Tuesday Morning QB (CFL Week 2)
Week 1 was a chance for teams and players to showcase what they have as many looked to prove something in that first week.
Although the division between east and west was still there it was a week of fairly close games with not many teams being completely out of the running.
That all changed in Week 2 though as things got very divided throwing what most people thought of the season into a bit of a spin.
The league is not a stranger to the odd blowout but for almost every game in the week to be out of the running almost immediately is pretty rare.
That is what fans got to see this week as the closest game was a deficit of 17 points.
It was a week full of bad games that didn’t really do much to telling anyone what this season has in store.
The week started off with the start of the season for the Ottawa REDBLACKS as they looked to come out firing.
They did that in a big way as they were able to beat the Roughriders in a big start to their season.
A week before the Riders got by the defending champions in the Argonauts in a close battle where they had to fend off a late comeback.
The game in Week 1 seemed to show that the Riders were ready to compete and play through some adversity.
Then came Week 2 where the REDBLACKS put up 40 points leaving the Riders struggling for answers.
It also showed that the REDBLACKS are ready to fight for their spot at the top of the east division.
The real question after the game is whether or not the Riders are a good team that got beat by a better team or if the Riders simply looked good for one week but aren’t as great as some might have thought.
That blowout was followed up by another in Montreal as the Alouettes continued their multi-season offensive struggles.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat the Als 56-10 in a game that was never really competitive throughout the four quarters.
The first week of the season showed a small positive note for Montreal as Drew Willy showed some signs of being the answer but in Week 2 continued the tradition of poor QB play.
The Bombers were the only team to provide a more solid answer this week and that was all about the quarterback position.
While the Alouettes have struggled to find a QB for years, the Bombers have found a potential star in Chris Streveler, who impressed in his second pro game.
The only close game was in Edmonton where the Ti-Cats surprised many by becoming the second eastern team to beat the west.
They were able to take out the Eskimos after Mike Reilly struggled throughout the game while Jeremiah Masoli extended his life as a starter just a little longer.
The Eskimos were in this game until the end when Reilly threw an INT in the fourth quarter ending their hopes of a comeback.
In the final game of the week, the Argonauts were looking to repeat their performance from November in beating the Stampeders in the Grey Cup rematch.
From the start of the game, the Argos were not ready for this game as they were carved by Bo Levi Mitchell and the Stamps receiving corps.
The Stamps took the easy win 41-7 with the only Toronto touchdown coming in the fourth quarter of a game that was already done.
It was a week full of disappointing games with not a lot of competition coming out of the second week of football.
Unlike in other years though this week showed a little more balance than usual as two eastern teams took wins.
These one-sided games are too often on the side of the west but this time around the divisions came out even.
Hamilton and Ottawa both took wins this week showing a glimpse that the east isn’t going to be as big of a pushover.
Of course, the definitive answer to that debate won’t be in until the next few weeks as the east gets a healthy dose of the west throughout the first half of the season.
The east will be looking to prove everyone wrong in the weeks leading up to Labour Day but some teams have a lot to answer after Week 2.
Fourth Down
End of an Era
The Argonauts had a home opener to forget on Saturday as they were blown out by the Calgary Stampeders in the Grey Cup rematch. Things got a lot worse in the third quarter though as MOP candidate last year, Ricky Ray was carted off the field after an awkward hit. A reported neck injury will keep him out for significant time according to the team. It could mean that he will miss the entire season or a very big chunk of the season. Many already believed that this was the final season for the future Hall of Famer and this injury, the third in four years, might mean Ray will never return to the field especially with James Franklin as the backup plan.
Revenge Tour Cut Short?
In Saskatchewan, things were shaping up to be interesting under centre as Zach Collaros had been written off after a rough few years in Hamilton. He was moved to Saskatchewan and was given a chance to prove that he still had it and that he could lead a team once again. His first game gave some signs that he could still play but in the second quarter of Week 2, he left the game to undergo concussion protocol and never returned to the game. Concussions can be tricky and so his return to the field is still in question. The only bright spot might be for Canadian football fans with a potential chance for Canadian Brandon Bridge to take over.
Moves in Steeltown
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats had a good but not great start to the year in their first week but that didn’t stop them from making moves. After losing to Calgary 28-14 in their first week the Ti-Cats decided to change some things that could make everything else interesting. One of these moves was the signing of Delvin Breaux after three seasons in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints. Breaux was a key member to the Ti-Cats in 2013 and ’14 before he left and his signing brings a big presence to the secondary. The more interesting move was the release of Vernon Adams Jr. as they just ran out of room for quarterbacks in Hamilton. What makes that move interesting is the fact that a young mobile QB is available either as a good backup or potentially a starter for some struggling teams.
The Sport Addiction 