Grey Cup 103 was a quarterbacking Grey Cup. From the opening Ottawa drives resulting in a 13-0 lead early in the first quarter to the last few downs in the game, Edmonton’s young star Mike Reilly and Ottawa’s amazing oldster Henry Burris were front and centre.
Mike Reilly Rules the Day
And the quarterback who ruled the day, and walked away with the trophy and the Most Valuable Player honour, was Reilly. It was a well-made and well-deserved win, built on solid quarterbacking skill.
Reilly is mainly a pocket passer. Ottawa put pressure on him, especially in the second half of the game, but Reilly was not playing a run-and-gun game. Instead he counted on fast, laser-like passes to thread through the onrushing defensive line and find their marks. The plan was short yardage on the pass, followed by first-down yardage on the run. And it worked time and again.
Keeping the Defence Honest
Of course, those five-yard passes only work that often if the offence also is going to keep the secondary honest. Reilly mixed up his distances, testing the long and medium ranges from time to time. But when you look at the Eskimos’ scoring drives, they are consistently sub-ten-yard passes and short runs.
But despite Reilly’s preference for the pocket, he also kept Ottawa’s defence off-balance by scrambling for good yardage throughout the game. When the Redblacks line committed, Reilly too often found an outlet, leaving him with the highest total rushing yards on the game, tied with Ottawa’s running back William Powell.
He kept the defence honest, and he made the short passes count. Reilly was full value for the MVP award in Grey Cup 103. And while his stats don’t show any terribly significant numbers, his performance in the big game set a high bar for quarterbacks in the CFL as they make their plans for the 2016 season.
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