Well, happy Monday morning here on the marcast. Early Monday, one of
our correspondents, Evans, got to fly out. We had a live correspondent
at the game this weekend. That moving up our production values there, but
lots of talk about today. I thought this was a tremendously exciting weekend.
We gotta get in everyone here. The Thursday obviously highlight of my life here
just in terms of the roller coaster. But we'll get through everything. Jason,
how are you doing? I'm doing good. Read how are you?
We're good that Evan, Evan traveling for the Mark has this weekend spend time
in BC. How is that? It was great? You know, we'll
get into that. I mean that game specifically was over pretty quickly, but
you know, it was definitely always nice to see, you know, a
CFL team play, or especially BC in this case, given how well they've
they've been this year. But yeah, overall, it was great, great
experience. I always love coming up here. Yeah, I message Evan,
I said, if the Evanton game hadn't happened, you probably could have left
halftime at BC. But then you're like, you don't you don't know,
no leader, stay've been here. But I can't wait to get to the
Thursday game. But we'll get through everything else we had here. Just I
guess the notes real quick breaking whatever this tie Cats trade to kind of fill
in, right, Mason's injured and Della Gallas died doing good? Jason,
what do you make of this? And we'll get Evan's thoughts. Well,
I was reading that the tie Cats punter Bailey Flint is actually he's injured right
now, so maybe that's the reason behind the trade for them. Pitkin didn't
played for them. I think he signed a couple of weeks ago with the
Tiecats, didn't really get into any meaningful snaps, so I mean, I
don't think they lose too much from that. Pipkin actually was briefly a CFL
starter back in twenty nineteen, actually won the job in Montreal over Burning Adams,
so he does have a bit of CFL experience. Has played a little
bit with DC over the past couple of years as well, so maybe he
gets into the starting lineup. Was the scatch one they really struggling right now
with their quarterback situation. We'll get to that, and yeah, I think
that's the reasoning behind the trade for both themes. And then you had some
insights as while we were talking of Kim. Yeah, I mean, you
know, Saskatchewan needed a quarterback, and I think they went after somebody who
had a bit of experience in the CFL. You know, obviously Antonio Pipkin
isn't a botafied starter, but he you know, has been with multiple teams
at this point. He does have that experience in the league. And I
mean, he wasn't with you know, Hamilton for that long, so it's
not like they were really latched on him. And now Hamilton just acquired Mike
Glass, who was with the Allouettes in the preseason, so it kind of
works out both ways. And you know, I guess Hamilton gets a new
punter to a high upside global punter, I believe. So I don't know,
I mean it, I think it's all right. You know, again,
Saskatchewan is in kind of a desperate situation, and it's it's rare that
you see a quarterback punch or trade, or even a quarterback trade in general
nowadays. But you know, it looks like Antonio Pipkin has a greater chance
to appear in some games in Saskatchewan than he did in Hamilton's Yeah, I,
like I said, I Jamie and I, you know, runs the
green zone up there, and we're friends on Twitter and I kind of gauge
Saskatchewan kind of welfare checks on his tweets and you know he's gonna you know,
fins not doing good. They're dele galu, you know, kind of
end of the world. So we'll get to Saskatchewan. But yeah, definitely
kind of figuring that out. And then that we do your miss we have
to talk. Nathan Work had this big you know, we can talk because
I know they play that. I want to get Evans taken during the BC
game when they played it during the game. But you know, we still
exist, you know, Nathan Work and the CFL. We're playing all that.
What did you guys think of this? Uh, we'll go Evan for
just kind of really live viral. I mean Patrick Mahomes was tweeting about this
kind of Nathan Work standout. Yeah, well it was pretty cool. You
know. So I was at a Lions game last year when Nathan Roorke was
starting one of his last starts really before he got injured, and it was
just so cool to be there, you know, at the game in BC
and then they're showing that a year after. You know, I had been
there when he was starting. All around. I mean, just a great
play. And you know, whether or not you knew Nathan Rourke going into
that game, I think you know, I mean, he really took the
NFL by storm. I mean, that was one of the best preseason plays
I think we'd seen in a long time. And the fact that it came
from him, you know, of course us everyone who was on the stream,
you know, we know who he is, we know what he did
last year before the injury, but a lot of people didn't. For a
lot of people, this was the first time they had really heard of Nathan
Rourke. And you know, we always talk about your welcome to the NFL
moment being you know, one where you kind of get humbled pretty quickly,
But I think this was the opposite, you know, this was this was
I mean one of the best plays you could ask for. And I think
just in that one play, I mean that might give him the backup job.
I don't know, but there was a lot of confidence around him generally
and outside of that play too. I mean, he looked really good.
It wasn't just that one play. That he had. I mean, he
was in there for a good chunk of the game and really had some other
plays too that looked promising. So yeah, it was. It was great
to see Nathan do that, and even better to be in BC where you
know, people really appreciated it. And I don't think they played the clip
until it might have been between the third and fourth quarter, that pause,
like during the TV break, so it took him a bit. We thought
it might it might happen at halftime because the play had happened pretty early on
in this BC game, but you know, I guess it didn't get to
the media team or whatever. But I'm still I'm still glad they got around
to showing it because I was a bit worried that they working to capitalize on
that and it would be a great opportunity to engage with the fans. You
know, your old quarterback going to the NFL. You know, he's fighting
for a shot and then he does something like this. I mean, how
can you not like that? Yeah, CFL doesn't shake me as the quickest
movie that departs. And that's like yeah, because Mike's like, they they
gotta play this right now. That I was like Mike like, let's we'll
be happy if they play it by the time the games everye They tweeted the
steazy nay, it owns your franchise. I had to. I had the
old man google like what steezy means, and make said it was like an
old Brooklyn term, like me in school or whatever. Jason, did you
like this? Like we I don't know. I feel like we get made
fun of sometimes for the XFL, Like when our players do stuff, it's
the same thing. I mean, it's like you're either CFL feels the same
way. Hey, this is our child out here. Someone commented on one
of them, like I would hear it was, you know, CFL legend
Nathan Work and they said, I would hardly call him the CFL legend.
He played really good for half the season and the bailed. Yeah, I
mean, just to echo with Evans said, it was, you know,
you can't ask for a better start in the NFL for for Rourke, and
I think anytime you see a player that played in the CFL or one of
these other leagues thriving in the NFL, I think it's really exciting. I'm
just always happy for the player, and I'm really excited to see what he
can do in the coming weeks and if you can earn a spot on this
Jacksonville jack Boards roster. Yeah, they had. Farhan had the quote they
were talking with Peterson. Yeah, they had, like Naylor was down there
and far I mean they really all all hands on that, you know.
I mean know Farhan was back for the BC game, but he had been
traveling last week I think for training camp. Naylor. Yeah, Peterson was
saying incredible poison all that. So that's cool. I mean, it's exciting,
but I didn't think you think that was fun. Like I was hardly
called this the CLA Andie Murray said, this guy's gonna get murdered here on
the on the thing. So let's get to the games here, exciting games
and nothing apparently play it according to the CFL website here but the big time
win last night, like Chad Kelly dustint crime really coming out too here.
But this this Shag Kelly video game number is four hundred and seventeen yards.
Jason, do you want to start on this incredible run? It looked like
it was in danger, but then Argos by the time I had the game
on, they had kind of put it to bed. Yeah, So I
think that this was a really fun game, especially in the first half.
I think it was probably the high scoring first half that we've seen so far
this season. And I think that the big thing coming out of this game
is that Chad Kelly really stuck his claim in the MLP race. I thought
that the last couple of weeks it looked like maybe Zach Claris was like statistically
it looked like it wasn't very close. But I think that this with a
four hundred yard and a four touchdown game, it really makes it more of
an interesting race here, and I think it's gonna be a really interesting thing
to follow the rest of the season. And I think that, you know,
for the Argos, it was just good to see them get back on
track after you know, an injury pliged week last week. So I think
that, you know, all signs are good for the Argos going forward.
Evan, what did you make of this? And I thought it was funny
they had the graphic up and Mike was tweeting the CFL had Chad Kelly of
twenty eight for twenty one to temphs and then Mike had the tweet at the
office and be like though it was twenty one twenty eight, it's still are
still an incredible performance even if we're doing twenty eight completions on twenty one the
Times What did you make of this? But by Jack? Yeah, dare
I, dare I bring up the stats issue again, but all of us,
No, this game was definitely kind of your your shootout of the week.
I know Edmonton and Winnipeg got pretty high scoring, but of course that
was a completely different tale in my opinion, just in terms of how the
game flow went. I mean, this was pretty back and forth. Toronto,
you know, pulled away in the second half, but like Ottawa wasn't
going away. And you know, a lot of the credit in this game
was going to go to Chad Kelly because this performance really did separate him.
You have people like Emery Hunt saying, you know, if he's not MP,
I don't know who is at this point. I mean, yeah,
maybe Zach Claros, but I would definitely lean towards the direction of Chad Kelly.
This was a great bounceback performance from Toronto, you know, after what
happened last week when Kelly got injured and Cam Dukes had to come in against
Calgary. I thought they bounced back really nicely here. Just an all around
complete performance again, you know, I sometimes it's hard to believe just how
high scoring their offense. And I mean their defense is, you know,
on par I think, you know, the term defense wins championships is used
a lot, and I think their defense is definitely, you know, up
to the task. I know Robertson Daniel had two sacks in this game and
he I think set the argos. I don't know if it's all time team
record, but he had sixteen tackles last week, which was the most I
think for an individual in the game. I don't know, maybe you get
Mike Mitchell to clarify that, but I'm pretty sure it was some record.
So yeah, all around great performance from Toronto, But I really want to
focus on Ottawa and what enough people in the media or not enough people rather
in the media are going to say, is I mean, this was arguably
dust and Crumb, you know, his most complete performance of the season,
you know, from a passing perspective, I don't think we've seen this from
him yet. Where he goes out there, you know, has a high
completion percentage, you know, just shy of three hundred yards, three touchdowns,
no turnovers. You know, in previous games, we've talked a lot
about, you know, his ability to run. I mean, yeah,
he can throw the ball. He's a quarterback, that's what he should do.
But it was more of his running ability that stood out, you know,
for those couple of weeks where he was starting, maybe outside of that
first game or whatever. But this game, you know, you can really
focus more on his passing and what he did through the air, and I
think that's really important, and even more important maybe was the guy he was
connecting to a lot, Jayalen Acklin. I've personally been waiting a long time
to see Jalen Acklin have a performance like this this year. I know it's
been a slow start for him coming over from Hamilton, just kind of getting
adjusted. And I think, you know, had Jeremiah has solely been the
start of this season, you might have seen more of Jaleen Aklin just given
that familiarity. But yeah, ultimately, you know, I thought this was
a great game, you know, one of the more entertaining ones of the
weekend. And you know, while Toronto ended up being the team that won,
and you could argue that they were more impressive. I mean, I
think this was a good sign for Ottawa, you know, getting back in
the right direction. I mean, Toronto is such a tough opponent. It's
gonna be hard to just win outright against him. But if you can go
out there and you have a guy like Dustin Crumb, you know, with
such a complete performance, if you go out there and show that, I
think Otto was in a good position for the rest of the season, and
that especially matters. You know, we talked last week about the standings in
the East. I mean it's either going to be dum or Hamilton. And
I know they haven't had those divisional games go their way, but I mean,
if they can just keep winning, you know who's going to stop him?
Right? Yeah, we need to And I want to have a really
deep dive here when we get to the Jake Mayors e ad All in Calgary,
because here we have Destin Crumb. Like you said, Evan, he
I really thought he was a one trick pony and it's kind of been this
whole time and Crumb sanity and well he's just running like he's just scrambling whatever,
putting you know, putting up almost three hundred yards. I mean,
he's doubling what Jake Mayer did in the BC game, and I know BC
lockdown, but you know Mayor's had I have the stat here when we get
to the game. You know, a third of his games whatever this year
been under one hundred and fifty yards pass. I mean he's really been struggling
to kind of get the ball down the field or you have you know,
Destin Crime, you're tween ninety two and then Kelly the fourth seventeen and see
if I'll needs it tweet this out. Almost nine hundred yards of offense here.
You know, chunk plays all over the place. CFL football is most
entertaining. What did you make of Destin that, Jason Well? I thought,
like Evan said, it was probably his most complete effort of the season,
and the way that he was able to move the ball with his arm
and this one was very impressive. It was even more impressive considering they were
going against the really good Argo's defense that you know, at points in this
game, they were just moving up and down the field. I thought the
running game got going at times as well, even though the averages really don't
reflect it in the box score, but I think that that was a good
sign for them. But my biggest concern for them is on the defensive side.
Like their secondary has been very poor over the last like five or so
games. I think they've allowed over three hundred yards in the last like five
games straight, So I think that's a huge concern for them. A lot
of wide open receivers. Demorris Daniels a couple of those times he just was
just wide open right behind the defense. So I think that's a huge concern
and issue they'll have to fix if they want to be a playoff team this
year. But yeah, the offense was very promising. Yeah, imagine here
I got on the game, like I said, when Toronto are really putting
the game to bed here in the last quarter, you know, imagine having
Andrew Harris on your team and not even really needing him. I mean,
he's like an after that at this point, AJ just running running all over
everyone, running down the field, really thought, I mean, just another
stand that performance. Right, he was kind of nicked up, right,
I think he's been not kind of a peaked the last couple of weeks.
But good to see him again with that, and I don't know, I
mean the argos look really good. I know it was kind of fluky last
week. Evan, What do you like did come to bounce back like this?
I mean it wasn't just Chad's back and we're not you know, we're
just I don't know that we kind of had our game plan back at Placement.
What did you make of Toronto having such a bounce back game. I
mean it was a couple of things, you know. I mean, being
at home always helps. I just think overall, I mean, yeah,
having Chad Kelly in for the full game, you know, really I think
the balance between the run game and the receiving game is important as well,
because in this game he had, you know, a j Lett who you
know, had one of his better performances of the season, although he's become
pretty consistent at this point, I mean that in a good way. He
had that combined with a guy like Davar Daniels, who I think had three
touch downs. You know, once you combine those, I mean, if
you're going to have that kind of balanced performance where you have a rusher close
to one hundred yards and a top receiver who's kind of catching everything that's thrown
his way. They also had another hundred yard receiver there too, and camp
Phillips. You know, it's just it's an offensive explosion essentially, and I
think, you know, I mean, we'll get into BC, but I
think it's sort of a similar type of hunger, you know, where you
come back. You know, you're you lose to a team that you you
know, either weren't supposed to lose two or you lost in dramatic fashion,
you know, and you want to make sure that people don't lose confidence in
you. So then you go out and you spin it the other way and
you blow the other team out. So that's kind of where I'm at on
that. How do we feel about Ottawa here, Jason in terms of looking
good? You know, obviously three and six here, it could be better.
I don't know. I mean, I feel like they have a lot
of pieces. Is there in that fear going forward? Yeah? I mean,
I'm just trying to think how many wins they'll probably need to get into
the playoffs. I don't see Hamilton racking up a whole bunch of them in
this last half of the season here, So I mean, it's really gonna
come down to how many wins they get. Obviously at the end of the
season, and I think that, you know, the biggest problem with them
is they cannot beat Hamilton for the life of them. And I think they've
already lost the season series to them. They have one more game left,
but you know that could be another huge game later on this season when they
go to Ottawa. So I'm really interested to see how that plays out.
So I think that it's gonna come down to you know, I haven't really
broken down the schedules for each team, but the remaining schedules for each team
I think is what's going to really come into play here, because I mean,
Montreal is looking really good. I mean, even with the loss his
name had, I mean really good, kind of getting those pieces and you
know, we're gonna get Cuddie back and kind of do all that. I
mean, they had tremendously. We'll get to that. But the tremendous game
this week, even with all that, I don't know, I just feel
like they've suffered a lot this year with them as always, evit all and
everything else, and I just I don't know if there's enough there, but
I do. I do think it's cool that Dustin Crum, like you know
here, It's cool to me like here, we're thinking, like believe I
that's going to be the story of the season. The quarterback here, we
have this guy like no, you know, no one thought comes in plays
great kind of rallying that Evan. Then the other takeaways from Toronto or Ottawa.
No, I mean, I'll just kind of go back to the whole
standings point for a bit. I think, you know, Ottawa, like
I said earlier, I mean, yeah, they lost the season series to
Hamilton, and that puts them in an extreme disadvantage unfortunately. But I mean
there's still in I mean, you know, we're going on week eleven,
there's still a lot of time to make up for that. Again, I
think the way Ottawa played yesterday, if this wasn't against you know, Toronto,
I think I mean maybe I don't know, you throw Winnipeg in there.
If it wasn't against either those two teams, I think they probably would
have won. And I don't know BC two, So maybe that's maybe maybe
that's not validating my point very much. But ultimately, again what I'm getting
at here is, to me, it was such a complete performance, especially
in the in the first half. If they can carry that momentum moving forward,
in their games. I mean, I think they can turn the ship
around pretty quickly, more quick than a lot of people expected. I think,
well, yeah, and I would agree. I mean in terms of
it's just it's tough with with the divisions and now it's all like you know,
laid out there. The other thing that I'm just interesting with that Toronto
and all of this because they're going on there their third bye week here,
third bye week coming in and then a long stretch because I've been trying to
work through the Toronto office to get some people on the show and they say,
you know, follow up with this after the last buy herb here is
tweeting out, Yeah, Dan, July third had been their last home game.
Now they play, they played the game. I think they've only had
three home games this season now going on to buy I mean, it's just
crazy, this crazy scheduling. I don't know. I mean, I'm really
kind of concerned for Toronto down the long run here where you got to play
however many weeks in the row here, Jason, any thoughts on this kind
of this extended second half of the season. Yeah, I mean, I'm
just so over all these you know, every team, one team happened to
be off every week and like just you know, every team playing like a
different number of games at this point of the season. Like yeah, like
you said, Toronto's already to have their third bye week and they played like
two games less than some other teams. So I mean, I'm just getting
frustrated with it at this point. I mean, we're living with this for
since twenty fourteen when Audible came back into the league. But I mean,
this is just the biggest reason selfishly why I want that tenth team just to
fix all of these you know, buyo week issues so we never have to
deal with it again. It's just weird. I don't know. I just
think there's such a better way you could do it. And the comments I
always see is like even with the bias, I mean, there are better
ways and not having trying to have the week one off and not doing this
and not doing that, Evan anything else on this game. We'll move on.
No, Okay, all right, let's get here. Is this is
this? Uh we got the BC one here. Let me get out of
this. H you know this was a coming out party here, Evan was
here. I'll let Evan get first takes on this we had our live correspondent
Calgary at BC. Yeah, this game was I mean I was there for
you know, I'm trying to get up there the BC for a game every
year now, and you know, this one very similar to when I went
last year against Edmonton. After the first quarter, really, you know,
by definitely midway through the second, like you already kind of knew which way
it was going to go. So I don't know that has its pros and
cons. I've been very fortunate, you know, last year I saw Nathan
Rourke obviously have a career game, and then honestly even you know that this
was one of Vernon's better games of this season, and I've been wanting to
see him in person for a long time. So extremely happy that he was
able to bounce back off the injury and comes in and you know, kind
of, I think any doubt and you could definitely tell amongst the crowd any
doubt that they had in Vernon coming off that injury, thinking he might be
slow or it might take him a bit of time to get up to speed.
All that went away, you know, within the first couple of plays,
because they scored on their first drive, and you know at one point,
it was seventeen nothing, and I'm just like, all right, well
Timmy as well. Yeah, I think you said it perfectly, Reid.
Had the Edmonton game not happened, we would have just wrapped it up right
then and there. But ultimately, from a more you know, statistical perspective,
yeah, I mean this game was over very quickly. I thought Vernon
Adams did a great job. They were really more it was definitely more pass
heavy that they had Jaquamazelle in the lineup, but they didn't really need much
of him, to be honest. Between him, between Keian Hatcher and Alexander
Hollins, those guys were, you know, doing their job and doing it
like nobody else. You know that those were the guys that really stepped up
this week obviously. And then yeah, I mean Calgary, I don't know,
I was disappointed. You know. Last year I saw Edmonton and I
understood the position Edmonton was in, and I said, Okay, when I
come up for a game next year, you know, I'm going to try
and see, you know, maybe a more competitive opponent. And Calgary.
I mean, look, I understand Calgary hasn't been great this season. Right,
We've talked a lot about their issues and their struggles, and at this
point it's going to be hard for them to even keep up with Saskatchewan.
I think we'll see how their situation plays out. But ultimately, you know,
Calgary was just extremely disappointing. I expected a lot more out of them,
and you know, Jake Mayer, I don't know. Again, I've
I've been a fan of Jake Mayer for years now, and I was excited
to see him in person, but the excitement quickly went away, you know,
after I realized he just wasn't going to be able to do much and
there wasn't a lot of opportunities. So yeah, I mean, you know,
very slow day for him, very slow day for the team as a
whole. Again, they just they had no answer. You know, that's
a I think we say that too much in football. Oh the other team
didn't have an answer? Well, they really didn't. I mean, Vernon,
like those guys were just ready to go and Calgary wasn't. That's that's
the main takeaway I had from this game. Is as boring as that sounds,
it was just, you know, there was really no hope for the
Stamps even you know, again, by the second quarter, I was like,
well, it's gonna take an absolute miracle. I mean, Jake Mayer
is gonna have to play, you know, the game of his life to
get back in this one. And yeah, clearly that didn't happen. So
overall, you know, look, I was impressed. I mean BC clearly
you know, making their steak. You know, we're still in it in
the West. Part of me did think that this was gonna happen, just
because we talked at length last week about their loss to Winnipeg and how obviously
it's a good football team, they just need to have a really good bounce
back game to kind of, you know, reassure that confidence and everybody,
which is exactly what happened. So in terms of the blowout aspect, I
don't know. Part of me maybe expected that. I just didn't want to
admit it, but yeah, overall, you know, BC a game that
they definitely needed to stay at the top of the West. And I think
if you're a Calgary fan, you leave this game with a lot of questions.
I don't know, I mean, having been there in person, there's
just a lot of questions, like, it's to a point where would you
even want to see that team in the playoffs. I think, yeah,
they were showing the flashbacks like we've been vernon last year because he had come
in when Nate went down and showing the oh, they have these crazy games
last year, Like it is a far cry from these committed the matchups last
year and those were some of the highlights of the season last year for BC.
Jason, what do you make of this? Well, I think that
this game really does showcase the difference in coaching philosophy on offense for both of
these two teams. You know, look at BC, they take shots down
the field, they take risks, and that's what you need in the CFL
to seed in a three down league. You need to create big plays.
It's very hard to be that methodical offense and you know, you know,
score a lot of points during games. And then Calgary on the other hand,
very conservative offense, very few passes beyond ten yards, a lot of
you know runs, a lot of you know, short pass a lot of
screens, a lot of slants, and I think that just doesn't get it
done right now in the current CFL. You look at the teams that are
thriving right now, it's the teams that are willing to push the ball down
the field even look at we'll get to it. Drew Brown this week with
the Winnipeg he came into the game and they pushed the ball down the field
and had success. So I think that was really missing, especially when you
consider that BC got burned by Winnipeg last week by the past deep down the
field. So I think that it was very disappointing that Calgary didn't test that.
And I think that it's just a very concerning situation, like Evan said,
in Calgary right now, and I you know, one of these teams
is gonna have to make the playoffs in the West. This catchworer Calgary.
Don't know who it's gonna be, but unfortunately we're gonna have to see one
of these teams in the play offs this year. And that's another general theme
of the season so far. I think there's really only like four good teams.
I would have said only three a couple of weeks ago, but I
think Montreal is really rounding into form and becoming that fourth team. But other
than that, I think it's kind of a waste land. The rest of
the teams of the CFL right now, well, it's crazy and I had
the stat here. I know, I had this save with Hodge. You
know, Mayor's always throw him for fewer than one hundred fifty yards and three
of his nine starts this season, I mean he had if you go back
on here, he had one hundred and thirty one yards total. Vernon had
like one hundred and fifty in the first quarter. I mean, it was
crazy, like the stats because I had seen I was rewatching the game yesterday.
I had seen the stats coming out of the game, rewatched it,
and I'm like he had and I'm looking up. This is crazy. I
mean, yeah, Kean Hatcher really coming into form. I can't decide kind
of who who is the standout receiver for BC here. You know, we
had Dommini crimes out again. It's just incredible to me the talent that Vernon
has there. But yeah, Jake, something's wrong there. I mean,
it was a bad weekend for the Dickinson brothers. I saw that tweet out
as well, you know, both of them kind of getting slashed. Is
there enough to salvage here, Jason for Calgary? I think that, Yeah,
it's it's really tough, and I think this is a good example of
a you know, like it's we've seen guys in the CFL. The first
ten or so starts or fifteen or so starts have a lot of success,
and you know, like people will say, Okay, they're they're they're gonna
be the next guy, but then they you know, the next fifteen starts
are really another test of itself because of you know, the defenses get film
on them and they really really figure them out. And I think this is
very comparable to the Dane Evans situation that we had last year, and I
think that Mayer could still turn it around. I think some of these issues
are due to coaching and just kind of the staleness of the play calling in
Calgary, but I do think a lot of it is on Jake Mayre and
I think he needs to get better obviously for this team to win going forward.
Yeah, Evan, you what do you attribute that to? They had
that Farhan had the quote He's like, well, I tied with Jake and
h he doesn't want to be known as assistant quarterback and he wants to be
able to do all this and okay, well whatever they need me to do.
I mean, do you blame Mayor's regression kind of on him? Or
on the coaching. They're both. I mean, I think it's a bit
of both in every situation, but because I was at the game on Saturday,
I do blame it more on on coaching philosophy. That's not to say
Mayor has a lot of work to do, and of course I still believe
in him. I've gone on record saying that. But I think ultimately what
this is is, you know, Jason said it perfectly where you know,
BC has been this team now for really, I mean going back to last
year since they had Rourke. You know, they're not afraid of anything,
you know, if they're like they're just gonna throw it up. I mean
that first drive, like it was just you know, big play, big
play, big play, touchdown done, you know, and then and they
did that again. They kept doing that, and then that's how you know
the game was already out of reach because Calgary kept trying this conservative system and
you know, I was really waiting for Jake Mayor to throw a couple of
deep balls, but it didn't happen. And ultimately, yeah, I mean
in the three down League, I mean, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna
repeat everything Jason said. I mean, you have to you have to create
big plays, you have to do what what teams like BC and Winnipeg do
on a regular basis, even Toronto now, you know, and these are
all the teams that are you know, rising to be the top of the
league. And then the true Gray Cup contenders are the teams that have these
sort of explosive, dynamic offenses where you have you know, multiple receivers that
can go down, you know, and do their thing ultimately. So yeah,
I mean, I think it's really more coaching philosophy. I think Calgary
was, you know, just way too conservative. And I can get being
conservative early, but I mean if you looked at that score going even to
you know, in like the second quarter, I'm like, they gotta start
moving and it just never happened. It just never came. And BC like
they they just kept doing it. I mean, you know they you know,
it was to the point where they put Dom Davison you know, in
the in the fourth quarter because it was already so far gone. And you
know, when when the team's putting in another quarterback, you know, in
the fourth quarter, you know, because of a score. I mean that's
when that's when you feel embarrassed as the losing team because then you're you know,
I mean, I shouldn't even have to say that, but you know,
ultimately, yeah, I mean getting back to just Calgary's sort of stance.
I mean, if you're gonna I still, as crazy as it so
sounds, I still think they have a game or two to kind of figure
things out. And I think, just given sort of what I could see
from where I was sitting in the overall atmosphere, like there is a frustration
there and I think that this game really reminded them of what they need to
figure out, even though they've had a couple of positive moments this season,
and I think, you know, coming off that win against Toronto, I
think they thought they did have some momentum, but clearly BC's just a different
a different beast when they're fully healthy. So I don't know. I think
Calgary has a game or two to figure it out, but I don't know
if they dropped. If they dropped the next two and they go to three
and eight, I'm taking Saskatchewan for the playoff spot already, and I don't
really I know, Saskatchewan might even have more questions, but you know,
they have an extra win right now, and I feel more confident about that,
even if I don't know what I said last week. I was kind
of on defense. I think I leaned towards Calgary, but I don't know.
Now that I've seen him in person, I think my opinion has changed
a bit. Well, it's just crazy here we get cold even carried back
right because he hasn't played I think since Week one. It's like seven carries
furs. I mean, they just didn't do anything here. It's just remarkable
to me, how like futile this offense is. Jason thoughts on that,
and then I want to get thoughts on how kind of Vernon looks coming back,
but just how just future. I know you're talking like no big shoe,
but they didn't do anything. Yeah, they just they you know,
last year they were a pretty like conservative offense. They didn't really get too
many big plays. I think, you know, maybe Willie Henry was really
their their deep threat you could call it. But I think that, you
know, they were able to run the ball very consistently last year, and
they just haven't been that dominant running team that we saw last year. And
I think that that's a big reason why they're a significant the worst team that
they were a year ago. The other thing Vernon coming back, and they
made notes him having the knee brace and did he need more time off day's
beat up? So Vernon came back. He had one. There was one
point where I think one of his o linemen like stepped on his toe or
something. But he looks pretty good. Did you how did you feel like
he came because I mean that's the one thing with Vernon as I do feel
like he you know, is a little fragilely sometimes. Jason first, Oh,
oh yeah, I thought it was really good to see Vernon back in
the fold. I think that the biggest thing. He was moving around very
well. He had that classic you know Vernon Adams play extension ability and you
know, improvisational ability to you know, throw a couple of touchdowns in this
game. So I thought that was really impressive and really good to see.
And you know, if he could just play like he did earlier this season,
which he did in this game, I think that this team is one
of only really three teams in my opinion, that can win a Great Cup
this season. Evan thoughts on VA. I mean, yeah, he had
about as good of a performance as you ask for. He had one,
uh sort of mishap. It was towards you know, they were getting ready
to score. I don't know, it might have been at the twenty or
something, and he tossed an interception. I would say that was more his
fault. But you know, other than that, I mean he cleaned that
up pretty quickly, and you know that they didn't have a problem get getting
back in it. I mean, it's certainly slowed down. I mean,
had that not happened, it might have been you know, forty four to
nine or whatever. But I mean, yeah, like you can't you can't
fault him for that. Other than that, I mean he was he was
dealing left and right and clearly. I mean you can tell, like you
know, this week it was Kean Hatcher and Alexander Hollins, but you can
tell he doesn't have hesitation going to his other guys either. It's just kind
of who's ever there at the right time. I mean, you know,
I cannot tell you enough about how diverse the BC Receiving Corps is and that
having an opportunity to see that in person only made me feel better about them
moving forward. And again you talk about possibility of winning a Gray Cup.
I think that receiving core diversity will be the ultimate factor in that considering them
make it as far as that game, Yeah, I think And they were
commenting that too. Vernon doing a good job dishing it out right. And
I think we've talked to here on here before, like BC, none of
them need to be hero ball, you know, they're happy kind of having
the ball go around. Yeah, I thought that interception was was quite poor.
The mystery by Vernon. I think that whatever the defensive guy jumped back
in and kind of picked that up. But what I liked and it start
it guy was getting to the point where BC really does have kind of like
that running up ability where they can kind of play volleyball. And it felt
like that like I don't know, I mean, I know, we just
you know, we'll get to the Edmonton of it all, like Calgary.
Winnipeg is not Calgary, you know, like Calgary. I don't see you
know, them them being down twenty points like oh yeah, they're gonna come
back here and they're gonna rally. I mean, BC can really pile it
on and I think it's exciting. Jason in terms of you know, obviously
the mishap and everything it gets Winnipeg here, but do you still felt pretty
high on BC and kind of their chances. Yeah? Absolutely. I Like
I said last week, are on our preview show for week ten that I
think it was just to burn the tape kind of game last week for BC,
and they really did put it behind them and that really beaten inferior opponent
pretty badly. Here, anything else on this one, Evan and the other
notes? I had the clip we had where they were getting all geeked out
with the Nathan Marker value. Do you have anything else on this one before
we move on? I mean, yeah, I guess we can talk about
the clip that you're showing now the Rourke thing again for a bit. It
was a really cool kind of segment because at halftime that you know, they
had Wally Bono going into the Wall of Fame and you know, everyone was
really excited about that, and then we kind of thought that from the sort
of entertainment in person perspective, it was over, I mean, besides the
rest of the game obviously, but then they had that and it was kind
of a nice, you know, little I was I don't want to say
I was surprised at how many people there knew who Nathan Work was, and
they weren't just a casual fan who was visiting Vancouver for the weekend and went
to the game and were confused as to why they were showing NFL highlights.
I mean, it made me happy knowing that other people around me were aware
of Nathan Work's accomplishments last season. And of course, I mean I'm not
saying that you know, BC fans or casuals or anything. That's not the
point. I'm just saying, you know, in the CFL nowadays, like
I mean, there were people around me who didn't really understand, you know
who, like Vernon Adams was, what his career you know, meant,
and things like that, and you know, I mean, yeah, I
get it, like we're not all, you know, CFL analysts like you
shouldn't be. I mean obviously, you know, especially in the Vancouver market,
like it's not even I mean, yeah, it's it's an important sport,
but it doesn't really compete with the Canucks or anything like that. So
yeah, I mean, you know, it just made me happy to see,
you know, people knew who he was. And I can't remember if
they like you know, tried to give a bit of introduction like former BC
Lin's quarterback Nathan Work or they just showed the clip and expected people to know.
But either way, it was a really cool moment nonetheless, and I'm
glad, I mean even from the promotional side, like you had the Jaguars,
you know, sort of like taking the clip from the game, you
know, and it's very rare that you'd see an NFL team, you know,
showing a clip from the CFL like that. I don't really even remember,
you know, the last time that's happened. So it was just kind
of a good moment all around. And you know, the players obviously,
you know, cared about it too, as you can see there. And
I saw it, you know, given how close I was there to the
home bench, and yeah, I mean overall, you know, it was
it was just a ya. I'm glad that I was there for that specifically
because I saw it last year and I just know the importance of you know,
him as a quarterback, and really, I mean again, Rourke,
you have to remember, he's a he's a Canadian national. He's from Victoria
on the other side in Vancouver Island. I think it would be a lot
different if he was just some American import. And I'm not saying that changes
the dynamic of things, but like Work's a local guy, you know,
so that adds to the whole sort of story and the eating of it as
well. Yeah, I wouldn't. I think Don Kind posted his article about
it, and I sent it to the group. But I just said,
we matter, we still matter where the CFL, We're still important, Jason,
anything else on this, anything else on BC. We'll get to this
Montreal game. Yeah, No, I think it was just really cool to
see that, and yeah, let's move on to the next game. So
this I was at Barbie Friday night with with the wife, caught up on
this a little bit. A Mariners had a good nine to win over the
Orioles as well. Is this accurate stat line that Caleb Evans of eight of
thirteen? Yeah, that's crazy, man. Yeah, they didn't throw many
passes. This is uh blowout here Ballsy, I was following him on Twitter.
Michael ball was in in MONTREALI said I have it this sketch one by
four I think, and then I tweeted up to the game, I said
I have Montreal by twenty five. Plus here, and this is quite the
blowout. Jason, what did you make of this twelve to forty one?
Well, the first thing I have to say is that I is wrong about
the Alouettes this season, and I think a lot of people had them finishing
fourth in the East coming into the air. I had them finishing with five
and thirteen record, and they've already hit that five win total already this season.
So I just have to say right off the bat that I was wrong
about them, and I will be making a video this week about the Alouette
season so far. But I thought that in this game, Caleb Evans did
a fine job billing in for Cody Fajardo. I mean, he is what
he is not a great passer of the football. I think we saw that
from his time in Ottawa, but I think they did a good job using
his legs in this one. Walter Fletcher and Jeshuin Antweet with a really good
job billing in for William Standback in this one. So I thought that was
really good to see for Montreal, and their defense just continues to be a
force so far this season. I mean, this is just a crazy game,
and I had I had my stats here, I have these tweets like
tired of hearing short week long travel excuses. Saskatchewan needs to be professional travel
It's by charts now they have long hours, lack of to blaming the coaches'
lack of preparation. Evan, do you feel like this scatchem Wark Friers embarrassed
themselves here Friday night? Well, I mean I certainly think that they you
know, they could have put up more of a fight. I mean,
that's that goes without saying. I had picked Montreal last week to win this
game. I favored them slightly in this matchup, but I don't think,
you know, again, given just where Calgary is, like, they can
afford a loss like that, as crazy as it sounds, and even though
they have a losing record now, I don't see I didn't see this hurting
them as much just for the one game specifically. I worry more about Saskatchewan
moving forward over the next couple of weeks, especially with their quarterback situation.
You know, I think Mason Fine got hurt, so then you fell back
on Jake Dela Galla, who didn't exactly have the best performance. Now you've
traded fr Antonio Pipkin and it looks like it's going to be a tandem between
Dola Galla and Pipkin for the starting job, or you know, maybe they'll
play both of them kind of figured out. There's a lot of questions there,
so they can I think they can move on from this game, you
know, don't worry about it right on in the next one, as all
the coaches say. But but there's a lot of questions there that I think,
you know, we'll need to be answered very soon. Gayson, what
did you make of this? Because people have been they've been calling for Della
gal the whole time. Here Mason goes down and, like Evan said,
didn't do particularly well. What did you make of the rough risers? Well,
I think it just adds to that whole narrative that tall quarterbacks can't succeed
in the CFL. I mean, it's a limited sample size. We'll have
to see him start a game. I think there would be a second queer
start, because I think he started one last year when a bunch of players
were out with COVID. So I'm very interested to see how he plays in
the next game, but I'm not too optimistic about it. Obviously, they
trade for Pipkins, so maybe he gets into the lineup of Dolla Gallis struggles.
But the quarterback situation is not pretty right now with Saskatchewan, and I
think it's the main source of the troubles. What's the long term play here,
because I mean they're not I got this. I mean, I know
it's the West. I mean they're not dead here. I mean they're third
in the West four and five. You know, obviously they have a losing
record. Now, I don't know what's what's your game plan here if you're
Saskatchewan Jason Well, I mean I think I think I would probably go with
Pipkin if if, if in a couple of weeks, dollar Galla is not
showing anything, like Evans said, they could afford to draw up a couple
more games because of the sad state of that third place race in the West
Division. And I mean, like I said earlier, I think there's just
a lot of bad teams in the CFL right now, and I think it's
not looking good for the potential divisional or the first weekend of the playoffs because
I think that there seems to be such a gap between those top four teams
and the rest right now, in the CFL, and I think that,
you know, Saskatch one going forward has a decent chance of making the playoffs
still, but I don't even think it really matters. I think they're gonna
get clawbered by BC or Calgoy's gonna get clawber bytes BC, no matter who
makes it. In there was Pipkin, wasn't he? Was he NBC last
year? Right? Wasn't he? Yes? Or of the year before one
of the Yeah, because we had Right, we had Nathan and then we
had the other Canadian guy. My too many rosters, Key jack up.
We had the backup quarter in the Canadian quarterback? Was it Michael Michael Connor?
And I think Pipken was in there when Burke went down and that was
when I called put him. But yeah, Michael Connor got injured and then
they put in Pipkin and he wasn't doing I think was it like he was
our short yerage guy. It my knowledge of that, too many rosters,
Key track up. Evan thoughts on this Montrell looking good? I mean,
I don't think Montreal scored forty points in all this season to this point,
especially without CODI figarda, what do you make him? Montreal Yeah, it
was really interesting. So you know, on paper, this was gonna be
the Cody Fajardo revenge game, but that didn't happen and you had Caleb Evans
in the lineup. Now, Caleb Evans has been in the CFL for a
bit. I believe he was with Ottawa at some point, so he has
a bit of experience there at quarterback in this league. And he didn't have
to do a lot in this game really from the passing perspective. I mean,
he completed eight passes and next hell scored forty one points, So that's
how you know you've had a pretty good day. But he was effective as
a runner. I think the biggest story in this game, though, outside
of Caleb Evans, for me, at least on the Montreal side I'll get
back in the Saskatchewan in a minute, would be Walter Fletcher. You know,
there was a lot. I mean, it's taken a long time for
you know, Montreal's run game to kind of get going, and you know,
William standback finally over the past couple of weeks is showing, you know,
his potential that he had before the injury last year or I mean,
well he came back, but Yeah, it wasn't very effective anyway. You
know, Walter Fletcher kind of I think stepped up and really, you know,
again, Montreal, I was more impressed with their run game this time
around than their passing game. And you know, I've talked so much this
season about their receivers, especially Austin Mack, who still had a big play
in this game. But but really I have to give credit to the run
game here between Walter Fletcher, you know, Caleb Evans the quarterback, and
then jesshren Antwee, who I think is I mean, I don't I don't
know a ton about Jesshrehn Antwee, but I'll tell you I was impressed with
him in this game, even on limited touches. I think all around,
that's a good sign moving forward because you know, I think a lot of
people look at that roster and they go, well, if there's no standback,
then what do we do. Well, honestly, you know, it
kind of benefited them not having stand back in the lineup this time because it
got it. It gave these other guys Fletcher and Antwee, the opportunity to
run the ball, combined with Caleb Evans, who's a more mobile quarterback than
Caleb Cody Fajardo. Excuse me. It worked out pretty well, I'd say,
so that they at least have that to fall back on, you know,
because to be honest, look, Montreal's winning, but their offense has
been very up and down over the course of the season. So I'm interested
to see if they kind of stick with this run first philosophy, which is
kind of almost untraditional, i'd say at this point in the CFL and the
really any football league in general. But I don't know. I really liked
what I saw on the ground from them. So moving on to Saskatchewan here
for a brief minute, not a ton to talk about here, right,
I mean, this was a pretty lopsided game. I will say it's It's
kind kind of funny how I've complimented the rough Riders passing game for a majority
of the season, regardless of who the quarterback is. I thought, you
know, Mason Fine did a decent job getting it out to receivers, a
lot of the receivers that I like on that team. And then I had
also said, you know for weeks that Jamal Morrow really wasn't the guy,
and then I needed to see more from him, you know, because they
had a very lackluster run game and in this one it was the complete opposite.
You had the passing game, you know, kind of completely fall apart
because Mason Fine gets hurt, Dolla Galla comes in and you know, just
isn't ready that day, you know. So yeah, and then you have
Jamal Morrow, you know, rushing for eighty one yards on eighteen carries kind
of be in the you know, big ball carrier bell cow woever you want
to call him, And you know, it was just kind of it was
just kind of funny how that panned out. Although I will say Jared Stearns,
you know who I said I really liked on the broadcast last week,
was the leading receiver again for Saskatchewans. So definitely, I think for them
an underrated West up and moving forward, regardless of who the quarterback is.
And again I've I've said it nauseam. They have a lot of receivers.
I like a lot of receivers in general. I like in the in the
CFL this year. But yeah, I mean overall, Saskatchewan a tough loss
for them, But even though you lost by nearly thirty points, if I'm
you know, if I'm Saskatchewan, I'm not really panicking too much because it's
gonna take a lot of losses for your spot to really be in jeopardy.
And even if Calgary jumps over them at some point here in the next couple
of weeks, I think, you know, they still they still, in
my opinion, have an advantage. We can't burn the tape every week.
Every I just burn it doesn't matter, doesn't do I'm hankering to talk some
Edmonton so anything else on this When Jay said, I want to make sure
you get out your points out, yeah, I just wanted to talk a
little bit more about Walter Fletcher. I think is one of the most underrated
players in the entire CFL. It's unfortunate that he doesn't get as much of
a chance because it's very hard to dress two American running backs on a CFL
game day roster, so when standback's healthy, he's off in a healthy scratch.
So I think he's really one of the top six or seven running backs
in the league. He just doesn't get the attention and the opportunity. And
I think if he was on a different team, it would be if he'd
be a lead guy somewhere. You saw it. With that one screen pass,
he took almost the house sixty eight yards. So I think he's just
really exposed to player a really well rounded running back. So it was really
good to see him performing this one. All right, So that's good,
good, good, texted Tim Kapper. I said, man, you had
to quite the weekend here with the blowout of Saskatchewan, but now I want
to get to this. This was the greatest to me, one of the
greatest nights for better or worse as CFL this season. We I had worked
all day. I was just getting in the shower and I was listening to
the game, and you know, trade forward comes in and everyone we're okay.
You know, justin Don apparently started the free trade forward. Even though
I think Evan and I take credit for that, we just didn't say that.
I'm local, provincial, you know sports TV. But you know,
Trey four comes in, handoff, they score everything, you know. So
I run up Sarahs and Dorothy because we were gonna go out to theater.
We're said, we're not going out. I said, we're watching this game.
I said, We're sitting at home, had the game on watch every
snap of this this was the most exciting night of my life. Texta Dave
Campbell after the game, I said, I'm so sorry. He said,
that was really rough. Initial thoughts on this one. We'll go to Evan
first, that initial thoughts of the what could have been that they'd free trade
four and then the epic collapse here of proportions. Yeah, so it was.
It was really funny because when this game was going on, I was
on a flight up here to Vancouver, right, and when I left,
like we were on the runway and I looked at the score and it was
like twenty two to nothing. It was one of Edmonton kind of peaked right,
and then I was like, oh great, like we're gonna land and
there's gonna be this big buzz, like my phone will be, you know,
blowing up how Edmonton won like a bunch of notifications finally break the streak.
And then I so then we land plane lands of Vancouver. It's like
a two and a half hour flight, so the game has been over by
then for probably a good half hour. And I checked my phone. I'm
like, let's look at the score, like how much did I meant to
win by? Did they get the forty points? Or whatever, and then
I looked and I was like, hold on a minute, like that that
can't be right. At first, I thought it was Edmonton thirty eight Winnipeg
twenty nine, and I was like, okay, so Winnipeg made a formidable
effort. And then I was I looked again and I'm like oh. I
was like what, no, that that can't And then I looked and I
looked around, and then I got on Twitter and and I was like,
oh no, oh, the worst of course it happened Edmonton where they went
up twenty two nothing and still couldn't get the job done. So I don't
know, my excitement immediately went away. And then I just I was really
sad, you know. I was just I was sitting there. I was
like, I, you know, I have really no connection to this team,
but I still feel for Chris Jones and all those guys. I mean,
they were like what. I was watching that game, like, you
know, as to play, and you know, I was about to take
off or at least following along with it, and everyone was just so happy,
Like there was this atmosphere like we're finally gonna do it, We're finally
gonna win, and we're gonna do it at home against a team that's competing
for a Gray Cup. I mean, finally, after you know, literally
months of suffering, you're you're in a position where you can do that,
and then it all just fell apart, and you know, they got too
excited, I think, too fast, and you know, I didn't really
get an opportunity to look at the later highlights from this game. I know
Drew Brown came in and did some nice things. We'll get into that,
but it's just it's, you know, Hamilton, not Hamilton, excuse me,
Edmonton. It just there's an we're in week what is this week ten?
Now there's still a new way to lose every week. It's it's like
I feel, I really thought we had hit the point of the season where
like there was a low, and it just it somehow keeps getting lower.
At least at least there was a high point, like at least they had
a lead, but like, can you even celebrate that when you lose another
game and just the opportunity, like it just it all goes to waste so
quickly. And it's not the first time that this type of thing has happened,
So I don't know, man, I I there's just it's one thing
to lose a game and get blown out. It's another thing to you know,
be up in a game, have a ton of confidence, think you're
going to do something, and have that all go away in the blink of
an eye. That's my ultimate takeaway from this one. Yeah, Jason,
you you've said on here that you don't believe in Churson's but you think that
Edmonton's curse it does. It does feel that way here. I did have
my tweet and then we'll get Jason's thoughts. I said, if even like
so, even if they ax louse, imagine if tray Forward had played weeks
ago. That was my takeaway at the end of this was, Yeah,
Edmonton lost and there was this epic class but uh, there's no excuse now,
why why trade Forward hadn't played, you know, start of the season.
Halfway through? I mean, I think Chris Jones I had here,
and maybe Chris Jones should be fired on principle. What did you make of
this? This was truly a remarkable night. Yeah, what do you even
say at this point about the Elks? I mean, you know, we
were sitting talking weeks ago about has this team hit rock bottom. I mean,
is this rock bottom or did they after lose a thirty point lead.
I mean, I just, you know, my heart hurts for that team
right now. That whole fan base is just like I was going to be
so happy for them. If this was the game that they finally broke the
streak, would have been the perfect scenario to win against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Kind of shut up those Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans that have kind of been,
you know, gloating over the last couple of years, getting a little
bit big, big ego. I think, you know, at the end
of the day, it was just a very disappointing, you know, effort
in the second half. It just seemed like they had lost the game already,
even though it was still within reach. And I think that it was
just drive after drive after drive. And the most disappointing thing was the fact
that Winnipeg had a backup quarterback in there. I mean, no disrespect to
Drew Brown, but he was going up and down the field, came off
in off the bench cold, and he just found a way to just put
drives together and it was really really impressive from that perspective. But Melton.
I mean, I just have no words for them right now. Yeah,
there was I saw the tweet coming out where Chris Jones had said that tray
Forward played, you know, well enough to earn a second second start next
week. I said, I hope so, I hope so. But but
that was the thing, and they also had the comments out that tray Forward
said, yeah, I felt like we played too conservative the second half and
we gave the game away. As said, I wonder why Chris Jones doesn't
like Trey Forward here. It's probably because of things like that. But it
was just crazy. We had. This is what I don't get, Like
we've we've talked at nausea oh Cornelius and like he's so athletic and he can
run. Tray Forward had a rushing touchdown the first first quarter of the game.
He had as mini rushing touchdowns as Taro Cornelius has had the entire season.
Like I'm tired of hearing this elite, elite, you know, athletic
rushing ability of Cornelius. We did see Zach Claros get injured, he had
to pick six. Looked very reminiscent of Taro Cornelius. Here. A couple
of weeks ago, the Dustin Niel say, yo, why does he are
you kenning me? Which I guess now is like famous. I saw Awful
announcing our buddy over there, Andrew doing the article on that. Jason,
how impressed were you? I know I had your tweet here? How impressed
were you with Drew Brown? Because I mean you're thinking claris goes down,
like this game's down. I mean there are already a Claris is down.
And then Drew Brown played I think better than I can't if you were a
Winnipeg fan, I don't think you thought that Drew Brown was going to play
as good as he did. Yeah, it was almost unbelievable. What was
the stat line? Over three hundred yards and four touchdown passes. I mean
it was dearly flawless. Like what really impressed me was just how many deep
shots this guy was taking. And Winnipeg's playmakers just really took over in the
second half, just said we are not going to lose this game. Kenny
Lawler had the most ridiculously easy looking one hand catch in the end zone I've
ever seen. Dalton Shane had a couple of big plays in the second half.
Brady Oliver I really took over. Edmonton just could not stop the run
in the second half once again, and I think obviously that's been a big
issue for them this year. So, I mean, Drew Brown was very
impressive in my opinion, in this game. And yeah, I think it's
all the rose to it. I laugh here sometimes they just make notes on
my apple on my eye. Sister Olivery just struck the ass out of that.
Dude. I just trying to just go back. So I remember said
this, Yeah, this was the thing like Winnipeg, not not every team
can do this and go down and come back and be down, you know,
twenty two zero, but really crazy impressive on that. My I got
ten percent left on my headphones here, Okay, hopefully it just beeped at
me. Hopefully it'll make it through the podcast. Evan, any other thoughts
Drew Brown. I don't know what what's have you heard? What's the update
on Claro's Like, is he is he day to day right now? Yeah?
I don't know. I mean, I'll talk about Drew Brown for a
minute because until I get an update on on claro side, I can't.
I don't know what's going on there. Again, I didn't watch wall of
this game. But I will say Drew Brown, you know I was.
I mean, once I saw the stat line again, once I figured out
that Winnipeg actually had won the game, I looked at Drew brown stat line
and I mean that was amazing. But you know, Drew Brown, the
reality is, I mean, I don't want to say this should be expected,
but you know, Drew Brown is one of these guys we always talk
about, you know, year three in the CFL, and I don't think
a lot of people understand that Drew Brown has been with the Blue Bombers since
twenty twenty one. He was undrafted in twenty twenty out of Oklahoma State and
then you know, signed with the Blue Bombers later on, like he's been
there since. You know, he's got a great cup under his belt already.
He has a lot of things. He's had a lot of chances to
learn. So Drew Brown isn't necessarily some stranger, you know, some unfamiliar
face. You know. Yeah, he's unproven, well at least unproven until
now. But you know this, like, Drew Brown, in my opinion,
was one of the more I think higher backside or higher one. Am
I trying to say higher upside backup quarterbacks in the CFL that I could think
of, and I'm we just haven't had a chance to talk about him this
season because you know, all the you know sort of light gets you know,
shined on Zach Claros and rightfully so it was the same thing in Toronto
where there's so much effort put on too, you know, the shoulders of
Chad Kelly that I think Brian Scott and Cameron Dukes, I don't want to
say they become afterthoughts, but they come into the game, Like Cam Dukes
came into the game last week and everyone's like, Oh, who's this?
Who's this? Cam Duke's fella? In BC, I think it's a bit
different because Dan Evans was a starter. Now he's a backup, so people
already familiar with that, whereas Drew Brown kind of came into the league and
really had the work you know, his way up, and I mean everyone
has to work their way up, but but you know what I mean,
Drew Brown, you know, he wasn't like this was He's always going to
be in a reserve role. I think as long as he's in Winnipeg again.
Besides unless an injury happens in this case, but clearly he's up to
the task and I wouldn't hesitate, you know, starting Drew Brown in another
game. Now, keep in mind, I understand, like you know,
dust and Crum, it was a similar thing where Jeremiah was solely got injured.
Dustin Crumb came into the game, performed really well. Then he had
the start and took a step back. So maybe we see that with Drew
Brown if that becomes a possibility. Again, I don't know that the situation
on Claros or what's going to happen there, But ultimately, yeah, Drew
Brown extremely impressive. And then Trey Ford if if you want to talk about
the other quarterback in Edmonton, Yeah, my takeaway was the same. I
think is everything that we'd already discussed. You know, why why didn't he
play earlier? Like again, this I wouldn't say this was an elite performance
from him, but yeah, like for Edmonton standards, this was this was
pretty damn good. You know, this was a great considering this was his
first game and the first action that he's seen. Like, I mean,
yeah, that that was about one of the better debuts you could ask for.
And I mean I I think ultimately, yeah, he still has what
it takes to be a starting quarterback, and I want him to continuously start
again. I mean, he got that team off to their best start of
the season. Yeah, they couldn't finish the job, but I'm sure,
like if we want to look at the strictly positive takeaways from the out side,
you know, I think with out Trey forward in that position, like
just Taylor Cornelius do the same thing, because I don't think so. I
really don't think so. And it just kind of seemed like even if trey
Ford wasn't like a complete one eighty from Taylor Cornelius, he just gave a
sort of refreshed feeling to that offense that they really needed after whatever it was,
eight games, you know, two months. So so overall, I
think the trey Ford decision was the right call, and I really hope,
I really really hope he can be the one that wins them a game.
Please please, I really need to see that. Yeah. That So,
here's my question for Jason, and we'll get put the plane down here pretty
soon, is this is this sustainable with trey Ford? Because you know,
we see this and you know, people come in and Okay, we weren't
able to game plan. I mean, obviously Trey was announced as a starter,
but Winnipeg trying to figure all that out, like is this or can
you replicate this week after week? I think so because tray Ford, one
thing about him is just he's a different kind of athlete than what we usually
see from a CFL quarterback. He is easily the most athletic quarterback I think
in the CFL, even just day one starting last week, right, So
I think that's going to give him an opportunity alone, gives them a different
element to that offense, and it really did open up the playbook for them.
But I think maybe they're limited in some aspects in terms of the passing
ability, but they weren't getting anything done in the passing game with Tara Cornelius.
There was one play in this game where Ford hit a beautiful deep ball
to Dylan Mitchell and it was like, all right, let's go. And
I think that was when they had they were up like twenty two to something
in the game, and the very next play, Kevin Brown coughs up a
fumble and that was just kind of, you know, epitomizes the Edmonton elk
season so far. Yeah, and they had that drive where they was like
penalty penalty, penalty just gave Winnipeg. I think it was like late and
the third just gave him the whole way back. And yeah, I mean
you still see, I mean, Elk's gonna Elk like it's still it's still
the same, still the same fundamentals there. Like I said, I think
we were talking before on here, because of course we were laughing like there's
no way that Edmonton beats with a pig. But circle this here, crumb
sanity comes to Edmonton here, we're gonna have that. I think that is
your week twelve. I think Edmonton breaks are great because they were at twenty
two games right now, right, I think that is the day here on
that Sunday, August twenty seven. I say, circle your calendar. That
is what happens there. We'll get out of here, seeing Evan. Any
other thoughts on this one from you, No, I don't think so,
although if you want to, if we want to get in here to the
games for next week, briefly, I mean, yeah, I would have
to agree that Ottawa Edmonton game, I want to say Edmonton's gonna win street.
Yeah. Week eleven. That would be the week after next, all
right, well, hey still, I mean I think that might be.
I think you might be right. I would love to say they would win
that game. I mean they might. They might win at Hamilton too,
honestly here in week eleven, but I don't know, Like I think that
home win matters a lot more for them, Jay saying anything else that,
Yeah, Edmionton here coming to any feel your tech guts. Well, it's
worth noting that they won in Hamilton last year and trey Ford's first ever start,
so I think it's definitely possible that they win. But I think Hamilton
coming off a bye week, should be better prepared for them this year.
But you know what could happen? Yeah, Evan's got to hop off.
Get this plan. Yeah, Winnipeg at Calgary here, I think that's kind
of a cake walk. Montreal at Ottaway that's probably the exciting one on Saturday,
and then I don't think I would put any money in the world on
BC going then and it's absolutely trucking the ass outs Gotchawan here. I think
that that's going to be good. Evan will hop off anything else from you
now, I think that's it. For me, But I'm looking forward to
next week's slate of games. I'm sure, I mean, if if Edmonton
wins and Hamilton, I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about. And I
mean that to me that that one really stands out now, just given what
Trey Ford's done and you know the kind of state of the Hamilton franchise.
I think, yeah, make sure if you're watching the video game, the
thumbs up. I want to make sure we have as many thumbs up on
this video as people watching the stream right now. That would be good check
out as well. Jason's going to be doing his stuff coming up this week,
Jason, anything else from you, Nope, I think we'll put this
one to ben get Onto next week. Awesome. Yeah, I just that
was thrilling Thursday night, even with the loss. Thrilling and thrilling. Really
appreciate that. Thanks everyone figuring out this week what we're gonna do, and
we'll see you guys out watch out online. I'll be posting stuff. We'll
see you guys next time. Thanks,