Indeed, what did we learn?
We learned that the West has dominated the East for two straight weeks and will continue to do so.
We learned that Eric Tillman might be the best general manager in the CFL.
We learned that when the Calgary Stampeders bring their A game, there aren’t many teams better.
We learned that a Montreal-Saskatchewan game in Regina is as exciting as it gets.
We learned that if you can run the football in the CFL, you’ll usually win — and the Western teams can run the football.
And we learned that when Blue Bomber tackle Doug Brown wrote, “If you aren’t getting better, you’re getting worse,” he was right.
Let’s take a closer look at Week 4…
1. Once again, the West owned the East and despite Toronto’s brilliant 35-31 come-from-behind victory over Edmonton at Rogers Centre on Sunday afternoon, the football played in Western Canada is far superior — and far more entertaining — than the football played East of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. After two weeks of crossover games, the West leads the East 7-1. On the bright side for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, even at 0-4, you’re still only two wins, or four points, out of first place.
2. When Eric Tillman dealt quarterback Kerry Joseph to the Toronto Argos during the off-season, most of the country’s football scribes thought the Roughriders GM was crazy. Tillman said, “Kerry wanted $450,000 a year to play quarterback for us and I’m not giving up 10 per cent of my salary cap to one player.” Tillman also knew Joseph played lousy football in the 2007 Grey Cup game and was lucky to beat a Blue Bomber team that didn’t have its No. 1 signal caller, Kevin Glenn. However, before the 2008 season began, not many thought Marcus Crandell had the goods to make the Riders a threat. But not only did Tillman have faith in his No. 1 guy, he also liked his No. 2 and No. 3 guys. Right now, his No. 3 guy, Derian Durant, is the most exciting young quarterback to come into the league since Joseph first played in Ottawa. Tillman has always been a great judge of talent. He might be even better than we think.
3. The Calgary Stampeders pounded on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this week. Granted, the ‘Cats played without the talented Jesse Lumsden who is sadly starting to appear, once again, to be a very fragile back. However, the Stampeders played a brilliant football game and the 43-16 score might have flattered a Ticats team that just couldn’t get anything going without their power back in the lineup. Henry Burris went 26-for-33 for 345 yards and two touchdowns while Joffrey Reynolds carried 11 times for 99 yards. Without Barrin Simpson, one wonders how the Bombers will shut down the Stamps this coming Thursday.
4. Watched a Montreal-Saskatchewan game on Saturday night that was just about as entertaining as a football game can get. Once again, Anthony Calvillo played like the best quarterback in the East while Derian Durant just made one exciting play after another for the Roughriders. The 41-33 score was indicative of the brilliance of the two offences while Wes Cates proved once again how important a solid running game is to a successful CFL offence. Right now, Ken Miller is CFL coach of the year while Eric Tillman is CFL executive of the year.
5. When teams run the football, they win. In the pass-crazy CFL, a running game might not seem to be too important to some coaches (see Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive co-ordinator, Kit Cartwright), but clearly people such as Wes Cates, Joffrey Reynolds and Jesse Lumsden are proof that great running games create even greater passing attacks. When Lumsden runs the football, Hamilton wins. Watching Cates and Reynolds help their teams put up 41 and 47 points respectively this week was a clear indication that running the football in the CFL is just as important now as it was when George Reed, Johnny Bright, Normie Kwong, Earl Lunsford, Leo Lewis and Ronny Stewart ran the ball 40-odd years ago.
6. On Friday night, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were beaten 27-18 at B.C. Place Stadium by a Lions team that didn’t seem to have the same commitment to excellence as it did a week earlier at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg. Still, the Lions were good enough to beat a Blue Bomber team that is banged-up, beaten-down and as close to imploding as any Bombers’ team in recent memory. As a result of Friday night’s loss, the 0-4 Bombers benched quarterback Kevin Glenn and replaced him with Ryan Dinwiddie. Sadly, head coach Doug Berry is running out of scapegoats. He ran Troy Westwood off the team and his players responded with a “Well, if the coach can humiliate that guy after 17 years, it’s likely he’ll do the same to me,” attitude. The Bombers, who did not improve in the off-season — in fact with the loss of safety Kyries Hebert and cornerback Juran Bolden, they got significantly worse on defence — are now winless in four tries and yet not out of it in the talent-starved Eastern Conference. However, the Bombers plight might not be the fault of Kevin Glenn (see my Monday column in the National Post). The league’s best runningback, Charles Roberts has only 161 yards on 39 carries and if Roberts isn’t running the football, the Bombers aren’t winning. Since Kevin Glenn doesn’t call his own plays, the Bombers coaching staff must take responsibility for the team’s offensive woes. Of course, with middle linebacker Barrin Simpson now out indefinitely with a pectoral-muscle-tear, the team’s real problem might be on defence, not offence.
