Since the CFL adopted its current bye week plan a few of seasons ago, I’ve been a huge fan of the break leading into the Labour Day Classics.
Coaches and players from teams starting to build some momentum might not be as friendly to the idea of taking a week off just prior to mid-season, but it definitely gives fans a great opportunity to focus on the competition for a week while their squad is on hiatus and to take a little stock of their own club during the bye week. Plus, with the bye weeks situated just prior to the Labour Day match-ups, it gives every team a chance to heal up heading into the real meat of the season, when games really start to carry some gravitas down the home stretch.
This year’s CFL schedule marked a departure from the divisional showdowns we’ve enjoyed the past two seasons, and I have to admit, it took a little bit of the intrigue off the format for me. That said, fate set up some pretty juicy storylines for the first week in the series.
While four of the hottest teams in the league sat week 8 out, the CFL’s three 1-6 teams and the plummeting Eskimos took the field. With that kind of pressure and desperation in play, quite a few questions were answered by week’s close. Some on the field, some off.
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
Prior to Labour Day, it’s difficult to label any game a “must-win,” but with the questions staring the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts in the eyes in week 8, it was definitely safe to call the clubs’ last game before the bye a “must-not-lose” tilt. Unfortunately, somebody had to pull the L, and the price for dropping to 1-7 was severe.
Heading into the game against Toronto, questions swirled in the media and on fan forums over the state of the Riders’ locker room, the performance (or lack thereof) of offensive coordinator Doug Berry, and the fate of new head coach Greg Marshall. Fair or not, Berry and Marshall were saddled with the blame for Gang Green’s 1-6 start to the season heading into week 8, and it was going to take a serious turnaround to get that gorilla of the coaches’ backs.
A loss to the Argos, especially in the lackluster fashion the team had lost six out of its previous seven games, would surely set off changes in the organization. And it did.
For three quarters of the tilt, Saskatchewan played like it wanted change to come. Assignments were blown, turnovers and penalties killed opportunities, and confusion abounded when the situation called for direction and attention to detail.
Down 21-1 heading into the fourth frame, however, a light clicked on for the Riders’ offence finally. Darian Durant hit Chris Getzlaf and James Robinson for majors to pull within a single score of one of the most improbably comebacks in recent memory.
Unfortunately, it was a case of too little, too late for the Riders. Well within scoring position, Durant missed on his last three passes to leave Saskatchewan six points short. And even more unfortunately, the outcome of the game left Berry and Marshall unemployed less than a day later.
On the other side of the ball, the Argos lived to fight another day, halting their own six-game slide and putting themselves back into the race for a playoff spot. Cleo Lemon played solid, conservative ball, taking advantage of short fields to post enough points for the win. Cory Boyd returned to action with two impressive TD runs in traffic. And Toronto’s banged up D showed it can bring pressure when needed to turn games Toronto’s way.
Overall records aside, no game this season has shown the difference between winning and losing more than this one did. The winners headed into their bye with hope. The losers, fairly or unfairly, cleaned their coaching house by firing their head coach and offensive coordinator.
D-D-DOMINATION
On paper, the second game on the docket for week 8 looked like a mismatch with the 1-6 B.C. Lions heading into Edmonton to face the 5-2 Eskimos. As they say, though, the games aren’t played on paper.
The previous two weeks, Edmonton had suffered beat downs at the hands of Winnipeg and Montreal. In those defeats, Ricky Ray was absolutely under siege from defensive pressure. And B.C. figured to repeat the same attack since Ray was lining up with a completely new receiving corps for the tilt.
By night’s end, the Lions D had put Ray on the ground eight times and harassed him countless others. The pressure the Lions brought was so intense, Ray’s inexperience with his new targets was irrelevant. Without a viable rushing attack, the Esks’ offence was completely stymied, so much so Edmonton managed only a single point on the scoreboard.
For his part, Travis Lulay had a phenomenal bounce back game going 22 of 37 for 343 yards and four TDs one week after being pulled at home against the Bombers. Arland Bruce III exploded for 129 of those yards and finally looked like a fitting complement for Geroy Simon.
At 2-6 now, the Lions are back in a playoff race of their own, and talks of changes in their organization are on hold now. Proof again of the power of the W.
FT55’S PRIMETIME PERFORMERS
- Willie Pile
- Byron Parker
- Ricky Foley
- Travis Lulay
- Arland Bruce III
- Arron Hunt/Keron Williams
- Chris Getzlaf
- Efrem Hill
- Darian Durant
- Jerrell Freeman
WEEK 9 PREDICTIONS DOOMED TO GO WRONG
Last week, I whiffed with my picks at 0-2. This week, I’ll do my best to turn that around.
Hopefully, Winnipeg and Montreal will get a winning streak going for me.
UP NEXT
Check back next week to see how the second set of bye-week games treat me and to get my takes on all of week 9’s action.
Until then, take care. With Labour Day staring us all down, I wonder if it’s too late to call for a video review of summer!