CFL Week 5 Preview

Article by Duncan Gray

 

Game of the Week

Friday night's late game features two teams who have 2 & 1 records, Toronto Argonauts are at BC Lions.

Toronto started the season with two wins and have had the week off to regroup after their defeat by the Stampeders. Their star quarterback Ricky Ray still isn't ready to return from injury but that's not a problem. With nine touchdowns and only two interceptions, Trevor Harris as stand in is maintaining the highest QB rating in the league. Interviewed this week he says he's determined to learn from mistakes he made in the loss and was talking up his favourite receiver Tori Gurley.
The Lions have won two straight games but they've both been against Saskatchewan, the only team without a win this season. The home game with Toronto is an opportunity to boost their ranking and prove they'll be contenders this season. The defence will have to step up though, they're pretty well last in every category of the stats so far

 

This week's TV Schedule   Calgary Stampeders at Ottawa REDBLACKS – LIVE Saturday Morning July 25, 0:00 hrs - BT Sport 2 repeat Saturday afternoon 16:00 hrs – BT ESPN Toronto Argonauts at BC Lions – LIVE Saturday Morning July 25, 03:00 hrs - BT Sport 2 repeat Saturday evening 18:30 hrs – BT ESPN Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Edmonton Eskimos – Recorded Monday morning 27 July, 06:30 hrs – BT Sport ESPN Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Saskatchewan Roughriders - Recorded Tuesday Afternoon 28 July, 17:30 hrs – BT Sport ESPN

 

 

The other games

 

Calgary Stampeders have the best record in the league at 3&1. With injuries continually affecting their offensive line they haven't been convincing though, two of their wins having been by just one point. A plus last week was running back Jon Cornish producing the sort of yardage we expect from him for the first time this season. Ottawa REDBLACKS (2&2) have slumped since opening with two wins. Their defence are playing well though, they held Edmonton to only one touchdown in week 4 and Henry Burris is still a reliable quarterback.

 

Saturday's game is an important West Division match up between Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2&2) and Edmonton Eskimos (2&1). Winnipeg were unlucky to lose in Calgary last week, essentially by one missed extra point. After their running attack impressed early in the season their passing has provided the recent highlighst. Drew Willy threw two touchdowns of over 75 yards last week to Clarence Denmark and Darvin Adams. The Esks weren't so exciting, they had to rely on field goals for their. win, but watch for Rookie running back Shakir Bell looking to build on his sensational debut of  last week.

 

Playing their fourth straight away game, Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1&2) are at Saskatchewan Roughriders (0&4) on Sunday night. Hamilton have been struggling for consistency. Last week's loss at Montreal was particularly disappointing and they'll be desperate not to fall behind their East Division rivals. The Roughriders will be even more desperate for the win though. They are already falling behind in their division and a third straight home loss would make their failures an even bigger media story than they already are. Despite the results, the Riders offence has gained more yards than any other team while the Ti-Cats have conceded the least yards. It' s an unpredictable one, even the bookies haven't chosen a favourite.

 

Montreal Alouttes have the bye this week.

CFL Week 4 Review

Article by Duncan Gray

 

It’s been yet another week of close games in Canada. Sooner or later favourites to win the divisions will emerge. Not yet though…

 

Hamilton Tiger-Cats 13 Montreal Alouttes 17
Highlights
This season looks like being a wild ride for Montreal Alouttes fans. They now have two wins and two losses for the season., the two wins have come against what were the top two teams of last season, the two losses were to last year's bottom two teams. Hamilton Tiger-Cats performance was flat, they never reached the heights they did when they demolished Winnipeg before their bye week. Quarterback Zach Collaros, who threw only nine interceptions in the whole of last season, threw three in this game. When Brandon (Speedy) Banks ran yet another punt back for a touchdown, only for it to be called back on a marginal holding penalty, it looked like the fates were against them.
Still, the Ti-Cats defence looked strong, particularly when they succeeded in keeping the Als out of the end zone on three consecutive downs from the one yard line. They didn't manage to shut down the Montreal quarterback Rakeem Cato though. Supported by receivers S J Green, Nik Lewis and particularly Fred Stamp, the rookie continued to impress,  running up stats of 23 of 34 for 264 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. The touchdown, thrown to Green on the very edge of the end zone, will go down as one of the plays of the year.

 

Edmonton Eskimos 23 Ottawa REDBLACKS 12
Highlights

It was a wet night in Canada on Friday. The rain kept falling in Ottawa and big plays were few and far between. The Edmonton Eskimos had most of the territorial advantage through the game but three interceptions thrown by Matt Nichols kept them out of the end zone. When the first touchdown came it was during a brief lull in the rain  in the fourth quarter and it was the Ottawa REDBLACKS who scored.  Henry Burris finished a 106 yard drive with a quarterback sneak. This gave Ottawa the lead at 12-11, but it didn't last long. On their next drive the Eskimos finally made the big play they'd been looking for. They scored on a 63 yard pass from Matt Nichols to Kendial Lawrence and that got them the lead back for good.

The big talking point of the game was the performance of 5 ft 8 Edmonton running back Shakir Bell who was making his CFL debut. Bell, who ran for 143 yards and looked as slippery as a bar of soap, is a modest individual. No one believed him when he credited all of his success to the offensive line.

 

 

BC Lions 27 Saskatchewan Roughriders 24
Highlights

It was a miserable night in Regina on Friday night too, and not just from the weather. The Saskatchewan Roughriders had lost all three of their games to date as the defence hadn't been able to defend a lead. In this game BC Lions scored touchdowns on the opening drive of both halves and the Riders never had a lead to defend. Travis Lulay was the Lions leader again. He surprised everyone by rushing for over 100 yards as well as passing for over 100.
At 0 and 4, the mutterings of discontent from the Saskatchewan fans are growing and Head Coach  Corey Chamblin is the target for all of it. His decision in the off season to replace most of the coaching staff certainly isn't paying off.

 

Winnipeg Blue Bombers 26 Calgary Stampeders 25
Highlights

The Saturday game was a fight for the clear lead of the West Division. The sun was shining for this one and it shone early for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers who had two touchdowns and a 16-0 lead with only ten minutes gone. It was down to Calgary Stampeders special teams to turn things around. Firstly they forced a fumble on a Bombers punt return which led to a touchdown three plays later, then they blocked a punt and ran the ball in for a second TD.

In the second half the sixteen all tie was broken when the Stampeders' running back Jon Cornish found his form for just about the first time this season. He contributed 66 yards on four carries to a 107 yard drive that gave Calgary the lead. Drew Willy then replied for Winnipeg with a 79 yard touchdown pass to Darvin Adams. Unfortunately, kicker Lirim Hajrullahu missed the point after. The teams managed only a field goal each in the 4th quarter and Calgary finished the winners by that single point.

CFL Week 4 Preview

Article by Duncan Gray

 

Week 4 Preview

Before the previews here are the latest Nissan Titan Power Rankings. They've shuffled a bit since we featured them after Week 1. Calgary are back on top as their two wins have come against the number two and three teams. They can cement that place this week as the play the fourth team.

 

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

 

 

 

Game of the Week

 

The game features the bottom two teams in the ratings but after last week's overtime excitement we have to stay with Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions. They'll be in Regina on Friday playing the reverse fixture from last week. The 'Riders are the only team left without a win but all three of their games have been very close. In fact they've had a 4^th quarter lead in every one of them, last week by as many as 11 points. They've actually put up more offensive yards than any other team this season so to put an end to the losing streak it's the defence that needs to step up. This week's signing of  experienced defensive back Geoff Tisdale might be a start.

Back in Vancouver, Lions quarterback Travis Lulay was relieved when they got the win last Friday, declaring that it's given the team the confidence boost they need. BC fans will be pleased to see that Lulay passed for over 400 yards in the game, surely proving that he's completely recovered from his long term shoulder injury. Watch for him connecting with his new favourite target, the ex-Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Austin Collie.

 

This week's TV Schedule   Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Montreal Alouettes - LIVE Friday morning 17 July 0030 hrs – BT Sport ESPN Replay - Friday afternoon  17 July 1400 hrs – BT Sport ESPN   Edmonton Eskimos at Ottawa Redblacks - LIVE Saturday morning 18 July 0000 hrs – BT Sport 2 repeat – Monday 20 July 0730 hrs – BT Sport ESPN   BC Lions at Saskatchewan Roughriders - LIVE Saturday morning 18 July 0300 hrs – BT Sport 2 repeat - Tuesday morning 21 July 0600 hrs – BT Sport ESPN   Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Calgary Stampeders - recorded Wednesday morning 22 July 0600 hrs – BT Sport ESPN

 

 

The other games

Week 4 starts with the number two rated Hamilton Tiger-Cats coming off the bye week for their first East Division match-up of the season with Montreal Alouettes. In their last game the Ti-Cats gave a mauling to the Winnipeg team that narrowly defeated Montreal last week so on paper this doesn't look good for the Als. Hamilton's high power defence will certainly present the biggest test yet for the rookie quarterback Rakeem Cato, but expect more heroics from running back Tyrell Sutton.

 

Friday night's double header opens with a rematch from week 3 as the Edmonton Eskimos travel to Ottawa. The game in Alberta was a blow out and his first win will have given inexperienced Esks' quarterback Matt Nichols a confidence boost. The REDBLACKS are going to have to find something magical to turn things around. Maybe another sell-out home crowd cheering them on will make a difference.

 

Saturday night's game features the teams which are sharing the lead in the West Division table as  Calgary Stampeders host Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Both sides showed they have fighting spirit as they held on for their narrow victories last week. The Stampeders will start as favourites but so far they haven't reached the standard of the last year's Grey Cup winning team.

.

Toronto Argonauts have the bye this week.

CFL Week 3 Review

Article by Duncan Gray

 

It's been another fascinating week in the CFL. Three of the four games were decided by less than a score and there are now no teams with an unbeaten record.

 

Toronto	20	Calgary	25	Highlights
Saskatchewan	32	BC	35	Highlights
Montreal	23	Winnipeg	25	Highlights
Ottawa	17	Edmonton	46	Highlights

 

The extra preparation time the bye week gave Edmonton Eskimos proved to be a lot more valuable than the momentum the Ottawa REDBLACKS had from their two wins in a row. In Thursday night's game the Eskimos effectively shut down Ottawa's offence while they ran up 36 first half points, led by quarterback Matt Nichols who passed for three touchdowns.

The only highlight for Ottawa was their one touchdown and that was scored by the defence. When Matt Nichols tossed a shovel pass too many, 295lb lineman Zack Evans saw it coming, grabbed the interception and ran it back in the unmistakable style of a lineman for 66 yards and the score. However it was the Eskimos who've found the form that was expected of them when the season began. The REDBLACKS have a lot of work to do before these two teams meet again next week.

 

 

After his debut heroics last week it was probably too much to expect Rakeem Cato to be a superstar at quarterback for Montreal Alouettes again. He put up another good performance but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers managed to get more pressure on him. Twice in the first half, with opponents in his face, he threw bad passes which were intercepted and one was returned for a touchdown. Adding to the interception touchdown the Bombers got their second TD just before half time when they blocked a punt and recovered the ball in the end zone to establish a 19-10 lead. Montreal chased down the lead in the second half but they couldn't get closer than a 2 point deficit. How different would it have been if their top defender Bear Woods hadn't been injured last week?

 

The second game on Friday was in Vancouver, between the last two teams with a zero in the win column, BC Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Roughriders had led by as many as eleven points in this game but after both sides had exchanged touchdowns twice in the fourth quarter their lead was down to three. They tried to run out the clock by going for a third and one with a minute left but the Lions defence held firm and they forced a turnover. BC then struggled to make yardage but they were saved by Richard Leone who kicked a team record 55 yard field goal to take the game into overtime.

The 'Riders overtime experience from last week didn't seem to help. They had the first overtime drive but the Lions held firm again and restricted them to a field goal. The Lions then took only three plays to score the winning touchdown as Travis Lulay connected with Emmanuel Arceneaux from four yards.
The loss leaves Saskatchewan with three straight losses, the last winless team of the season.

 

Canada's biggest event of the year, the Calgary Stampede finished on Sunday. Ironically the Calgary Stampeders aren't part of it and that's why we had to wait 'til Monday night for their game with Toronto Argonauts.

This game changed in a couple of minutes in the second quarter. Calgary had established a 14-7 lead when they suffered game ending injuries to both their starting offensive tackles. CFL squads aren't as large as NFL ones so the number of replacements available are limited. Calgary were forced to switch a defensive lineman onto offence and adapt their tactics to the reduced protection they could give Levi Bo Mitchell. Working with a 22-14 half time lead the Stampeders showed their champion quality by restricting Toronto to two field goals in the second half and hanging on to win by five points.

CFL Week 3 Preview

Article by Duncan Gray

 

Game of the Week

Last week's Game of the Week choice turned out to be exceptional. Not sure if we can expect quite so much excitement but we're going to stick with the Toronto Argonauts. This week they're at Calgary Stampeders on Monday night.

Toronto weren't a fancied team when the season started but they've beaten Edmonton comfortably and then Saskatchewan in last week's thriller. Calgary meantime suffered the shock defeat of the season so far when they went down to Montreal last week without putting up much of a fight. It's still early in the season, poor performances can come from any team but surely the champions can't play so badly two weeks in a row. Can they upset the Argonauts momentum though? This could develop into a quarterback duel between the established big name, Levi Bo Mitchell, and one of the new sensations, Toronto's Trevor Harris (who's actually the older of the two).

 

 

This week's TV Schedule   Ottawa Redblacks v Edmonton Eskimos - LIVE Friday morning 10 July 0200 hrs – BT Sport ESPN   Saskatchewan Roughriders v BC Lions - LIVE Saturday morning 11 July 0300 hrs – BT Sport ESPN   Montreal Alouettes v Winnipeg Blue Bombers - recorded Saturday afternoon 11 July 1300 hrs – BT Sport ESPN   Toronto Argonauts v Calgary Stampeders - LIVE Tuesday morning 14 July 0200 hrs – BT Sport ESPN

 

 

The other games

 

It's been a dream start to the season for Ottawa who find themselves as the other undefeated team in the league. They'll be stretched this week as they visit Edmonton Eskimos. The Eskimos have had an extra week to recover from their defeat by Toronto to arrange cover for quarterback Mike Reilly whose injury will keep him out for much of the season. 

 

Montreal Alouettes  produced the surprise of the season when they trounced Calgary in Week 2 so their hopes will be high as they travel west. On the other hand Winnipeg Blue Bombers were a team on the receiving end of a trouncing and there's no word yet on whether their quarterback Drew Willy will be recovered from his head knock.

 

BC Lions suffered a disappointment last week, losing at Ottawa in the opening game of their season. Meantime Saskatchewan suffered an even bigger disappointment as their overtime defeat left them having lost two home games. Which one will break their duck?

 

CFL Week Two Review

Article by Duncan Gray

 

Week 2 Review

 

Toronto	42	Saskatchewan	40	Highlights
BC	16	Ottawa	27	Highlights
Calgary	11	Montreal	29	Highlights
Hamilton	52	Winnipeg	26	Highlights

 

 

Who'd have thought it. In Week 2 the four East Division teams completed a clean sweep of wins over teams from the much stronger (at least it was last season) West. And in just two weeks Ottawa REDBLACKS have equalled the number of wins they had in the whole of last season.

 

The big headlines of the weekend weren't about Ottawa though. They came from the Friday night game everyone had the least expectations of. 

After last week's injuries Montreal Alouettes went into their game with number one rated Calgary Stampeders with a choice to make between two rookie quarterbacks. Rather than the Canadian Brandon Bridge they chose to go with Florida native Rakeem Cato. Cato's history is that he played his college football at Marshall where he set several quarterback records. He wasn't taken in the 2015 NFL draft, had a try out with the Cleveland Browns and finally signed with Montreal as a free agent.

On Friday night Cato played the sort of game the phrase "dream debut" was invented for. In his first drive he led Montreal 95 yards, completing five passes out of five, the last one to Samuel Giguere for the touchdown. The Al's defence was going well too, the big name Stampeders offence didn't get going all night, didn't even get on the scoreboard until late in the third quarter. Meantime Cato completed 20 of 25 passes for 241 yards and 3 touchdowns and we had the biggest upset of the season so far.

 

 

On Thursday night it looked like it could be Week 1 all over again as another quarterback was injured. This time the victim was Winnipeg Blue Bombers Drew Willy who suffered a violent helmet to helmet clash while being sacked by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. On the very next play Ti-Cats' Brandon Banks returned a punt all the way, one of five touchdowns scored on offence, defence and special teams before half time. Hamilton maintained their lead through the second half and once again looked impressive.

 

There's a definite buzz going around the nation's capital this year. It's the second season of there being a CFL franchise back in town and the team's getting plenty of support. The first home game at TD Place Stadium was a sell out and the Ottawa REDBLACKS didn't disappoint. In a close game they'd fallen behind BC Lions in the third quarter, but on the first play of the fourth Henry Burris threw a 30 yard touchdown pass, caught by Greg Ellingson despite a deflection, and followed it with an 11 yarder to Ernest Jackson on the next drive. And that was the game. The REDBLACKS are one of only two unbeaten teams. They put together a strong all round performance but there are tougher tests to come.

 

The last game of the weekend was so good it eclipsed the Rakeem Cato story. There were big plays for both sides as Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders played through to overtime. Particularly in the fourth quarter there was an incredible catch by 'Riders wide receiver Ryan Smith followed by a complete reversal on the very next play as Argo's A.J. Jefferson ran back a 100 yard pick six. Toronto's Trevor Harris showed he could withstand pressure, throwing a touchdown pass with 6 seconds to tie the game at 28 all. In overtime it all came down to 2 point conversions. Both teams scored TDs on both their possessions but ultimately it was the Saskatchewan quarterback Kevin Glenn who succumbed to the pressure, failing to connect with his receiver on the final conversion attempt and leaving the win with Toronto.

If you didn't see this one check out the highlights here.

 

 

CFL Week Two Preview

Article by Duncan Gray

 

Game of the Week

Toronto Argonauts v Saskatchewan Roughriders is our pick for this week. The Sunday afternoon kick-off in Regina is giving us a chance of the year to watch a live game on BT Sport/ESPN and still make it to work or school in the morning. (Except those of you whose schools are already on summer holidays of course.)
Week 1 was a good week/bad week for these teams. Toronto had the good week. They won their game against Edmonton, in fact they had the biggest winning margin of the week. Stand-in quarterback Trevor Harris had a fine game and he was well supported by the various new faces around the team. If they perform like that again we'll be looking at them as real contenders.

On the other hand things could have hardly have gone worse for the Roughriders. They lost at home to their great rivals from Winnipeg who they had beaten at Mosaic Stadium eleven times on the trot. Worse still, they also lost their quarterback. Darius Durant is out for the season with an Achilles injury.

So are the Argos favourites for this game? Well maybe not. Unlike last season Saskatchewan have an able back-up QB in Kevin Glenn and they hope to have a couple of players returning from injury. If they can help it they're not going to let visitors win on their field, in front of their fans, certainly not for a second week running. Watch for the crowd shots in the TV coverage, Rider Nation are the wildest fans in the country and the stands will be a sea of green.

Riders Fans

 

 

This week's TV Schedule   Hamilton  Tiger-Cats v Winnipeg Blue Bombers - LIVE Friday morning 3 July 0130 hrs – BT Sport ESPN   Toronto Argonauts v  Saskatchewan Roughriders  - LIVE Sunday evening 5 July 2030 hrs – BT Sport ESPN   BC Lions v Ottawa Redblacks  - recorded Monday afternoon 6 July 1230 hrs - BT Sport ESPN   Calgary Stampeders v Montreal Alouettes - recorded Wednesday afternoon 8 July 1315 hrs  - BT Sport ESPN       For those of you who can't access the BT Sport channels there are online subscriptions available through the Canadian broadcaster TSN. Options include $35 for the full 6 month season of games. Visit http://cfl.officialsatellitetv.com/live.html for more information.

 

Nissan Titan Power Rankings
After their big wins last weekend Toronto and Winnipeg are the big upwards movers in the first update of the CFL's power rankings.

 

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

 

 

The other games

Week 2 starts on Thursday night with Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Winnipeg Blue Bombers, so it's 2nd v 4th from the Power Rankings. The Ti-Cats must be hurting from their last play loss at Calgary last week, even though it was to the top rated team in the league.  The Bombers will be on a high after beating the Roughriders, but did they over perform in the excitement of their rivalry match? Watch out for the running attack of Winnipeg and the kick returns of Hamilton's Brandon Banks.

 

On Friday night Calgary Stampeders play Montreal Alouettes at the Percival Molson Memorial Stadium. There's a crisis at Montreal after their top two quarterbacks were injured last week and it's not clear yet who will play in this game. Could Brandon Bridge be the first Canadian to start a game at QB for twenty years? The Stampeders found a way to beat the best the East Division has to offer last week so they'll come into town with a lot of confidence.

 

Making it four inter-divisional games out of four this week, BC Lions start their season on Saturday with the 2200 mile cross country trip to Ottawa for their game against the Redblacks. With quarterback Travis Lulay now recovered from the shoulder injury that kept him out much of last season the Lions will be looking for a strong start to their campaign. However the Redblacks showed in Week 1 that they're not the pushovers they were last season. Ottawa's defence knocked out two Montreal quarterbacks last week, BC's offensive line better be sure they can protect Lulay.