Tuesday Morning QB (Week 12)
The CFL season has been a good one so far as teams begin to race for the playoffs and take one of the six spots available. Through the Labour Day weekend and the rematch week many teams discover just who they are. For some it was two weeks to show that they are a team to be taken seriously and for others it was a real wake up call. Teams like the Montreal Alouettes and B.C. Lions fought it out to be the best team in the CFL with the Lions coming out on top after a blowout win in week 11. Meanwhile teams like the Calgary Stampeders, Toronto Argonauts, and Saskatchewan Roughriders showed that they can still fight it out to earn the top spot in either division. For Edmonton and Hamilton the two weeks were more of a wake-up call as the offence of the Ti-Cats was not as good as once thought and the defence of the Eskimos was in the same boat. As all of this was going on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers fell further and further below the rest of the league. It seemed like teams were beginning to carve out their spot in the league as the Alouettes and Lions were the teams to beat while the Ti-Cats, Riders, Argos, Stamps, and Eskies would all be fighting for the remaining playoff spots. As week 12 rolled around it seemed that teams would continue their trends this late in the season. The week opened with a typical blowout win with the Stamps dominating the Blue Bombers. There was nothing surprising with this win as the Stampeders remained one of the top teams in the league while the Bombers continued to struggle. Then came the big surprise of the weekend as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats took on the Edmonton Eskimos in a matchup of two teams looking to get back on track. As the Eskimos looked to be on the rise with Kerry Joseph now at the helm the Tabies were in some trouble with a revamped offence that did not meet expectations. That was until this week when the Ti-Cats went off for 51 points after two weeks of struggling to find a rhythm. Meanwhile the Eskimos usually strong defence was helpless while the offence under Joseph struggled. This was a complete change from where they were a week ago as Hamilton looked strong while the Eskimos looked much weaker. The Toronto Argonauts were one team that looked strong in the previous two weeks but would truly measure themselves against the B.C. Lions. Despite a loss the Argonauts still looked strong proving that they can hang with the best of them. The week finished off with the Montreal Alouettes beating the Saskatchewan Roughriders in an underwhelming performance from one of the best teams in the CFL. Overall the week was much like a first week of any season. It was a week where not a lot was proven and not a lot was unproven. So is the 2012 season in the CFL as there are two dominating powers and five teams that could challenge them at any moment. The CFL season has been a great one so far with only the Winnipeg Blue Bombers looking to be out of the running for the Grey Cup. Every other team has a legitimate shot at the championship and the only thing standing between any team and the championship is a hot streak. The BC Lions did this in 2011 and every team is now looking to do it this year as any team can get hot from this point on and ride the streak to the Grey Cup. It is still an unknown as to which team can do this as this season seems destined to go down to the wire.
Four Quarters:
(Four Quick Thoughts on Week 12)
There is no Hope in the Peg
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers had shown some signs of life this year but lately it has gotten worse and worse and the blowout loss to the Stamps proves that the rest of the season will be a long end to the season
Tabies Offence is Actually Good
After two weeks that saw the revamped Ti-Cats offence really struggle to get anything the Tabies finally showed what their offence can do as they went off for 51 points against what used to be a good defence in Edmonton
The Boatmen Have Been Measured
The Argos had a good roll going with two straight wins against their longtime rivals from Hamilton but a true test of the team and the offence was the BC Lions and they hung in against the best team in the CFL despite the loss
Experience Trumps Youth
Anthony Calvillo is the consummate professional and an example for all young QBs in the league and nobody knows this better than Drew Willy who started his first game in the CFL with the Riders and got a firsthand lesson in quarterbacking from the veteran
CFL Players of the Week
Offensive POW:
Travis Lulay, QB (B.C. Lions)
24/40
390 yds
2 TD
1 INT
Defensive POW:
Brock Campbell, DB (Hamilton Tiger-Cats)
7 tkl
1 sck
0 INT
0 FF
Special Teams POW:
Tim Brown, KR/PR (B.C. Lions)
8 ret
129 yds
16.1 avg
0 TD
Canadian POW:
Shawn Gore, SB (B.C. Lions)
3 rec
96 yds
32 avg
1 TD
CFL Standings
Eastern Division:
1. Montreal Alouettes (14)
2. Toronto Argonauts (12)
3. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (8)
4. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4)
Western Division:
1. B.C. Lions (16)
2. Calgary Stampeders (14)
3. Saskatchewan Roughriders (10)
4. Edmonton Eskimos (10)
Scores:
Calgary Stampeders 44 – 3 Winnipeg Blue Bombers
– Jon Cornish was at it again making another highlight reel for his Canadian of the Year campaign as he led the Stamps to yet another win blowing out the struggling Bombers who cannot figure things out
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 51 – 8 Edmonton Eskimos
– The Tiger-Cats were coming off two tough losses to their longtime rivals the Toronto Argonauts but the Edmonton Eskimos could not keep them down as Henry Burris and the Ti-Cats offence went off for a 51 point rout of the Eskimos
B.C. Lions 28 – 23 Toronto Argonauts
– The Lions are clearly the best team in the league after taking out the Montreal Alouettes but they would look to cement the title against the Argos who were leading the East and the Lions proved that they were the best holding off a late charge by the Argos for the win
Montreal Alouettes 28 – 17 Saskatchewan Roughriders
– The Alouettes were coming off of a tough loss to the B.C. Lions and they took out their frustration on the Roughriders as Anthony Calvillo showed rookie QB Drew Willy a thing or two about playing in the CFL
Next Week:
Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (September 21st; 8:00 pm EDT)
– The Tiger-Cats are hoping that their offence has finally figured things out as they take on the Bombers and hope to see another offensively explosive game while the Bombers are hoping to finally figure things out for a win
B.C. Lions vs. Edmonton Eskimos (September 22nd; 7:30 pm EDT)
– The Lions are the best team in the CFL with almost nobody able to challenge them but the Eskimos are looking to get back in the win column and shock the top team with a win and more points towards the playoffs
Toronto Argonauts vs. Montreal Alouettes (September 23rd; 1:00 pm EDT)
– The Argos just took on the best team in the CFL and now they take on the second best and division rival the Montreal Alouettes as they look to see if they can truly hang with the best of the best
Calgary Stampeders vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders (September 23rd; 4:00 pm EDT)
– Calgary is looking very strong behind the legs of Jon Cornish and the arm of Kevin Glenn while the Roughriders are looking to Drew Willy once again for a win after he got thrown into the fire in his first CFL start against the Montreal Alouettes
The Sport Addiction 