Now THAT is how you start a season! Week 1 saw an emotionally repressed Darian Durant going nuts after a last-second win over his former team, Ricky Ray throwing for over 500 yards and looking like peak-Ray in the process, the Eskimos and Lions putting up 26 points in the fourth quarter and a worthy Grey Cup rematch. Oh, and three out of the four games were decided by three points or fewer. Week 2, you have some big shoes to fill.

So with the next matchup between the REDBLACKS and Stampeders kicking off this week, I would say there is a damn good chance we will get to see a week of football that can match Week 1. Normally by the third installment of any trilogy the energy and the spirit of the franchise has petered out and we are left watching a two hour cash grab. Well, considering how mind-blowing the 2016 Grey Cup was and how entertaining the 31-31 tie between Calgary and Ottawa turned out to be last week, I have to believe their next meeting on Thursday will be less like ‘Matrix Revolutions’ and more like ‘Toy Story 3’ (By the way, ‘Godfather III’ is NOT that bad. You get rid of every scene involving Sofia Coppola and it’s a good movie).

So why will this week’s game be even better? Let me count the ways:

1. Ottawa is gonna be angry.

Now I know, it’s dangerous to start playing the ‘what if’ game but Calgary was lucky to escape with a tie. If not for that ridiculous double whammy forced fumble/recovered fumble by Jamar Wall on Brendan Gillanders, I don’t see Calgary coming back. Ottawa was up by 14 with eight minutes left at that point and on their previous possession they had strung together a nine play, 100 yard drive. The offensive line was doing a solid job controlling the play. Ottawa was in control until that fumble.

Any way you look at it, the REDBLACKS let this one slip through their fingers. Let’s see how they respond playing in a stadium where they have yet to register a win. Oh, by the way, to all Calgary fans: If you want to shut me down, just casually mention that Ottawa got a heaping dose of luck when Rene Parades shanked a very makeable 37-yard field goal that would have given Calgary the win in OT.

2. Statistically, Bo Levi Mitchell will look even better!

You know you are one of the best in the league when you can put up 376 yards with two touchdowns and zero turnovers and the takeaway is Mitchell could produce even greater numbers the following week. We saw a number of drops by the Calgary receivers including a big one by Marquay McDaniel in the second quarter. Later in the quarter, DaVaris Daniels would run himself out of bounds after bringing in a Mitchell pass.

Someone as talented as Daniels normally stays in bounds and the play would have been a 65-yard touchdown pass. The best thing about Mitchell is he just never looks rattled. In the fourth quarter he was 7-for-10 with 104 yards and a touchdown, helping to rally the Stampeders from a two-touchdown deficit. Let’s see what he does this week!

3. Trevor Harris is going to open it up.

Yes, dinking and dunking is effective, especially when you hit all those talented targets in stride, but damn can it lead to “six-yard completion fatigue,” of which there is no cure. The glaring statistic against Ottawa’s passing attack was that out of 45 pass attempts, Harris completed only two passes on which the ball travelled more than 15 yards in the air (thanks to Santino Filoso from 3 Down Nation for that one).

It is asking too much of the receivers and offensive line to beat a defence as good as Calgary’s without taking some shots deep. Watching a successful second-and-13 conversion on a screen to Patrick Lavoie in the third quarter, I came away thinking that was a well-executed play AND there is no way that is a sustainable way to beat Calgary. Hell, even at the half Harris said to Matthew Scianitti that the team would need to throw the ball down field in the second half … but did not.

On the flip side, there was much to love about Ottawa’s offence. The line did its job creating lanes for the running backs and Harris was not sacked once on his 45 pass attempts. Also, for as much hand wringing as we’re doing about the conservative play calling, Harris and the entire offence looked great on that nine-play, 100-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter giving Ottawa a 28-14 lead. Listen, whenever you put up 31 points against Calgary you’re doing something right … but would it kill Rick Campbell to dial up some deep passes?

4. Ottawa proved that last year’s Grey Cup win was no fluke.

One of the aspects I loved about this past week’s game was it showed that we saw from Ottawa’s 39-33 win wasn’t an aberration. Yes, last year Calgary clearly was the better team (15-2-1 vs. 8-9-1) but over the past eight quarters and two OT quarters Ottawa has proven it can keep up with the league’s best.

5. The Calgary revenge factor!

You think Ottawa is the only team angry right now? Ha! The Stampeders were a chip shot OT field goal away from being 1-0 right now and just imagine how nuts the fans in McMahon Stadium are going to be on Thursday night on the eve of the long weekend? If Calgary wants to exorcise some of its demons (IF any still exist in the players) from what happened in last year’s championship game, this is not a bad place to do it.

I can’t think of a better way to kick off the 150th Canada Day celebrations than the defending champs from our nation’s capital against the CFL’s best team over the past decade.