Weep Not for the Elk and Other CFL Thoughts

My column last week, paying tribute to Planet of the Apes, was more on target than I realized in the last minute of the game as the Riders won on a rouge, a play that should never have worked if Jones players had been better coached, or had better hearing.

Now the Elk face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats with the professional record for most home losses squarely in their sights. You might think the Elk would continue to implode, but I suspect there is no way the Elk could hit rock bottom any worse than what they are.

While I still have no sympathy for the Elk and their entitled fans, for the good of the CFL, which needs all teams at least off of life support and breathing on their own, the Elk can take solace in that it usually takes till game six or seven of the seven of the second season of a Chris Jones rebuild, especially when he has no Mike Reilly at QB, to get things rolling.

It seems like a long shot, relying on past historical trends, but that is about all the toothless hobos of Commonwealth have to look forward to. The longest journey, as Chairman Mao once said, starts with a single step.

There was a bit of a flurry of speculation when the USFL New Orleans Breakers released McLeod Bethel Thompson, former Argo QB and concubine to a Hollywood writer. The idea was to allow him to entertain CFL offers, the two biggest would-be Ottawa and Edmonton but apparently while Ottawa would be the best shot to get back into the playoffs in a weak eastern division, Argo linebacker Henoc Muamba said Thompson is not interested.

Thomspon is married to a Hollywood screenwriter, and they have kids, but she is currently on strike, and I suspect Thompson asked for his release because NFL teams are now allowed to carry three QBs and even at his age, Thompson would at least be an experienced QB to throw into action in the event of an emergency.

Thompson apparently would pick some place with good flight connections to L.A. and Edmonton does have a dirigible that makes a daily run, so that could work, but I think the NFL opportunity makes more sense, especially since the USFL has an early release agreement with the NFL, but not the CFL.

So, the Elk are destined to go with the hero of Planet of the Apes, Taylor Cornelius, and while the Elk blew the Rider game based on a dumb play, their defense played pretty well. Jones understood that a quarterback like Trevor Harris, cannot be allowed to get into a rhythm and can make mistakes because he is making quick reads that may not be exactly what he has foreseen.

The Elk made a mistake in signing Eugene Lewis for big money, only to lose him, the second season in a row Edmonton tried to get a big play receiver. They would have been wiser to invest in offensive linemen and cheaper receivers, which are plentiful in US ranks, but I suspect assistant GM Geroy Simon lobbied for Lewis, thinking a big play receiver would bring back fans.

The Riders for their part managed to lose their kick Brent Lauther on the rouge, which led to their signing of Canadian kicker Campbell Fair who managed to hit the upright at one of the practices I saw this week and hit a guy in the head in the stands behind the goalposts who was fetching balls from a previous drill.

The Riders have managed to jury rig an offense despite injuries to their center, most of their receiving corps, and assorted defensive players, so not giving up against the Elk despite being down by eight points with two minutes to go counts as a major step forward compared to last year.

The Riders now have the season series against the Elk and hope to repeat the trick this week against Calgary.

Calgary managed to stay with Stony Mountain for the first half of their game until the Bombers took advantage of a popgun Calgary offense and used their special teams and defense to come away with a 24-11 win.

If you want to say the Rider Elk game was underwhelming, it could be argued so too was the Calgary Winnipeg game. Calgary is also facing major injuries in their receiving corps and the sense of entitlement that existed in Edmonton seems to have seeped down to Calgary who may have the pieces to rebuild but need the playing time to do so.

Winnipeg may have proven its dominance to the CFL on TSN panel, but I would say BC and Toronto have the better defensive lines and when you get to November, and assuming those two teams manage to keep their defensive lines healthy, one of them is going to go around the Bombers offensive line like old men trying to return soup in a deli.

Calgary has a problem at quarterback with Jake Maier being just as much of a short yardage throwing quarterback as Bo Levi Mitchell, and Mitchell at least had the excuse of having a shoulder injury. Maier may just need more time to work with his jury-rigged receiving corps, but at least he has somewhat of a running game.

Calgary comes to town to play the Riders and if the Riders win this game, this drops Calgary to 1-4 and the Riders go to 4-1.

Jeremiah Masoli returned to the football field as Ottawa played Hamilton and went out with a blown Achilles tendon on a non-contact play, something Rider fans remember from Darian Durant and the first game of the 2015 season.

Ottawa brought back a quarterback from training camp and a prospect from Winnipeg, but Ottawa is well and truly snookered. It will take a coaching job of miracle like proportions to pull out a season, but Bob Dyce, who replaced Cory Chamblin in Riderville in 2015, has experience in working with rookie QBs and Ottawa is in tough, but I don’t think they are in an impossible situation.

Hamilton may be pleased with their win, but I would not start making my deposit on Grey Cup tickets. Hamilton has their own problems and this week they are facing a not bad defense and a quarterback with something to prove.

Montreal went into BC, got a gift from the refs with a bogus interference call that wiped out a pick six on the second play of the game, allowing Vernon Adams to regain his composure and come away with a 35-18 game.

The pick six might have opened the floodgates to Adams overreaching himself, but I think even if the pick six stood, BC sacked Cody Fajardo so many times he must be wondering if he could get into the witness protection program.

Fajardo was sacked 77 times last year in Riderville. This year with a better offensive line, he is on pace to get sacked 99 times.

Viva la difference!

So, this week Hamilton goes to Edmonton under the guidance of Matthew Shiltz who is given the opportunity to guide what was a possible Grey Cup contender about a month ago. Hamilton has to be feeling good about their chances after beating Ottawa, or rather holding on, so the thinking must be to feed on the bottom feeders until they get their bearings and then make a run to the playoffs, perhaps surpassing Montreal.

Edmonton showed last week they will be a dogged team to beat, they have pride, and they probably know Chris Jones will have no hesitation about replacing people because Chris Jones is bringing home three pay cheques and when he got hired in Edmonton, he talked about legacy.

I don’t think the legacy he was talking about was tying and setting a new professional record for most home losses.

So, will Jones’ defense get the better of Shiltz or will Edmonton’s offense go two and outs so many times you could use it as a backbeat for a disco song?

I have seen too many times how hard it is for a team to get that first win, especially in what is considered a rebuilding situation. There is a fine line between playing without fear and playing in fear of your job. Edmonton is firmly in the playing in fear of losing their jobs and that tends to concentrate the mind tremendously.

I don’t think Edmonton is in the position to fire Chris Jones, mostly because in a staff of buddies, who would step up? So having burned their boats like Cortez did when he landed in Mexico, Edmonton has no choice but to go forward.

Edmonton 22 – 21 over Hamilton.

Toronto goes to Montreal and a couple of things to note here. Toronto has probably the best defense in the CFL that is young and physical, and no surprise that is why they are Grey Cup champs.

Chad Kelly has been good as quarterback, but as the Masoli injury points out, teams are sometimes a bad hit or a misstep away from losing their quarterback and if you don’t have someone ready to step up, your team is screwed no matter how good your defense is.

Montreal has been hit with injuries on their defense and offensively, Cody Fajardo has been hitting the occasional long ball, but again, he is predictable in how he plays and if you are a defensive coordinator and knows Fajardo will circle around if his first read is not open, you have a linebacker spying on him to crush him and add to Montreal’s league leading sack totals.

Montreal has basically the same offensive line as last season, which was pretty good, so the increased pace of sacks can be explained by the offensive linemen unable to hold their blocks because they have no idea where their quarterback is.

Montreal could have been more competitive against BC if the refs and then Montreal Head Coach Jason Maas weren’t such boneheads. The pick six BC gave up on the second play which was wiped out by a very questionable penalty should have been challenged by Maas, but I suspect Maas is challenged enough trying to get Fajardo to shorten his drop back and get the ball out sooner, eliminating probably the majority of sacks being incurred.

Toronto’s defensive line will be treating this game like a junior high recess, rushing out of their locker room to make Fajardo run and get sacked multiple times. Montreal may make this competitive, but they are outclassed by Toronto 30-21

Winnipeg goes to Ottawa and not since the Christian martyrs walked into the Roman Colosseum will there be such a mismatch on paper.

Ottawa will start a rookie quarterback, actually the third string, and the playbook will be dumbed down to make it possible for him to call plays. Ottawa Head Coach Bob Dyce, who saw this before as the Rider interim coach, will at least be experienced in handling stuff like this, but if Ottawa actually wins, please award Dyce not just coach of the year, but the Mother Theresa Miracle Worker Award and Nobel Prize for unbelievable comebacks.

I am picking Winnipeg to win 26-18 and Ottawa gets 18 only if Winnipeg has pity and puts in all the backups and has draws for audience members to come out and fill spots.

Finally, we have Calgary at the Riders and Calgary needs to win to stay in contact with the Riders for third play although with the Riders next five games consisting of two against BC, two against Winnipeg and one against Toronto, even with a loss Calgary should be able to make up ground quickly.

What is more important to Calgary is if they lose, they lose the season series. Calgary has a makeshift offense and other than a running game, has problems with their passing, although they are raiding senior’s homes to find experienced receivers.

Rider Head Coach Craig Dickenson pooh-poohed the suggestion his team plays to the level of its competition, but until the Riders can demonstrate otherwise, I would say that is the situation at Mosaic Stadium.

The Riders know they need wins now and while they have scrapped by it might be time it caught up with them. I would think that time comes next week when they go to BC.

Riders 22-21 over Calgary.