1)
Buck
Pierce throwing for 378 yards and three majors with a sore shoulder and
hobbling around on a bum ankle.
Pierce was operating on pure guts, and you can bank that his teammates
noticed.
2)
Charles
Roberts producing when given the chance to do it. Roberts was handed the rock 20 times Friday night and he
piled up 102 yards and two TDs with it.
Good work for an old man!
3)
Marc
Trestman keeping his foot on the gas with the East title in the bag. I’ve seen too many teams rest starters
finishing out the season once they’ve clinched only to bomb in the
playoffs. Keep matriculating the
ball down the field, Coach.
4)
Anthony
Calvillo bombing toward Doug Flutie’s TD record. With four more majors in the books last week against the
Argos, Calvillo needs six more TD passes to tie and seven to break Flutie’s
mark. Keep chucking it, AC. Rest after the Grey Cup.
5)
Jojuan
Armour feeding his hunger. Armour
racked five takles and a sack against the Blue Bombers. And those stats don’t even get close to
telling the truth about how dominant he was in the game.
6)
Henry
Burris pitching a perfect game to stamp out Winnipeg’s chance of getting an
upset in Calgary. Hank went 28 of
36 for 337 yards and five TDs.
With no turnovers, you just can’t beat a pivot playing like that.
7)
Coach
Miller pulling Darian Durant after his third pick. That’s right, I said it, and I ain’t taking it back. When your team needs to win, and your
QB doesn’t have his good stuff, you have to pull the trigger and get the next
guy in. Anything else is an
unacceptable decision.
8)
Wes
Cates and Matt Dominguez back in uniform and playing well. The Riders have suffered more than
their share of injuries this season.
It’s about time they get some good news on that front.
9)
Quinton
Porter playing like a seasoned vet against Gang Green’s D. Porter put up 300 yards and a couple of
majors in the face of a pretty aggressive rush. The kid looks like a winner to me, and definitely a player
you can build a future around in Steeltown.
10) Kevin Glenn. NOT!!!
COACH OF
THE YEAR TAKE 1
Who
could’ve figured it? Three
first-time head coaches in the CFL, and all three pull off Coach of the Year
seasons.
John
Hufnagel turned the Stamps’ potential into reality finally. Ken Miller navigated through the worst
injury total we’ve seen in years to keep his team in the hunt for the West
title. And Marc Trestman breathed
new life into a veteran team all the experts had written off before the season.
Really,
there’s no bad choice there. Pull
any of these three names from the hat, and you’ll have a winner.
Under truth
serum, I’d probably give Trestman the nod for excelling beyond all
expectations, but I’d have zero argument if the award winds up in the hands of
one of the other guys.
NO
DEFENCE FOR THE MOP
It might
seem unfair, and slightly irrational, but I can’t see the Most Outstanding
Player nod going to B.C.’s Cam Wake.
As phenomenal as his 20-sack year has been to this point, it’s not a
record, nor is it on pace to become one.
And that’s what it would take to warrant a defensive player getting
serious consideration for the MOP in the CFL.
The CFL is
an offensive league. Always has
been, and barring serious rule changes, always will be. Defence might win championships, but
offence wins games on the scoreboard and pays the bills in the stands.
For my
money, Anthony Calvillo and Henry Burris are the only serious candidates at
this point. I would’ve gladly
added Wes Cates to that list, but he missed too much time to injury to match
the other two guys’ level of production and impact on the season.
WEEK 18
PICKS DOOMED TO FAIL
Luca Congi
saved the day last week to keep my picks over .500 for the week. Hopefully, he won’t repeat the
performance this week!
Gut says:
Calgary, Edmonton, B.C., and Montreal.
CIS
QUICK OUTS
Monster
props to McGill’s Matt Connell for establishing a new CIS career record for
passing yards last weekend against the University of Montreal. Connell went
26-of-36 for 345 yards and two touchdowns on the day to bring his career total
to 10,201 yards. The previous mark of 9,974 was set in 2001 by former Hec
Crighton trophy winner Ben Chapdelaine.
The CIS
career receptions record also bit the dust in the same game. McGill’s Erik Galas caught a
personal-best 13 balls for 181 yards against Montreal giving him 190 receptions
for his career. The previous CIS mark of 189 was held since 2005 by former
Western Ontario Hec Crighton recipient Andy Fantuz, now a member of the CFL's
Saskatchewan Roughriders.
There’s a
big match up going down in the QUFL this weekend as the Concordia Stingers take
on the Sherbrooke Vert et Or. My
buddy, Moe Khan, will be doing colour analysis for the game. Check out the webcast
if you get the chance. It should
definitely be a hard-fought game.
Moe says, “The run game will be key for both squads. For Sherbrooke, Pascal Fils and Joseph
Mroue have been the motor for the Vert et Or, and for the Stingers, Liam
Mahoney and Cedric Ferdinand have been key for the run attack.”
UP NEXT
Check back
early next week for my take on week 18’s tilts. I’ll also throw in one more name for Coach of the Year and
take a look at a couple of record chases that might make the last week of the
season pretty interesting.
Until then,
enjoy the games. And get your
toques ready. I’ve got a feeling a
chill’s coming!