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!