There are no more unbeaten teams, nor winless teams in the CFL after Week 5. This week showed how valuable it is to have a strong quarterback room as backups were forced to step up across the league. The balance in power in the league is directly related to the depth in quarterback play.
A TALE OF TWO QUARTERBACKS
While Winnipeg has a newfound quarterback controversy on their hands, the Stampeders’ quarterback is playing his best football.
As part of a 310-yard performance in a 33-18 Calgary win, Bo Levi Mitchell put up 120 yards in the first quarter alone. Meanwhile, the Blue Bombers managed just 64 total yards in the first frame. The Stampeders put up 256 total yards in the half and the game never seemed in doubt.
Drew Willy, on the other hand, never looked comfortable in the pocket, the frustrated fans at Investors Group Field never seemed comfortable with him on the field and when he missed Jace Davis wide open in the flat in the first half boos began to rain down. Mike O’Shea stuck with him in the second half but when Joe Burnett jumped another pass intended for Davis for a pick-six in the fourth quarter Willy was finally pulled.
Matt Nichols came in and on his first possession connected with Weston Dressler for the team’s first score and Dressler’s first touchdown as a Bomber. Nichols followed it up with a two-point conversion.
As a result, Winnipeg coach Mike O’Shea has made the decision to stick with Nichols with a tough schedule ahead. Once looked at as the two future dominant quarterbacks in the West, right now there is no comparison between Mitchell and Willy. Mitchell is 5-0 at Investors Group while Willy only has five wins in his own home stadium.
It’s becoming clearer that now the comparison is between Willy and Nichols and who is the right man to lead Winnipeg in the short and long term.
Winnipeg at 1-4 and have the defending Grey Cup champs in Edmonton and then are on the road against Hamilton so getting the QB choice correct is paramount. A team who is 7-23 at home in their new stadium can’t afford to fall too far behind the pack in the West.
IT’S BEST TO HAVE A BACKUP PLAN
(Photo Credit: Mark Taylor/CP)
The Saskatchewan Roughriders got their first win of the season and Mitchell Gale proved to be a great pickup as he got his first career win but the story for me is the remarkable quartback depth the Ottawa Redblacks enjoy.
Their quarterback room is an embarrassment of riches. When Trevor Harris was hurt on the first possession and fourth play from scrimmage by Corvey Irvin they game looked to be in doubt, but Brock Jensen put up a 65-yard touchdown pass to Brad Sinopili on his second pass of the game. It’s the longest play of Sinopili’s career. Jensen was the fourth-string pivot last year and never on the active roster. Jensen’s performance was even more impressive because he was going against one of the league’s most complicated defences, led by Chris Jones, on the road in the league’s most hostile environment.
Remember, Harris was playing because he was thrust in to duty when last year’s MOP Henry Burris was hurt early in Week 1. In both games the Redblacks backups played flawless with little reps throughout the week.
The real question is who will start for Ottawa moving forward. Burris is throwing deflated balls and can come off the six-game injury list early but that move will count against the salary cap. Harris is hurt but despite missing a game he’s been the best player in the league when healthy.
Additionally, Jansen is 100 per cent healthy and coming off a very strong performance allowing Ottawa to refrain from rushing their two big guns back.
The Riders’ depth under centre isn’t bad either as Mitchell Gale, the former roommate of Trevor Harris in Toronto, was 21-for-36 for 354 yards, one touchdown with no interceptions in his first CFL start.
MASTERFUL MASOLI
(Photo Credit: Jason Franson/CP)
It’s never over in the CFL.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has proven that about his career and on Saturday he proved that in his road performance against the defending champion Edmonton Eskimos. Down 25 in the third quarter, Masoli was lights out going 14-for-14 in the third to cut the lead just down to 11 heading into the fourth.
A ridiculous 273 of his career-high 391 yards came in the second half. More importantly, Masoli had no interceptions after he had five of them in his previous three games. During the furious comeback in the fourth Masoli set the CFL record with 23 straight completions and put up 31 unanswered points.
It was the largest comeback in Tiger-Cats history and the biggest blown lead in Edmonton team history. Not only did Jason Maas lose the game at home he watched as he lost his CFL record.
Hamilton has won seven of the last nine on the road. All three of their wins this season have come on the road. Now with Zach Collaros close to returning Masoli’s time in the spotlight might soon be over but in the year of the backup, he’s transformed his perception around the league.
INJURED RAY UNCOMFORTABLE SIGHT
(Photo Credit: Frank Gunn/CP)
The drought of CFL East teams winning at home is finally over. The Toronto Argonauts got their first win at their new friendly confines of BMO Field and their quarterback looked really comfortable inside and outside of the pocket.
Ricky Ray was moving well and completed a season-high 25 passes. That’s the great news for the veteran who turns 37 later this year. The bad news is he left the field with some discomfort as Vaughn Martin rolled into his knee after being cut and Ray fell to the ground injured.
If it’s a knee sprain as expected Ray would miss 4-6 weeks. That would be a tough blow for an Argos team who have seen three quarterbacks they’ve groomed in Zach Collaros, Trevor Harris and Mitchell Gale excel with other franchises.
Logan Kilgore and Cody Fajardo have shown promise but have yet to start a game in the CFL.
Ray is thought of more for his time in Edmonton than in Toronto because of his constant battles with injury as an Argo, But it’s easy to take for granted how good he’s been in Toronto in such a short time. If Ray finishes the season healthy he will likely end up the Argos’ franchise leader in touchdown passes – trailing Conredge Holloway by just 18 scores.
The Argonauts need to keep him up right and in the line up if they hope to regain supremacy in the East.