The CFL has long been about wide-open play and high-scoring offence but last week defences got into the act.
Four defensive touchdowns were scored in the league's four games. That included interception returns by B.C. defensive backs Marcus Sayles and T.J. Lee, in the Lions' 40-32 home win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombes on Saturday night.
Sayles returned his interception 45 yards for the score to put B.C. ahead 17-10 in the second quarter. It came after Winnipeg's Janarion Grant's 94-yard punt-return TD earlier in the quarter that made it 10-10.
Grant has registered the CFL's only two punt-return TDs this season and has also scored one of its seven kickoff-return touchdowns. The punt-return score was Grant's club-record seventh career return touchdown registered in just 33 games with Winnipeg.
This season, there have been 11 kick-return TDs in the CFL, two more than all of last year.
Lee's 102-yard interception return TD increased B.C.'s lead to 40-24 in the fourth.
It's the second time in as many months that a CFL team has returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the same game. Maurice Carnell IV (35 yards) and Chris Edwards (89 yards) had pick-sixes in the Toronto Argonauts' 45-15 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks on Sept. 24.
Edwards has converted both of his interceptions into TDs this year, the only CFL player to have a pair of touchdown returns.
The Lions (11-5) moved into sole possession of second in the West Division, ahead of Calgary (10-6). Winnipeg (14-3) had already cemented top spot in the standings and didn't play a host of its veterans, including starter Zach Collaros, the CFL's outstanding player last season.
Collaros is a serious contender for the 2022 honour, having won 14 of his 16 starts this season. He leads the CFL in touchdown passes (35) and stands second in passing yards (career-best 4,115).
On Tuesday, Collaros signed a three-year contract extension with Winnipeg. He was slated to become a free agent in February, 2023.
Sophomore Dru Brown made his first CFL start for Winnipeg. The former Oklahoma State star completed 28-of-39 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns in addition to the two interceptions.
The start was Brown's first since the '19 Texas Bowl. He was behind a Bombers offensive line that was minus starters Stanley Bryant, Jermarcus Hardrick and Canadian Pat Neufeld while receivers Greg Ellingson and Drew Wolitarsky are both injured.
First-year receiver Dalton Schoen had four catches for 82 yards and league-leading 15th TD grab. Schoen, the overwhelming favourite for the CFL's top rookie award, has a CFL-high 1,357 receiving yards and is averaging a stellar 20 yards per reception.
What's more, 40 of Schoen's 68 catches have been second-down conversions. That keeps drives alive for a Winnipeg offence that's first overall in offensive TDs (55) and second in scoring (28.5 offensive points per game).
B.C. now needs just one more win, or a Calgary loss, to clinch second in the West and host the Stampeders in the division semifinal Nov. 6. The winner will face the Bombers in the conference final Nov. 13 at IG Field.
B.C. visits Edmonton (4-13) on Friday night. Calgary is in Regina to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-10) on Saturday night.
Montreal defensive back Adarius Pickett returned a fumble recovery 16 yards for the TD in the Alouettes' 34-30 road win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday night. Then on Saturday night, Richard Leonard had two interceptions, returning one 64 yards for the score, as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-10) stunned Calgary 35-32 for their first win at McMahon Stadium since '04.
The defensive TDs certainly highlighted an eventful week. The four games averaged 64 points — the most since the second week of the '19 season — and were decided in the final three minutes by eight points or less.
The average margin of victory was just five points. Three of the victories came via fourth-quarter comebacks and a total of 25 TDs were scored.
The contests Friday night — Montreal-Ottawa and Hamilton-Calgary — featured a combined nine lead changes between them.
During the '21 season, there was an average of 3.6 touchdown drives per game. That figure is 4.5 this year, a 25 per cent increase.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2022.
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
