Five Things I Learned... In Week 7

What an odd feeling it was being done with CFL games on Friday night. My evenings in the summer are usually reserved for watching CFL games, but after Friday's game, I went CFL-less for the rest of the weekend. I didn't like it. I am so glad that bye weeks are over now.

(1) The dropped passes epidemic
I cannot recall seeing as many dropped passes, and by usually reliable receivers, as I have seen so far this season. Just this past week, I saw Nik Lewis, Dave Stala, Sam Giguère and Greg Carr drop passes that hit them right in the hands. We've seen it from other players in previous weeks, and the TSN panel has made mention of it the last couple of weeks, but it seems almost comedic the amount of dropped passes we are seeing. What could be the explanation for it?

(2) Jon Cornish being Jon Cornish
This week, we finally saw the Jon Cornish everyone expected at the beginning of the year. Cornish dominated to the tune of 170 rushing yards and was a main reason the Stamps were able to control the lock in the fourth quarter and beat the Tiger-Cats. A week after calling out his offensive line, Cornish had his best game of the season. Now let's see if he can follow it up this week against a much tougher Toronto defense.

(3) Edmonton, with even an average offense, could win it all
The more I see of the Edmonton Eskimos, the more I think they are a threat to win it all if there offense gives them even average production. Their defense is amazing at this point and after six games, they have given up just 99 points. Contrast that to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers who have given up exactly 100 more points in the same span. They've given up 20 or more points just twice so far this season, which means their offense has to score maybe 24 points for them to win. That's not asking too much of Steven Jyles and Co. I think if Edmonton can find a way to get consistent production out of the offense, this team could be playing deep into November.

(4) Ted Laurent is feasting
One of the reasons for Edmonton's dominant defense has been the play of defensive tackle Ted Laurent. The mammoth former Ole Miss star now has a sack in each of his last five games. Laurent likes to rub his belly after big plays and he has been rubbing it an awful lot so far this season. Laurent is feasting on opposing quarterbacks and is starting to make a name for himself as one of the league's dominant pass-rushing interior linemen.

(5) My Players of the Week
My pick for Offensive and Canadian Player of the Week is the same guy: Jon Cornish. No one had a more productive week offensively than Cornish did. He led the Stamps in both rushing and receiving, and was an unstoppable force in the fourth quarter. Best player on any field this past week.

The week's top defensive player was once again Edmonton's J.C. Sherritt. He picked up seven more tackles to add to his league-leading total and made a crucial interception late in the game against Saskatchewan. Sherritt has been the best defensive player so far this season and he was once again the best defensive player this week.

Another week without a dominant special teams performance, so I am going to give my nod to Calgary punter Rob Maver. Maver had some nice punts in Calgary's win over the Ti-Cats on Thursday and with no standout performance elsewhere on special teams, I think now is the time to recognize the work the punters do.