Preview by Duncan Gray
Live TV coverage of the CFL is back on BT Sport this week,
including a Saturday afternoon double header which we can watch starting at a
respectable time of night. The full schedule is further down the page.
In the news this week
With Swayze Waters back on the injured list Toronto Argonauts brought in a couple of players to cover the kicking duties this week. The players they signed were Michael Palardy and, a couple of days later, Justin Palardy (no relation). Since it's usual in the CFL that one player acts as both kicker and punter there's a suggestion going round that somebody made a boo-boo and signed the wrong Palardy. Argos general manager Jim Barker vehemently denies he would make a mistake like that, after all Michael is a left footer from Florida while Justin is right footed and Canadian. Michael will do the kick-offs and punts, Justin will specialise in field goals.
With Swayze Waters back on the injured list Toronto Argonauts brought in a couple of players to cover the kicking duties this week. The players they signed were Michael Palardy and, a couple of days later, Justin Palardy (no relation). Since it's usual in the CFL that one player acts as both kicker and punter there's a suggestion going round that somebody made a boo-boo and signed the wrong Palardy. Argos general manager Jim Barker vehemently denies he would make a mistake like that, after all Michael is a left footer from Florida while Justin is right footed and Canadian. Michael will do the kick-offs and punts, Justin will specialise in field goals.
The competition to sign free
agent linebacker Henoc Muamba has been won by the Montreal Alouettes who
have signed him to a two year, $225K per year contract. Muamba, who was born in
the Congo but grew up in Ontario, was named a CFL All-Star with the Blue
Bombers in 2013 before playing last season with the Indianapolis Colts. This should
boost the Montreal defence who've had to play all season without their first
choice LB Bear Woods. Still, the defence has played well so far, you'd think
it's the Als' offence that needs shoring up....
The official announcement was
finally made this week that the 2016 Grey Cup will be played in Toronto.
The venue will be BMO Field, the stadium being redeveloped to host the
Argonauts and Toronto FC, rather than the Rogers Centre.
Play-Off Watch
Toronto's win in Ottawa last week moved them up to second in their division and in line to host a semi-final. However there are still lots of ups and downs to come before anything's decided in the East. On the other hand Calgary and Edmonton can both officially qualify for post season football in the West if results go their way this week. In the race for the third place in the West all three teams with a realistic chance lost, so no change there. Montreal still holds the crossover spot.
East: 1 Hamilton, 2 Toronto, 3 Ottawa
West: 1 Calgary, 2 Edmonton, 3 Montreal
Toronto's win in Ottawa last week moved them up to second in their division and in line to host a semi-final. However there are still lots of ups and downs to come before anything's decided in the East. On the other hand Calgary and Edmonton can both officially qualify for post season football in the West if results go their way this week. In the race for the third place in the West all three teams with a realistic chance lost, so no change there. Montreal still holds the crossover spot.
East: 1 Hamilton, 2 Toronto, 3 Ottawa
West: 1 Calgary, 2 Edmonton, 3 Montreal
This week's TV
Schedule
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Game of the Week
When last season's Grey Cup teams, Calgary Stampeders and
Hamilton Tiger-Cats met back at the start of the season they served up a
thriller which the Stamps won on the last play of the game. They're both
sitting on top of their divisions and the Tiger-Cats will be looking for
revenge.
Jeff Mathews will make his first start at quarterback for
Hamilton. He struggled when he had to come on to replace Zach Collaros in their
last game but the team have confidence in the rookie. He's well versed in the
system, he played for head coach Kent Austin when they were at Cornell
University and he's had two weeks of taking the snaps in training. To help
Mathews the Ticats have Bakari Grant restored to their receiving group after
injury while Michael Ford returns at running back, replacing Ray Holley. Ford
played for Hamilton earlier in the season and has been brought back after a
spell with the Atlanta Falcons.
On the Calgary side the offence is running smoothly with Jon
Cornish restored at running back and eyeing a run at his fourth rushing title,
while the Bo Levi Mitchell to Eric Rogers passing combination leads the league.
Their problems are in defence where they had two injury losses last week, both
defensive back Joe Burnett and linebacker Juwan Simpson are going to be out for
several games. They're bringing in ex NFL defensive back Brandon McDonald who
was axed by the Redblacks earlier in the season for indiscipline on the field.
The Other Games
Talking of the rushing title, the two leading contenders will face up on Saturday when Andrew Harris and the BC Lions host Jerome Messam and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Harris in particular has been underused in recent games, leading to a lot of fan criticism of the coaching staff, while Messam is seeing more action since the Riders changed the head coach. Travis Lulay has been reactivated off the injured list but rookie quarterback Jonathon Jennings performed well for BC on his starting debut last week and he'll lead the team again.
Talking of the rushing title, the two leading contenders will face up on Saturday when Andrew Harris and the BC Lions host Jerome Messam and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Harris in particular has been underused in recent games, leading to a lot of fan criticism of the coaching staff, while Messam is seeing more action since the Riders changed the head coach. Travis Lulay has been reactivated off the injured list but rookie quarterback Jonathon Jennings performed well for BC on his starting debut last week and he'll lead the team again.
Ottawa Redblacks have had a short week's preparation
for their East Division match up against the Montreal Alouettes at TD
Place on Thursday. The Redblacks offence, particularly the O line,
underperformed against Toronto and they'll be desperate to make amends.
However, Montreal's performance in Saskatchewan last week was even worse. Jim
Popp has decided that they're reverting to having Rakeem Cato start at
quarterback. In nine games this season Cato has thrown nine touchdowns and nine
interceptions. The Als are such an inconsistent side that anything could happen
here. Watch out for returner Stefan Logan looking to take advantage of Ottawa's
weak special teams.
The first game of Saturday's double header features Edmonton
Eskimos looking for a win over Winnipeg Blue Bombers to secure their
place in the play-offs. The Bombers showed up well against Calgary last week
and were unlucky when a bad refereeing call denied them the chance of a last
gasp result. It will be a big game for QB Matt Nichols who'll be facing old
friends. He came over from the Eskimos in a trade last month and played his
best game yet for Winnipeg last Friday. Kick returner Kendial Lawrence is an
injury doubt for the Eskimos.
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