On Labor Day September 6, the Edmonton Eskimos season could continue to slide downhill after their clash with the Calgary Stampeders. At the halfway mark of the season, the Edmonton Eskimos posted their second win over the Saskatchewan Rough Riders August 27. In front of the Eskimos largest crowd of the season, 47,829, the win came at home.
The Calgary Stampeders are 7-1 and they are running over the rest of the CFL this season. A 56-15 drubbing of the Edmonton Eskimos just two games ago is also included. Star quarterback, Henry Burris leads the Calgary. Burris has scored 18 touchdowns and has already compiled 2,226 yards passing for the Stampeders. Burris does have 247 yards on 38 carries, although he is not known for getting down the field rushing. To keep the defenders honest, this presents just enough of a threat.
Quarterback Ricky Ray, on the other sideline has been under fire all season. Ray, in his last outing had produced a win and the Edmonton coaches are hoping this will get him on the right track. In the 2010 CFL season, Ray’s inconsistency has been a major reason for Edmonton’s struggles.
Juwan Simpson is the unquestioned leader on defense for the Calgary Stampeders. With 29, 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles; Simpson leads the team in tackles. All season long, Simpson and the Calgary defense have kept pace with their high-powered offense. This should be an easy defense of the home turf by Calgary, Judging by the game played by these two teams on August 15.
In CFL action on Friday, the Calgary Stampeders visit the struggling B.C. Lions. No signs of slowing down have shown from the offensive juggernaut, Calgary team. Last Sunday, Calgary’s dismantling of the Edmonton Eskimos, 56-15, was a devastating show of force that sent a message to the rest of the Canadian Football League.
The Calgary Stampeders in their impressive win showed off all areas of their offense. From Joffrey Reynolds leading the pounding running game, to an aerial assault spearheaded by Henry Burris. The Stampeders, of their offense left no aspect out of the mix. in the winning effort, Burris threw for 305 yards.
For the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the BC Lions were fodder, losing 37-13 in a dismal effort. With 194 yards passing, the BC Lions Jarius Jackson was kept in check and six yards rushing. As Robertson and Davis both rushed for 84 yards with only Davis finding the end zone, the running game was the only effective arm of the offense.
Calgary are riding a four game winning streak and are also coming off a bye week, as they head into this game. This season, Calgary is 6-1, with their only loss coming at the hands of CFL stalwart, Toronto. Three weeks ago in BC, the last game the two teams played was a close game won by Calgary 27-22.
Against Calgary three weeks ago, the BC Lions enter this game with the confidence of holding their own but for the last games; they have not been in the win column. If the BC Lions can’t contain Burris early, they could get ugly fast.
In Toronto, Friday August 20, the Hamilton Tiger Cats will take on the Toronto Argonauts. On the Las Vegas betting line last week, both teams were underdogs and both won their games straight up. Hamilton, on their home field shocked the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, beating them 39-28 and Toronto won as a home underdog over a hot Montreal Alouettes team, 37-22. Now for the first CFL game of Week 8, they both face off.
With a hot quarterback in Kevin Glenn and a hot slot receiver in Arland Bruce, the Hamilton Tiger Cats enter the game. Last weekend, Bruce scored the game winner against Winnipeg. In the 2010 CFL season, the Hamilton Tiger Cats have struggled and they are still below .500 with a record of 3-4. For Hamilton, this game against Toronto will make or break the season. For the second half of the season, it gets them off to a fresh start.
On the other end of the spectrum are the Toronto Argonauts. The Toronto Argonauts are now 5-2 and tied with Montreal for a share of the East Division lead, coming off a win against East Division rival, Montreal. Against a hungry Hamilton Tiger Cats team, Toronto cannot afford to let one slip.
At quarterback, Toronto’s Cleo Lemon may not be the popular choice but he is Head Coach Jim Barker’s choice, so he isn’t going anywhere. To this point of the CFL season and CFL football betting season, Running back Cory Boyd and Lemon have worked well together and they should be more than capable of disposing of the Hamilton Tiger Cats.
Eric Taylor has been waiting patiently for his chance to debut in the Argos regular season. Against his old club in Edmonton, it looks like he will get to do so this Friday. Next to second-year DT Kevin Huntley, Taylor will start at defensive tackle and for an interior defensive line unit the two will combine which will weigh over 600 pounds.
Veteran DT Adriano Belli will be replaced by the native of the Winchester, Tennessee. After suffering a leg injury, Belli has been relegated to spectator. Taylor sustained an injury during the pre-season and he is coming of it on his own. He admits that he is just itching for a chance to get back on the field and for him it has been hard to watch from the sidelines.
Jim Barker, Argos head coach confirmed that he is anxious to see what Taylor can do in a starters role even though injuries to Belli and lineman Etienne Legare are setbacks. Taylor sat out for the first five weeks of the season and watched his team and he feels that the club is making strides as each game passes. After a slow start is not a wise proposition and he is aware that taking them for granted.
Taylor said, “They are better than a 1-4 team. I was over there last year and they have a lot of talent. One thing I know is that they are going to play hard for Richie Hall. He is a great coach, a player’s coach and this is a team that we have to take seriously.”
On Saturday July 11, the Edmonton Eskimos travel to play the Saskatchewan Roughriders. For the 2010 CFL season, the Montreal Alouettes, Ricky Ray will be looking to get back on track and Edmonton, after losing to the BC Lions are already on the wrong end of their first two games.
Saskatchewan Roughriders will be on the other side of the field. With two hard fought wins, Saskatchewan has broken from the gate to start their CFL season. Over the CFL champion, Montreal Alouettes, with an exciting overtime victory, Saskatchewan avenged their Grey Cup loss of 2009 by 54-51, in a barn burning start to the 2010 CFL season. In week two in an easy, the Saskatchewan dispatched of the BC Lions with a 37-18 victory.
As both teams take this home and home series seriously, for Saskatchewan, this game will not be an easy win. Saskatchewan’s Darian Durant, worthy of capturing the CFL Offensive Player of the Week last week, he is coming off a performance against the BC Lions. The focal point of this week’s grudge match is Edmonton’s QB Ricky Ray and Durant. Darian Durant, the hot hand will have an edge in this game’s QB department.
For this game, the breakdown is simple. Saskatchewan won’t break a sweat on their way to their third win, if the offense of the Edmonton Eskimos is anything like their first two games. On Saskatchewan’s defense, Edmonton’s only hope is to try to emulate Montreal’s attack in their game. Edmonton will face one problem as they do not have the talent of Montreal. In this game, Saskatchewan should win by two touchdowns.
When the Toronto Argonauts come to town Friday, July 9, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will try to win their second CFL game in a row. Winnipeg quarterback Buck Pierce will try to repeat his performance of last week in which he had two touchdowns and threw for 291 yards, also running for an additional 89 yards.
After a shellacking at the hands of the Calgary Stampeders, Toronto comes into this game and although Cleo Lemon did not look incredible in his debut for Toronto but he did throw for almost 200 yards against a tough Calgary defense and looked like he managed the game better than expected.
If Winnipeg put the same pressure on the Toronto defense that they exerted over a less skilled Hamilton Tiger-Cats team, it will be an issue for Winnipeg. Until Calgary kicked it into gear last week, Toronto was keeping pace with Calgary for a while. Winnipeg’s defense also has the advantage of being on their home field, which will help with crowd noise.
On Winnipeg quarterback Buck Pierce, Toronto’s defense will have to put pressure and make him force his throws. If Toronto can provide pressure in the backfield Pierce will get happy feet in the pocket and Pierce has been injured several times.
Since Winnipeg appeared to struggle on kickoff coverage, if Toronto is to win, they could score some points on special teams, allowing a 93-yard touchdown and allowed a missed field goal to be returned for 118 yards.
As BC Lions enter the 2010 pre-season, they already have made some sweeping changes and there may be more on the way. As BC Lions began to pare down their line up with the season drawing to a close, they released seven players.
In Kamloops, the BC Lions practice facility, has been a beehive of activity with players getting their pink slips and some new arrivals into camp. In their first pre-season game against Saskatchewan, the BC Lions were victorious and they will break camp Saturday before playing their final pre-season game against Edmonton at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.
Offensive Darren Heerspink and Carlton Medder, wide receivers Sean Walker and Kerry Reed, defensive back Dominique Williams, defensive lineman Stanley Wakwe and linebacker Dennis Haley, are the seven players who were released.
In Victor Degrate, the cuts made room for a possible key addition. In NFL games for Houston and Detroit, Degrate has appeared but has never stuck in the NFL. Degrate’s last year in college playing for Oklahoma State was promising but his NFL career has fallen flat.
In the BC Lions 19-17 victory over the Saskatchewan Rough Riders, Travis Lulay was impressive, throwing for 142 yards but setting up the game winning field goal with a solid drive to end the game. Lulay showed that he can be a threat to run if need be, as he rushed for 25 yards in the victory. Casey Printers passed for 82 yards and had the only passing touchdown by the BC Lions.
There was an all out quarterback battle from day one and the Toronto Argonauts training camp has opened. For the three quarterback spots on the Argonaut roster, five quarterbacks are vying. Dalton Bell, Danny Brannagan, Ken Dorsey, Gibran Hamdan and Cleo Lemon are all working to make the team.
In the NFL, Ken Dorsey and Cleo Lemon have both had a little more than a cup of coffee, while the other three candidates are trying to earn their way on the Toronto roster with no NFL background.
On May 26th, Ken Dorsey, football betting favorite, signed with Toronto, and is expected to be a back up since he was out of football in 2009. In the impending arms race, Dorsey’s lackluster NFL career does not give him much clout. The other quarterback with NFL experience is Cleo Lemon. NFL career of Lemon was nominal at best. Dalton Bell is the most experienced CFL quarterback but that is not saying much. Bell could slide into the third quarterback position and is a 27 year old, out of West Texas A&M. After an impressive tryout in March, Danny Brannagan is a Canadian born quarterback that was signed by Toronto to a three year contract.
Unexpectedly, the fifth quarterback in this quarterback free for all just stepped down days ago. On June 4th, Gibran Hamdan announced his sudden retirement and will not be involved in this quarterback scrap. This will make Dalton Bell the favorite to start for Toronto on opening day.
During the 2009 season, the BC Lions were the last team to make the playoffs. They were fortunate to earn a playoff berth due to the crossover rule in the league, despite being last in their division. According to the crossover rule if the 4th place team in one division has more points than the 3rd place team in the other division, the 4th place team will earn a playoff berth.
Last year the BC Lions had seven of the league’s All-Stars, including offensive tackle Jason Jimenez. This off season, Jimenez was not picked up by the BC Lions again, which would be a loss. They did however make a great move in the draft, picking up offensive tackle Danny Watkins with the 4th pick in the first round. For the loss of the Jason Jimenez, this pick could make a great replacement.
For the BC Lions, one of the weaknesses last year was at the quarterback position. The way that the BC Lions would have liked Buck Pierce to play, he did not play that way. It looks as though Casey Printers will be the starting quarterback for the Lions this season. Before leaving the franchise, Casey Printers had a fantastic year for the Lions a few years back. He threw for 5000 yards and 35 touchdowns. Since his departure from the team, he has not achieved this sort of success. One of the keys for the Lions will be whether or not he can regain his old magic.
For Casey Printers this year, the Lions have done all they can to make the path easy. Two new offensive linemen and 4 wide receivers were drafted in the draft. This added protection and depth in the receiving core could be a key to their season.
This offseason, the Lions have made a number of solid moves. As they head into this coming season, they appear to be on the right track.