Two games from their destiny

By far the dominant team in the CFL over the last couple of years has been the BC Lions, with perhaps the strongest line up, the most reliable quarterbacking collection and the one of the most knowledgeable and well prepared coaches in the league.

Last year the blue print called for a Lions victory at home, the Party on the Pacific sidetracked a bit by the Edmonton Eskimos, who dispatched the Lions in the Western final, in their very own home. It was not a happy day for a program that had worked hard to make a bid for the Cup on their own turf, at their own party. A lesson learned, of which they try to remember as the their playoff destiny unfolds.

With that opportunity lost, Buono and his coaches got to work on the job at hand retooling the Lions for the 2006 season. And for the most part they improved the squad in every category. They control the defensive play game in and game out, offensively they can rattle off the points regardless of who takes the snaps. While they lost four games on the year, they are still considered the favourites to be standing on a cold field in Winnipeg in three weeks time.

The Lions have given the team a week off, while the coaching staff are taking the week to prepare for either Saskatchewan or Calgary and if they are looking at the year in review they may wish to cheer on the Stamps this Sunday. Of the four losses on the year, two were at the hands of Saskatchewan, one to Calgary and one to the recently eliminated Eskimos.

Past history has also given the Riders a bit of a push when they play BC at BC Place, so when they pull out the pom poms on Sunday, Buono and the gang might want to look for the Red and White Ones.

However, if they take the counsel of Stephen Brunt of the Globe and Mail they’ll be wondering how many pairs of long johns to pack for the eventual trip to Winnipeg. Brunt wrote over the weekend that the Grey Cup is the Lions to lose.

Considering the caliber of the talent and the preparation they receive, it’s hard to argue with Mr. Brunt. He reviews the season for us and contemplates the future, the Lions and their fans are no doubt hoping he's on track.

Brunt: Grey Cup is B.C.'s to lose
STEPHEN BRUNT
Globe and Mail Update
October 29, 2006

This is what we know at the conclusion of the 2006 Canadian Football League regular season:

There is one very good, very well-coached team in Vancouver that this morning is the odds-on favourite to win the Grey Cup in Winnipeg three weeks hence. It's been the favourite all year, really.

There are five other teams in the playoffs, all of them with question marks, all of them obviously flawed.

The dispersal of the talent from the deceased Ottawa franchise at the beginning of the season, which was supposed to enhance the quality of play across the board, apparently did no such thing. A new interpretation of the blocking rules on kick returns, which no one bothered to adjust as the season progressed, all but mandated a flag on every play, eliminating the happy possibility of a return touchdown.

And a league that has always lived and died by the quality of its quarterbacking suddenly found itself thin at the position - only one quarterback as a most valuable player nominee, no realistic candidates - a turn of events that nobody saw coming.

Put it all together, and you wind up with some idea why this season has seemed so lacklustre, why so many games seemed to drag, why the three-down sport's one unassailable strength over the years - its entertainment value - was for the first time in living memory called into question.

The CFL has been called all kinds of things, some more valid than others, by those who liked to run it down, but until this season you didn't often hear it labelled "boring."

That, rather than the usual back room shenanigans, is the story heading into the playoffs, even with a lame duck commissioner and no replacement in sight, even with a return to Ottawa looking less likely by the moment.

If the post-season is going to redeem the year, some team other than the B.C. Lions is going to have to step up and mount a credible challenge. In the west, there's at least the possibility that one of Calgary, who at times have looked close, and Saskatchewan, now playing out the final days of the Roy Shivers(already departed)-Danny Barrett(soon to follow) era of unfulfilled potential, with give the Leos a tussle in the final.

It's an awful lot harder to find encouragement in the east, with the weekend games only confirming what's been obvious since the Montreal Alouettes began their long slide downward, that there wasn't a decent team among the four.

Winnipeg has Charles Roberts, the second best player in the league this season behind Geroy Simon, and that gives them hope of making a longshot run and winning two playoff games on the road. But with Kevin Glenn hurt in the final game against the Lions, that task becomes considerably more difficult.

The Bombers' first opponent, the Toronto Argonauts, proved on Saturday what's been obvious for some time, that they just can't stop the run - which could be good news for Roberts. Still, their pass defence is tough, and if they ever managed to make proper use of their resources on offence (John Avery, Ricky Williams, Arland Bruce..) they'd score plenty. Problem is, in the season in which he became professional football's all-time leader in passing yardage, Damon Allen seems to have finally grown old.

Anthony Calvillo is a young pup by comparison, but his slow fade this season has been a big part of the dysfunctional Montreal story. The Alouettes somehow slipped by Toronto for first place, winning a game they should have been out of by halftime, and maybe that will finally snap them out of a half-eason-long malaise. They'll be playing in front of a big home crowd for the Eastern Final, and know that Robert Edwards is running at full steam, but they're nothing like a lock against whichever team emerges from the semi-final.

There's still time to put everyone on the edge of their seats. There's still the chance to recreate dramatics like those in last November's spectacular Grey Cup game

It's getting late, though, and it's taken plenty of patience even for the hard core to remain committed thus far.

Time for the CFL to put on a show. It's long overdue.

The above post first appeared on my Twelve Men on the field blog, for more Canadian Football news check it out.