Bombers blasting away in Wild West

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This article was published 04/10/2021 (1433 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As we enter the second half of the Canadian Football League season, besides the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who have a tight grip on the West Division, every other spot in the standings seem up for grabs.

The Bombers improved to 7-1 with a 30-9 road win over the B.C. Lions, who have now dropped two straight to sit at 4-4. The Elks (2-5) continued their free fall, losing to the listless Ottawa Redblacks (2-5) for a second time this season.

A 36-yard field goal in overtime completed a fourth-quarter comeback by the Montreal Alouettes (3-4), who defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 23-20, at Tim Horton’s Field. The Calgary Stampeders improved to 3-5 with a win at home against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who have started to distance themselves from the Bombers, now sitting two games behind, at 5-3.

Indeed, there’s sure to be a lot or movement in the standings over the next seven weeks, as the weather dips and the games become more meaningful in the standings. Some clubs are already playing desperate football, which should make for some exciting weekends to come.

But every week in the CFL brings its own dose of drama, on and off the field, and Week 9 was no different. So, let’s get into it in the latest edition of CFL Rundown.

1) What the heck is going on in Edmonton? The CFL’s biggest circus once again dominated the headlines off the field, while creating little buzz on it. Let’s begin with quarterback Trevor Harris and his return from the 6-game injured list owing to a neck injury. It’s a good thing Harris is doing better, but his comments seemed concerning. He mentioned that the during the game he injured himself – a Week 6 loss to Calgary – he couldn’t remember parts of the game. Yet no one thought it might be a good idea to sit him out of practice the following week? He practised twice before being pulled.

2) Also, how you suffer a brain-shaking neck injury, practice for a couple days, get added to the 6-game injured list and then claim to be good after a few massages and x-rays? Lots of speculation coming out of Edmonton.

3) One final note on the Elks. Time to let GM Brock Sunderland go. If your paranoia has hit the level where you feel required to issue a statement about his vaccination status, which included vague details for a medical exemption, you’re in trouble. It’s becoming clearer with each passing week that “culture” issue in Edmonton isn’t coming from the players they’ve released this year, it’s at the top.

4) Speaking of a disconnect, it wasn’t a great week for TSN and sideline injury reports. First it was in B.C., where Lions receiver Lucky Whitehead was officially ruled out with a suspected broken wrist only for him to return in the second half. Then it was Montreal’s Vernon Adams, who was also supposed to be officially sidelined with an ankle injury but returned to the game for the final two quarters. I’m not blaming TSN, but they might want to talk to those teams about getting accurate information, or at least wait until the freezing takes hold.

5) Turns out Whitehead did break his hand, requiring surgery that will now keep him out two to four weeks. Too bad for the former Bomber, who was leading the CFL in receiving yards before he got hurt.

6) I spoke with Amar Doman, the new owner of the Lions, while I was covering the game in Vancouver. I left thoroughly impressed with his passion and ideas to help rejuvenate the franchise. My biggest takeaways are that he wants to invest heavily into making the Lions more visible around town and that having an owner that lives in the same province will help grow an audience that has dwindled in recent years.

7) On that note, BC Place was a party on Friday, and you could tell the crowd was feeling it, despite the Lions never really being in the game. The entertainment value there is great, and when you have fans signing “Sweet Caroline” at the top of their lungs while their team is kneeling to defeat on the final drive, you know you’re doing something right.

8) The Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Duke Williams sweepstakes over the weekend, after announcing Monday that they’ve signed the NFL castoff to a contact. Williams spent time with the Buffalo Bills in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, registering 12 catches for 166 yards and a touchdown. He was released by the Bills in August after reaching an injury settlement.

9) Other teams were in on Williams, including the Bombers. Talks had been ongoing for weeks and things starter to heat up recently, with Williams taking to Twitter over the weekend to say he’d be returning to the three-down loop. Might be one that Winnipeg and other clubs regret down the road, though I wonder just how healthy Williams really is. The Riders need a deep threat badly.

10) The win for the Redblacks snapped a losing streak on home turf at 11 games, dating back to the 2019 season. The franchise record is 14 losses, between the 1987 and 1988 seasons.

11) What a waste DeVonte Dedmon is proving to be in Ottawa. The Redblacks dynamic return man returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown, one week after returning a kick 63 yards to paydirt. Dedmon now has four return touchdowns in just 12 career CFL games.

12) Looking for another reason to watch the Redblacks? Linebacker Avery Williams was averaging eight tackles per game heading into Week 9, which had him on pace to tie the CFL record set by Solomon Eliminian in 2017, with 144, despite it being a 14-game regular season. He got another five on Tuesday, but has two games with 11-plus tackles, meaning he could be back on track by the end of the week.

13) What a debut for 23-year-old rookie quarterback, Caleb Evans, who finished 15-for-22 passing for 191 yards and three touchdowns. He also showed off his mobility, leading the team with seven rushes for 59 yards – an average of 8.4 yards per run. There’s not a lot to be excited about with this team but Evans sure does bring some optimism.

14) One of the few positive for the Elks was the play of Manitoba-born receiver Shai Ross. The 28-year-old had three catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns, bringing him 16 receptions for 225 yards and three scores this season after not registering any offensive stats in 2019.

15) Anyone know what’s going on with the turf at BC Place? It looked at times as though players were skating out there, slipping and sliding. It also looked dangerous as some slides resulted in injuries, albeit none that looked all that serious, but still.

16) It’s not that often Lions QB Michael Reilly looks pedestrian, but a defence like Winnipeg also doesn’t come around that often, either. The Bombers limited the Lions to three field goals and blanked them in the fourth quarter. Winnipeg has allowed a grand total of six points in the final frame through eight games.

17) Kenny Lawler, who led all receivers with 12 catches for 205 yards and one touchdown, proclaimed after the game that he and Zach Collaros are the best quarterback-receiver tandem in the CFL. With Collaros leading the CFL in passing yards (2,148) and Lawler pacing the league in receiving yards (703), it’s hard to argue with him.

18) With back-to-back games against Edmonton, and another tilt with Lions, at home, after that, there’s little reason to believe the Bombers won’t be 10-1 by month’s end and possibly even lock up what was supposed to be a competitive West Division.

19) The Tiger-Cats had their home-game winning streak snapped at 11 games, three short of the team record of 14 between 1957-59. Montreal has won on the road in Hamilton three of the last five games.

20) What a collapse at home for the Ticats, who held a 17-3 lead at halftime. Then the league’s top offence in many statistical categories came to life. No surprise Adams went to the air to his two favourite targets in Jake Wieneke and Eugene Lewis.

21) Wieneke scored his CFL-leading sixth receiving touchdown early in the third quarter and then found Lewis for a 28-yard touchdown with 30 seconds remaining to make it a three-point game (they eventually tied it with a 55-yard field goal with two seconds remaining). After recording a combined 11 catches for 160 yards and no touchdowns through the first three games, Lewis has 23 catches for 399 yards and four scores through his last four.

22) The Stampeders kept their season alive with the win over the Roughriders, but anyone who heard Bo Levi Mitchell during his post-game chat should be concerned for how long. Mitchell has already dealt with an injured groin and fractured fibula, and now he’s saying the offseason surgery he had on his throwing shoulder isn’t responding the way that he’d hoped.

23) While the Stampeders have a reliable backup in Jake Maier, he’s no Mitchell. And Calgary is running out of time to figure things out. This must be weird for a fan base that is used to clinching a playoff spot at this point in the season.

24) As good as the Roughriders have been in recent years under general manager Jeremy O’Day and head coach Craig Dickenson, they’ve been unable to find an answer for the Stampeders in three games, dating back to 2019. The good news – or bad, depending on how you see it – is they play them the next two games. The last time a CFL team played an opponent in three straight games was back in 1951, with Montreal meeting Toronto in a trio of games.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca twitter: @jeffkhamilton