Yes I agree, three games and six teams is just not enough football for any week.

The good news is that we go back to a quartet of games for each week for the remainder of the season.

Despite “only” having 12 quarters of football, there were still plenty of storylines to go through for this edition of the five things I’ve learned from this past week in the CFL.

Related ContentDONNY VENTRELLI IS EXPANDING HIS ROUTE TREE

This is the second time the Montreal Alouettes guard has made this column!

The last time we saw Donny Ventrelli as a key cog for Anthony Calvillo’s passing game, he was plowing into BC Lions defensive back Garry Peters for a 22-yard gain in Week 15. On Friday night, we saw his growth as a receiver, as Donny turned a simple out pattern into a nine-yard touchdown.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats fourth-year defensive back Reggie Stubblefield was sitting on the out route after Donny released from his tight end position, because why wouldn’t you when you’re defending an offensive lineman? Donny flipped the script by reading the coverage and cutting up into the end zone as Stubblefield stood in disbelief when Davis Alexander found him for the easy score.

On a completely unrelated note, this may be my favourite title since I started doing this.

NATE BEAUCHEMIN GETS THE HEADS-UP AWARD OF THE WEEK

Admittedly, this is an award I made up on Sunday night, but if it existed it would go to the 2024 U SPORTS Most Outstanding Defensive Player as a member of the University of Calgary.

The funny thing about a third-and-short plunge is the play usually goes from a mass of humanity and chaos to everyone calmly waiting for the measurement. That is exactly what happened in the second quarter of the Alouettes/Tiger-Cats game with Montreal leading 10-0 and backup quarterback Jake Dolegala fighting for every inch to keep a Tabbies drive alive.

The play looked over to just about everyone on the field and those of us watching at home. Then out of the corner of the screen, Nate Beauchemin raced with the ball on his way to a long fumble return touchdown. Credit to defensive lineman Geoffrey Cantin-Arku, who was just digging for the ball, forcing the fumble right before the whistle. And credit to Nate’s focus, as Beauchemin kept his eye on the prize while most of the players were starting to relax. Hamilton never had a chance after that.

EDMONTON NEEDS TO SEE LESS OF VINCENT BLANCHARD

This is nothing against the Elks’ third-year kicker, but Edmonton’s 24-19 loss to Toronto can be attributed to two things: the Chad Kelly deep ball was on point and Edmonton left too many points off the board.

The tone was set on Edmonton’s first drive that ended with a 33-yard field goal. Yes, there is nothing egregious about a 33-yarder on a team’s first drive, but move to the second quarter where an impressive 10-play drive stalled near the goal line, concluding with an 18-yard Blanchard chip shot. A touchdown and Edmonton would have evened the score at 17.

The third quarter saw Mark Kilam dial up a cool trick play with Cody Fajardo faking a QB plunge on third-and-short then hitting Austin Mack for a 31-yard gain. However, the payoff for that execution was another short field goal, this time from 16 yards out.

Finally, with the Argonauts leading 24-16, Edmonton was in great position after rookie wide receiver Montrell Washington’s 38-yard punt return. By now you can guess what the final outcome was: another gimmie field goal. In a game decided by five points, those missed touchdowns haunted the road squad.

YOU CAN VIEW INTERCEPTIONS NOT AS QUARTERBACK ERROR BUT AS GREAT PLAY BY THE DEFENDER

Let’s do a roll call of heroic moments for four different defenders.

The Alouettes’ Lwal Uguak had the clever interception as he lined up in his normal defensive end position, faked the rush and dropped into a zone coming away with a semi-leaping grab of a Harrison Frost pass.

Chad Kelly’s second pick was actually a good decision, as he fired a pass to Damonte Coxie, who was in single coverage in the end zone. However, the man assigned to take on the Argos’ deep threat was J.J. Ross, who won a physical battle between the two, and came up with the one-handed grab.

Toronto doesn’t come away with the win if not for the eyes and legs of Tarvarus McFadden, who knew Fajardo was targeting Joshua Cephus and ended the contest with a nifty display of high-flying thievery.

Finally, I loved the interception by Alonzo Addae in the second quarter of the Ottawa REDBLACKS’ tough loss to the Calgary Stampeders. Vernon Adams Jr. went to his best target, Jalen Philpot, but Addae drove on the pass making the diving interception.

OTTAWA HAS NO LUCK

Before I continue, there is much credit to spread around the Stampeders roster. The offensive line kept a clean pocket, the offence had nearly 500 yards and Adams Jr. converted a gutty third-and-10 on their game-winning field goal drive.

But after re-watching, how could you not come away feeling bad for McLeod Bethel-Thompson and company?

Before René Paredes made that ridiculous 62-yard game-winning field goal, he also booted one from 57 yards to give his team a 10-7 lead. Bethel-Thompson had his best game in years with five touchdowns, but that one pick to Zy Alexander was the result of the pass going off the hands of Justin Hardy.

Finally, as great as Alonzo Addae was earlier, he did drop a potential interception on the Stampeders’ final drive.