Sept 10th - Farhan Lalji from the CFL on TSN

0:00you're listening to Jason Greggershow presented by play Alberta dot C.A. Remember if you gamble use your game sense stay within your limits go to game sense dot a B dot C.A. Dot C.A. As far and loyalty from the C.F. L on T. S. N. Talk a little C.F. L. and NFL. Far and welcome back to the show. My man. How you doing? Good buddy. Are you what's going on? What's the latest besides this big game coming up? Oh buddy. There is there's lots happening man. That's great time to be a sports fan. There's so much going on. You got baseball playoff hockey's kicking up NFL started C.F. L. you know what they're in the stretch drive now and I think there's like there's probably I would say I think there's five teams like it look and say you know what if they won I wouldn't be shocked now. I'm not sure I would be the favorite for sure, but Saskatchewan, Emmington BC's a wall card to me because when they're good they're really good and then when they're bad they're who are they are. And even when it peg you know what they they handed it to Montreal a few weeks ago so I wouldn't count them out so I think it's pretty competitive time which leads me to of course the quadruple Saturday and three of those games are rematches including the last three are all the rematches auto

1:05auto and no offense to auto but they're not really worth discussing right now because their season's over but Saskatchewan win at peg. Would you make it the first game and what do you think has to happen in round two for the bombers? Yeah look I I think that the way the bombers played for for much of that game they were you know they were worthy right it was almost like Calgary last week I think for three quarters it might have been the better team but then in the fourth man was it Edmonton right. And that happens in this league it's kind of set up for that and I just think that you know when you are win a peg it's always been kind of the catastrophic turnover the terms games around and it did here as well and they got to find a way to also manufacture first down the late in the game when they need it right and they weren't able to do that and they were able to get Saskatchewan one final opportunity and they were able to kick the field goal and then eventually get it done in overtime right. I'm not sure what to make of the riders I really am not like I'm trying to wrap my head around them with win a peg I think they're win a couple of weeks ago against Monterey was very much one off. I took advantage of a couple of turnovers and then didn't give momentum back right like they were just you know it was one of those games or Montreal just needed a match and they and they couldn't and win a peg was able to be comfortable and play with a two score lead all the time.

2:16That never happened usually want to take give us that moment back in games and they did it Saskatchewan so you know we'll see what happens in the rematch here I'm picking the riders but you know generally you don't get a sweep right like one team wins one one team wins the other so we'll see if we'll see if I'm wrong on this one. Emton goes into Calgary and you know it's kind of a sluggish start for them off and their first down efficiency was awful they were second and long way too often 16 times in fact and 11 of them they were 10 yards or more which is not the key to success but then when they got to the red zone they're perfect for four and I think they're 14 for the last 16 trips in the red zone score and touchdowns so they figured out the red zone they do need to have better first down efficiency and it's like they didn't come close to playing their best game but they absolutely dominated Calgary when it matters and you know code if a jar don't know if you love throwing on on McMahon when you don't get to practice there they the crown seems to bug them a little bit but because his police completion percentage at McMahon compared to any other stadium is much lower. I just look at Emton and I look at Calgary Calgary's front four is unreal but after that I just don't think they match up against the Elk's very well.

3:24Yeah you know what you said earlier about how they didn't put about football how many times we said that with Edminton that they've started slow they haven't look good you think okay here's that moment where they kind of you know turn into a pumpkin and it just doesn't happen like they just keep fighting and you know there's a time sometimes you can look at that and say that's bleeding and it's not sustainable. I actually think what Edminton it is and when you look at Mark Killam in the culture he's built in that building along with that herbie obviously like it's amazing what they've done there and how quickly they turned it around in just two years and it's going to put a lot of pressure on any new GM and coach anywhere else people are going to say look at Edminton they did it right like auto was just as bad two years ago and three years ago well Edminton did it right so it's doable and you know you talk to the players around that team and you know we had some conversations today with players as part of our prep because I'm calling the game on Saturday and there's a real belief there you know players will tell me that I've been on teams before including Edminton before where we get down and like we get down on the school board and we get down on the sidelines and you know players do his belief that doesn't happen Edminton so they just they continue to find ways and I think they believe that you know once we get into the playoffs we can't play 15 20 minutes and we can't we're going to have to start better and honestly

4:42there's a lot of games where Edminton's first drive is really good and then it falls apart right and then they then they've got to come back in the second half and and create some magic and they're able to get it done but just to belief in that room is pretty wild right now. Yeah it's interesting how many teams this year farhan have a when they win the coin toss are taking the ball they used to defer way more it's like this is this is the year of offense in the CFL and a lot of teams I find are taking the ball they want to score right away and try to get up on teams. And it's kind of fascinating to me because we usually it would always defer if you want the coin toss and this year there seems to be a bigger trend lately of teams like Edminton started with we we had Austin Macon he said their team did it in Winnipeg and now every time they win the coin toss they want to get the ball right away. Yeah you know and I think often some coordinators are so comfortable with their scripts right and it almost first drives you can stay on script and then later on as game situation dictates your script changes. Right and then you you kind of get into these situations where you know every coordinators got a grid like these are the plays I want on first and long these are the plays I want on second and medium these are like and you go through that and you know you pick the right place or you don't but everybody's really comfortable that early stage so you can play the first drive without any kind of situational hiccup right even Calgary was surprised that they gave the ball to start the second half because there is kind of a trend in football south of the border where teams want to double get right where they're going to get the ball.

6:10Right where they want to be able to get the late points in the first half and then get the early points in the second half right and Calgary was able to get a late score you thought they had momentum but then they couldn't really you know compound that to start the third quarter but it is kind of a you're right like we see that trend routine is worth the ball in the CFL but in the NFL team still want the ball in the second half not because they're conservative not because they want to start on D but because they want to have the ability to double dip and win the middle of the game late second quarter early third quarter. Yeah well Emmington that that was a bad turnover laid in the and the first half because otherwise you know you get down and you're only down 11 seven it's much different than 18 seven but obviously it didn't it didn't come back to to Haunt them very much the NFL kicked off last night and was not a dynamic game by any stretch of the imagination it was there's not a whole lot going on Sam Donald gets hurt early on and you know Drake three interceptions he admitted afterwards he goes you know what I let when I got frustrated he made some bad throws obviously everybody knows the

7:12interception the end zone was that was the killer but I saw a stat that said in the regular season his record against teams with the winning record is Owen 12 and it like last night's loss without Sam Donald for the majority of the game just adds fuel to the fire that the Patriots were benefactors of a great schedule last year even though the in the playoffs had to beat teams are in the playoffs I don't think that's going to go away and tell you start beating some good teams. Well yeah and then you know if you title getting you wind up beating you know a bone nixless Denver team right which is kind of attitude so I think the schedule conversation is fair I also think that you know defensively this team got like question marks in their front seven right especially the past and I actually was a pressure them yesterday gave a kiss who was second round picture them but got off to a late start in training camp had contract issues injury issues so you wasn't supposed to have necessarily been impact guy right away but did some good things dream on Jones who's just kind of been a guy you know since he out of

8:16God and Denver and then they let him walk after signing them to a three year deal and he goes there and made some plays but getting back to your point about Drake may you know overall like I said this to Luke Wilson last night on the show with the L. J. that I actually liked so much of Drake may is game like I like to do the first three quarters the numbers were big but he was efficient he was confident he didn't make those mistakes you on the first touchdown drive you watched him on on third down right and the place he was able to make on third down and even in the fourth quarter on that final drive that he eventually ended with an interception there were two fourths down conversions he made one on a quick pass and the other on a naked where it was just him one on one beat the defensive end of the edge and got a first down right and was calm about it but those three picks were awful and now he has five and two games against the Seahawks first when you're throwing in a double coverage of safety's got the road capped it gets deflected and intercepted the second one he stares down the road Julian love red is male and picked it off and then the third one just inexcusable like if my son did that in a high school game I want to loss my mind right like you get inside the

9:20yard line you know field those there he had and not take risk doing that right so there was a lot of good but you're only going to judge those plays and it's going to feed to the narrative right but you know on the flip side of his Jason what does this tell you about Seattle that they played with their backup quarterback and they played you know pretty mid on offense for three quarters it took 10 penalties for 98 yards they continuously shot themselves in the red zone with penalties like on their final drive where they take the field they had two yards inside the 20 just crazy and they won and they won so how wide is their margin for error yeah right like most teams don't have one they have one well that's why I said the start of the air like man a lot of people I thought were sleeping on Seattle like there's so much talk about the Rams and I understand it because they made a lot of big moves and they got some big names but they were the defending champs and they kind of know how to win and you know what now they had a new offensive court enters there's definitely going to be some changes but I just thought there was a little bit of maybe you know kind of disrespect for for them because no one

10:23was really discussing them like they're pretty damn good last year and obviously you know wasn't it wasn't a stellar game but they still won. No you're right and like I said they have that ability you look at Edminton and how they find different ways to win football games and you know and in the NFL I see that with the back of quarterback you bring Drew Lock in you just wanted to be a game manager so he doesn't turn the ball over and eventually your defense puts you in position to get enough points right and so they've got that right like their special teams weren't stellar right received she he who was such a big impact guy when they acquired him last year from the Saints and going into the playoffs they didn't get that much out of them necessarily but they still did just enough in the other phases to win games and that's what like when you can win like that when you can have so many things go wrong and you find a way to win a football game that's a great team and you talk about the comparison to the Rams the Rams have great players we don't know if they're a great team yet we don't know if it's going to mix despite often in a number of sports super teams don't work now this may work and we're not really going to know

11:27of this works until much later in the season because these two teams don't play until Christmas day so they play week 16 and week 18 of the regular season so by the time they actually face each other so much will have happened between now and then the Rams know they're older they're in a different kind of a window Aaron Donald is not going to Australia to play in the games tonight right and all of that is is orchestrated because you know they know they're getting older and they've got they've got less margin for error because because of their age and the state of the roster that way so it looks good super team looks good but are you are you great players you're a great team we know Seattle's a great team definitely any other matchups in the NFL that you're intrigued to watch this week. Well I'm totally intrigued to watch San Francisco and the Rams and I say that because I like I think the Rams or they're sorry the the 49ers I've said this before I think the NFC West everyone believes it's it's the big two or the big three I think it's the big two I don't think San Francisco is going to be a factored

12:28all this because of the injuries that they're dealing with they are going to get Bosa and Kittle back for this week so we'll see right like I I don't have any belief that these guys can stay healthy just because of their history as players all of them Christian McCaffrey made it through last year healthy that's a rarity for him so we'll see how healthy these guys can stay I think there's holes you know Bosa's unbelievable the rest of that defensive line is really really average they've got some injury and then I'm looking forward to that and then I'm looking forward to Denver and Kansas City so I'm going I'm doing the Edmonton game Saturday and then I'm going to the Monday night game and to cover that and you know I want to see what my home is looks like like it's been clear since day one of training camp. That he was going to start in week one right you got fully cleared to do 11 on 11 and you know we we talked about you look at it seem like the Patriots and you know they're not going to win 14 games again they're going to take a step back what does Denver do right like

13:29did that everybody back it's kind of Seattle level continuity can both of you know what I think it's going to be like that's what they never do right like they've got everybody back it's kind of Seattle level continuity can both nicks take the next step which Drake made and look like he could take yesterday so I want to see those two teams go ahead and just what we're going to see from my homes because I think they had a lot of questions on the receiving side yeah right because you know we're she writes when I was there training camp he didn't look like that guy so you know let's see what Xavier worthy can do that you let's see what you think I think the homes is poised to do great things in his recovery and become back player of the year but I have some questions with the pieces around them yeah for sure far hen always good to catch up to you quickly I know it's right around the corner does Elias Patterson play all year in Vancouver. Oh it's a great question yeah I just think nobody's interested I mean people are interested but not in what the

14:32connox are wanting for him I know the kings are interested but you know like the connox aren't going to get a haul for Lee's Patterson so if they get frustrated in the first half of the season they've got it inside you know they're trying to you know make it nice around them right and make sure it's all warm and fuzzy because everybody else was part on him in previous season and I think the game is still possible for him I don't think it'll happen in Vancouver but if they can get him close to that does that make him marketable or do you think okay we got to keep this guy now so you know the game is going to be moving around there where he's like nine and a half million a year it just doesn't make Patterson's contract look bad right just in terms of what the new marketplace looks like so if all of the sudden you get him to get Patterson to a point where it's like okay 35 points and 80 get air in 40 games maybe we want to

15:37work with them we want to keep them or do you want to move on from them I think if they're wise they try to awesome. Farhand great to catch up, everybody. We will talk to you again soon. Have an awesome day. I'll see you.