Tuesday Morning QB (Week 11)
It is getting to that point in the season were the true competitors are making themselves known in the CFL .Teams begin to really shape their playoff hopes at this moment in the season and begin looking to separate themselves from the rest of the league. Teams do this through one simple tactic and that is to win. To help them do this teams need true leaders who can come out on the field and change the game. It takes these players to win and to help teams to the Grey Cup and to help win the Grey Cup. This has been true for years with players like Anthony Calvillo and Travis Lulay are keys to their teams. This year both of these players are back to help lead their teams back to the playoffs and hopefully to the Grey Cup. So far they have done their job as both have helped guide their teams to the top spots in the CFL. These players are not alone though as a number of other key players like Chris Williams and JC Sherritt have tried to help their teams in the fight for the playoffs. Williams and Sherritt were in a different position last year though as they came out of nowhere to become these impact players and this year have continued their roles. These two players are a part of another tradition in the CFL as every year it seems that another player breaks out to become dangerous in the CFL. Generally this happens at the beginning of the year when not much is known about them. They come out firing and surprise everyone who cannot seem to stop them. This year though the two biggest surprises of the season could be only coming into their own at week 11. Kerry Joseph and Chad Kackert are these two players who have come out of nowhere in the back-end of the season to surprise everyone. Joseph was never supposed to be a surprise after winning the CFL MOP in 2007 but after a less than impressive stint in Toronto Joseph quickly was forgotten. As a backup QB on the Edmonton Eskimos, Joseph was essentially the short yardage QB when Stephen Jyles brought the team close to a first down or a touchdown. Then came week 9 when the starting QB was out and Joseph got his shot at becoming a starting QB again. So far in the two weeks that Joseph has started he have yet to win against their rivals but have looked much better on offence. With two games ending with a total of three points between the two teams the Eskies are looking at a QB controversy. Granted Joseph has not won yet but under Jyles the offence was up and down while under Joseph the team has been much more consistent. With the way he has played Joseph could be the answer for the Eskimos with only a few weeks left until the end of the season. Meanwhile on the other side of the country the Toronto Argonauts may have found their next great rusher. After a questionable release of Cory Boyd the Argos moved on with Chad Kackert. In his first few weeks Kackert was good but in week 11 Kackert was great. Leading his offence to another win against the Ti-Cats Kackert was the answer to the Argos woes on offence. Now with only a few weeks left the Argos will look to him to lead their offence into the playoffs. It is late for these breakout players but some would say it is perfect timing as these players lead their teams towards the playoffs. It is better late than never and both teams are happy to see these players breakout in time for the playoff race. They will join the other gamebreakers in the CFL in the race as every game and every play becomes that much more important with only eight games left in the season.
Four Quarters:
(Four Quick Thoughts on Week 11)
Shaw doesn’t do it again
Grant Shaw was a major part of the Ricky Ray deal for the Eskies and they have looked to him many times in the last-minute but for the second week in a row he couldn’t get it done hitting the goalpost on a last second kick
Wind is in the Sails of the Boatmen
The rebuilt offence has finally seemed to come to life in Toronto but it is in a very familiar way as the Argos are once again leaning on their running game to punish teams and open up their passing game for a potent offence
Leos take 2nd and final round
The Alouettes and Lions are the two best teams in the CFL and the debate rages on as to which team is better while week 11 did nothing to solve the debate as both teams took one game apiece with the Lions win in week 11
Better result but same issues
The Bombers struggled in their first game under their new head coach but the second game was much better yet still they could not pull off a win showing that the problems along the lineup run deep in Winnipeg
CFL Players of the Week
Offensive POW:
Chad Kackert, RB (Toronto Argonauts)
16 rsh
172 yds
3 TD
0 F
Defensive POW:
Jason Vega, DE (Winnipeg Blue Bombers)
6 tkl
3 sck
0 INT
0 FF
Special Teams POW:
Demond Washington, KR (Winnipeg Blue Bombers)
6 ret
145 yds
24.1 avg
1 TD
Canadian POW:
Jon Cornish, RB (Calgary Stampeders)
16 rsh
185 yds
1 TD
0 F
CFL Standings
Eastern Division:
1. Toronto Argonauts (12)
2. Montreal Alouettes (12)
3. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6)
4. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4)
Western Division:
1. B.C. Lions (14)
2. Calgary Stampeders (12)
3. Saskatchewan Roughriders (10)
4. Edmonton Eskimos (10)
Scores:
Calgary Stampeders 20 – 18 Edmonton Eskimos
– Rematch week kicked off with one of the best games in of the Labour Day weekend as the Stampeders and Eskimos faced off in the Battle of Alberta with the Stampeders coming out on top again after Grant Shaw missed a last second kick
Toronto Argonauts 45 – 31 Hamilton Tiger-Cats
– The Argonauts offence finally came alive in week 11 but it was Chad Kackert not Ricky Ray who led them as Kackert scored three touchdowns to lead the Argos past their longtime rivals to take a 2-1 lead in the season series
B.C. Lions 43 – 10 Montreal Alouettes
– The Lions and Alouettes faced off in the battle of top teams but this time the Lions defence was the star as they shut down Anthony Calvillo and the Als offence with Travis Lulay proving to be the better QB in this game
Saskatchewan Roughriders 25 – 24 Winnipeg Blue Bombers
– The Roughriders were the cause of one of the biggest routs in the CFL when they put up 58 points against the Bombers on Labour Day weekend but it was not as easy this time with the Riders depending on a last-minute kick to win the Banjo Bowl
Next Week:
Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs. Calgary Stampeders (September 14th; 9:00 pm EDT)
– The Bombers are just trying to figure things out right now as they need to start winning while the Stampeders are trying to continue their roll and stay at the top of the Western Division behind the legs of Jon Cornish
Edmonton Eskimos vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (September 15th; 3:00 pm EDT)
– The Eskies and Tabies are both coming off a rough two weeks where they went 0-2 against their biggest rivals but another week means another chance to get back into the playoff race in both divisions
Toronto Argonauts vs. B.C. Lions (September 15th; 7:00 pm EDT)
– The Toronto Argonauts are looking to take that offence from week 11 and bring it to Vancouver where they take on the top team in the CFL in the Lions in yet another installment of the Braley Bowl
Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. Montreal Alouettes (September 16th; 1:00 pm EDT)
– Montreal’s offence was shut down in week 11 which means bad things for the Riders as they will have to deal with an angry Anthon Calvillo if they hope to continue their two-week winning streak to get to the top of the western division
The Sport Addiction 
The ability of the ESKS defense to carry their team the first half of the season hashelped to keep Joseph on the bench and JYles in the starting lineup playing not up and down but all down. The ESKS are obviousy much better offensively with Joseph and the fact that he will only have to start half a season will work to their advantage maybe. I say Maybe if he can last the last 8 games and playoffs and continue to mange the offense and make the timely passes downfield and timely runs that Jyles was unable to do. If joseph should begin to falter or get injured and they need to go back to Jyles they will be sunk. so basically there season is hanging on veteran Joseph.