The Canadian Press
Hello, blood pressure. You doin’ okay? Ya got tested there a wee bit during Week 19, didn’t you? Couple of barn burners on Friday night, filled with twists, turns and plenty of stress. Then came Saturday’s tilt between Calgary and Saskatchewan. You’ve heard the saying, “you could cut the tension with a knife?” Well, in that game, you’d have needed a chainsaw. I love it when big games live up to their billing.
Here are this week’s takeaways.
1. DEVIER POSEY HAS BEEN UNLOCKED
While Tyrell Sutton made an immediate and large impact when he joined the BC Lions, that cannot also be said about receiver DeVier Posey, who signed the team as a free agent in September.
In his first five games, Posey made a few catches, showed up here and there, but nothing spectacular.
In game six, he exploded, hauling in five passes for 113 yards, scoring three touchdowns in the third quarter alone, one of them a 65-yarder.
“I’m unlocked,” Posey exclaimed after his second TD catch and it appears that is true. The Lions set him loose and he looked like the guy that was so important to the Toronto Argonauts last season, when he ramped up as the season hit the stretch, capping things by being named the Grey Cup MVP.
2. THE OTTAWA REDBLACKS WOULD LIKE US TO CRUNCH THOSE NUMBERS AGAIN, PLEASE
Okay. Hands up, those of you who didn’t think the Ottawa REDBLACKS had it in them to step up and take out the Hamilton Ticats on Friday night (sticks hand up and continues to type with just the other).
I’m not even embarrassed by that. The 2018 Ottawa REDBLACKS are about the most mercurial team I’ve seen in a long, long time.
I still don’t know that I can faithfully pronounce them ready to roll because they’ve given us all reason to do that at least twice before this season, with a loud thud being the thing that followed next.
However, I do know they’ll be feeling pretty good about themselves this week. And after last week’s CFL.ca projection gave the Ticats a 94.32 per cent chance of winning the East and Ottawa a 5.68 per cent chance, the REDBLACKS will be much happier with the numbers that come out of our big computer this week.
3. THEY DON’T MAKE SOFT PEOPLE IN STEUBENVILLE, OHIO
Hey, that’s a surprising takeaway, isn’t it? Nevertheless, here it is, courtesy of Saskatchewan Roughriders’ head coach Chris Jones.
“They don’t make soft people from Steubenville, Ohio,” he replied to a reporter’s post game question about quarterback Zach Collaros rebounding from a terrible outing last week against Winnipeg.
Shut out by the Blue Bombers in a 31-nothing stomping during Week 18, the Roughriders’ offence bounced right back against the league’s stingiest defence and it was their quarterback who did the most bouncing.
Anyone who felt assured that Collaros wasn’t up to the job of moving the offence after a shoddy showing in Winnipeg may have been guilty of forgetting something and that is that Collaros has been exceptionally resilient during his pro career, scrambling back from adversity previously.
352 yards passing against a usually airtight air defence shows that the Steubenville, Ohio streak of not producing any soft people remains intact, as far as we know. Collaros is, indeed, up to the task of moving that Saskatchewan offence, so there was no need, after all, to press the panic button after last week’s misery.
BONUS TAKEAWAY: Sasky’s adjusted offensive line earned big applause for their efforts against Calgary’s ferocious D-line on Saturday night. Injuries have raked the o-line recently, with Brendon LaBatte bumped to centre, Philip Blake being dropped into the left guard position, and third-year man Josiah St. John taking over the right guard spot. That trio locked up the middle of the line of scrimmage in brilliant, “you shall not pass!” fashion. Actually, make that “you shall not pass, but we will” fashion.
4. THE TICATS NEED AN UNUSUAL SUSPECT TO STEP UP
Brandon Banks has been the usual suspect for them this season, along with Luke Tasker. The two of them have formed as reliable a duo as there is in the CFL and their dangerous nature means that almost always one of them is open on any given play.
Now, with the announcement that Banks will miss the rest of the season with a broken collarbone, Hamilton needs someone to seize the day in their depleted receiving corps.
If I were the Ticats, I wouldn’t lose my cool just yet, though. Mike Jones has shown flashes that an increased workload might not be a bad thing for him. And getting Terrell Sinkfield into the lineup might blunt the loss of Banks a little bit. And there’s 34-year-old Marquay McDaniel, too. Whoever it may be, somebody needs to step up and into the very large shoes that Banks has left behind. Well, they’re small shoes in reality because he’s very diminutive, but you know what I mean.
If somebody doesn’t rise to the occasion, pronto, things are going to get very tight-quartered for Tasker, indeed.
5. EVERYONE IN EDMONTON LOVES THE CALGARY STAMPEDERS
Yes, everyone in Edmonton loves the Calgary Stampeders. This week, anyway. (Note: I typed that first sentence three times in a row and my auto-correct changed “loves” to “despises” every time. Finally had to turn the thing off.)
Everyone in Edmonton loves the Calgary Stampeders because for the Eskimos to remain playoff viable, they need the Stampeders to beat the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg. A Bombers win or tie would eliminate the Eskies and that is why everyone in Edmonton loves the Calgary Stampeders.
Desperation leads to strange bedfellows and so for one night – one very important night – Edmonton fans will be glued to the tube rooting hard for the Stamps.
It’s okay, we all understand. You get a pass on this, considering the circumstances.
You can always take a nice, long, hot shower afterward.
AND FINALLY… Lemar Durant’s end zone pass pattern led him right to the Stampeders’ celebration horse, “Quick Six,” where he gave it a nice celebratory pat. Because we should all get a pony when we score a touchdown.
