Morning-After Thoughts (Week 16)

The six playoff teams are set, and they are a surprise to no one. The seeding is still left to decided, but we know one of Montreal, Winnipeg, Hamilton, British Columbia, Edmonton or Calgary will be hoisting the Grey Cup in Vancouver in November. With so much parity in the CFL this season, I wouldn't be surprised if any of the six teams won the whole thing.

1. Damon Allen, Milt Stegall, Tyrone Jones, Jack Abendschan, Eric Lapointe, Peter Connellen and Hamilton's David Braley are your 2012 inductees into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Congratulations to all seven men.
2. The Wendy's Kick for a Million contest is one of my favourites. I can't tell you why I like it so much, but I do.
3. I won't say it's the greatest year for Canadian talent in the CFL, but there does seem to be a plethora of great Canadian players, especially on Offense. Great Canadian talent is one of the keys to success in the CFL, and the teams that have been the most successful this year seem to have the most talent that hails from north of the border.
4. The loss by Calgary probably means they are on the road for the duration of their playoff run.
5. Is it time we close the book on the Henry Burris era in Calgary? After the way Drew Tate played on Friday night, it looks like it might be.
6. I think Cory Boyd proved his point tonight. Give him the ball and good things happen for the Argos. He is, without a doubt, their best player, and if they want to win (even though it doesn't matter now), they need to ride him.
7. Congratulations to Byron Parker on tying the CFL record for interceptions returned for touchdowns. He now has eight, and with his career far from over, he will probably have the record all to himself before he hangs up his cleats.
8. The injury suffered by J'Michael Deane was one of the more gruesome I have seen in all my years of watching football. I wish him a speedy and full recovery.
9. Edmonton has allowed 11 points in their last two games. I don't care if they are playing a team full of armless Ewoks, that's impressive.
10. With the way that Chris Garrett has played, I wonder if the running problems had more to do with Fred Reid than anything else.
11. I've asked it before and I'm going to ask it again: what the heck is up with Terrence Edwards? Why is he seeing so little action?
12. Can someone explain to me how Damon Duval still has a job? He's about as reliable as Sandro DeAngelis on a "windy" day at Ivor Wynne.
13. With all the praise that Jamel Richardson is getting, S.J. Green has kind of become a forgotten man in Montreal. It seems like forever since his name was mentioned prominently following an Alouettes game. Maybe it's because of what Richardson is doing, but I expected Green to be a bigger part of the Als Offense this season.
14. It was a bad week for injuries. Just when I thought the aforementioned J'Michael Deane injury was the worst I had seen, Terry Grant gets pretty much the same injury. I wish Grant a full and speedy recovery.
15. After the missed call on the Chris Williams non-TD catch – it should have been a TD – I hope the CFL will consider a change to the review/challenge system. The NFL recently made a change that made all scoring plays automatically reviewable. I think the CFL should take it one step further and make all potential scoring plays automatically reviewed by the booth. That would ensure that the Williams non-TD catch gets called properly in the future.
16. Now that Saskatchewan's season is over, it's time to sit Darian Durant. The Riders have nothing left to play for, so there is no reason to put Durant out there and risk further injury.
17. I think, barring something unforeseen, Travis Lulay will be the West nominee for Most Outstanding Player. He'll probably lose it to one of the Montreal three (Anthony Calvillo, Jamel Richardson or Brandon Whitaker), but Lulay getting the West nomination will be an achievement in and of itself.
18. The Riders may have scored double digits for the first time in three weeks, but they still did not manage to score a touchdown. Saskatchewan has now gone over four games without finding the end zone. That is an almost unfathomable streak of offensive ineptitude.
19. Changes need to come in Saskatchewan. There will likely be a new Head Coach in 2012, but the Riders also need a talent infusion. I think, like the Argos, the Riders should play their Practice Roster players and see what they have. They have nothing to lose.
20. Only one incorrect pick again this week, and it came courtesy of the Stamps when they decided to gift a victory to the Argos. That makes me 10-2 over the last three weeks, and gives me an overall mark of 37-24.