At Least the Bomber Fans Got a New Set of Teeth!

This is the last year of Ford’s rookie quarterback and while he can scramble and stretch defenses, there is no indication, at least to me, that he has the mental discipline to learn a playbook and add to his skill set instead of relying solely on his legs.

While the dismissal of former GM and head coach Chris Jones, the Elk are trying to do what they can to appeal to the dwindling number of Elk fans willing to go to games and that includes holding out the possibility that Ford will hit the field and at least give them an opportunity to be entertained.

The result was a disjointed affair as Edmonton’s defense was nowhere to be seen and Elk signed emarcus Christmas to bring joy and perhaps a pass rush and run defense. It was interesting how the Elk did not go to the assistant head coach Jason Shivers, but the promotion of Jackson might have been the best of a bad selection of choices.

I suspect Jones extended the contracts of his assistants and with the football operations cap, Edmonton had to do an internal hire and hope for the best. Jackson is a former quarterback with several teams and even was an offensive coordinator in Riderville, but a few BC Lion fans I follow have voiced dissatisfaction with Jackson’s performance as an offensive coordinator in BC.

It probably is not fair to judge Jackson’s performance as a head coach on a short week, even against the team he did offensive game planning against the week before. The Elk have been teetering on the edge of winning games, having discovered new and exciting ways to lose games in the fourth quarter.

The Elk brought in Derek Moncrief and Shawn Oakman to bolster the defense and provide maybe some leadership but while I think Moncrief is better suited to spot duty, having seen him chase various receivers last year for the Riders, and Oakman is a talented physical specimen who tends to take plays or games off. The Elk have talent, but no leadership and while Thompson’s tirade after the game about a short week of preparation apparently leading to injuries on both sides, MBT would better serve his team by urging the offensive line coach to get that unit’s crap together to better pass and run block.

The problem is with the ownership and management of the team up in the air until the end of the season, there is no direction to the Elk and no indication the players assembled mostly in the image of Chris Jones have the character to take on the leadership mantle needed to stop the slide down the standings.

Edmonton will get their wins, eventually, but that will likely be the result of their opponents not giving them the respect they deserve. Ottawa on the other hand has managed to combine talent with energy and the belief they can be competitive under Dru Brown.

Ottawa was a question mark heading into the season with Jeremiah Masoli on the sidelines recovering from old age and Brown an unknown factor as a starting quarterback. Fortunately for Ottawa, Brown is more than a Chris Streveler one trick pony and being able to make plays and show his team he is ready to lead them back no matter what the score makes Ottawa a team worth watching heading into the second half of the season.

Ottawa’s win has tied them for the wins they got last season and that must be good news for the Ottawa brain trust hoping to bring fans back to the stadium to watch some football. The fact they have won some games not many had given them an opportunity to do so has put them in second place in the east and makes Ottawa’s games against their eastern rivals must-see television in the next few months.

Edmonton returns home this week to play Hamilton who finally showed up for a game and beat Toronto last week for their first game of the season. Hamilton has been suffering the same start as Edmonton as Bo Levi Mitchell is trying to prove he still has it, even if he doesn’t have a team around him.

Hamilton took advantage of a Toronto team with no fire to edge them and sent them a message that this is not last year. While Mitchell has been adequate as a starting quarterback, he has suffered from poor performance from his receivers, a lack of consistency in the running game and an offensive line needing to show some muscle.

Hamilton will have to game plan for both McLeod Bethel Thompson and Ford which is not a bad thing for the Hamilton defense, but I suspect unless Mark Washington can turn things around defensively, I would put Hamilton down as a favorite to land Chris Jones as a defensive coordinator next year.

You would think that Edmonton would have to break their winless streak sooner or later, but after a stretch of 11 years watching the Riders not make the playoffs, anytime you have an airlift of players like Edmonton is currently bringing in, you lose consistency on either offense or defense and both units need that consistency to learn to play together and trust each other.

Hamilton has at least a semblance of that consistency and that will likely result in a 27-20 Hamilton win because right now, this is next year country for the Elk and the longest training camp is now underway in the once proud Alberta capital.

Ottawa hosts Calgary in what is a fascinating game between two teams about which not much was expected before the season. Calgary’s 25-24 win over BC showed BC’s Achilles Heel may well be outdoor games because Vernon Adams Jr was unable to get a handle on the wind.

Calgary is a fascinating team to watch because they are trying to jury rig a receiving corps and get some consistency in their defensive secondary and while Jake Maier was underwhelming last year, he was the only quarterback to play all games for his team and when he gets support, he is a not bad game manager as a Quarterback.

For Maier it has been a learning process and while he has been handicapped by a lack of a consistent receiving corps, the intangibles he has shown by staying upright and pulling off major wins like that against BC makes them an interesting team to watch heading into the second third of the season.

Calgary has a running game which will come in handy when it gets colder and if they can get their ffensive line to cooperate. Calgary has rebuilt their receiving corps by going with Canadians which allows them to load up at other positions.

Calgary also has a leaky defensive secondary, although they managed to turn the BC Lions sportscar receiving corps into some kind of hatchback. Ottawa’s ability to make big plays should give them a bit of an edge, but as much as this pains me, I am going to pick Calgary in a 24-20 win because these teams are roughly evenly matched, but Calgary has been more competitive against teams while Ottawa has been good at capitalizing at other team’s mistakes.

The Riders sent a message to Winnipeg after years of having the crap beaten out of them with a 19-9 win that put a cramp into the narrative the Bombers were back after beating Calgary. Again, the Bomber win against Calgary was due to Calgary’s leaky secondary, and while the Bombers came into Regina hoping to rely on muscle memory in beating the Riders yet again as they have the last four years.

The Bombers though have lost a lot of talented people and injuries have reduced their offence to Brady Olivera at running back and Nic Demski at slotback. Zach Collaros has regressed to his late Hamilton years with throwing the ball into the dirt or throwing interceptions at inopportune times.

The Riders unveiled a defensive scheme that flustered Collaros, limiting him to three field goals and on Winnipeg’s deepest penetration, Demski had the ball

punched out by Jameer Thurman which was recovered by the Riders. Rolan Milligan Jr. continued to build his case as outstanding defensive player with his coverage, interceptions and special teams play.

On offense the big question was how the Riders would fare against the Bombers defensive line and the answer was not bad. Despite losing JeMarcus Hardrick, the Riders have now found players who can step in and perhaps more importantly, have the adult coaching needed to improve on a weekly basis.

The Riders ran AJ Ouellette who lasted most of the game before leaving with a hip injury that will keep him out of the Montreal game. More impressively was the play calling by Shea Patterson, thanks to offensive coordinator Marc Mueller who showed signs of his grandfather Ron Lancaster by taking advantage of Bomber defenses especially on the games only touchdown, a toss to fullback Clint Ratkovich.

The play everyone was talking about was the final play where Patterson was trying to run out the clock without turning the ball over to the Bombers. The Bombers launched a blitz and Patterson avoided a sack by Willie Jefferson but got leveled by an overweight Adam Bighill looking to send a message that he is a goon, coached by one of the biggest goons in Mike O’Shea.

Patterson to his credit said the hit was his fault for not getting rid of the ball faster, but for those who thought the Riders should have taken a knee, it was a third down and the clock did not allow for a knee down and the Bombers would have tried to narrow the margin with a field goal or touchdown, points which may come in handy later on in the season in the standings between the two teams.

Patterson could have run around and turtled, but the Riders have scars from previous plays where quarterbacks have gotten injured or hit on last plays of the game. However, Bighill did not have to put his weight on Patterson, which was a deliberate attempt to injure, and not surprisingly, the Riders emptied the bench to express their disapproval of Bighill’s actions.

I played linebacker and instead of taking a shot in the last play, I would have just grabbed Patterson and called it a night. I also contrast the self-righteousness of O’Shea and the toothless Bomber fans who would have screamed bloody murder if it was Collaros who was hit. In fact, last season after Pete Robertson head butted Collaros in an innocuous play, the toothless ones were calling a season long suspension, something was conspicuously absent from the Bomber fan pages this time.

I would prefer to have Bighill fined, and I want him on the field because other than the head shots he delivers, he is obviously fatter and past his best before date. Over the Bighill should play in the two remaining games between the Bombers and Riders so that he can continue to cost his team games while the Bombers and their toothless fans wallow in the past and the fact the past is leaving this team behind.

The Bombers take their clown show on the road to Toronto who dropped a game against Hamilton that they shouldn’t have and should be used as an example of not taking a team seriously, even a team with a winless record like Hamilton. It’s interesting to see Toronto sort of rebuild with the suspension of Chad Kelly for half the season and with Cameron Dukes taking the reins.

Toronto is fundamentally sound, but with the losses of coaches of players, will be going through some growing pains and the team looks to develop new leadership and faces an interesting situation when Kelly returns from his suspension, assuming he fulfills the CFL requirement for sensitivity training. For this game, Toronto has a more rounded and younger team than the Bombers and I doubt the Bombers were in the Argos heads as they have been in the Riders heads during their reign of terror.

The Argos should not have any problem getting up for this game against Winnipeg, unlike their performance against Hamilton. The Argos are in third place and need to make up some ground in the east, especially since Ottawa has been surprising the hell out of other teams.

The Argos also play pretty good defense, so don’t expect Collaros to hit for 300 yards like he did against Calgary a couple of weeks ago. Winnipeg will try to run the ball, although there is talk that Chris Streveler has some kind of injury which is hindering his effectiveness.

Toronto beat the desperate Winnipeg team 27-19.

The Riders go to Montreal in a battle of first place teams who will have some significant players missing from both sides. Montreal QB Cody Fajardo may not start, leaving Caleb Evans in and before Rider fans counted this as a win, Evans beat the Riders last year, but more importantly, the Montreal defense delivered a beat down.

The difference this year is the Riders have a defense that is among the top two or three in the CFL. The Riders will see Patterson start his fourth game and it may be his last one before Harris returns from the injury list. Harris is on the six-game injury list, but after seeing him show up at practice, he seems to be ahead of schedule in his rehab and the Riders may be facing a situation where they have two quarterbacks capable of leading the team if necessary, towards the end of the year. The Riders will also be missing Ouellette and Ratkovich will fill in for him and I don’t think the Riders will miss too much in this substitution since both are good blockers and can run in traffic. The Riders may bring in Frankie Hickson to provide some speed on the ground and maybe spread the Montreal offense out.

The Riders and Montreal should be a defensive battle and if Fajardo was playing, I would go with Montreal, but with no Fajardo, the Riders win this one 18-17.

by Greg Urbanoski

At Least the Bomber Fans Got a New Set of Teeth!

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