CFL Beat: Week 6

People are angry! Republicans! Democrats! Politicians in general! Anger is no stranger to the CFL either, with multiple teams’ fanbases currently experiencing the anguish of injured and/or shitty quarterbacks. It was a rough, rough week for injuries across the league. Who’s still alive and healthy to play? Who’s not quite? Let’s take a look below.

WEEK 5 RECAPS

Calgary 33 vs. Winnipeg 18: Bo Levi Mitchell led the way for the Stampeders’ second victory of the season over Winnipeg, throwing 310 yards and 3 touchdowns on 29-41 pass attempts. For Winnipeg, the disappointment continues on. Drew Willy was yanked in the fourth quarter and replaced with Matt Nichols, after Willy threw a pick-six returned by Joe Burnett. Willy finished with 234 yards and no touchdowns on the evening. The Bombers are reeling right now, dropping to 1-4 and the West Division basement, while Calgary pushes hard to take first place in the division.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

Ottawa 29 vs. Saskatchewan 30: It was a disappointing loss for Ottawa, their first of the 2016 season, but of far more concern to the fanbase right now is the status of Trevor Harris, who was injured in the first quarter after being tackled by DL Corvey Irvin. Harris looked to be favouring his right knee, and was replaced by third-stringer Brock Jensen. Jensen performed admirably, throwing for 271 yards on 20-29 passing and two touchdowns, both to Brad Sinopoli. However, in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, the offence stalled in the red zone, and was forced to settle for a field goal to give Ottawa a 29-27 lead. Saskatchewan then kicked a field goal courtesy of Tyler Crapigna to win it for the Roughriders in the final minute.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: Saskatchewan

Hamilton 37 vs. Edmonton 31: Another crazy game involving the Eskimos. The first half was all Edmonton, who took a 31-6 lead into the half… and the second half was all Hamilton, who set a franchise record for biggest comeback in team history (25 points). Jeremiah Masoli had a career game, finishing 31-38 for 391 yards and 3 TDs, including going 23-25 and 278 yards in the second half alone when Hamilton mounted their impressive resurgence. Of more impressive note was Masoli making 23 straight completions in the second half, a new CFL record! For the Eskimos, Mike Reilly was no slouch himself, throwing for 354 yards and 3 TDs on 32-42 passing, and his receivers, namely Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker, had excellent games as well. However, once again, the defence crumbled when it mattered most, and fans of the Green & Gold left Commonwealth Stadium with a bitter taste in their mouth after seeing the game blown in such spectacular fashion.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Hamilton

Montreal 17 vs. Toronto 30: Toronto won their first game at their new home stadium courtesy of Ricky Ray’s passing – Ray finished 29-34 for 235 yards and 3 touchdowns. Receivers Kenny Shaw and Devon Wylie both scored their first career touchdowns as well for the Double Blue, and short-yardage QB Cody Fajardo tossed a touchdown to Anthony Coombs to bolster the score as well. For the Alouettes, currently missing receiver SJ Green and RB Tyrell Sutton, there were a lot of missed opportunities, and the struggles of second-year kicker Boris Bede left a number of points on the table for Montreal as well that could have benefited them greatly. Sadly for Argos fans, Ricky Ray left the game in the fourth quarter with an injury to his left knee, the same one he hurt two years ago, and was replaced by Logan Kilgore. It’s not known at this point how long Ray will be out, but Kilgore is apparently pencilled in for the starter’s job this week.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Toronto

WEEK 6 PREVIEWS

Winnipeg (1-4) vs. Edmonton (2-2), Thursday, July 28th, 9:00 PM EST: Winnipeg has already hit the “fuck it, we’ve given up” point of the season, replacing starting quarterback Drew Willy with backup Matt Nichols for this matchup against Edmonton. Funny how this cycle works… Bombers sign QB to big contract extension… he starts playing like dogshit… gets benched… coach gets fired… QB moves on. Seriously. It’s an epidemic for this team. It happened in:

• 2004 – Dave Ritchie benches Khari Jones in Week 7, is fired the next day, Jones traded to Calgary a month later.
• 2008 – Doug Berry benches Kevin Glenn in Week 5, Glenn starts again anyways later in the season, Berry is fired in November, Glenn is released in March 2009.
• 2009 – Mike Kelly benches Stefan LeFors in Week 5, is fired in October; LeFors and successor Michael Bishop are both released in February 2010.
• 2013 – Tim Burke benches Buck Pierce in Week 5 after a 1-4 start, Burke is fired after the season, Pierce is traded to BC.

So, yeah, great track record there, Winnipeg. I’m sure it’ll be totally different this time around, though!

On the flip side, Edmonton choked haaaaaaaard last week. You can bet they’re pissed after the offence dried up in the second half and the defence couldn’t stop a flea. Anyways, in considering the Eskimos’ defensive miscues thus far this season, Edmonton has taken on some water, but at least they’ve got some bailers on board. Winnipeg is headed for the life boats.

PICK: Edmonton

Saskatchewan (1-3) vs. Montreal (1-3), Friday, July 29th, 7:00 PM EST: Montreal has only three days of rest between Monday’s game against Toronto and Friday’s against Saskatchewan. That’s a rough go for a team already troubled early by injuries this season. On the flip side, Mitchell Gale had an excellent first-ever start for Saskatchewan last week, and the Riders can hopefully build on that momentum going forward. For teams with identical records, Saskatchewan has all the opportunities – and way more rest and practise time – and can hopefully capitalize on that this week.

PICK: Saskatchewan

BC (3-1) vs. Calgary (2-1-1), Friday, July 29th, 10:00 PM EST: Winner of this game controls first place in the West Division! BC is coming off the bye while Calgary had a very convincing win on the road last week. The last two times these teams met, however, in the 2015 West Division Semifinal, BC got steamrolled 35-9. While both have seen coaching changes since that matchup, it’s far likelier that Calgary pulls out another win again, as they have a fantastic offence which will hopefully put the gears to BC in what right now appears to be a matchup of two very strong defences.

PICK: Calgary

Toronto (3-2) vs. Ottawa (3-1-1), Sunday, July 31st, 7:30 PM EST: This was marketed as Ricky Ray vs. Henry Burris early in the season… but it’s gonna be Logan Kilgore taking Ray’s place. Burris is back early, activated ahead of schedule off the 6-game Disabled List, and ready to go for Sunday, a huge boost to the REDBLACKS’ fortunes. While the team also hasn’t said too much about Trevor Harris’ injury right now, it’s believed to not be as serious as initially thought, and he will likely be back sooner rather than later. No question that Ottawa has the advantage under centre now – Harris beat Toronto on the road in Week 4; Burris now has a chance to answer to his teammate’s strong performance back at home.

PICK: Ottawa

BYE: Hamilton (3-2)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Reilly, EDM – 1580
2. Masoli, HAM – 1532
3. Harris, OTT – 1499

Passing TDs

1. Reilly, EDM – 10
2. Ray, TOR – 9
3. Harris, OTT – 9

Rushing Yards

1. Messam, CGY – 250
2. Whitaker, TOR – 224
3. Gable, HAM – 222

Receiving Yards

1. Williams, OTT – 570
2. Bowman, EDM – 543
3. Walker, EDM – 494

Sacks

1. Chick, HAM – 4
2. Bazzie, BC – 4
3. Bowman, MTL – 3

Interceptions

1. Leggett, WPG – 2
2. Heath, TOR – 2
3. Lawrence, HAM – 1

Field Goals

1. Milo, OTT – 15
2. Crapigna, SSK – 15
3. Maher, HAM – 13

Game picks this week: 2-2

Game picks this season: 7-13