Calgary, Alberta - Calgary Stampeder Brandon Browner celebrates his teams win in CFL action between the Calgary Stampeders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, winning 42-5 at McMahon Stadium on Sunday, October 13, 2008. This puts the Stamps in first place in the CFL Western's Division. Photo by Chris Bolin for The Globe and MailChris Bolin/The Globe and Mail
Forget the trick formations, fancy schemes and all that elaborate game planning. When the Saskatchewan Roughriders line up with the football Sunday, it'll be this simple: Calgary defensive back Brandon Browner will take on 'Riders' receiver Andy Fantuz; Stampeders' defensive back Dwight Anderson will challenge Saskatchewan's Weston Dressler. No zone coverage, mixed coverage or switch-offs. Wherever Fantuz runs, Browner runs. Wherever Dressler goes, Anderson goes. It'll be like tag-team wrestling without the tables, ladders and chairs. Four guys locked in a battle, wrapped in a skirmish inside a confrontation - Calgary's two CFL all-stars against the league's top-yardage receiver and a guy who scored on a 75-yard touchdown in last week's West Division semi-final.
This is the subplot to Sunday's West Division Final that may very well decide which team is headed to the 98th Grey Cup. As B.C. Lions' coach Wally Buono assessed, it's a critical matchup because it's best on best with game-breaking capabilities on either side.
"Dressler will beat you with his speed. Fantuz will lull you to sleep but has good quickness," said Buono, whose Lions were victimized by Dressler's long-ball score in the semi-final. "Fantuz will utilize his height and go up for passes. That's why putting Browner on him is so good."
Browner v. Fantuz is the main event, a heavyweight showdown. It pits a 6-foot-3, 210-pound defender against a 6-foot-4, 220-pound pass catcher with a little history between them tossed in for good measure.
Fantuz double-handedly demolished the Stampeders on Sept. 17 when he caught 10 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown. The Riders won in overtime while Calgary's stunned tacklers contemplated what went wrong.
"That day was his day. He made big plays," defensive halfback Milt Collins said of Fantuz.
"We were always in man to man and we got caught in blitzes with no help over the top [from the safety]" Browner added. "Fantuz came over the top and made catches. That was the story in that game."
In the rematch a month later, the Stampeders put Browner on Fantuz and said, "He's your man." Fantuz finished without a catch and his team lost. Stampeders' defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones said they'd been matching Browner one-on-one against the other side's top receiver weeks before, but no one really noticed until he flummoxed Fantuz.
"What happened was we put the free safety over the top of Fantuz [with Browner covering underneath]and they had a tough time getting the ball to him," Jones said. "That's when people started talking about it."
With Browner taking on the Riders big man, it was only natural Anderson would be assigned to Dressler. Again, both are suited physically (Anderson is 5 foot 11, 188 pounds; Dressler is 5 foot 7, 180 pounds). Both are as quick as getaway cars. And tough? Dressler broke four tackles on one play in the B.C. semi-final while Anderson, voted the league's top trash talker, can gnaw your ear off from 30 yards. Just ask him.
"I don't think there are two better cornerbacks out there than Brandon and I," he said confidently.
On the flip side, there aren't many receiving units better than Saskatchewan's. Individually, they all bring different skills but each one (including Chris Getzlaf, Jason Clermont, Ryan Grice-Mullen and Cary Koch) can make big plays. Buono noted something else about them.
"Their receivers hit the line of scrimmage better than anybody's in the league. Hitting the line like that, they can manufacture speed and they work at it," Buono said. "It's all orchestrated by the quarterback [Darian Durant] He doesn't change his snap count. He's got to be in a rhythm or they'll be offside."
The Lions tried to break the Riders' rhythm and couldn't keep with it. The Stampeders will work at crowding Fantuz and frustrating Dressler in order to take away Durant's primary targets. If Calgary does that, winning still won't be easy; but it will be simpler, guaranteed.