Tuesday Morning QB (CFL Week 5)
The CFL finished its fifth week as the season is in full swing and certain things begin to change as teams look to the conference races. There is still plenty of time in the 18 game season but in the CFL change comes quick. With B.C. continuing to look for help on defence expect new players to come in and out until they win. The Argonauts will also be looking for some help as they wait for Stephen Jyles to return in four weeks. Meanwhile Winnipeg and Edmonton continue to find success and are looking to continue the success and make the playoffs. The last two Grey Cup teams are hitting road bumps as Montreal has now dropped two in a row and Saskatchewan has only been able to pull off one win all year. Then there are the middle teams like Hamilton and Calgary who are looking to get into a winning routine and are on their way to doing that. In all it seems as though the CFL is in a shift as the usually powerful Western Conference has given way to the Eastern Conference as only two teams of the four have losing records in the west while only the Argonauts have a losing record in the east. From this week on we will see if teams will make the necessary adjustments in order to make their climb back to the top or whether the top teams will be able to remain on top.
One for the Coach
WPG 25 – 20 BC
The B.C. Lions were hoping to have a chance to play at home in the Grey Cup as the 99th Grey Cup will be in Vancouver. As the season started there was hope but after 5 weeks it is looking like a farfetched idea. With Wally Buono’s job hanging on the lions took on the heavy-hearted Winnipeg Blue Bombers. AS the Bombers finished up their week four and were looking ahead to practice the next week they got some terrible news. The defensive line coach Richard Harris suddenly passed away of a heart attack on Tuesday. As they went into the game the Bombers honoured their late coach and were very motivated to win one for Coach Harris. The Bombers attempted to do this with what Harris had built as they continued to attack the offensive line of the Lions and ended the game with 6 sacks. Both teams looked even at the start of the game as the first quarter ended with a 3-3 tie. Again B.C. was looking towards a very close game which has not been friendly this year. The Lions took control in the second quarter as they finished with a 13-6 lead as Travis Lulay (16/31, 195 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT) led his team into scoring position and Jamal Robertson (7 rsh, 28 yds, 1 TD) finished it off. Meanwhile Buck Pierce (11/18, 206 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT) continued his strong play until he left the game in the third quarter due to calf tightness and Alex Brink (4/8, 52 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT) took over. Even as Pierce and the offence did well enough there is no doubt that the Bomber’s defence is the star of this season. With 6 sacks against Lulay they took over the game much more than the Lion’s defence could. The Bombers defence continued to be the best defence in the CFL and will now look to move on to the next game against the other surprise team in the undefeated Edmonton Eskimos. The Bombers will also be looking to the Grey Cup in order to honour their late coach by winning with defence the rest of the year. The Lions will be looking to anything for them to get back into the season as they are quickly losing ground but still have time to get back. The Lions moved to 0-5 and if they do not get their first win soon firing Wally Buono might be the last thing that the Lions will try to do to right the ship.
Eskies Squeeze into 5-0
EDM 26 – 25 TOR
The Argonauts have had one main issue in the past few years as they have not been able to find a QB since Damon Allen retired. They tried the once great Kerry Joseph who flopped under Bart Andrus. Then they decided to go with Cleo Lemon who again has done nothing in the CFL as he has rarely thrown for over 200 yards in a game. Now the Argos look to Dalton Bell with Cleo Lemon, and future QB Stephen Jyles, injured. The Eskimos have also dealt with their share of QB controversy over the years as Ricky Ray and Jason Maas competed for the starting job. This year the QB controversy is gone as Jason Maas retired and Ricky Ray took over the team for good. The lack of a controversy has done nothing but create the best team in CFL this year. The Eskimos have yet to be defeated and against the struggling Argos they attempted to make the start of their season one of the best in team history. When the two of these teams met in week 5 both were looking to win. For the Argos it was to stop the slide they were on while the Eskies were looking to continue their great start. The Argos started the game with a great beginning as they got ahead to a 17-1 lead in the first half. Before the first half ended the Eskimos began their comeback finally getting a TD in the second quarter. Then with second before the half The Argos defence held the Eskies at the goal line before walking into the dressing room. Unfortunately for the Argos the referee had waved the flag too soon as there was 1.5 seconds left in the half. The Argos came back out and then allowed the Eskies to score the TD making it a 17-15 lead for the Argos. In the second half the Argos took over again as they scored a TD off of a kickoff return that seemed to put them ahead for good. Then the Eskimos again came back led by Ricky Ray (24/34, 261 yds, 2 TD) and scored 10 points in the 4th quarter. With the 10 points the Eskimos took the game by 1 point as they improved to 5-0 and became the top team in the West. The Argos lost their fourth straight game as they fell to the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Next week Edmonton will take on the other surprising team in the CFL as they will face Winnipeg. Toronto will go home for their second home game this year as they take on a struggling Montreal team that will be very motivated to win.
Other Scores:
HAM 34 – 26 MTL
CAL 22 – 18 SSK
POW Awards:
Chad Kackert, RB (Offensive POW)
20 rsh
139 yds
2 TD
1 F
Jonathan Hefney, DB (Defensive POW)
9 tkl
0 sck
0 INT
0 FF
Paul McCallum, K (Special Teams POW)
4/4 FG
46 lng
1/1 XP
14 pts
Dave Stala, WR (Canadian POW)
5 rec
107 yds
58 lng
2 TD
Standings
Western Conference:
1. Edmonton Eskimos (5-0)
2. Calgary Stampeders (3-2)
3. Saskatchewan Roughriders (1-4)
4. B.C. Lions (0-5)
Eastern Conference:
1. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-1)
2. Hamilton Tiger Cats (3-2)
3. Montreal Alouettes (3-2)
4. Toronto Argonauts (1-4)
Next Week:
Montreal Alouettes vs. Toronto Argonauts (August 4th; 7:30 pm)
Edmonton Eskimos vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (August 5th; 7:30 pm)
Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. B.C. Lions (August 5th; 10:30 pm)
Hamilton Tiger Cats vs. Calgary Stampeders (August 6th; 9:30 pm)
The Sport Addiction 