It’s a Long Way to the Top if You Want to Rock and Roll

Jones had a reputation as a bit of mad scientist who thought outside the box when it came to football players, probably Willie Jefferson stands as the most prominent example of that, but he seemed to lose his confidence in himself with moves that are hard to explain like hanging on to Cornelius Taylor as a starting quarterback, spending money on Geno Lewis or a butterfingered returner in Chris Leake.

The move by the Elk on a short week is a bit of a surprise, but when you find imaginative ways to lose like the Elk have and the reaction by Boris Bede after his kick off went out of bounds in the last eight seconds, giving Ottawa great field position to move for a game winning field goal spoke volumes at how the team is disconnected from the coaching and even the situation in Deadmonton.

In a way it brings back memories of the Saskatchewan Roughriders the last two years under Craig Dickenson where the players tuned out the coach and were more concerned about playing out the string than playing smart or hard. Replacing Jones with Geroy Simon as the interim GM and Jarious Jackson as head coach is a first step and I suspect the sale of the Elk to private investors is close to being completed because the cost of swallowing Jones’ contract which has another year to run cannot be cheap and likely limits their options this off season unless the CFL gives them a mulligan to not have Jones’ remaining salary count against the football operations cap.

The other interesting thing is Edmonton goes to Ottawa to start this week on Thursday night and while 34 points should be enough to win a football game, the Elk suffer from a few problems. The first is that their defense is not very good. The Elk fails to get pressure and when you let Dru Brown light you up for not one, not two but three 60-yard passes, apparently pass coverage was not covered in the Elk training camp. The Elk also has a terrible offensive line, almost Saskatchewan like in its inability to block effectively.

The Elk has the makings of a good running game that can open things up for the offence but for some reason refuse to use that running game. Since Jackson was the offensive coordinator, I wonder how much things will change there. The Elk has a decent quarterback in McLeod Bethel Thompson, but Tre Ford is either the victim of anti-Canadian quarterback fervor by the previous coach or Ford is one of these college players who thinks athletic talent will cover for an inability to execute a playbook. Ford can scramble and make life difficult for defenses, but he has not been a starter for some reason, either valid or not.

If Ford decides to go free agency after this season, he will be getting interest from other teams, but perhaps only those with a proven quarterback whisperer will be able to fully use his talent. Ottawa is now at a point where if they win one more game, they match their season total for last year. Ottawa has a cornucopia of quarterbacks in varying degrees of health, but their signing of Dru Brown has brought them someone who seems capable of getting through a season without incurring some kind of hangnail.

Brown also seems to be less of a whiner than Jeremiah Masoli who is coming off a knee injury but who may be nothing more than an experienced back up to Brown.

Ottawa has a young and somewhat talented coaching staff that is getting the most out of their players and when you win like you do on Sunday night, that tends to inspire confidence you can get things done no matter how bleak the situation may become.

With these two teams meeting again on Thursday, Jackson won’t have to come up with a new game plan, but the challenge he is facing is the focus of the Elk with the dismissal of Jones and likely new owners coming in who may not want to follow the Jones blueprint of overpaying for receivers and sending injured players to the Lourdes Shrine so they can heal faster.

If Jackson does not dial in a running game to make things easier for his offense, then Elk fans might as well wait for the offseason to see how the changes shake out. If Jackson was taking his marching orders from Jones, he has a chance to establish himself as his own man and be able to diagnose and perhaps give the Elk a better chance to win than sticking pins in Bob Dyce dolls. It was a major step to get rid of Jones, but the Elk have the appearance of a team treading water while looking for private owners to give them a new start. The Elk may start off full of pee and vinegar, but the Elk have been competitive in their games until the fourth quarter.

I don’t expect things to change this week. Ottawa 38-31. Life is looking up in Stony Mountain Penitentiary as the annual summer parole season sees many Bomber fans getting early release so they can travel to Saskatchewan for a game Friday night and get fitted with new teeth.

Bomber fans usually make do with wooden teeth or get the dog provided by running back Brady Olivera to chew their food for them, and those fans are excited because after an 0-4 start, the Bombers beat Calgary 41-37 in the last minute to keep third place in sight. Of course, the storyline is how Zach Collaros has overcome everything from a thorax injury to not being all that great in the passing game and is back to the Bombers default offensive game plan – run and run some more.

The Bombers are planning to be in another Grey Cup this year and the sense of entitlement that followed their back-to-back wins is still strong in the city where dreams go to die. The Bombers are probably licking their gums considering Shea Patterson is starting at quarterback, maybe, and Jemarcus Hardwick went out with an injury against the Lions, so the Bombers are thinking blitz, blitz, and blitz some more. Before the Bombers book their parade route for their third straight Grey Cup loss, a few things to keep in mind about their win over Calgary.

Calgary has a running game and an offense that can move the ball and did against the Bombers, but Calgary does not have a consistent offense. Winnipeg has no defensive backfield to speak off and are probably in a class of worst defensive backfield along with Hamilton and Calgary. Whether the Riders can take advantage of that is another question, but I like Marc Mueller as an offensive coordinator (and repeat my prediction he will be a head coach in two to three years) because Mueller does not try to force a round peg into a square hole.

The Riders have some questions because of injuries on their defensive line, but the secret will be how well the Riders move the ball to take the pressure off their defense, especially when it comes to defending the Bombers running game. The Bombers added Lucky Whitehead to their receiving corps to stretch opposing defenses because what is left of their receivers are mostly possession types who don’t scare anyone when all of them are possession receivers. Calgary is a team that will likely drive bettors to drink with their consistency which is notable for its inconsistency.

Calgary with Jake Maier has a quarterback who is the Matt Nicholls of his generation in game managing without inspiring any real terror in opposing defenses. He also has a touch for throwing pick sixes which helped sink the Stampeders. Calgary’s defensive backfield is a sieve as Winnipeg demonstrated in marching down the field to snatch the win. Calgary has been circulating through every defensive back who seems to have played and one waits to hear if they plan to bring back Terry Irvin or Eddie Davis to provide some semblance of order in the backfield.

Calgary has also been hit by the injury bug and one suspects that if Calgary can get their injured back in the lineup and working consistently, the Stampeders may be the dark horse in the CFL with a team that seems capable of competing if they don’t continue to shoot themselves in the feet. Calgary has a big job on their plate this week as BC comes to town riding a winning streak that has seen Vernon Adams Jr. throwing the lights out, especially when it comes to receiver Justin McGinnis. With BC’s offense against the Calgary defensive backfield, it looks like a long night for the Stampeders who might be able to lull the Lions to sleep with a determined running game.

I can’t see that happening because Calgary’s offensive game plan has been shiftier than Donald Trump from game to game. Calgary might stand a better chance if the game is a flag football game because their defensive backfield is outmatched against the Lions receiving corps. BC should take this one 34-14.

So, the Riders can take some measure of satisfaction with how their defense was able to keep themselves in the game in the fourth quarter and might have done better if they could have converted their short yardage plays in the BC red zone.

Winnipeg will resort to their time-tested strategy of Adam Bighill taking head shots and not getting called and Zach Collaros handing off to Brady Olivera. The Riders need to overcome the demon from the sewers of Stony Mountain and not allow themselves to get pushed around by what is left of the Bombers offensive line. If they can block effectively, they can get a bit of a running game to keep the Bombers defense honest and if Patterson gets time to throw, the Bomber secondary has shown itself to be vulnerable to yards after catch.

I say if because if Trevor Harris is ready to come back from his MCL strain, he could be back in the lineup as the Riders need to keep space between themselves and the Bombers. I will have a better idea watching practice on Tuesday but the Riders having experienced their first loss, will be interesting to watch to see how they respond and in their first five games, the Riders have shown a fighting spirit that has not been apparent the last few years.

The Riders know they have a bit to go to compete with BC, but they should win a close game against Stony Mountain 20-14 as Bomber fans return to their Stony Mountain exercise yard with new teeth at least. Finally, we have Toronto going to Hamilton where the Cats are trying to make their head coach Scott Milanovich the Chris Jones of the month of July. On news of the firing of Jones, one wag wondered how secure Mark Washington is in Hamilton with their Swiss cheese defensive backfield. I would say if Hamilton brought in Jones as a defensive coordinator, it won’t be until next season, although losing like Hamilton has will prompt changes to be made quick.

Toronto knocked out Cody Fajardo and got their act together after a two-game losing streak, which may or may not indicate the Argos are back on track. For the Argos, they should have one eye on Ottawa who are racking up the wins against Edmonton, while looking to close the gap with Montreal who are off this week, giving Fajardo time to recover from whatever Achilles injury he suffered against the Argos.

Hamilton can’t seem to decide between a tear down and trying to reload on the run after falling flat in their efforts to play in the Grey Cup they hosted last year. Milanovich has been somewhat OK as an offensive coordinator, but Hamilton strikes me as more of a team with some serious mental health issues and Toronto should be able to take advantage in a 34-17 win.

by Greg Urbanoski

It’s a Long Way to the Top if You Want to Rock and Roll

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