football
Talking about college and professional football daily. Chances are we hate your team.
CFL Week 10 Recap: Bombed
November 20, 2021. That was the last time that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers lost a game; 13-12 against the Calgary Stampeders. September 27, 2019. That was the last time the Blue Bombers lost a home game, a 33-13 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. On Thursday, August 11, 2022, the defending back-to-back Grey Cup Champions saw their 11-game winning streak (dating back to last year's playoffs) come to an end in immensely shocking and strange fashion, and it came on their home turf against the Montréal Alouettes.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 9 Recap: Full Control
The 2022 Canadian Football League season has entered the month of August, which is an important month, as it brings the season closer to the Labour Day matchups. It's also a pacesetting month, and regarding Week 9, the action kicked off in Montréal, with the Alouettes hosting the undefeated defending back-to-back champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The game was strangely close, and even entering the fourth quarter, it was tied: 14-14. It did look like we were in for an upset, but it would not come to pass, as the Bombers outscored the Als 21-6 in the fourth quarter, resulting in a 35-20 victory.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 8 Recap: All It Takes is One
It seems like yesterday that the Ottawa Redblacks debuted in the CFL, but their first season took place in 2014. Year Two saw them in the Grey Cup, losing to the then-named Edmonton Eskimos, but Year Three would be better for the Redblacks, as they won their first Grey Cup with an overtime victory over the Calgary Stampeders. The Redblacks returned to the Grey Cup in 2018 and came up short, but they would go nowhere else but down since then. Ottawa won a grand total of six games in the two seasons they've played since losing the Grey Cup to the Stampeders, and at the one-third mark of their season, they found themselves winless.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
Black Quarterbacks Continue to be Disrespected
It's 2022, the NFL's existed for over a century, yet the racism against Black quarterbacks continues. It's already documented that Black head coaches get unfairly scrutinized and unjustly fired for no reason, but it's even worse for Black quarterbacks. The first starting Black QB overall in the NFL was Fritz Pollard, who started playing the position all the way back in 1923. In the Super Bowl era, Marlin Briscoe became the first starting Black QB, playing the position for the Denver Broncos. Doug Williams made history as the first Black QB to start and win a Super Bowl, and ironically, this positive achievement was accomplished as part of the then-named Washington Redskins. We have seen so many Black QBs do historic things left and right in the NFL, but in spite of this, and in spite of this modern era, the racial scrutiny and nitpicking still exists.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 7 Recap: Will the Blue Bombers Run the Table?
Usually on these CFL recaps, I describe the games in chronological order, but I have to break that trend now. The reason is simple: the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are still undefeated. Week 7 of the 2022 season saw the back-to-back defending Grey Cup Champions defeat the lowly Edmonton Elks, 24-10 to improve to 7-0 in the season. That's right. We are 1/3 through the season and the Bombers haven't lost yet. In fact, they've won nine straight games dating back to the 2021 Grey Cup Playoffs, with their last loss coming against the Calgary Stampeders on November 20, 2021. For their last home loss, you have to go all the way back to September 27, 2019, a 33-13 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who the Bombers would defeat both times in their back-to-back Grey Cup wins.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 6 Recap: One Stayed Unbeaten, One Stayed Winless
The sixth week of the 2022 CFL season began in Montréal with the Alouettes hosting the Edmonton Elks in what should have been an easy opportunity for the East to defeat the West. After all, the Elks were the only lowly team in the stacked West Division, and they were on the road. Even better for the Als, they had a 31-12 lead during the heart of the 3rd quarter, but the Elks would fight back with 20 unanswered points. The Elks won 32-31, and as for the Alouettes, they blew a big opportunity to put pressure on the Toronto Argonauts.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 5 Recap: Black Sheep
Week 5 of the 2022 CFL season only consisted of three games due to 3/4 of the East Division being idle. So all three games emanated from the Western half of Canada, beginning with this season's second Battle of Alberta meeting...which was over at opening kickoff. The Calgary Stampeders defeated the Edmonton Elks by a score of 49-6. Yes, you read that right: 49-6. Blowout games like this are immensely uneventful, but if there was any highlight, it was Peyton Logan returning a missed field goal 122 yards all the way! That's the beauty of the CFL, you see numbers like 122 when it comes to returns. Other than that, it was basically the Elks being picked apart by their provincial rivals.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 4 Recap: Wide Left
Week 4 of the 2022 CFL season saw the campaign enter the month of July, which is still quite early in the season. All four games in the Week 4 schedule were West vs East, and as the results showed, the disparity between the two divisions is very strong. The week started in the Canadian Capital, with the Ottawa Redblacks hosting the BC Lions, and it was surprisingly close. There were moments where the Redblacks seemed to be on the verge of pulling off the upset, but despite this, BC hung on, winning 34-31.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 3 Recap: Thrown to the Lions
So the third week of the 2022 CFL season was an interesting week for this sports fan. Of course, the week clashed with Game Five of this year's Stanley Cup Final, but I was able to catch a good bit of the action from Week 3. The week kicked off in Montréal, Quebec, as their Alouettes hosted the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who were looking to improve to 3-0. That would not be the case for the Riders, as they were blasted, 37-13, by the Als, marking the Riders' first dent in their plans to play the Grey Cup in their home city of Regina.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 2 Recap: The CFL Least
Week 1 was Opening Week for eight of the Canadian Football League's teams, but regarding Week 2, it was the Toronto Argonauts who would kick off their 2022 campaign. For the Argos, they are looking to end their brief Grey Cup drought; having not won since 2017. They are coming off a stellar abbreviated 2021 season that saw them finish first in the East Division, but lose the Eastern Final at home to the rival Hamilton Tiger-Cats. It's a full season this time, and their road to redemption began with a Thursday meeting against another division rival, the Montréal Alouettes.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
CFL Week 1 Recap: Back to Normal
It's that time again! The Canadian Football League is back in season, and for the first time in three years, it's a full season! The 2020 season ended up being entirely canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic being at its earliest and worst stage, and the 2021 season was a condensed year--with 14 games played in 16 weeks. In any event, the last two seasons ended in the same way: the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hoisting the Grey Cup, with both victories coming against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Bombers look to win their third straight Grey Cup, and become the first team to win three in a row since the then-named Edmonton Eskimos won five straight (66th-70th) from 1979-1983.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
NFL Changes Overtime Rules...But There's a Catch
As I've said before, the NFL's overtime rules have been repeatedly scrutinized for nearly 50 years. For the first several decades, the NFL didn't have overtime, but that changed in 1974, when the sudden death OT was added. In this format, any score could end it, and it often resulted in a vast amount of games ending with a field goal in the opening possession. Despite decades of complaints, the NFL didn't change OT until 2010, and in this version, an opening possession field goal will give the other team a chance to either tie it or win it, while an opening possession touchdown wins the game. If both teams trade field goals, or if the opening possession results in no points, the sudden death rules apply.
By Clyde E. Dawkinsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
