CFL Previews, Week 18, Part A

Montreal at Toronto,

Toronto could in theory host a playoff game, but they have to win. Montreal has nothing to play for. Toronto's quarterback is Cleo "the Party" Lemon. Montreal has some injuries. Toronto is at home. Montreal probably wants to play at least some decent football before the playoffs. Montreal looked awful last week against the Ticats, but they got behind early after some bad breaks and no incentive to bust their asses to get back in the game. I would expect more from Calvillo this week and Toronto's offence is crime against humanity.

Montreal 27, Toronto 19

Hamilton at Calgary,

The Ticats have been hot, winning their past three games. Calgary has been more tepid lately and already have captured their division and losing last week. Hamilton could lose the right to hold a playoff game, but they would have to suck pretty hard. How hard will the Stampeders play in this game? If the Hamilton front four comes after Burris hard what happens. I get the feeling that Hamilton has no desire to let up going into the playoffs, although missing Arland Bruce this week hurts. I'll go with the Cats in a squeaker, with Stevie Baggs making the difference.

Hamilton 33, Calgary 32

Ticats Lose Morencie off Practice Roster to Winnipeg

A bit of a strange story here from the Windsor Star, about Ticats offensive lineman Matt Morencie getting picked up off of the practice roster by Winnipeg. Sad to lose a young offensive lineman, although the Cats could have moved him to the active roster if they wanted to keep him bad enough. Did the bad behaviour at the Windsor Lancer game affect the Cats decision? Maybe, although Winnipeg being totally out of it gives them more roster flexibility for the last couple of games. Interesting that Morencie is a J.P. Metras award winner for best university offensive lineman in the CIS, but still only practice roster material.

CFL Power Rankings, Week 17

1. Calgary

Sure they lost to BC at home, but it was close. They sort of had something to still play for, which is a bit disturbing, but it is only one week.

2. Montreal

The Alouettes getting spanked 40 to 3 in Hamilton shouldn't mean too much, considering the game meant nothing to them, plus they had some injuries. But, Calvillo was in there for a lot of the game and losing by 37 points is something bad teams do to good teams. Can Montreal do anything the last two weeks of the regular season?

3. Hamilton

The Ticats are probably the hottest team in the league right now. The addition of Stevie Baggs on the defensive line has been one of those rare midseason NFL signings that has worked out well. Signing Hebert gives the Cats even more depth on defence.

4. Saskatchewan

Bumbling and stumbling. Injuries have laid the once excellent Riders low. Losing to Edmonton without Ricky Ray is pretty pathetic. At least they will have a home playoff date no matter what else happens in the regular season.

5. Toronto

Probably the worst 8 and 8 team in recent years. Still led by arguably the worst starting quarterback in the CFL Cleo "the Party" Lemon, the Argos have a good running back, special teams and defence (especially the front four). That'll get you a few wins this year in the CFL.

6. BC

Managing to beat Calgary at home is impressive. Getting rid of Casey Printers was addition by subtraction. Still a mediocre team.

7. Edmonton

Things are looking up the Eskimos. No longer the worst team in the CFL and still in the hunt for a playoff spot winning against the Riders with their backup quarterback Zabransky. Maybe they're better without Ray.

8. Winnipeg

Officially the Bombers can't do better than last year's Mike Kelly coached squad. What use are the Bombers if they're going to have a dull coach and do worse. Now their top two quarterbacks are injured. Getting spanked weekend by Argo quarterback Cleo "the Party" Lemon has to hurt.

After yesterday's post about what the Hamilton municipal elections would mean for the Ticats, there was an article about Bratina from Sportsnet.ca and another article on Jason Farr from the Spec. Certainly Bratina sounds pretty Ticat friendly from that article.

The Eskimos signed quarterback Kerry Joseph, who hasn't played since last year. Doesn't show a lot of confidence in Jason Maas, but I guess you need a third quarterback when you still have the slightest glimmer of playing at home in the Grey Cup.

What Does Hamilton's Election Mean for the Ticats?

Well Bratina won, which pretty much confuses things. Bratina came out relatively early against the West Harbour and thus a plan for fixing up a brownfield in his own ward. After the East Mountain deal hit the skids, Bratina came out for West Harbour in dramatic fashion, removing his jacket to show a West Harbour Tshirt at a rally at Hess Village. Now it seems he wants Confederation Park, probably the worst site for HSR public transit back as a site for the Pan Am stadium. Since he's only one vote on council, that seems unlikely. Who knows what will happen with the CP Rail site with Bob as mayor. Besides the stadium issue, one would assume that Bratina will be relatively Ticat friendly.

The other result of interest was Jason Farr, radio guy, Cable 14 guy and Ticat announcer winning the Ward 2 race slightly ahead of local activist Matt Jelly. I've heard that Farr was involved with the Go East Mountain rally for the East Mountain site, which frankly perplexes me as to how he got elected as councillor for Ward 2. As a Ticat fan and Ward 2 resident who's interested in getting the brownfields in the ward cleaned up, someone running who was for the Cats moving far away from the downtown and building on a greenfield doesn't seem like a viable candidate. But Hamilton has a long, sad history of electing media types so perhaps that's the explanation. Besides the stadium, one would have to expect Farr to be very friendly to the Ticats, based on past behaviour and employment as opposed to a candidate like Matt Jelly. It will be interesting to see if he continues as the stadium announcer after council is sworn in, in December.

With regards to what's next for the stadium, who knows. Although if there was any flicker of hope for West Harbour, that's done now.

Best Defence in the CFL?

Look which team has only given up 372 points after sixteen games, the best in the league. That's right the Hamilton Tiger Cats. The Cats are fourth in offence with 436 points scored. I will also point out that the Argos are dead last in points scored with only 313. Bizarrely the Argos have given up 401 points yet still have a 500 record at 8 and 8.

I've noted in the past that the CFL is the ultimate home field advantage league. Currently the only team with a winning away record is Calgary at 5 and 3.

Cat Victory Aftermath

The Cats winning 40 to 3 was impressive, especially without having Bruce for a lot of the game, but really the game meant little to Montreal. Statwise Glenn had a great game going 22 for 31 for 371 yards and two TDs. Bruce only picked up one reception for 12 yards, leaving him at 1303 yards for the season, still good for the league lead, but a ways away from Tony Champion's Ticat record.

Stala caught four catches for 35 yards leaving him at 955 yards and still an excellent shot at 1000 yards. McDaniel caught 2 passes for 32 yards leaving him at 918 yards overall. 1000 is still easily possible.

Bauman had six catches for 147 yards and two TDs. Where did that come from? Oh yeah, he's a free agent at the end of this year. I say he signs in TO.

Cobb had nine rushes for 30 yards and a TD, which is pretty sucky average wise, but then he grabbed four passes for 73 yards so you can't really fault him. A yard is a yard.

Excellent effort overall. The Cats went for the jugular when they got ahead like good teams do. The Cats can wrap up a home playoff spot if they can beat Calgary on the road this week. One wonders if Bruce will be playing.

Nice article from the Montreal Gazette on Stevie Baggs. Over the Bob Young era, there's been some midseason NFL signings that didn't really go anywhere. Printers and Keith certainly come to mind. Baggs looks like the real deal. The $400,000 over the life of the deal is interesting. I'm guessing that's the rest of 2010, 2011 and 2012, for an average of $133,000 per year. The Cats probably had a chunk of salary cap room left for 2010 and used it for Baggs.

CFL Predictions, Week 17, Part B

Winnipeg at Toronto,

This is a bit biased considering I'm writing this after the BC Calgary game last night, which pretty much screwed the Blue Bombers. Fulling expecting BC to lose, Winnipeg really needed this game, whereas Toronto not so much, especially with Hamilton winning this week as well. Knowing all this, I'll go with the Argos. They find weird ways to win this year, whereas the Bombers have massive skills in losing close games. Admittedly the Argos are still starting Cleo "the Party" Lemon, who may go down as the year long starting quarterback with the worst stats in CFL history. Steven Jyles isn't really that good either.

Toronto 22, Winnipeg 15

Saskatchewan at Edmonton,

This is a hard one. BC has won, putting pressure on Edmonton to step things up. Calgary losing makes this game more important for the Riders, trying to take the division for two years in a row. Saskatchewan has some injuries, Edmonton sucks. The Riders have some pride and aren't likely to go into this game half-assed like Alouettes into Ivor Wynne last night. I'll pick the Riders.

Saskatchewan 33, Edmonton 28