Inside the CFL: The week of the CFL’s underdogs

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on September 22, 2022.

Since the first week of the season, it has been assumed Winnipeg would enjoy a cakewalk to first place in their division en route to a third straight Grey Cup, and that a Western team would claim the crossover spot in the Eastern Conference. But then came the week of the underdog.

Or was it?

Yes, certainly in Hamilton where the 3-9 Ti-Cats tore the 12-1 Blue Bombers wing from wing 48-31. Maybe in Saskatchewan where the Elks won their first game against a conference opponent, 26-24 over the Roughriders. But not in Calgary where B.C. beat the Stampeders in overtime 31-29.

In the Hall of Fame game, hometown quarterback Dane Evans lit up a Winnipeg secondary decimated by injuries. After suffering one demoralizing defeat after another, Tabby frustration finally boiled over. After the game, Bomber boss Michael O’Shea called the loss an anomaly, and he is probably right. The victors played way over their heads. But considering their remaining games include Montreal tomorrow, Saskatchewan, Calgary and two versus Ottawa, the Cats could overtake the Als for second place. I can’t see either of them winning more than three games the rest of the way, meaning the Roughriders still have a shot at the crossover spot. But the loss to Edmonton could prove fatal. The Green and White’s remaining four games are in Winnipeg next week, then home to Hamilton, followed by back-to-back contests with Calgary. The Tiger-Cats and Stampeders will be giving it their best for post-season positioning.

If the Riders miss out, they have only themselves to blame, although they were rendered uncompetitive twice by COVID and the flu. They have only three wins in seven home games and have lost five straight in the should-be friendly confines of Mosaic Stadium. They’ve had but three wins over Eastern opponents. Problems have been apparent since early on.

Their dreadful offensive line has given up 59 sacks. How bad are they? The Elks came into last Friday’s game with the fewest sacks in the league, 21. They got to Fajardo with a three-man rush eight times! They were able to drop nine men back into coverage, making it very difficult for Fajardo to find an open receiver. You counter that by throwing to guys coming out of the backfield and you run the ball more. To their credit, the Elks shut down the run while gaining 202 yards on the ground themselves. But only three of Fajardo’s 20 completions were to backfielders.

Facing a nine-man drop is difficult but there are ways to handle it. The defence always gives you something but Maas doesn’t seem to be able to find it and adjust.

The offence generally falters in the last half. The Riders are last in second-down conversions.

Offensive co-ordinator Jason Maas should shoulder much of the blame for his team’s poor showing. A simple example: usually when the Riders are in a 2nd or 3rd and 1, he operates out of the shot gun and usually doesn’t make it. During the B.C.-Calgary clash both teams lined up behind centre and ran the quarterback sneak. They made them all.

Last Friday, the Riders did have the upper hand in the second half. The most penalized team in the league, they took only three flags for 30 yards while the Elks had 12 infractions for 158 yards. That they still lost was especially disheartening to head coach Craig Dickenson who described his team’s performance as “disappointing, poor, not up to our standards. We’re not very good and we weren’t very good when we were 4-1.”

The team is now in a bye week, getting ready for the final playoff push. Dickenson welcomed the break. “They’re beat up, they’re tired, they’re on their last legs.”

Calgary’s five losses are to Winnipeg and B.C. by a total margin of 19 points, which indicates they are a pretty good team that can’t finish. They are second in total offence, have surrendered the fewest sacks and have the best takeaway/turnover ratio. But the defence is faltering due to continual injury-mandated changes in the secondary. And, uncharacateristically, they are taking a lot of penalties, especially on special teams where good returns and field position are nullified by holds and illegal blocks. They must clean up their act, starting Saturday in Vancouver.