Welcome to “The CFL: An American Perspective”, a weekly column about my experiences watching the Canadian Football League for the first time ever, from America.
Through two weeks of CFL action, I am starting to get a feel for they league. Players’ names are coming to me, I understand the rules as far as large end zones and runners in motion before the play, it is becoming easier and I am thoroughly enjoying it.
Along with getting a feel for the league, I’m noticing some breakout athletes who are performing under the spotlight. I expected I’d see at least one player who would impress me this week; I didn’t know that I would find two on the same team.
The first is a Canadian Football League veteran that recently switched teams, the other just played his first game with Montreal. The two, Nik Lewis and Rakeem Cato, proved on Saturday that they could lead Montreal to a Grey Cup appearance this year.
Cato completed 20 of 25 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns, while Nik Lewis led the team in receiving with 65 yards and a second effort touchdown. Lewis really impressed me in this play as he evaded a tackler 10 yards out and then still got into the end zone.
The Calgary defence seemed bewildered at how Cato used his legs in running away from pressure. And on the other side of the ball, Montreal defensive line brought pressure to Mitchell last week without seeing Michael Sam get significant time on the fied.
It is clear that Montreal could be a fantastic team in 2015. Looking ahead to this week, Montreal will take on Winnipeg what could be the game of the week. Look for my first set of picks in the LWOS weekly predictions article, coming up soon.
