CFL Week 10 Preview

Article by Duncan Gray

 

Week 10 will see half of the regular season completed and everything's still to play for in the CFL. Even the 0 & 8 Roughriders still have a chance to catch the Winnipeg and BC teams ahead of them and maybe sneak into the play-offs.
Once again the Thursday, Friday and Saturday night games are live on BT Sport, for a bit of variety BT Sport 2 has the Thursday night game.

 

In the news this week:

The surprise of last weekend was the sacking of Montreal Alouettes head coach Tom Higgins by owner Bob Wettenhall, Apparently he's dissatisfied that the Als aren't currently an elite team. General Manager Jim Popp, who's been with the team since they played in Baltimore back in the 1990s, is taking over as interim head coach. This is the fourth time that Popp has become interim HC, three of those were after sackings.
One of the changes being made in Montreal is that Anthony Calvillo, the CFL's all-time leading passer, is moving from receivers to quarterbacks coach and will work on developing Rakeem Cato.

 

This week's at Tim Hortons Field Hamilton the Tiger-Cats will retire the number 68 jersey in honour of Angelo Mosca. Mosca played defensive tackle for Hamilton for 12 of 15 seasons between 1958 and 1972 and was regarded as the face of the franchise. A hard man who became a professional wrestler after he retired, he's best remembered for an infamous out of bounds hit during the 1963 Grey Cup game and then getting into a fight about it at a charity lunch 48 years later (look it up on YouTube).

 

A push is on to move Grey Cup tickets in Winnipeg with a danger the game might not sell out, despite the seating capacity being reduced to 36,634. There have been the usual moans about ticket prices but doesn't help that the host team and their nearest neighbours, the Roughriders who're still a seven hour drive away, look to be struggling to make the play-offs never mind the final. Then there's the question of the weather. In late November on the Prairies the temperature can drop a long way below zero....

 

For the first time this season the Nissan Titan Power Rankings are unchanged from week to week.

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

 

This week's TV Schedule   Montreal Alouettes at Hamilton Tiger-Cats - LIVE Friday morning August 28, 00:30 hrs – BT Sport 2 repeat: Friday Evening 21:45 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Toronto Argonauts at Edmonton Eskimos – LIVE Saturday morning August 29, 02:00 hrs – BT Sport ESPN repeat: Monday morning 06:00 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Calgary Stampeders at Winnipeg Blue Bombers – LIVE Saturday Night August 29, 23:00 hrs - BT Sport ESPN repeat: Monday morning 09:30 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Saskatchewan Roughriders at Ottawa Redblacks – recorded Noon on Monday August 26, 12:00 hrs – BT Sport ESPN

 

Game of the Week

The Saskatchewan Roughriders (0 & 8) have dropped to this sorry record despite having generated more offence than any other team in the league. They have the most offensive yardage and they lie 4^th in point scoring. Stand in quarterback Brett Smith is developing well and, if only the defence can lend enough support, they're overdue for a win. This week they're visiting the 4 & 4 Ottawa Redblacks, the team who've scored the fewest points so far and have lost their last two games. Last week they improved on their dismal performance at Calgary, led by Henry Burris who passed for 426 yards but, and here's a problem, no touchdowns. Penalties have been another problem and they've released DB Brandon McDonald who led the league in getting flagged.
This is chance for the 'Riders to break their duck but a sell out Ottawa crowd will be there to make it difficult for them.

 

The other games

They might not be clear leaders but the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6 & 2) are becoming clear favourites for this year's championship. Their quarterback Zach Collaros has hit top form in the last couple of games and it doesn't seem to matter who's injured, two or three running backs and receivers will step up to torment the opposition. Montreal Alouettes (3 & 5), fresh from a win at BC and their coach sacking, will provide the opposition at Tim Horton's field on Thursday night. The Alouettes may have won when these two met back in Week 4 but the chances of them being the first visiting team to win at Tim Hortons Field are pretty remote.

 

There's a lot at stake in Friday night's game at Commonwealth Stadium. After last week's defeat Edmonton Eskimos (5 & 3) need to get back to winning ways before their “home and home” games against Calgary, their rivals for the West Division. Toronto Argonauts (6 & 2) need to win this to keep pace with Hamilton, their rivals for the division and before their “home and home” series. The news out of Edmonton is that James Franklin is fit and will make his first start at quarterback in place of Matt Nichols. Linebacker Brandon Isaac will miss this one for Toronto.

The defending champions, the Calgary Stampeders, are hitting their stride now. Three straight wins have lifted them to the top of the West Division and they'll expect to come away from the  Winnipeg Blue Bombers with another two points, just as they did from Saskatchewan last week. The Bombers have had the week off to rebuild from their injury problems. Robert Marve has established himself ahead of Brian Brohm in the depth chartwill start again at quarterback.

 

BC Lions are on their bye week.

CFL Week 9 Review

Article by Duncan Gray

This week saw one team produce show their overpowering strength, the other three  of the four games weren't decided until the fourth quarter and there was the first coach sacking of the season. The CFL's certainly not boring.

 

Montreal Alouettes 23 - 13 BC Lions
The Alouettes broke a winless streak at BC Place going back to the year 2000 on Thursday night. More importantly, they also broke the current three game losing streak they had going.
The game opened with Montreal giving BC a seven point start as Rakeem Cato threw an easy interception to Ryan Phillips on only their third play. From then on it was the Al's running game which dominated. Tyrell Sutton led the way with 154 combined yards, Stefan Logan enjoyed playing against his old team and contributed a 54 rushing yard day and Brandon Rutley ran for 50 too. On the BC side Andrew Harris was restricted to only 10 yards. Montreal put the game away in the fourth quarter, the decisive score coming when Tanner Marsh, who had been coming in and out at quarterback, ran in from a short distance.

Despite the win the Alouettes owners sacked their head coach Tom Higgins after the game. General Manager Jim Popp will be the interim HC, a role he's filled before.

 

 

 

Hamilton Tiger-Cats 48- 20 Edmonton Eskimos

The Tiger-Cats proved that they could take their incredible home form on the road on Friday as they went into Edmonton and scored seven touchdowns against what was supposed to be the toughest defence in the country. Ti-Cats defence forced five turnovers which  the offence turned into three touchdowns. There was also a defensive touchdown as linebacker Eric Norwood ran back a fumble for no less then 106 yards. That's the Hamilton Defence's eighth touchdown in eight games, the record for a season is only eleven! On the offensive side Zach Collaros passed for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns, and he also rushed for one. Terrell Sinkfield Jr was the leading receiver with two touchdowns while both he and Luke Tasker had over 100 yds receiving.
Edmonton tried to spark a change by replacing Mike Nichols at quarterback again with James Franklin, this time before the second quarter was over. Franklin led them to a couple of second half scores but they were never in the game. Troubling times for the Eskimos, this was the first of a run of five games against the top four teams and James Franklin is now reported to be shaken up.

 

Calgary Stampeders 32 - 29 Saskatchewan Roughriders

Once again Saskatchewan were competitive in front of a sold-out home crowd but once again they fell short in the fourth quarter and that's now eight consecutive defeats.
Calgary looked to have taken control after a bizarre sequence of plays which ended the first half. With 15 seconds left the Roughriders attempted a 65 yd field goal. Not surprisingly it fell short. Tim Brown ran it back but he was stopped by a vicious clothesline tackle by the Rider's Randy Richards who was promptly disqualified from the game. Then, with two seconds left, Bo Levi Mitchell threw a Hail Mary pass which Eric Rogers caught in the end zone to give the Stampeders a nine point lead.
Saskatchewan didn't give up though and they'd pulled the score back to 22 all by the end of the third quarter after Weston Dressler caught Brett Smith's second touchdown pass. The Stampeders built a lead again through a TD reception by Tory Harrison and a field goal by Rene Paredes. The Riders pulled a last touchdown back after Carl Fitzgerald blocked a punt but they couldn't force one final score to rescue the game.
Calgary now have the outright lead of the West Division with a 6 & 2 record.

 

 

Ottawa Redblacks 24 - 30 Toronto Argonauts
The Argonauts got the result they needed to keep pace with Hamilton at the top of the East Division. While the Tiger-Cats are winning with ease, Toronto haven't won a game by more than a single score since Week 1 and once again they had to dig deep in the fourth quarter to get this one. The Redblacks actually took the lead of this game with two touchdowns in a minute at the start of the fourth quarter. Jeremiah Johnson ran one in from 2 yards, his second of the night, and then Jerrell Gavins took an interception to the house from 29 yards. As usual it was up toTrevor Harris to lead the Argos back, a 15 yard pass to Vidal Hazelton tied the scores and then, as Ottawa couldn't respond, two field goals by Swayze Waters sealed the victory. Waters was playing his first game since a Week 1 injury. The sight of him pursuing one of his punts down the field and making a hard tackle was one of the highlights of the game.
The Redblacks were vastly better than the team which was humiliated in Calgary last week. Henry Burris completed 32 of 36 passes for 426 yards and both Ernest Jackson and Greg Ellingson had over 100 yards receiving. However their discipline was lacking again and they didn't manage to score through the air so lost out as a result.

 

CFL Week 9 Preview

Article by Duncan Gray - submitted on 20/8

 

Three out of four games this weekend are live on TV. Note that the Saturday night game is in BT Sport 1, not ESPN. The games are previewed further down the page.

 

This week's TV Schedule   Montreal Alouettes at BC Lions - LIVE Friday morning August 21, 03:00 hrs – BT Sport ESPN repeat: Friday Afternoon 15:30 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Edmonton Eskimos – LIVE Saturday morning August 22, 0020 hrs – BT Sport ESPN repeat: Sunday morning 06:00 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Calgary Stampeders at Saskatchewan Roughriders  – LIVE Sunday morning August 23, 00:00 hrs - BT Sport 1 repeat: Sunday afternoon 13:30 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Ottawa Redblacks at Toronto Argonauts – recorded Wednesday morning August 26, 10:00 hrs – BT Sport ESPN

 

In the news this week:

Plans for a new sports complex in Calgary were unveiled, including a stadium for the Stampeders which would feature a translucent dome.

 

 

Other goings on  in Calgary surrounded back-up linebacker Jasper Simmons who's been unhappy with his role since arriving in a trade from Ottawa. His agent Sammy Gahagan criticised the team on Twitter and in at least one podcast. This developed into several arguments among players on Twitter. You wouldn't expect a team to release a player from their contract on the strength of this, it certainly didn't work for Adrian Peterson at Minnesota, but it's a measure of how badly the locker room took to Simmons that the Stampeders let him go. Winnipeg Blue Bombers jumped in to sign him.

 

It looks like the Michael Sam story in Montreal is over. After he played a limited and ineffective role in their game two weeks ago he didn't even appear on the sideline last week and later announced that he's retiring from football and that he has mental health problems to address. There have been many conflicting reports as to how well he was received among his team mates, some say he had a lot of support, others that the locker room was divided. Homophobia wasn't the the only problem suggested, there was resentment at the preferential treatment he received from management. Sam reportedly received a $100,000 signing bonus, more than many players yearly pay, despite being completely unproven. Meantime we haven't heard an explanation for star defensive end John Bowman being left out of the team for a second week.

Game of the Week

Expect a tight battle this week as the two best defences in the league go head to head on Friday. Edmonton Eskimos and Hamilton Tiger-Cats  both have 5 & 2 records and a share of the lead in their divisions.
The Eskimos defence hasn't conceded a touchdown at home since the middle of last season, has been conceding less than 300 total yards per game and recorded 8 sacks last week. Their weakness is in offence. It's good news that their franchise quarterback Mike Reilly, who's recovering from a Week 1 knee injury, has started practicing. He won't make it back for a few weeks yet though and in his absence Matt Nichols has been less than brilliant. Look for him to be sharing time with James Franklin and Jordan Lynch. The league's leading receiver Adarius Bowman and rookie running back Shervin Bell are both expected to play.

In their last three home games the Tiger-Cats have been completely dominant. They've been scoring on all three phases of the game, offence, defence and special teams. The defence in particular have scored no less than seven touchdowns this season, six of them from interceptions. That's got to be a big concern for Edmonton as Nichols has the worst record in the league, he's thrown eleven picks so far. If Hamilton can keep up the standard they've shown in their three home games then they're going to be very hard to stop.

 

 

The other games

The Thursday night game this week is in Vancouver. Montreal Alouettes (2&5) are the team that faces the long journey across three time zones to play the BC Lions (3 & 4). With both teams struggling for consistency home advantage could be the key. However it's BC Place on a Thursday night. It isn't an easy stadium to get to at the best of times and a lot of fans can't get their ferries home to the islands after the game, so there probably won't be a big crowd. The Lions were beaten soundly by Hamilton last week and had a big injury loss as linebacker Solomon Elimimian, the league's Most Outstanding Player for 2014, suffered a torn Achilles tendon and is done for the season. The Alouettes have lost all three away from home and they've only won once in BC since the turn of the century. Their defence is strong but it's suggested that offensive coordinator Turk Schonert's job is under threat if his unit don't improve.  Rakeem Cato and Co need to step up.

 

Saskatchewan Roughriders (0 & 7) had the bye last weekend and had plenty to work on. Point one would be discipline, they've been the most penalised team in the league. Any penalty committed during training last week resulted in all the players, whether they were on the field or not, doing push ups. The week should also have been useful for rookie quarterback Brett Smith's preparation. Calgary Stampeders (5 & 2) are coming to Regina full of confidence after their five touchdown win over Ottawa. Bo Levi Mitchell was back at his best, throwing for two of the scores and rushing for two more. The  Stampeders are clear favourites to win this one but the 'Riders have still made more yards on offence than any other team, they WILL win a game soon.

Toronto Argonauts' (5 & 2) strange season continues on Sunday when they get to play their second game in the SkyDome, where Ottawa Redblacks (4 & 3) will be the visitors. The Argos already had to play their first home game away from Toronto and this week's news suggested that they'll be bumped out of their home venue later in the season as the Toronto Blue Jays look likely to play in the MLB post season. It's even suggested they'll be playing home games at the field of their bitter rivals in Hamilton.
Other news from Toronto is that Trevor Harris will continue at quarterback for a while as Ricky Ray has been put back on the 6 week injury list. On the field they still have a share of the East Division lead but haven't put together a dominating performance yet, and have had to rely on comeback victories. That at least is good news for the Redblacks who suffered an absolute hammering in Calgary last week. Their QB Henry Burris was benched at half time, look to him to bounce back, and they'll hopefully have star receiver Chris Williams available.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers finally get their first bye week.

CFL Week 8 Review

Article by Duncan Gray

 

Blow-out wins have been few and far between this season so it was a bit of a surprise when this week's two Saturday night games were all one way. The earlier games were close though, particularly the Thursday night defensive battle in Montreal which was absolutely fascinating.

 

Edmonton Eskimos 15 - 12 Montreal Alouettes
As expected, this game was the battle of two top defences. Big plays on offence were few and far between, field position was everything.
The Alouettes started on top as Edmonton turned the ball over four times in the first half. Two Boris Bede field goals and an interception returned for a touchdown by Kyler Elsworth gave the Als a 12-0 lead. Edmonton pulled a score back before half time when they managed to put a drive together, ending with Kenny Stafford catching a short TD pass from Jordan Lynch. Overall, Edmonton had the better of the defensive battle. They sacked Rakeem Cato eight times, Odell Willis got three of them, while Montreal had four sacks and knocked the Esks' QB Matt Nichols out of the game. The Eskimos failed to take advantage of the their territorial advantage though as Grant Shaw missed three field goals. Single points from Shaw's kicks were enough to level the scores though and James Franklin, now in at quarterback, finally drove them to a 28 yard field goal opportunity which Shaw put through the posts with the last kick of the game. Even if he'd missed, this being Canadian football, the ball landed in the advertising boards so would have earned the one point needed for the win.
Highlights

 

 

Toronto Argonauts 27 - 20 Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Argonauts have made a habit of fourth quarter wins this season and they did it again on Friday night in hot and humid Winnipeg.
After Drew Willy's suffered an injury last week which will keep him out for several games the Bombers gave a first start to their second year quarterback Robert Marve. He started well as they scored on their first two possessions including a 56 yard touchdown from a screen pass to Cameron Marshall. Toronto replied with a touchdown by wide receiver Diontae Spencer but it was Winnipeg who held a narrow lead through three quarters. The turnaround came when A J Jefferson returned a punt 69 yards for a Toronto score. Shortly afterwards, a Bombers fumble gave Toronto good field position and Trevor Harris went on to complete the scoring with a short touchdown pass to Tori Gurley.
A welcome return from injury for Toronto was their veteran running back Chad Kackert. He's been out for almost two years and has been acting as the team's strength and conditioning coach. When the TSN sideline reporter Sarah Orlesky asked him at half time if he felt good after a big hit from the Bombers linebacker Khalil Bass, Kackert looked at her replied “No”! He was obviously loving being back on the field though and finished the game with 73 rushing yards and 16 receiving. Robert Marve finished his starting debut having completed 18 of 29 passes for 203 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Toronto now has a share of the East Division lead with Hamilton.
Highlights

BC Lions  22 - 52 Hamilton Tiger-Cats
There's something magical about the Ti-Cats, playing at Tim Horton's Field in front of their home crowd are good. If you're with the visiting team they're scary good. One of the nicknames for the city of Hamilton is "the Hammer" and for the second week running they hammered in a thirty point lead before half time.  BC came up with a little bit of resistance just before the break when they managed a touchdown as Travis Lulay connected with Emanuel Arcenaux on a couple of passes. However it was always Hamilton's day. The action was spread around the team, Zach Collaros threw four touchdown passes including two to Luke Tasker, the defence scored touchdowns on a fumble recovery and an interception and there was Brandon "Speedy" Banks' third punt return for a touchdown of the season, this one for 96 yards.

Both teams put in back up  players for the fourth quarter and BC managed to pull another touchdown back before the end.

The Tiger-Cats' next face a trip west to Edmonton for what will be the biggest game of the season so far.

Highlights

 

Ottawa Redblacks 3 - 48 Calgary Stampeders

So far this season the Stampeders hadn't looked like the champions of last year. Coming out of the their bye week however they were ready to step up and they proved it, matching Hamilton's 31 first half points as they completely dominated an Ottawa team who…. let's just say they didn't travel well.

Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was back to his best as team leader. He ran in the first two touchdowns himself and threw two more to Joe West and Eric Rogers. Rogers now has a streak going, five games with a TD reception. Matt Walter, covering for the injured Jon Cornish, added a rushing TD. By the time Mitchell came out of the game in the third quarter his passing figures were 17 of 25 for 243 yards and 2 TDs. For the fourth game running he wasn't intercepted. He was replaced by back-up Drew Tate who was playing in his 100th CFL game.

It was a day when there were no highlights for the Redblacks. They continually gave away field position, not least by fumbling two punts, to the extent that the average starting position for Calgary drives was in the Ottawa half. They made a change after half-time, bringing on Thomas DeMarco at QB in place of Henry Burris. DeMarco was ineffective though and he was replaced by Daniel O'Brien who at least managed to move the ball a little.
The win keeps Calgary level with Edmonton in the lead of the West Division.

Highlights

CFL Week 8 Preview

Article by Duncan Gray

 

All four of this weekend's games are being shown live on BT Sport ESPN, including a Saturday night double header. They're all East v West Division match ups too. East teams swept all four when this happened back in Week 2, it's going to be interesting to see if they can keep that winning record going. Whatever, I'm looking forward to a relaxed Sunday watching the recordings.

 

 

There's another change at the top of the Nissan Titan Power Rankings this week. Edmonton Eskimos' loss at BC sees them drop down while the Tiger-Cats have been judged as the top team after their demolition of Winnipeg.

 

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

 

 

 

Game of the Week

Ottawa Redblacks at Calgary Stampeders

Two weeks ago in McMahon Stadium the Stampeders gained revenge over the Alouettes who defeated them earlier in the season. They'll be looking to do the same again on Saturday night when the other team they've lost to, the Ottawa Redblacks, come to town. Both teams have records of four wins and two losses and a share of the lead in their Divisions.

Calgary's wins have been by an average of less than three points so while they're winning they don't look like clear championship candidates. They have suffered from injuries through the season, particularly they've lost four offensive linemen, but they're coming off their bye week with confidence and they think they've got everything organised. The continuing absence of Jon Cornish is still a big loss though.
If the Stampeders aren't the team they were last season the Redblacks are even less like last year's no hopers. Led by Henry Burris and a strong receiving group they've been finding ways to win, just like Calgary. Since the teams last met Ottawa have upgraded by bringing in Chris Milo as their kicker. They hope to have wide receiver Chris Williams back from injury in time for this one.

Three weeks ago the game between these two went to overtime with the Redblacks taking the win. This could be just as close.

 

 

This week's TV Schedule   Edmonton Eskimos at Montreal Alouettes LIVE Friday morning August 14, 00:30 hrs – BT Sport ESPN repeat: Friday evening 18:30 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Toronto Argonauts at Winnipeg Blue Bombers – LIVE Saturday morning August 15, 01:00 hrs - BT Sport ESPN repeat: Saturday evening 21:30 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN BC Lions  at Hamilton Tiger-Cats – LIVE Sunday morning August 16, 00:00 hrs – BT Sport ESPN repeat: Monday afternoon 15:30 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Ottawa Redblacks at Calgary Stampeders – LIVE Sunday morning August 16, 03:00 hrs – BT Sport ESPN repeat: Tuesday afternoon 14:00 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN

 

The other games

 

Edmonton Eskimos (4&2) at Montreal Alouettes (2&4)
Two of the strongest defences in Canada should make this an interesting game. Edmonton played poorly last week when they lost to BC Lions. Notably, their offence failed to score in the second half which will bring back the threat to quarterback Matt Nichols that he'll be benched in favour of rookie James Franklin. It doesn't help that  Adarius Bowman, the CFL’s leading receiver in 2014, will miss the game although at least they'll have running back Shakir Bell restored to the line up. Montreal lost last week too and the challenge for them will be for their rookie quarterback Rakeem Cato to avoid throwing interceptions and find a way through the Edmonton defence the way BC did. The Alouettes are a good enough team that they shouldn't be adrift at the foot of the division. A home win is looking pretty important to them.

Toronto Argonauts (4 & 2) at Winnipeg Blue Bombers (3 & 4)
The Bombers have serious problems following their big defeat at Hamilton. Quarterback Drew Willy has finally suffered an injury he can't bounce back from and is going to be out for several weeks. Their other leading offensive players, running back Paris Cotton and probably receiver Darvin Adams will be out too, things aren't looking good. The back up quarterback is former Green Bay Packers and Buffallo Bills player Brian Brohm, but there have been a lot of questions asked after his poor performances in relief of Willy so far. Actually the usual question is “How did this guy manage to be a second round NFL draft pick”? The third string quarterback is the one the fans want to see and there are signs that Robert Marve will get his chance. Toronto are coming off a hard fought win over the Roughriders. They have no reported new injury worries and their focus should be on getting back the discipline that went missing last week.

 

BC Lions (3 & 3) at Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4 & 2)
After thumping defeats for Toronto and Winnipeg, BC Lions are the next team to face the might of the Ti-Cats at Tim Hortons Field. Hamilton are full of confidence in front of their home crowd, the loss of top players like Andy Fantuz and CJ Gable doesn't seem to slow them down, and they'll be looking for another big win. Don't write off the Lions though. Last week they found a way to get past the mighty Edmonton defence and they might manage the same against Hamilton. Andrew Harris is probably the best player in the league just now so they could just have another surprise in store.

Saskatchewan Roughriders (0 & 7) are on their bye week. That must be welcome, they really need to find some ideas to turn their season around. Start with reducing the number of penalties you concede guys!

 

CFL Week 7 Review

Article by Duncan Gray

 

If I previously suggested that there was any clear leader emerging in the CFL then clearly I was wrong. This week saw three out of four games go to the wire while BC put an end to Edmonton's winning run. There are now five teams with a share of the two Division leads and I'm not going to make predictions anytime soon.

 

Edmonton Eskimos  23 - 26 BC Lions

The Eskimos unbeaten run came to an end on Thursday night as BC Lions' turned their form around and produced the sort of comeback that other sides have been producing against them. As they tend to do, BC started the game well and then faded. Their first drive featured a 33 yard run by Andrew Harris and a 46 yard touchdown pass from Travis Lulay to Emmanuel Arceneaux. That was the first TD the Edmonton defence had conceded in three games. The top rated Edmonton defence tightened up as the Lions lost their momentum and Matt Nichols threw touchdown passes to Chad Simpson and Kenny Stafford as they built up a 23-10 lead by half time. This was where things changed as the Lions got their momentum back. Without first choice receiver Adarius Bowman who had injured picked up an injury, Edmonton didn't managed to score another point. The BC comeback started with an Andrew Harris touchdown on the first drive after the break and was completed with an Andrew Harris touchdown with seventy one seconds left. The Eskimos had a chance to tie the scores on their last drive but Nichols was intercepted as they bravely (or stupidly) attempted a 3rd and 4 conversion rather than a 48 yard field goal.

 

 

 

 

Montreal Alouettes 23 - 26 Ottawa Redblacks
Before kick off everyone agreed that this was a hard one to predict. They got that right. Ottawa started the game in a way they haven't all season, by scoring. A ten play drive was finished by Ernest Jackson catching a 7 yard touchdown pass from Henry Burris. They didn't manage to add to that score in the first half though and Montreal came through to take a 12-7 lead thanks to Rakeem Cato scoring on a 19 yard quarterback scramble in the second quarter. After the break Ottawa came out  playing a high tempo, no huddle offence which the highly rated Montreal defence struggled to control. A field goal and a Henry Burris pass to Patrick Lavoie gave the Redblacks the lead and, after a Samuel Giguere TD pass had put the Al's back in front,  Burris himself ran in the winning score from 1 yard. For the veteran Burris it was his best game of the season, while his rookie opposite number Cato threw a pair of interceptions which stopped promising drives and ultimately cost Montreal a chance of winning.

The much publicised Michael Sam finally made his debut for the Alouettes in this game, playing as part of the defensive line rotation. He appeared on 13 plays but failed to register a tackle or anything else of note.

 

Saskatchewan Roughriders 26 - 30 Toronto Argonauts
The Argos, finally getting to play their first game of the season in Toronto on Saturday night, were pushed all the way by the now 0 & 7 Roughriders. Having had such a hard game in Hamilton only five nights previously it was always going to be difficult for Toronto. It took fourth quarter touchdown receptions by Vidal Hazelton and Diontae Spencer and then a 'Riders pass batted down in the endzone on the last play of the game to secure the win. For Saskatchewan it was their seventh defeat of the season and once again they lost a lead in the fourth quarter. One sign of hope for them was the improved performance of their third string quarterback Brett Smith. As well as throwing two touchdowns he had another two called back for penalties. Penalties were a big feature of the game, there were 43 flags thrown in total which was almost a CFL record. Both teams will need to clean up their act, but especially the Roughriders if they're to get their first win.

 

 

 

 

Winnipeg Blue Bombers 8 – 38 Hamilton Tiger-Cats

While the weekend's other three games were close, this one was decided very early. Halfway through the first quarter Hamilton were already 21 points up, through touchdowns from with a pick six by Emanuel Davis and then Zach Collaros passes to Bakari Grant and Ryan Bomben. The score was 31-0 at half time, another TD having come on a Collaros pass to Terrence Toliver. The intensity of the Ti-Cats offence faded in the second half and Winnipeg managed a score on a Drew Willy pass to Justin Veltung before Emanuel Davis finished the game with his second pick six. Once again Drew Willy suffered an injury, a knee this time, and had to come off the field. Running back Paris Cotton was a casualty too, so it will be another worrying week in Winnipeg. About the only bit of good news for them is that they don't have to face the Tiger-Cats again this season.

CFL Week 7 Preview

Article by Duncan Gray

 

We'll have our second chance of the season to watch a live game before bedtime this Sunday (unless you're an early to bed person of course). The game in Hamilton kicks off at 5 pm local time, 10 pm in the UK. Tune in to BT Sport ESPN for the action.

 

In the Nissan Titan Power Rankings this week the Edmonton Eskimos Four wins in a row have propelled them to the top, only two weeks after they were listed as low as number seven.

 

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

 

 

 

Game of the Week

After Hamilton v Toronto last Monday night we have the East Division's other local derby on Saturday. Perhaps a local rivalry hasn't had time to mature yet, it's only the Ottawa Redblacks' second season, but they're at 3 and 2 and hosting the Montreal Alouettes team that's one game behind. There will be a sell-out crowd and this is the sort of game that rivalries are built on.
It's not easy to predict how this one will go. Both played Calgary in their most recent games, Ottawa won in overtime, Montreal lost a close one which they'd led by as many as 17 points. What to expect is a quarterback duel between 40 year old veteran Henry Burris and the Alouettes' rookie Rakeem Cato. Both have a great set of receivers to support them, Burris connected with the super fast Chris Williams for an 84 yard touchdown last time out, Cato has built a very effective working relationship with S J Green who now leads the league in receiving yards.
The one thing we can be sure of is that the Ottawa crowd will be up for the game, maybe home advantage will swing it.

 

This week's TV Schedule   Edmonton Eskimos at BC Lions – LIVE Friday morning August 7, 03:00 hrs – BT Sport ESPN repeat: Saturday morning 06:00 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Montreal Alouettes at Ottawa Redblacks – LIVE Saturday morning August 8, 00:30 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN repeat: Monday morning 06:00 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN Saskatchewan Roughriders at Toronto Argonauts – recorded Tuesday morning August 11, 06:00 hrs - BT Sport ESPN Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Hamilton Tiger-Cats – LIVE Sunday night August 9, 22:00 hrs - BT Sport ESPN repeat: Wednesday morning August 12, 06:00 hrs –  BT Sport ESPN

 

The other games

 

After two disappointing losses the BC Lions (2&3) have to face the challenge of the 4&1 Edmonton Eskimos in Vancouver on Thursday night. The brightest light of the Lions season has been Andrew Harris who leads the league in rushing. His task for this game will be to break through the most of solid defences. Not an easy one, on average the Eskimos are only conceding 77 rushing yards per game. BC will have to find consistency through all four quarters if they're to succeed here.

 

Toronto Argonauts will finally get to play a game in Toronto on Saturday. They've proved their quality by winning three of their five games on the road and  no doubt they're feeling frustrated after losing to their local rivals on Monday. Saskatchewan Roughriders will be the visitors to the Rogers Centre who'll face the backlash. With their 0 & 6 record and rookie Brett Smith playing only his second game at quarterback things don't look good for the 'Riders. Don't expect a repeat of  the double overtime thriller these teams played in Week 2.

 

Visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats (3&2) is a formidable challenge. Since they moved to Tim Hortons Field in the middle of last season they have a perfect 8 & 0 home record. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (3&3) are coming east on the back of a confidence boosting win over the Lions. However, they lost heavily at home to Hamilton earlier in the season. Their quarterback Drew Willy put up a leading performance last week and he'll be looking for revenge for the hit which forced him out of the earlier game. The TiCats have injury worries, but don't they always? Two of their top performers, running back C J Gable and receiver Andy Fantuz went down on Monday night and both will be missing from the offence.