There’s something happening here. What it is, ain’t exactly clear

Calgary was pretty well blown out by BC in the first game and with Ka’deem Carey out with an injury and Jake Maier looking more a May-Not, Calgary had the distinction of having all three quarterbacks connected with the team – Maier in Calgary, Bo Levi Mitchell in Hamilton and Nick Arbuckle in Ottawa looking very underwhelming.

The lack of performance by Maier has me wondering if Calgary again sucks this week, would the Stampeders be looking for some fresh blood and the Riders have four quarterbacks on their roster. The Stamps would also probably be looking for some running help, but there are many more running backs available so that shouldn’t be much of a problem.

BC for its part showed the feast and famine aspect of life with Vernon Adams Jr. at quarterback. Adams has been chomping at the bit to show he can move a team as well as Nathan Rourke, recently departed to become the caddy to Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville, and move the team he did.

The Lions showed why they dumped Shawn Lemon with a defensive line that is actually pretty impressive and if Adams gets good protection, he has a good receiving corps to play with. The thing to keep in mind is that when things are going good, Adams is very good, but when he is flustered, then other teams will feast.

Ottawa did not make a strong case for why Nick “Fatty” Arbuckle should be anything more than a third down quarterback with his performance against Montreal. Ottawa has a solid defense, and while they may be waiting for Jeremiah Masoli to return next week, not this week, they may be getting the idea that Arbuckle is nothing more than a placeholder, and if he is lucky, one day he will move into the Matt “Game Manager” Nicholls neighbourhood.

Ottawa should have beaten Montreal with six sacks of Cody Fajardo, who was wondering when Montreal signed last year’s Saskatchewan Roughrider offensive line. Ottawa though has some inexperience in the secondary and Fajardo managed to find the odd deep pass, but again Fajardo was drop back, unable to follow through his initial read, do a spin move and try to throw it away.

So, it is a good thing Montreal has a defense and a running game. The difference between Ottawa and Montreal is Montreal has a bit more continuity and that got them one step closer to the Grey Cup.

Speaking of winning the Grey Cup in June, the Stony Mountain Blue Bombers opened Incestuous Field for another year of family match-making by disposing of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 42-31. Stony Mountain ran up the score before seemingly losing focus in the second half and allowing Hamilton to use special teams and defense to close the spread to a single score before Stony Mountain finally put the Cats to sleep.

Bo Levi Mitchell looked pretty ineffectual in the first before Winnipeg seemed to lose interest in the second half. Whether Mitchell is the final piece needed in Bob Young’s quest to finally bring Hamilton a Grey Cup, is not yet clear as Hamilton like other teams need to have their starters play together to develop some continuity before any decisions can be made.

The Riders avoided being the magical sacrificial victim the dark Edmonton Gods needed to reverse the spell cast by the Elk when Edmonton changed their team name and ended up losing for the next 1340 days.

The Riders are now looking at how to replace Philip Blake, the Canadian offensive tackle free agent who is out for at least six game with a torn pectoral muscle, and let’s be honest, is probably gone for the season.

Despite the loss of Blake, the Riders only gave up two sacks against the Elk, and even better, ran the ball effectively, pinned the Elk deep via the punt, and showed a defensive line that doesn’t quit with a goal line stand for three consecutive plays.

The Elk again showed the Chris Jones blueprint with a rebuild of the defense coming first and then tinkering around with the offense. Other than Elk hitting Eugene Lewis with a 102-yard touchdown, the Elk offense was as uninspiring as Hamilton’s.

There were a few times during the game watching the Elk that I reflected back on Jones’ second season with the Rider and how it took about six to seven games before the Riders found their stride. I think the Elk will follow a similar path and their home losing streak will end this year, just thankfully it will not be the Riders who help the Elk out.

The Riders showed some impressive moves like the lack of sacks against and penalties but then at the end of the game, they exposed Harris to an unnecessary hit when the game was all but won.

At the practice Tuesday Harris started off without wearing a helmet, then put one on. Harris has a hip pointer, but with the Riders having a closed practice on Wednesday and then a walk through on Thursday before the game on Friday, I would imagine the emphasis will be on Harris being in as little pain as possible when Friday’s game with Stony Mountain kicks off.

So, what will happen Friday? The Riders still have questions on the offensive line and at receiver and now perhaps at quarterback to mount on paper a serious challenge to Stony Mountain.

The Riders though have a good running game, the offensive line, even jury rigged as it is, seems to be cohesive through two exhibition game and one regular season game. Stony Mountain showed in their mental lapses against Hamilton that they can let other teams back into the game and I suspect other teams will be able to chip away at Stony Mountain like Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption.

It could happen this week, but I would think on a short week, the Riders will be happy to keep it a close game, like perhaps 27-24. The Riders want to show they can be competitive this year with Stony Mountain and with two more games after this, perhaps three depending on the playoffs, this is not necessarily the must have game for the Riders, but it is important to show Stony Mountain the Riders are not the pushovers they were last year. Take Winnipeg 27-24 and enjoy the fun.

On Thursday Calgary goes to Ottawa in a battle of back up Stampeder quarterbacks who so far have not grasped the possibilities being presented to them. Arbuckle has been traded around, whether due to the potential he presents or his inability to realize his potential, and while he is a placeholder until Masoli recovers, Arbuckle does not offer much to make other teams tremble in either terror or erotic anticipation.

With Carey out with a toe injury and the amazing ineffectiveness of Calgary’s offense, the interesting thing to watch will be whether Ottawa’s defense demonstrates it has the ability to win games. Ottawa’s defense is better than Calgary’s offense and whether Ottawa’s offense can recover to even meet game manager status to power then to victory.

I think Ottawa’s defense can pull that off in what will be an utterly uninspiring game. If Ottawa wins, will Calgary decide to pull the trigger in a trade for a QB, hello Riders, or will they do some dumpster diving to find a quarterback who can maybe get them rolling.

Ottawa wins this one 18-17 and the winners will insomniacs across Canada and watching on the CBS Sports Network who will finally be able to nod off.

On Saturday Edmonton goes to BC and which Vernon Adams Jr. will pop up? I suspect with LL Cool J opening up the season for BC and an owner doing the right things to get fans back (one hopes the good people at the Regina Exhibition Association Ltd which operates Mosaic with the ridiculous concession prices take note) one would think the Lions are in a position to string together two good games in a row.

The Elk need to improve their consistency on offensive and the current Elk tendency to rely on the old Oakland Raider long ball puts the ball squarely on the Elk defense and special teams to win games.

I’m not saying that could not happen, but while the Elk should be better than last week, they are also up against the improved Lion defensive line and let’s not forget the Elk gave up five sacks last week against the Riders.

The Elk will again make it close and BC will put on a show, but I see a 21-14 result for BC in this one.

Finally, we have on Sunday the debut of the Grey Cup Champion Toronto Argonauts who bravely held off the Stony Mountain Blue Bombers to win the Grey Cup last year, facing off against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

It is also ring night for the Argo fans, all two to three dozen of them, who will get duplicate rings or the left over rings the Argos were unable to get to former players. This is the debut of Chad Kelly who came off the bench in the Grey Cup to provide the change of pace that threw the Bombers off in the fourth quarter and help the Argos win.

The question is whether Kelly has the ability to lead a team through the season or whether he is best coming off the bench. This is an opportunity young quarterbacks dream off and while Kelly may at times show a questionable side, he does have the opportunity to grow into the role as a leader under the tutelage of Ryan Dinwiddie, whose first game as a starter was the 2007 Grey Cup.

Toronto has the benefit of film of Hamilton against Stony Mountain and Hamilton has no recent film of Toronto, so advantage Toronto. Hamilton also has Mitchell trying to find a rhythm and show his shoulder is fully recovered.

The problem with that is Mitchell had a pretty good test against Winnipeg and had to be bailed out by his special teams and defense. Mitchell may get better with more work with his receivers and his offense, but Mitchell may be reminding me of Peyton Manning whose shoulder went and he was forced in his final season to rely on leadership and guile to lead his team to the championship.

This may be the formula that Mitchell may hope to follow in Hamilton, but this week Toronto has a nice season opener for their fan base and a 31-25 win over Hamilton.

by Greg Urbanoski

There’s something happening here. What it is, ain’t exactly clear

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