"Your Vote Can Make A Difference"

At least that is what they tell us. Even though several players and fans voted for having four teams in the playoffs this season, that outcome is probably unlikely at the moment. Having 4 out of 5 teams in the playoffs seems ridiculous from a competitive standpoint because it would render the majority of the 12-game regular season worthless. Why not just have every team team in the post-season as some players have seriously suggested? Um, basically for the same reason we stated two sentences ago. What logical incentive is there to have the best record possible if it makes no significant difference in the playoffs? There's barely any worth while incentive as it is now for the teams competing to make the post-season. Just a bye week and the coin toss for the top seeds? Surely there could be more. But for now, the CFL Committee has decided that it'll only be 3 teams in the playoffs. Its a long shot, but perhaps, just maybe, there's a chance there could be more than three teams in the playoffs, but that would probably require a playoff system where the fourth seed plays the third seed, and the winner takes on the second seed and so on, in order to reward the teams who finish with the better records during the year. Bottom line, if a team cant finish with more wins than losses, they probably don't deserve to be in post-season. While the CFL tends to be more of a pompous monarchy than a democracy at times, if there's enough support for expanding the number of teams in the playoffs, the CFL Committee will listen and seriously consider arguments for that case. The comment forum is open, so speak now or forever hold your peace.

Worst To First?

Fifty-five to twenty-one. Are the Eagles really that good, or are the Patriots just that bad? Was it the Eagles defense or Eagles offense? Maybe its both? Maybe neither? Whatever the case, the battle between the two worst teams in the league was thee most lob-sided game of this season. The Patriots basically had no answer for the Eagles two leading candidates for MVP. Eman and Armando went a combined 11-for-11, hauling in 6 of those catches for touchdowns, and scoring another 2 touchdowns on the ground! Just an amazing performance by these two individuals (even though it took them half the season to finally have one). One would think that with the Patriots winning the coin toss, and the Eagles turning the ball over on downs three times, that the game would of been a lot closer, even competitive, but unfortunately the Patriots just picked one of the worst days to play one of their worst games of the season. They lost a fumble, threw a pick, and committed six total turnovers. If you want a recipe for disaster, there it is. A win would have given the Patriots the same amount of wins as the Eagles and the fourth spot in the standings, but they now sit at the bottom of the standings. Despite their 1-5 record, the Patriots aren't definitely out of it. Yet. They could still conceivably finish first in the standings being only three and a half games out of first with six to go, but they're probably going to need a lot of help. Fortunately, all the Patriots need, and everyone else for that matter, is a spot in the playoffs, and the Patriots are only two games out of that spot at the moment.

Refs Tried, But Didn't Get It Right

While all official CFL referees strive to make the correct call every play, the referees got it wrong last week on a two-point conversion attempt by the Ravens with an unusual outcome. An offensive penalty was called against the Ravens for clipping when they converted the extra point, and after some deliberations by the disagreeing officials, they ruled it would be unfair to give the team that committed the penalty the benefit of having another try at the extra point because theoretically the offensive team could just commit an offensive penalty on the extra point every time they were in danger of not converting it in order to retry it just a few farther yards out, thereby giving the offensive team an advantage when they were at fault. Needless to say, after review, the CFL referees got that call wrong. Former NFL referee Jerry Markbreit answers a similar question posed to him on ChicagoSports.com saying: "The defender's choice is to accept the penalty ... or decline, which, of course, would give the offense two points." So despite the fact that it could be advantageous for the offensive team to commit a penalty on an extra point attempt, the Ravens should have been assessed the penalty and been forced to retry the extra point last week. Unfortunately, other teams have been screwed worst by other erroneous calls in the past, though never purposefully. Every single official CFL referee will make the call impartially and to the best of their ability, but they wont always get the call right. Several weeks ago some players adamantly felt the referees purposefully made a call against them, or actually, that they didn't make a pass interference call intentionally because they felt the officials favored the other team. Despite the league's mandate to "administer the league as honest and fair as possible... to the best of the league’s ability" and the CFL's strict, unbiased and rigorous emphasis on officiating, we can't convince any players of the referees' objective and impartial intentions. The inadvertent contact "no-call" that some players were upset about was indeed correct. The NFL rulebook on pass interference states:

"Actions that do not constitute offensive pass interference include but are not limited to:

(a) Incidental contact by a receiver’s hands, arms, or body when both players are competing for the ball or neither player is looking for the ball.

(b) Inadvertent touching of feet when both players are playing the ball or neither player is playing the ball.

(c) Contact that would normally be considered pass interference, but the ball is clearly uncatchable by involved players."

Obviously, while not all rules in the NFL Rulebook will apply or be the same as in the CFL, the majority of them are. With certainty we can say that CFL officials are definitely not as corrupt as other officials in recent months that have been convicted of gambling in the NBA. All our referees unequivocally strive to make the correct call no matter what team they're gambling on, and that you can be certain of.

Fifteen Minute Rule Proposed

A new rule has been proposed by some players to the CFL Committee in order to encourage the timely start of scheduled games. Last week both games began more than 30-minutes after their scheduled start time, and some games have started a lot later than that for no significant reason. Suffice to say that this tardiness is unfair to the team that arrives on time and unacceptable to everyone else who has their day delayed for no good reason, so a 15-minute rule has been proposed that would penalize the team that does not arrive within 15-minutes of the scheduled start time by forfeiting the coin toss. Technicalities and specifics will be discussed this weekend but the rule is as simple as it sounds: If a team cant start playing within those 15-minutes because some players are late, and the other team has enough players to begin the game, then the tardy team would lose the coin toss. So if this rule is indeed approved by the CFL Committee after this week's games, then some players may want to consider not turning the clock back this Sunday so that they get to the game on time next week.

Can't Be Saved?

Can the Eagles season be saved? Not since 2002 when the Titans went 2-5 after winning the CFL Championship (only to win it again that year, and don't ask how) has a team fallen so low as the 2007 Eagles. A third of the way through the season and the Eagles now stand at a dismal 1-3, tied for last place in winning percentage! How does a 13-4 team (including the playoffs) go to a 1-3 team almost overnight? Well for one, the Eagles have had enormous roster issues this season. The Eagles had to let go last season's sack-record holder, Norman, because if his availability to only play in less than half the games this season; the Eagles number two scoring receiver last season, Gonz, has appeared in only one game and has practically abandoned his team for the past several weeks; and Marty left the team last week because of several commitments he has to make at school. Even though Armando and Eman rank number two and four respectively in (non-quarterback) points scored per game, these two players have been incredibly inconsistent and unreliable in the most crucial moments of the game. The Eagles roster problems seem to have been resolved at the moment, but the results have definitely not been stellar. Their patchwork of a team turned the ball over three times, registered one of the lowest receiving percentages of the season and ultimately lost to the Raiders 41-50 their last time out. Considering the way they played that game, perhaps its surprising the Eagles didn't lose by more or at least get blown out. Maybe its even more startling that in both of their losses to the Raiders that the Eagles led by two touchdowns at one point, only to relinquish that lead; and that in their other loss to the Ravens, that the Eagles only lost by two touchdowns considering they committed three turnovers and had the slower Norman, Marty and Roque guarding the Ravens' incredibly quick top-tier receivers. Could the Eagles be on the verge of breaking out of their slump and retaking their 13-4 championship form if they only cut their mistakes and stop breaking down on defense? If past performance is an indicator of future performance, then that answer is probably no. But if the Eagles can get a really solid outing this Sunday against an exceptionally good Ravens squad, then maybe the Eagles still have hope.

Ravens Superb Game Enough To Overcome Raiders' Equally Splendid Performance

It was a battle between the top two teams in the league as the Raiders and Ravens faced off this past Sunday. A good game was expected, and these two squads definitely delivered on that. Very few mistakes, if any, were made in this match by either team. The Raiders went 21-for-23 while the Ravens completed 7 of their 8 in pass attempts! A game this superb has probably never been played in the history of the CFL. And a game this flawless could only be lost by the team who committed the first turnover, but then again, these two team played so well that this game didn't contain a single one. Every single score was answered by the other team with another score. So it was that the Ravens defeated the Raiders 50-41 in dramatic fashion. Edwin gunned the ball about half the distance of the field to an outstretched receiver; Hernan hauled in a spectacular catch over Frank and the rest was history! The Ravens scored an incredible four kickoff returns for touchdowns, with Javy accounting for two of them. On the Raiders side of the ball, Sanchy went 11-for-11 in catch attempts turning out 4-first downs and 3-touchdowns. This Sunday the Raiders get their first crack at Christian and the surprising Patriots, while the Ravens get their second shot at the Eagles as they seek to go up a critical 2-0 on the defending Champs this season. After last week's performance, the Ravens are clearly distinguishing them one of the top teams in the league, if not thee top team, and a victory over the Eagles in Week 7 would only further support that argument.