Hello, Andrew Chatfield Jr.
We see you.
So do opposing quarterbacks. A lot.
WESTJET CANADA DAY WEEKEND
» 3 stats that defined Saskatchewan’s Week 4 win over BC
» 3 stats that defined Winnipeg’s WestJet Canada Day Weekend win over Edmonton
» Tiger-Cats defence shuts down Alouettes to earn first win of season
» Argos defeat REDBLACKS for first win of 2025
» Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally
They might not recognize your face, though, because mostly they see your backside as they lay on the turf and you’re trotting back towards your teammates.
Here are the WestJet Canada Day Weekend takeaways.
FOOTBALL IS A GAME OF INCHES. 8,100 INCHES
Sometimes, in football, it’s the tiny twist of fate that gives you victory when you might otherwise have suffered defeat. Or vice versa. It’s excruciating.
Then there are times like Sunday night, when the Toronto Argonauts emerged as winners over the Ottawa REDBLACKS due, most notably, to two gargantuan touchdown runs by rookie free safety Derek Slywka, who trucked a fumble recovery 105 yards (3,780 inches) for a major, and a blocked field goal attempt 120 yards (4,320 inches) for another.
“I’m still processing it, it’s a lot,” a happily dazed Slywka told TSN in a post-game interview that was remarkable considering that he was not doubled over with his hands on his knees, gulping for air when he said it.
THEY REALLY HAD THEIR CHAINSAWS HUMMING
Back in Week 2, I wrote about what a nightmare the giant redwoods of the Montreal defensive line were for opposing quarterbacks.
Sacks, hurries, and knockdowns were all a hallmark of the Alouettes defensive line over the first three weeks of the season.
In Week 4, the Hamilton Ticats’ offensive line proved its mettle in doing a stellar job of giving quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell a clean workspace for most all of the night in Hamilton’s 35-17 win over the Als.
Mitchell was able to operate with a clean pocket and given clean throwing lanes too, with zero batted balls and just one sack given up, and that sack was tallied by blitzing Montreal safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy.
We learned that it is not inevitable. Birnam Wood does not always come to Dunsinane.
STILL GOT SOME SWASH IN HIS BUCKLE
Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros hasn’t really been a terrifying, continuing run threat for a few years now but in Thursday night’s win over Edmonton, the 36-year-old showed he can still dipsy and doodle and accelerate and turn a sack into something a whole lot different.
Collaros’ 13-yard touchdown run was reminiscent of his younger days in the CFL, when he would regularly flash his escape abilities and bedevil defences with his legs as well as his arm.
“It’s been a long time,” said a smiling Collaros after the game. “By the time I got to the second level I was like ‘I think I can score here.’”
Score he did, on an impressive scamper.
It’s not likely to become a regular feature of the veteran’s modus operandi moving ahead. But it does mean opposing defences will have to think at least a little about something they may have started to take for granted as lacking in Collaros’ back of tricks.
I KNEW I’D SEEN THAT KIND OF THING SOMEWHERE BEFORE
Did Nic Demski just admit he’s aware of and living life in the matrix?
The 31-year-old receiver from Winnipeg made one of the year’s more spectacular plays in the Bombers’ 36-23 win over Edmonton, making a a contested catch on a Collaros bomb and then speeding 20 yards to the end zone on a 60-yard touchdown play.
“It’s like the ball freezes up there,” said Demski of what he saw as he contorted his body to get his hands in the right place as he sped down the field.
“I just made the adjustment, made the play, stayed up and went and got my money.”
Watching as he stood on the roof of Princess Auto Stadium, his full length leather jacket gently flapping in the breeze, Morpheus grinned and nodded, almost imperceptibly.
Then went and got a celebratory drink at the Rum Hut.
THE WAIT IS OVER
Sure, the Saskatchewan Roughriders had gotten off to a way cool 3-and-oh start.
But something had been lacking, at least as far as Corey Mace was concerned.
His defence had shown flashes of brilliance, but the difficulties in pulling down interceptions and scooping up fumbles apparently gnawed at the head coach.
In a 37-18 win over the BC Lions, the Riders defence chipped in with a fumble recovery and three picks, one of them an 89-yard house call by Tevaughn Campbell that sent the Roughriders to the locker room with a halftime surplus as opposed to what was looking like a deficit.
“We’ve been kinda waitin’ for a game like this,” said an obviously happy Mace.
“Just to kinda feel like ourselves.”
The Roughriders had been winning despite a plague of injuries, especially on offence.
Now the team gets to head into a bye, anticipating the return of a few stars and with the defence having shown it has activated ‘turnover-hunting’ mode.
AND FINALLY… It’s good if you learn from your mistakes. But, according to Lions’ head coach Buck Pierce, “It’s too often we’re learning from those right now.”