt, followed by an ill-advised throw into double coverage for an interception, helped the Stampeders turn a 20-6 deficit into a 20-18 nail biter inside two and a half minutes from the break.
It’s as though the Lions were a magician, comfortably juggling machetes but then thought “you know what would make this easier? Blindfold me!”
They set up their own extra obstacles, but the BC Lions showed they have the guts for the playoff drive. Still, it’d be a good idea if they avoided the hard way, whenever possible.
4. FLASHY BALL IS OVER
“Flashy ball is over,” Tyrell Sutton said during an interview aired during the Lions/Stamps game.
He was referring to the comfort of quarterbacks slinging darts all over the field during the nice, comfy temperatures of summertime.
Sutton, who hasn’t tasted meaningful stretch drive games in a while (he was injured the last time his old team, the Alouettes, had a sniff of a playoff spot, back in 2016) made the most of his cold weather debut for the Lions, accruing 106 yards on 22 carries and barging into the end zone for two touchdowns.
In a bruising, spinning, pads-low effort, Sutton showed that he is hungry for the grit of Western Conference stretch drive football.
He isn’t the only one. Flashy ball is over. Check those chinstraps.
5. WE NOW KNOW THE POWER SOURCE FOR HALL OF FAME BROADCASTERS
Congratulations to Bombers’ voice Bob Irving, the dean of all football broadcasters, who called the 800th game of his career on Saturday. It’s an incredible milestone for one of the game’s classy gentlemen.
Before the game, his broadcast partner, Doug Brown, tweeted out a picture of Irving’s pre-game meal. It was a shot of a plate full of cookies, garnished with a dessert square of some sort, possibly a brownie. I didn’t think it was possible to like Bob even more, but here we are.
The key to media excellence is a plate filled with sweets? Awesome. Starting next week, I’m gonna write this column after eating a half-dozen Nanaimo bars.
AND FINALLY…
Surprised to hear that Brandon Banks running into the goal post in Toronto was an accident. I figured he just thought he could knock it over.
