Arthur Ward/CFL.ca
Good news everyone, I have just revolutionized the entire sports media landscape with my most innovative idea yet! In honour of Halloween being around the corner I am doing a “Trick” or “Treat” column based on what we’ve seen over the past couple weeks.
All right I admit, it’s not the original idea, but that’s what happens when you’re gorging on “fun-sized” Kit Kat and watching Halloween movie marathons on AMC.
TRICK
1. The Edmonton Eskimos bounced from the post-season!
How do you miss the playoffs with Mike Reilly playing the entire season? Now that is a baffling football trick! You can rationalize the Toronto Argonauts’ dramatic fall from grace by linking it with Ricky Ray’s season ending injury, but the Eskimos got a full year from their former MOP. Reilly is first in passing yardage, second in touchdown passes and second in rushing touchdowns. He’s been a healthy Fantasy beast for a team that is fourth in offensive points scored and second in yards gained, yet Edmonton will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
Beyond Henry Burris’ 2012 season with Hamilton, where he put up over 5,300 yards with 43 touchdowns to only 18 interceptions for a fourth-place 6-12 Tiger-Cats team, I can’t think of many examples of such a wasted single season for a quarterback. The blame for this year starts on Coach Jason Mass and trickles down to a team that turned the ball over more than every team not named Toronto and to a defence that was last in the West Division in both yards and points given up and forced the fewest turnovers. When you add in dismal performances from their return game and only one return touchdown on the season you can see all the negative factors that conspired to blunt all the good that Reilly has done in 2018.
Speaking of return touchdowns…
2. Chris Jones and the Saskatchewan Roughriders
Jones tricked so many of us. Who is this coach rotating quarterbacks in 2017? Why is he continuing to use Duron Carter in the secondary when clearly this team needs help in the passing game? Wait a minute, did Coach Jones just jettison Carter to Toronto? After losing to Montreal in Week 3, the “hot seat” conversation was warming up and was still there after the team lost 26-19 to Edmonton, dropping them to 3-4 after eight weeks. Yet here we are with a week to go and the Green and White have gone 9-2 with a chance to win the West! They’re the anti-Eskimos, destroying the adage that you need an elite quarterback to be a legit contender.
The Riders have a real chance to dethrone the Calgary Stampeders despite a wildly inconsistent bottom-third offence, a banged-up quarterback with more interceptions than touchdowns and no real stars at the receiver position. All the credit to the work done by Jones and in his staff, who took over a 3-15 team and now has them on the brink of a division crown.
It’s been quite the journey for Chris Jones and the Riders, who have a chance to finish first in the West (Arthur Ward/CFL.ca)
3. The great disappearing of the Calgary Stampeders wide-outs
Now you see them, now you don’t! It’s been hard keeping up with all the injuries with Kamar Jordan (10 games), DaVaris Daniels (12), Eric Rogers (9), Marken Michel (11) and Reggie Begelton (7) all missing significant time. No wonder Bo Levi Mitchell’s completion percentage is the lowest of his career at just under 61 per cent.
4. I’m somehow still leading all the CFL writers in our picks!
I know, I’m just as confused as the rest of you.
TREAT:
1. QB-Palooza! We have a damn fun off-season coming
It was pointed out on Monday that the following quarterbacks are all on expiring contracts: Mike Reilly, Bo Levi Mitchell, Trevor Harris, Zach Collaros and Travis Lulay. There are a ton of All-Star seasons, MOPs and playoff wins in that group. We could be heading for an NBA style off-season with so much talent at the quarterback position suddenly being exposed to the open market.
2. Montreal’s 40-10 win over Toronto
Late October football can be a rather cold experience, especially when you’re outdoors in Montreal watching a team that hasn’t lit it up offensively this year. So it was nice to see the home fans being treated to a home win, just their second of the season.
3. The Saskatchewan defence and special teams
Hat tip to Ian Hamilton for highlighting that Ed Gainey’s interception return touchdown in the Roughriders’ 25-16 win over the Lions tied the league mark for defensive scores in a season with the 1987 BC Lions. While the offence goes through stretches where it has been more about punts than points, the defence and special teams (which have chipped in with four more touchdowns) have accounted for 15 of the team’s 40 touchdowns. That is a crazy ratio.
Now, a pessimist may say that can’t be sustainable come playoff time. I say it’s been a treat to watch all year. I mentioned it earlier, but if you want to know the most significant statistic that differentiates two teams that are already so stylistically opposed, it’s that Saskatchewan led the league with 15 return touchdowns (defensive + special teams) while Edmonton finished last with just one.
4. Brad Sinopoli’s recording breaking “catch”
I wasn’t sure whether to put this one in the “Trick” or “Treat” category. The obvious point is that it has been a treat to follow Sinopoli’s journey as he broke Ben Cahoon’s record for single season receptions by a Canadian receiver, which he did against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Total credit to Sinopoli, who only twice finished with less than 50 yards receiving and both those games were against Calgary when the Stamps defence was crushing everyone. However, the record setting catch was on a middle screen that lost yards. Talk about an anti-climactic play. Your big moment as a receiver probably shouldn’t culminate with you being tackled by a defensive tackle.
Brad Sinopoli broke Ben Cahoon’s record for receptions in a season for a Canadian (Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca)
5. Trevor Harris against Hamilton
Starting with the dramatic second half comeback in Ottawa’s first game of their back-to-back with the Tiger-Cats, Harris has been doing some serious work against one of the best pass defences in the CFL. Overall Harris threw for 608 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions while completing 75 per cent of his passes.
6. Calgary in a must win game in at the end of the season!
Like the regular sized candy bars, this is a rare treat! Usually at this time of year the Stampeders have already comfortably won the West and are resting Bo Levi Mitchell and a slew of other starters as they get set for the Western Final. Calgary in a must-win regular season game to conclude the season is must-watch TV.
7. John Bowman’s fourth quarter!
It what will probably be his final game in Montreal, Bowman finished the night with an impressive sack where he blew past the right tackle to get to James Franklin, and added a fumble recovery touchdown for good measure. Oh sure, the touchdown was all about Ryan Brown cutting through the Argonauts offensive line, which made the curious decision to not block Bowman as they were trying to set up the screen. But why let facts get in the way of a great story? That’s a hell of a way for Bowman to finish his distinguished career. Next stop for him is the Hall of Fame. Now that’s a treat.
