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The EAST is in the house!
It’s been nice watching this pseudo-resurgence from all the teams that
weren’t given a chance by many this off-season.
I think it’s great for the league, but not so great for the way we’ve
been picking these games. Be cautious
though. Anyone with CFL experience will
tell you that it is a LOOOOONG season and there’s far too much football left to
start crowning champions.
Obviously Montreal was the biggest surprise of the week,
but their victory serves as a reminder that anyone can get beat on any given
day. The Alouettes didn’t do anything
fancy, they just took the field as a family and did all the little things very
well. Defense and their Oline will
always give Montreal a shot to win throughout the 2015 campaign.
Speaking of Brandon Banks, the TiCats are beginning to
look for ways to extract every ounce of potential out of him that they can on
Offense. I’m a fan of it, however, only
if Austin continues to do it the way that they did versus Winnipeg. Bringing Banks closer to the formation, throwing
blockers out in front of him, and letting him go sideline to sideline is a
perfect way to use his skillset.
Realistically the Tabbies don’t need to use Banks in any other
capacity. Not when you have ‘Tuz finding
every whole in opposing defenses and guys like Sinkfield, Tolliver, and Grant
roaming around without DBs being able to touch them.
Another key to success for Ottawa is being able to
pressure Matt Nichols. Edmonton’s
Offensive line struggled against Toronto and needs to improve on their week 1 performance. Keith Shologan who quietly had a monster game pushing the pocket against BC, leads
a good young defensive front into Edmonton that will need to get in Matt
Nichols thinking quickly, and moving around.
Edmonton can help itself by getting a ground game working effectively,
but Ottawa has played the run well in the first two weeks, so that won’t be an
easy task.
If smiling Hank can continue to play the way he has been,
Ottawa may just walk out of Edmonton 3-0.
Pick: Ottawa
Montreal may walk into the game on Friday planning on
throwing a few blitzes at the Bomber offense, much like Hamilton did the week
before, with resounding success. Willy
is going to have to get the ball out quickly, like he did in Saskatchewan, and
hope that the Als can forge a run game in order to balance everything out.
For some reason, people don’t speak about Montreal’s
defense and Noel Thorpe’s game planning ability as much as I feel they
should. There’s so much experience
spread throughout that unit, that opposing offensive coordinators can’t really
throw any looks at the Als that they haven’t seen before.
Offensively, for Montreal, they just have to continue to
build on the things that they did during Rakeem Cato’s spectacular CFL
debut. The scheme that Turk Schonert went
into week 2 with was perfect for his new QB.
This week, much like last week, the Als have to create success on 1st
downs, and keep their young QB out of the 2nd & 7+ as much as
possible. Tyrell Sutton ran for 130
yards+ against Calgary thanks to Montreals guys in the trenches, and they also
did a great job spreading the ball out amongst their veteran group of
wide-outs.
If the Alouettes can duplicate their offensive plan of
last week, and play solid defense as they normally do, I`ll take my chance on the
angry bird.
The Stamps need to feed Jon Cornish the ball a whole lot
more than they did during their debacle in week 2. He touched the ball 12 times for 59
yards. Cornish should be in the 20-25 touch
area every game if he’s healthy. Now
saying that, it’s up to the Oline to move the line of scrimmage, so those guys
are going to have to get back to the physical dominance that they’re known for.
Bo Levi Mitchell has to step it up as well, being the
leader of that team. If there’s one
lesson that this year’s start has taught anyone, it’s that one cannot just turn
it on whenever they want. If the Stamps
are going to repeat, they’re going to have to go into every game ready to “Start
fast, and Finish strong.”
Right now they’re only the cream of the crop in the West
because the rest of the teams here have had byes or haven’t hit stride as yet.
This one will be a quick pick, and I’m basing it on
experience. When teams that know they’re
good, start off slowly, the leadership in the room gets after everyone; and
demands more from themselves. The
Stampeders have that leadership, from the coaching staff on down. Now that they’ve had a chance to watch
themselves against two opponents and really give themselves a mirror-check, I
think they’ll start performing as they expect.
All of Ridernation was up in arms about the way the Argos
won here at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday. The Rider fans, and media alike, are still
questioning the defensive play-calling of Coach Chamblin, especially the series
in the 4th quarter with 1 minute left on the clock. I stated in my post-game comments on this
blog that experience may have a lot to do with the way the Riders are calling
their plays early on this season. It’s
tough to call a ton of aggressive blitzes and movements with so many young guys
in pivotal spots. Unfortunately there’s
no excuses in this business, and I hope you guys don’t take my reasoning for a
justification, rather simply as a realistic look at one of their issues. Coach Chamblin and Greg Quick are definitely
going to have to figure out how to deploy a more aggressive look with the tools
they have, because teams cannot be let off the hook, the way Toronto was in
double overtime.
The Lions are a team with a ton of potential, and they
showed in spurts against the RedBlacks, just not enough to get the job
done. They struggled to get Andrew
Harris going consistently, and looked as though they were fighting to find an
aerial identity. They’ll get it right,
and will have to avoid brutal calls like the decision to run out of the shotgun
on 3rd and 1 or 2, but it may not all come together immediately. The biggest discrepancy in the Lions roster
is the fact that they just lost their emotional and physical leader in Ryan
Phillips. That is going to be HUGE
against an offense that wants to go to the air just as much as they want to
pound the rock. If the Riders can figure
out a way to pressure the QB, then I can see them jumping on their chartered
flight to the YQR with a W. Right now
this seems like the perfect time to get back on track against a Lions attack,
and head coach that will take some time to figure out how they want to get
things done.
Pick: Saskatchewan, without Green Glasses on.
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Luc,
ReplyDeleteThis is beyond a doubt, the best breakdown of weekly CFL games on the web. Sound reasoning and going in depth as to both teams strengths and weaknesses.
I do agree on your Rider pick (without green glasses on), but and this is a huge BUT..............after Doubles was injured last year, we finished the season 2-6. We then lost the western semi-final, both of our pre-season games this year and have started out the regular season 0-2. That is a combined record of 2-11, the worst in the CFL over that stretch!!! Even Ottawa has won 3 games!!!!
Perhaps TSN having the Riders dead last in their Power Rankings this week isn't far off. Let's face it, our defense is not good. We can talk about this guy being out, Richie Hall leaving, Chamblin serving as 'DC' and head coach, personnel, etc. In this 'new CFL', if you don't have a consistent pass rush and mix in some linebacker blitzes, I honestly think the offense can almost do anything they want. The completion percentages for QB's are crazy outrageous right now around the league. It is maybe time for Corey to not be so set in his ways like a certain offensive coordinator was the last two years and CHANGE your philosophy and/or your personnel. They talk about certain guys as being the best at their positions. The one guy who is an absolute stud that most teams stay away from is Tristan Jackson. Brackenridge is also a play maker, but we are sorely lacking play makers at the linebacker position in my opinion. Lots of them on offense, not many on defense.
Aaron Anderson
The loss of Shea Emery did hurt, but I like the energy and desire of rookie Jake Doughty. Hope he has a great game Friday. He can also watch Bighill and Eliminiam to see how the best linebackers in the CFL do their thang.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely think our offence *Riders* is good and has huge potential and is on the right track. Kevin Glenn is doing great so far, better then I expected. Defence needs work. Season is still young!
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