Hello, Toronto Argonaut fans. How did that feel, rooting for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to win on Saturday? Tell me, was there any hot water left in the tank after you showered?

Never mind. You can go right back to your regularly scheduled Ticat feelings this Saturday.

Here are the Week 17 takeaways.

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THEY ARE JUST A BIT DISCOMBOBULATED AT PRESENT

 

The darlings of the CFL for much of the season, both the Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders, now find themselves looking for some answers after losses in Week 17.

In dropping a second straight with a bye sandwiched in between, the Riders aren’t quite the mean machine they’d been through most of the season, struggling on offence until the late stages in their 27-25 loss to Edmonton, while the defence got torched on deep balls from Elks’ quarterback Cody Fajardo.

With a 38-20 loss in Montreal, the Stampeders have now dropped three in a line, and are in danger of losing their grip on second place in the West. In fact, an extended losing streak could see them fall all the way into a crossover playoff position with a trip East for a Semi-Final, as opposed to a home date at McMahon Stadium.

Or an even worse fate.

“We’ve gotta get better,” said Calgary head coach Dave Dickenson, adding that he thought his team deserved better than an 18-point deficit on the scoreboard.

“I do think our team will continue to fight,” he said.

THEY, ON THE OTHER HAND, SEEM RATHER COMBOBULATED AT PRESENT

 

There are, of course, lots of reasons for the Roughriders and Stampeders to keep the fretting over recent losses to a minimum and one of those reasons would be the BC Lions, a team that just a month ago was ragged and lost, staring a descent to the bottom of the division square in the eyes.

While Friday’s win over Toronto wasn’t quite so supercharged with the offensive fireworks that two previous wins had, it did serve as a sign that the Lions are getting all gears meshing, with the defence stepping on the accelerator in holding Toronto’s offence to just one, late-game touchdown drive while keeping five other scoring drives to field goals.

And that’s against an offence that had torched the Lions a month ago, in a 52-34 romp.

“I think we’re showing right now that we’re playing good football as a team,” said Lions’ quarterback Nathan Rourke, thanking his defence for stepping up on a night where he threw three interceptions.

“When you’re struggling in one area, the other parts can pick you up.”

PROTECT THE PRECIOUS AT ALL COSTS, PART ONE

 

Raise a glass or tip your hat — or do both, really — to Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros, one of the toughest hombres in the CFL.

Time and time again over the course of his career, he’s returned from injury to re-set his team’s tone.

After missing the previous two games with a head injury, Collaros was back at the controls for the Blue Bombers and it was night and day for what had been a struggling offence.

Collaros’ masterful performance in a 40-3 shellacking of the Hamilton Ticats, completing 21 of 26 passes for 390 yards and a sizzlingly good touchdown strike to receiver Dillon Mitchell, very clearly illustrated what is paramount for the Bombers as they attempt to make it to a home Grey Cup game, in November.

They must keep Zach Collaros protected.

PROTECT THE PRECIOUS AT ALL COSTS, PART TWO

 

You could say the same thing for the Montreal Alouettes and their quarterback, Davis Alexander.

With few exceptions, the Alouette offence had been mired in muck while Alexander was out of the lineup for eight games with a hamstring injury.

In his Week 17 return, the 26-year-old absolutely jolted the Als’ offence to life, in a 26-for-36 passing performance, racking up 350 yards and a touchdown strike in a comfortable win over Calgary.

Moving ahead, the Alouettes need to be careful to not push Alexander and that hamstring too hard. A relapse could be devastating to a team that is doing its own fair share of combobulating in recent weeks.

“It’s definitely sore,” said Alexander of his hamstring, post-game. “But it’s a different feeling than what it was two months ago.”

He added that he’d stay in Montreal during the upcoming bye week, continuing his treatment regimen.

NOTHING IS INEVITABLE. I KNOW THAT NOW

 

I know that because of Play number 138 from Friday night’s game between the Toronto Argonauts and the BC Lions.

On third-and-one from the Toronto 41 and with 90 seconds to play, Lions’ quarterback Nathan Rourke took the snap and juked to his left and as he did that, Toronto linebacker Wynton McManis, as sure a tackling machine as there is in the CFL these days, stepped through the hole and into the backfield to wrap Rourke up, giving the Argos an incredible stop and a turnover on downs.

Except that Rourke, who disappeared beneath McManis’ hulking mass, somehow got loose — got loose from Wynton McManis, I say — and shot forward for three yards and a first down.

Somewhere on high, the spirit of Harry Houdini nodded and gave the BC quarterback a slow clap of respect.

“It’s inevitable,” some will say to me about some such thing in the future. And I will reply “Nothing is inevitable because I saw Nathan Rourke break free from Wynton McManis one time.”

AND FINALLY: “Right now, we are not a good enough team to win the Grey Cup.” — Hamilton quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell after his team’s 40-3 loss in Winnipeg.