WAGONS NORTH
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and the Stamps are off to the Grey Cup game in Edmonton next weekend after Sunday’s 22-14 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Calgary. The Stampeders will face the Ottawa Redblacks.
Jeremiah Masoli was almost speechless. He was standing in the middle of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats dressing-room with a blank expression, avoiding eye contact, his voice barely audible, his words, the few he had, close to meaningless.
“We just didn’t execute,” the quarterback whispered.
“I can’t believe we didn’t give it a better shot than that.”
When asked why and how this happened, he just stood there, saying nothing.
Not moving. Not offering up anything. Not explaining. A lot like his Sunday in the East Division Final.
A lot like a one-team statement game by the Ottawa Redblacks.
Just a few minutes earlier, in the finals seconds of the 46-27 Ottawa win, the stadium operations people at TD Place had a little fun, or a little bad taste, take your pick. On the big screen scoreboard, they showed a bloodied Ric Flair, looking nearly dead like in one of those Halloween movies, with blood everywhere and a guillotine beside him.
One week ago, Flair, the legendary professional wrestler, was lead cheerleader for the Ticats, who appeared bound for the Grey Cup the way they destroyed the B.C. Lions 48-8.
One week later, Flair was on the screen covered in blood, well made up in ashen colours, with red streaks everywhere.
And it seemed more than symbolic that this was all that remained of a Ticats season that ended in shock.
One win away — yet never even close.
This was, as coaches will call it, a good old-fashioned ass-kicking.
The Ticats were outcoached by the Redblacks, out-schemed, outgameplanned, out-worked, out-ran, out-quarterbacked and just about every other out-you can come up with.
It was a demoralizing 46-27 loss in which Ottawa quarterback Trevor Harris, the one-time understudy to Ricky Ray, managed something no CFL quarterback has ever done: He threw for a record six touchdown passes in a playoff game.
Doug Flutie never did that. Warren Moon never did that. Anthony Calvillo never did that.
Part of it was Harris was near perfect, his receivers were as wide open as any receivers will ever be, his offensive line protected him all day long, and everything seemed easy and natural for the Redblacks.
Away from Masoli, in another area of the Tiger-Cats locker-room, there was quiet grumbling by defensive players not knowing what hit them, not able to explain any whys. Among themselves they tried to come up with answers. Really, they didn’t have any. “Give them credit, man,” said giant defensive tackle Ted Laurent. “They had a better game plan than us. They executed it. And we didn’t.”
Ottawa landed the big punch, and a lot of little punches, and then more rights and lefts, almost at will.
Hamilton coach Jerry Glanville played the part of the defensive coordinator who had no clothes.
He was undressed and exposed by Ottawa’s offensive coordinator, Jaime Elizondo.
Almost everything the Redblacks tried, worked.
Harris completed 29 of 32 passes for 367 yards, and of the six touchdowns thrown, five were to different receivers. Almost every one of the 29 completions were thrown to receivers who weren’t properly covered.
It looked easy.
Harris made it look easy. Conversely, Masoli never looked comfortable at any time Sunday. He threw three interceptions. His receivers didn’t get open much. The co-favourite to win the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award played understudy to Harris, and lost for the fourth time this season against Ottawa.
Against Calgary, Saskatchewan and Ottawa, the three strongest teams in the CFL this season, Masoli was 0-8.
For that statistic alone, Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell should win the Most Outstanding Player award this week.
Harris, whom Masoli beat out in MOP voting, threw for 10 touchdowns and no interceptions in four wins against the Ticats.
Hamilton never found a way to solve the quiet quarterback from the quiet team.
“It’s disappointing,” said June Jones, the Hamilton head coach, who has never been to a Grey Cup. “We felt we were prepared. We thought we had a chance.”
Then the game began, and nothing went Hamilton’s way.
Jones is contractually signed to coach the Tiger-Cats next season but he doesn’t know what the future holds for him.
Tiger-Cats assistant coach Orlondo Steinauer is considered a favourite to take one of the CFL head coaching openings, which includes the Toronto Argonauts job.
The Ticats will have to make a decision whether they are willing to dump Jones and try to land Steinauer or stay with Jones and let Steinauer walk.
“I haven’t even thought about that,” said Jones, when asked about his job security.
They will start thinking about that tomorrow.
This was a game the Ticats lost because their players weren’t good and their coaching wasn’t good enough. And in the quiet and frozen losing locker-room, there was shock and disbelief and a sense they need more to move on to a Grey Cup.