CFL Week 6 Preview

Article by Duncan Gray

 

We're a quarter of the way through the 2015 regular season and one of the big stories has been just how even the teams are. In fact the CFL have come up with a statistic which says that 70% of the games so far have been decided in the last 3 minutes. It's no wonder that the Nissan Titan Power Rankings are being argued over.

 

1	Toronto Argonauts	Last week 2
2	Calgary Stampeders	1
3	Montreal Alouettes	3
4	Edmonton Eskimos	7
5	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	5
6	BC Lions	6
7	Ottawa REDBLACKS	8
8	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	4
9	Saskatchewan Roughriders	9

 

It's too early in the season to write off the 0 and 5 Roughriders. In 2011 the BC Lions also started 0 and 5. They recovered and went on to win the Grey Cup that year!

 

All four games are being shown live on BT Sport ESPN this week so set your recorder and enjoy.

 

Game of the Week

Back in week 2 the game between Montreal Alouettes and Calgary Stampeders gave us the first big surprise of the season. Montreal, having lost their two best quarterbacks the previous week, dominated the champions and won by 29-11. That was the game which saw Rakeem Cato make his debut at quarterback and become the rookie sensation of the season. This Saturday night they meet again in Calgary. At second and third in the Power Rankings we expect both teams to  put on a show.
The Stampeders (3&2) suffered setbacks last week, losing the game to Ottawa in overtime and also losing their star running back Jon Cornish with a broken thumb. He's been placed on the 6 game injured list. It's been a season where players have been coming up from practice rosters to make a name for themselves Tory Harrison will get his opportunity as replacement.

For the Alouettes, starting QB Jonathon Crompton is still a few weeks from fitness so Cato will continue to work with his excellent group of receivers, S J Green, Fred Stamps and Nik Lewis. Can they improve on their 2&2 record and keep pace with Toronto?

 

This week's TV Schedule   BC Lions at Winnipeg Blue Bombers  – LIVE Friday morning July 31, 01:30 hrs – BT Sport ESPN repeat Friday afternoon 17:00 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Saskatchewan Roughriders at Edmonton Eskimos – LIVE Saturday morning August 1, 02:00 hrs - BT Sport ESPN repeat Saturday morning 10:30 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Montreal Alouettes at Calgary Stampeders – LIVE Sunday morning August 2, 00:00 hrs - BT Sport ESPN repeat Wednesday morning August 5, 06:00 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Toronto Argonauts at Hamilton Tiger-Cats– LIVE Tuesday morning August 4, 00:00 hrs - BT Sport ESPN repeat Thursday morning August 6, 06:00 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN

 

 

The other games

 

The week starts with two West Division teams coming off bad results. BC Lions (2&2) let a 21 point lead slip last week while Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2&3) only managed to score 3 points against the might of the Eskimos defence. The Bombers will be relieved that Drew Willy is going to be fit to start at quarterback after his knee injury as back up Brian Brohm has yet to impress.  For BC, linebacker Adam Bighill, who recorded 13 tackles last week, is a player to watch.

 

Edmonton Eskimos (3&1) are the only team to have recorded three wins in a row so far and on Saturday they host the Saskatchewan Roughriders who've lost five straight. The result sounds like a foregone conclusion and, with the news that the Saskatchewan QB Kevin Glenn hasn't recovered from last weeks shoulder injury, the 'Riders are in deep trouble. The Eskimo's defence has conceded just one touchdown in the last three games. Mind you, I mentioned earlier what Rakeem Cato did to the Stampeders on his debut, maybe Glenn's back up Brett Smith can do the same. The Esk's struggled on offence last week until James Franklin took over at quarterback. Facing the 'Riders defence Matt Nichols is expected to get the start but he knows now he's under pressure.

 

Monday night sees regular season football finally reach Hamilton. After a long month on the road Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2&2) host their near neighbours in their first home game of the season. It's been a shaky start to the season for them but they were improved by the return of running back C J Gable last week. The Toronto Argonauts have been on the road since the start of the season too, in fact they don't get to play their first game in Toronto until next week. After their 21 point comeback to win last week their 3&1 record has earned them top place in the rankings. In the three games between these teams last season the widest margin of victory was two points, this should be a good one.

 

Ottawa Redblacks have the bye this week. Congratulations to them on last week's achievement of having their players take all three Shaw Player of the Week places.