Eskimos win round one in a classic Alberta shootout

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The recap from TSN.ca

The turning point: There were about six different turning points in what could easily end up being the CFL’s game of the year – it so far is just that – but the biggest turning point came on the kickoff after the Stampeders touchdown. Sandro DeAngelis pooched a short kickoff that went all of 43 yards.  Eskimos kick returner Tristan Jackson actually muffed the original fielding of the kick, but with the first wave of Stampeders tacklers changing their focus from tackling Jackson to recovering the loose ball.  The shift in focus actually became a huge break for Jackson as he quickly picked up the ball and and scampered quickly for a 35 yard return to the Calgary 43 yard line.  Three plays later Ray lobbed a 23 yard touchdown pass to Fred Stamps for the Eskimos win.

The game ball goes to: There were so many great offensive performances in this game and we’ll go over those in a moment, but we’ll give the game ball to Ricky Ray who walked away tonight as the winning QB.  28 out of 37 passing for 342 yards and three touchdowns!  He also five times for 52 yards, including a great 27 yard touchdown run where he looked like a carbon copy of Henry Burris.  Speaking of Burris, hard to believe his 30 of 45 passing for an eye popping 479 yards and three touchdowns wasn’t enough for a win.  Stamps wideouts Jeremaine Copeland and Nik Lewis had 182 and 132 yards receiving respectively.   Esks running back Arkee Whitlock had 106 yards on nine rushes.  All great performances, but it was Ray’s that stood out.

Random game thoughts: Henry Burris became the Stampeders all-time passing leader in the second quarter, passing Doug Flutie’s mark of 20,551 yards  …  The Eskimos had 2 turnovers in the game while only getting one fumble return putting their turnover ratio at -12 for the season.  They still don’t have a defensive interception this season  …  The Stampeders lead the league in points off of turnovers with 98.  They had 6 points in tonight’s game  …  Stamps had won four of their last seven visits to Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium before tonight’s game  …  Eskimos running back Jessie Lumsden underwent successful shoulder surgery this past Tuesday and will be out for the rest of the season  …  Both teams will play each other two more times this season three weeks from now for the Labour Day classic and rematch the following Friday.

Final grades
Stamps Offense: A
Stamps Defense: C-
Stamps Special Teams: C+

Eskimos Offense: A
Eskimos Defense: C
Eskimos Special Teams: A

Week #7 picks

Woo!  3 and 1 last week, my best week yet, and really had it not been for the Esks falling short I would have hit four for four!  13 up and 11 down for the season – the same record as TSN expert Glen Schultz and two wins better than the “world” he’s going against.  (Maybe if I keep this up I should make this 3MW vs Schultz vs The World!)

But now isn’t the time to get cocky…  Lets go over week seven and see if I can’t have another solid week:

Thursday August 13th

Calgary @ Edmonton (Edmonton -1)
My pick: Edmonton – It pains me to pick this way as a Stampeders fan, but the Esks are at home and feelin pretty good about themselves despite the tough loss last week.  Their offense was pretty darn good save for two Ricky Ray interceptions and the defense while still needing work is showing signs of becoming a very capable shut down unit (witness the fact that they had held DeAndra’ Cobb to just 40 yards rushing into the 4th quarter).  Meanwhile the Stamps are coming off a win but a little unsure of themselves coming off a second straight week of giving up second half leads.  Add to that they are on the natural grass – something that more than one Stampeder has opined about – and you have a perfect storm of a less than focused team going up against a focused one at home.

Friday August 14th

BC @ Toronto (BC -3)
My pick: BC - Law of averages says at some point the Argos are going to win at home.  They can’t possibly go the next ten seasons without a home win – not even the U of T Varsity Blues were capable of that!  Do the finally do it then this week?  In a word, no.  Cody Pickett will get the start for the Argos in the hopes of jump starting something – anything – on the offensive side of the ball.  Defensive wise the Argos did ok against the Alouettes last week, but the constant failures of an offense puts too much pressure on a defense and they eventually cracked.  BC will do the same thing to them here as long as Buck Pierce has a patient game, keeps using the short passes and waits for the Argos to stumble upon themselves, something they are sure to do at some point.

Saturday August 15th

Montreal @ Winnipeg (Montreal -8)
My pick: Montreal - Just when the Blue Bombers thought they had something positive to build off of last week – and they did – now they get to come home and face the best team in the CFL so far.  The Bombers offensive line will have to be as great as they were last week to give themselves a chance at winning this one because if the Bombers can’t run to open up the passing game for Mike Bishop, then it’ll be a long night for them and their defense as well as we know Montreal will put up numbers offensively.  This game may end up being a tight contest if the Winnipeg players have great nights on the field, so what the game may come down to is the coaching of Mike Kelly and if he can push the right buttons to guide a scrappy, but less talented Blue Bombers team to an upset win…  I just don’t see that happening though.

Sunday August 16th

Hamilton @ Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan -5 1/2)
My pick: Hamilton - Again the TiCats get no love from the odds makers!!  Personaly, I think the “aura” of Taylor Field (I refuse to call it that other name..) is somewhat overrated and I think that’s what has factored into most people taking Saskatchewan here as the home side.  I haven’t been that impressed with what I’ve seen from the Riders the last three weeks.  I think they let the Eskimos get back into their game in week 4, I think they got lucky against a less than focused team in week 6 and I think they mailed in parts of their game last week against BC.  Their QB situation still isn’t completly settled and they are fighting tough injuries again as their top reciever Andy Fantuz again looks doubtful for Sunday’s game.  Meanwhile the Cats are playing the part of a locomotive on offense – slowly gaining speed, but once they get full steam they will be tough to stop – TiCats D needs to play a little better to start Sunday’s game than they did to start last week’s game.  If they do that and get out to an early lead, they’ll be golden… and hopefully cement thier status as a top level CFL team this season.

Stamps hang on barely for win against Bombers

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The recap from TSN.ca

The Turning Point: The first half was a disaster for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but it could have ended on a bright note had they just made two key plays.  Firstly, with 1:57  left in the half and the Stamps with 2nd and 27 on their own 5 yard line, the Bomber defense wasn’t able to stop Stamps QB Henry Burris from hooking up with Nik Lewis for a 27 yard pass allowing the Stamps to get out of the shadow of their end zone and possibly having to give up a safety on 3rd down.  That drive ended with a Joffrey Reynolds 17 yard catch and run (and amazing dive) for a touchdown to make it 23-3.  The Bombers got the ball back with 36 seconds left and managed to get the ball down into field goal range, but on the last play of the half Mike Bishop completed a pass to Terrence Edwards, but Edwards failed to get down onto the turf right away or out of bounds before time ran out to help set up a field goal.  The Bombers walked away with no points and instead of being down by 10 points or less at the half, they were down by 20 and it was just too big a hole for them to climb out of in the second half.

The game ball goes to: Bombers running back Fred Reid was amazing once Bombers head coach Mike Kelly realized he was allowed to use the running back more than twice in a half (more on that in the random game thoughts).  167 yards on 17 carries and added 2 touchdowns.  He also caught three passes out of the backfield for 23 yards.

Random game thoughts: Stamps wideout Nik Lewis passed the 6,000 yard mark and also slid into 6th all-time on the Stamps receiving list.  …  Bombers didn’t get a pass completed until halfway into the 2nd quarter.  They also didn’t have a first down until that same time until the Stamps handed them one with a penalty.  Bombers had only five first downs in the 1st half, three of them as a result of Calgary penalties  …  Winnipeg started the game with four straight ’2 and outs’  …  Bombers have lost their last seven games they’ve played in Calgary  …  Last six games for Calgary has seen them rack up penalty calls of 80 yards or more.  Calgary’s secondary was responsible for 79 yards off of 3 pass interference / illegal contact calls and 1 objectionable conduct call  …  Bombers kicker Alexis Serna was 3 for 3 in field goals – one of them was from 54 yards out, the longest so far in the CFL this season  …   Reid’s numbers for the game are even more amazing when you consider he only had four carries in the first half for a total of 17 yards  …  It was a battle of brothers in this game featuring the Ralph brothers (Brett for Calgary and Brock for Winnipeg) as well as the Johnson brothers (Teyo for Calgary and Riall for Winnipeg)

Final grades

This was a game of two different halves…  Calgary completely owned the first half, but the Bombers made some great adjustments and played very well in the second half despite the eventual loss.   As such, we’re going to give the teams two different grades… One for the first half and one for the second half!

Bombers Offense: 1st half D / 2nd half A
Bombers Defense: 1st half C- / 2nd half A-
Bombers Special Teams: 1st half C / 2nd half B

Stamps Offense: 1st half A / 2nd half D
Stamps Defense: 1st half A / 2nd half F
Stamps Special Teams: 1st half B+ / 2nd half C-