Now the Fun Starts!

Calgary was coming off a loss to Ottawa in monsoon conditions and Stony Mountain was supposed to win this one going away. Instead, the Calgary defense stopped the Bomber running attack which was supposed to revitalized by the return of Brady Olivera, got turnovers off Zach Collaros, the bravest maiden in Princess Incestuous Field and made the Bombers look old.

In an 18-game season, there are things known as trap games where a favored team overlooks their opponent only to get beaten. That is one way of looking at this game, another may be the |Stampeders showed the Bombers may be going to the well one too many times with essentially the same lineup that not only got its running game stopped but couldn’t stop the stampeders running game.

We will need a bigger sample size to form a definitive conclusion, but the Stampeders win in the inaugural Stampede Bowl to mark the start of the Calgary Stampede announced the arrival of the Stampeders as a team that bears watching. The win over the Bombers put the Stampeders into second place and brings them to Riderville to play the 4-0 Riders in a battle for first place.

While rabid Rider fans like to point out the Stampeders did lose to Ottawa, when you have monsoon conditions, ball security is job one and the new Stampeders seem to have a healthy respect for football fundamentals including a running game.

The Riders four wins have been characterized on defense by a team shutting down opposing teams running games, forcing them to throw and waiting for mistakes. The Riders defensive line has been better than I expected in putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks and they will have their hands full this week with Vernon Adams Jr. and the Calgary running attack.

The weather may play a role in the game if thunderstorms do hit Friday night after a few days of a heat dome dropping over the province. The Riders two public practices saw a lot more of Ka’Deem Cary at running back, raising the prospect of a dual running attack that may make it tough for the Stampeders to focus on just AJ Ouellette.

At the Rider practices this week, fans were treated to the sight of Samuel Emilus and Shawn Bane Jr. on the practice field, although Bane is still wearing a knee brace and I suspect his arrival on the roster will depend on the return of Emilus to tweak the Canadian ratio.

This may leave receiver Joe Robustelli, or Robitussin as I like to call him because he makes defensive backs go to sleep when he makes circus catches around them, on the roster for another game.

I think the Riders will respond to the Calgary running attack, which is well even with the Riders, with a dual running attack, lots of play action and long drives down the field eating up the clock. Trevor Harris will be back at quarterback after his concussion/illness kept him out of the BC game and from what I saw was throwing pretty good.

Harris will be facing a Calgary defense with a bunch of new players playing a defense not seen that much in the CFL Harris is pretty good at dissecting a defense he has seen before, but with not playing Calgary, it will be interesting to see how Harris approaches this and how well he can move the club.

Expect some hiccups until Harris and offensive coordinator Marc Mueller see how their game plan unfolds and where it needs adjustments. The Rider defense will have some changes of their own with injuries dictating changes here and there.

I would almost have to think Adams will lead Calgary to an opening drive touchdown, and after that, things will pick up in intensity. This is a battle for first place with an opportunity to put distance between the winner and the Bombers.

The Riders defense will have to watch the pass run option from Adams and while Calgary has some talented receivers, the Riders also have talent on defense. I would be concerned over Calgary going deep on the Riders since they tend to give up those types of plays and BC did run pretty good against the Riders, but BC was also limited by having Jeremiah Masoli as their starting quarterback whose best days are behind him.

It will be playoff intensity at Mosaic Stadium as the Riders try to show their fans, they are a legitimate contender. Rider fans have not been happy with Rider management on the business side of things and with season tickets at 15,500, it seems Rider fans not buying into season tickets are choosing to buy tickets to the games that seem more meaningful instead of going to them all.

The Riders therefore are going to have to prove themselves every week if they want to get their attendance at the 27,000 level. I have a healthy respect for Calgary’s running game and their defense after watching what they did to Winnipeg. It might have been a fluke game, but it might be a sign Dave Dickenson may be a better coach that many, including myself, were doubting.

I am going to approach this game the same way I approach teams playing organizations on which there is very little film. Calgary has new schemes and personnel but what they don’t have, at least not yet is depth.

The new personnel and schemes will take the Stampeders far, but it won’t clinch the deal, depending on weather conditions. The Riders will take some time figuring out what Calgary is trying to do on offense and defense.

The Riders have better depth, but with Calgary being an unknown commodity, I am tempted to say the game will be a memorable 27-27 tie, making a wild western race even wilder because hey, there is a reason why Rider fans like to drink.

Hamilton’s demolition of Toronto shows the Argos have probably lost too many players to free agency and injury to hold onto their defending Grey Cup Champion title. The season is still young, and I am pretty sure when Chad Kelly and Wynton McManis return from injury, the wins will come for the Argos, but it has to be painful to have Hamilton come into BMO Field and cough up a hairball on that lovely turf.

Hamilton was happy to see Bo Levi Mitchell hit Kenny Lawler with deep passes resulting from either a lack of communication or poor defensive coaching on leaving one person on Lawler. Rider fans remember what he did to them in last year’s western final but credit Toronto for trying to do things differently.

For Hamilton, the win sets them up to chase Montreal and maybe catch them depending on how long Davis Alexander is out. This is certainly possible, but maybe the time has come to pump the brakes a bit on the Hamilton revival.

There is a tendency to grade teams on the quality of their wins over their opponents, but while football is not like figure skating where you get points for artistic impression, you must look at teams your opponents have played and see whether their wins provide a true picture of the team’s potential or whether those wins should have footnotes about who was missing from the opponent’s lineup.

I am not taking anything away from Mitchell’s performance, but he was going up against not exactly the best defensive lineup Toronto could have fielded. This might not matter this week as Hamilton hosts Ottawa who welcomed back quarterback Dru Brown but ran into a disciplined Elks team who beat them solidly.

Ottawa does have talent on both sides of the ball, but they are cursed as well with the questionable coaching decisions of head coach Bob Dyce. I don’t mind Dyce trying to think outside of the box, but he seems to be forgetting teams must execute the fundamentals first before getting into bold offensive plays

Ottawa played better with Dru Brown, but again, Edmonton shut Ottawa down at some crucial moments which might be growing pains for a quarterback who hasn’t played since the first game of the season against the Riders. Brown is better equipped to throw to players like receiver Geno Lewis, but Hamilton has a strong secondary and while Lawler will get his, it might not make that much of a difference.

Hamilton better take advantage of a schedule that gives them some troubled teams to play so Hamilton can mount an effort to return to the playoffs. So, for this game, let’s say Hamilton 32-26 over Ottawa.

The final game of the week has BC go to Edmonton after beating Montreal in a game BC had to win. BC put quarterback Nathan Rourke back in despite an oblique injury that makes it tough for Rourke to consistently throw the ball.

The Lions relied on their running game, some big plays on their special teams and a defense that seemed to have no problem keeping Montreal quarterback McLeod Bethel Thompson in check. Thompson was supposed to be the experienced back up to help guide quarterback Davis Alexander who is undefeated in seven starts, but MBT is not the quarterback he is hyped to be. Interesting yes, but in the 2022 Grey Cup, it was Chad Kelly who led the Argos to victory in the fourth quarter after MBT went out with an injury and Kelly showed that despite his checkered past, he can ball out on the field.

BC got a relatively decent performance out of their offensive line and their defensive secondary, but you must wonder about their defensive line and the pressure, if any, they can muster on a consistent basis. However, you cannot doubt the value of Rourke to the Lions as they rallied around him and with the win kept the Lions alive in the playoff race.

Going into Edmonton, the Lions face one of their biggest foes right now in the Elk who with Tre Ford seem to be getting their act together with consistent football drives, good defense, and special teams. Edmonton got their first win against Ottawa at home, breaking a very long losing streak in June/July and are looking at racking up another win as they look to get themselves into the western playoff race.

While Edmonton has been showing consistent growth in their offensive game playing and their defense is kind of finding their feet against their opponents, one wonders if the Miracle in Montreal will translate into a boost in the Lions confidence.

The big question will be how the Lions defense handles the Edmonton running game and the ability of Ford to avoid getting sacked and throw some amazing passes. I like the Lions receivers against Edmonton’s secondary and maybe I am giving Mike Benevedes and his defense too much credit but if they can force Ford to throw from the pocket, Edmonton is very beatable.

This will be a game with a lot of playoff intensity because the loser has a long way to climb up the standings. So, while both teams have their weaknesses, I think BC has the tools to go for another win and bring themselves into a playoff picture in the west with their next game being against the Riders.

To make that game count, especially in front of their home fans, the Lions first must beat the Elk. Well, carnivores do win out over non carnivores so let’s put the score as BC 28-23 over the Elk.

by Greg Urbanoski

Now the Fun Starts!

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