CFL Beat: Playoffs – Division Finals

The Maestro - November 18, 2016November 18, 2016

The playoffs press on – both games last weekend were absolute barn-burners, and even if you’re only just starting to pay attention now to the CFL season (which, if that’s the case, what the hell? Have I just been shouting into the abyss about this for six months now??), this coming weekend is likely gonna be a fantastic one in the lead-up to the Grey Cup championship game on November 27th. I’ll be in the stands at TD Place this Sunday for the second year in a row, freezing my nuts off in what is forecasted to be wet snow/cold rain, watching Ottawa host Edmonton. And damn, am I ever excited.

DIVISION SEMIFINAL RECAPS

East Division Semifinal

Edmonton 24 vs. Hamilton 21: Hamilton fought valiantly to come back in the second half and tie the game at 21 after being down 18-3 at the break, but in the end, Edmonton managed to pull out a hard-fought win. Unusual for the Eskimos, home of Mike Reilly, quarterback with the most passing yards in the 2016 season, was that it was the running game that made the difference on this blustery, windy day at Tim Hortons field. John White ran roughshod over the Tiger-Cats, racking up 165 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. On the flip side, the Eskimos managed to completely shut down Tiger-Cats back CJ Gable, who, while scoring a touchdown, was still limited to just 21 yards on nine carries total. With injuries to receivers Chad Owens, Luke Tasker, and Andy Fantuz, the Ti-Cats’ pass attack couldn’t get anything going, with Zach Collaros limited to 236 yards on 20-31 throwing and a back-breaking late interception with just over 90 seconds to go in the game. The injury bug came back to bite Edmonton too, however – in the fourth quarter, Mike Reilly took a large hit to his left arm and shoulder (his non-throwing side), and was replaced by James Franklin, who finished out the game for the Eskimos, and helped the team drive, along with John White, to kick the game-winning field goal with 10 seconds left on the clock. Hamilton’s season is over, and after so many injuries this year, there’s many who’ll be left thinking “What if?” after a year of misfortune.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Ottawa

West Division Semifinal

Winnipeg 31 vs. BC 32: It was all going according to plan for Winnipeg. The Blue Bombers forced two turnovers in the first quarter, and rode a 28-12 lead into the third quarter after looking confident and in control. And then Jonathan Jennings happened. The Lions came alive in the second half, and Jennings, looking to recover from a shaky first quarter that saw him throw a pick and cough up a ball from pass rushing pressure, made good. The sophomore quarterback was the offensive catalyst for this comeback, throwing 26-35 for 329 yards and two touchdowns, and adding 43 yards on 9 carries on the ground, and another two rushing majors to boot. This was a tough loss for the Bombers and their fans – Winnipeg led all the way through the game until just 1:06 remained, and quarterback Matt Nichols had a much stronger game than his previous two against the REDBLACKS, finishing 26-40 for 390 yards, two touchdowns, and no turnovers. Unfortunately, the well ran dry in the second half for Winnipeg’s offence, and the team couldn’t get much of anything going, opening the door for the dramatic finish. After the go-ahead Lions touchdown, Winnipeg tried to march downfield, but continued to have difficulty, forcing the league’s best kicker in Justin Medlock to come out and try a 62-yard field goal attempt. The kick came up well short, as did the Bombers’ aspirations of advancing further. All the same, it was a hell of a season for Winnipeg, and they proved a lot of people wrong about the nature of their team, including yours truly, who honestly thought that after the tumultuousness of the first six weeks of the season that yet another head coach and quarterback would be out the door. It’ll be exciting to see the Bombers retool and come back next year with much of their team still intact.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

DIVISION FINAL PREVIEWS

East Division Final

(Crossover) Edmonton vs. (1) Ottawa, Sunday, November 20th, 1:00 PM EST: This is a rematch of last year’s Grey Cup game, and it’s a shame only one of these teams will be returning. Ottawa’s had a dismal home record of 2-6-1 and this season; however, they are coming into the game very well-rested, having had the previous week off and having elected to rest most of their starters during their Week 20 season finale against Winnipeg. The REDBLACKS will be getting back veteran OL Nolan MacMillan to the lineup after he got hurt against the Blue Bombers, which will be a welcome presence for a team in need of stabilizing the pocket as much as they can. The real questions of this game, though – how many yards will these teams put up? With 4 receivers with over 1000 yards for the REDBLACKS (though Chris Williams is done for the year after ACL surgery), and with another two for the Eskimos in Adarius Bowman, the league leader, and Derel Walker, both these teams can chuck the ball like few others can. And with both teams knowing the other likes to pass, how might they switch it up by using the run game? John White was the difference-maker for Edmonton last week against the Ti-Cats, and Mossis Madu has emerged this season as a certified starting back for Ottawa as well. Finally, is Mike Reilly going to be healthy enough to go after suffering that shoulder injury last Sunday? He says he’s good to go, and will indeed play, but the team did elect to bring back QB Thomas DeMarco to the active roster this week, to sit behind Reilly, James Franklin, and third-stringer Jordan Lynch. I don’t know if that says much about Reilly’s status, but the REDBLACKS should be more determined than ever to get to Reilly in the pocket, especially if he’s not playing at 100%. This game should be yet another close one, but with Ottawa having taken both games against Edmonton this year, I think there’s a very good chance they’ve got at least one more win left in them yet.

PICK: Ottawa

West Division Final

(2) BC vs. (1) Calgary, Sunday, November 20th, 4:30 PM EST: The Lions beat Calgary way, way back in Week 1 – all the way in June – and the Stampeders responded by reeling off a 14-game undefeated streak. Calgary wants to be considered alongside the best CFL teams to ever play the game, based on the way the team has performed this year, but in order for them to seal the deal, they need to get it done not only in this Western Final, but in the Grey Cup as well. Besides the 20-18 Week 1 loss on the road, the Stamps had an epic fourth-quarter comeback to win 44-41 at home back in Week 6, and also spanked the Lions 37-9 on the road back in Week 9. Calgary has all the talent in the world and some fantastic coordinators, but the big question will be whether all this time off will affect their performance in a big way – in addition to having a bye to the West Final, the Stampeders also had a bye on the final week of the season, thus making this the first game they’ve played in three weeks. Rest is good – unless it turns to rust. For BC to pull off an upset, Jon Jennings need to play like he did against the Blue Bombers. Hard to believe that a quarterback with over 5000 passing yards and 27 regular season touchdowns could be called “inconsistent”, but this is the reality of the Lions this year; they can’t rely solely on the ground game for this one if they want to win. Jennings literally can’t afford to make any mistakes – such is the margin of error that the Lions’ season is resting on, as we come just a week away from the 104th Grey Cup Championship. All the same, if there’s one team in the league that has a shot at knocking the crowns off of Calgary’s heads, the Lions are this team. If the defence comes to play, and Jennings doesn’t turn the ball over – you just never know.

PICK: Calgary