So, a cool thing I learned this week: CFL officials will be working NFL preseason games for the first time ever as of Thursday, August 18th, as part of a new joint officials development program between both leagues. NFL officials have worked CFL games so far this season as Side Judges, and Justin McInnes, a veteran of 93 CFL games, was on Bill Vinovich’s crew as a Line Judge. Also interesting: Vinovich himself is a CFL officiating vet who made the jump. Interesting bit of trivia that can hopefully let your team win it all the next competition night at your local bar.

WEEK 8 RECAPS

Montreal 12 vs. Edmonton 23: Edmonton snapped a three-game losing skid at long last. Mike Reilly scored the only offensive TD of the game on a quarterback sneak in the first quarter, and the defence, the subject of much criticism to date this season, held strong and helped clinch the win late in fourth quarter, when Alouettes QB Kevin Glenn threw two late picks that got the ball back into the Eskimos’ hands. New kicker Anthony Fera, replacing severely struggling sophomore Boris Bede, scored Montreal’s only points off of four field goals. Strange to think the Eskimos would win a defensive battle, but then again, every dog has its day…

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Edmonton

Winnipeg 34 vs. Toronto 17: One of the ugliest single-game performances I’ve seen by a quarterback at any level of football. Current Argos starter Logan Kilgore threw FIVE picks (seriously!!!!) which Winnipeg turned into 24 points in all. A complete game from the whole team – DBs Maurice Leggett and Kevin Fogg had two picks each while Fogg added a fumble recovery, and Leggett scored a touchdown on his second pick. On offence, Matt Nichols improved to 3-0 as a starter this season, tossing two touchdowns to WR Clarence Denmark, who had one of the best of games of his career after being cut in the offseason by the Blue Bombers and later re-signed. Toronto had one touchdown each from Kilgore and backup Cody Fajardo and Lirim Hajrullahu added a 32-yard field goal, but it was far too little to keep Toronto in the game after an absolutely abysmal performance by their rookie fill-in for injured Ricky Ray.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Winnipeg

Calgary 19 vs. Saskatchewan 10: And Saskatchewan loses yet another game, much to the dismay of their herpes-like fanbase that just keeps popping up everywhere in the country, no matter how much you expect it to disappear for good. The one bright spot – 19 points was the fewest the Riders’ defence has given up in one game thus far this season. Not a terribly exciting game, to be honest – neither QB threw a touchdown, and it was primarily due to kicker Rene Paredes and RB Jerome Messam, who scored the Stamps’ only major of the game, that Calgary ended up with the win.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

Hamilton 38 vs. BC 45: Zach Collaros played his first game in almost a year for Hamilton – and while he wasn’t perfect, was still a breath of fresh air for a team that’s had decidedly mixed results thus far. Collaros finished the night 24-40 and one pick, but also managed a total of 331 passing yards and two touchdowns for the Tiger-Cats. For BC, it was a last-minute victory thanks to WR Manny Arcenaux, who caught his second touchdown of the game from Jon Jennings with just 1:38 remaining in the 4th quarter. Jennings threw 3 TDs along with a pick for 20-32 passing and 306 yards; RB Jeremiah Johnson scored an additional 2 touchdowns to help out the Lions’ offence. It was a definitely an offensive battle throughout, a nice antidote to the dullness of the Calgary-Saskatchewan matchup for sure.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

BYE: Ottawa (4-2-1)

WEEK 9 PREVIEWS

Montreal (2-5) vs. Ottawa (4-2-1), Friday, August 19th, 7:00 PM EST: The last time these two teams met, back in Week 2, Ottawa won 28-13, and Alouettes receiver Duron Carter received a 1-game suspension for knocking over REDBLACKS’ head coach Rick Campbell, which he promptly appealed, and thus continues to play on in the rest of this season so far. The league finally heard his appeal on August 17th, and decided to reserve judgement until a later date, meaning Carter is once again eligible against the team that caused this whole mess in the first place. If you’re going to make jokes about the CFL being bush-league stuff, now is absolutely the time to do it. Regardless, with Montreal’s offence remaining inept and with Henry Burris continuing to get healthier after a whole week off, I very much like the REDBLACKS’ chances at home in this one.

PICK: Ottawa

Calgary (5-1-1) vs. BC (5-2), Friday, August 19th, 10:00 PM EST: Calgary’s only loss of the 2016 season thus far came way back in Week 1 to the BC Lions, who sealed the win on a long Chris Rainey kick return touchdown to make the comeback in the 4th quarter. The Stampeders were in it all the way last matchup, and if kicker Rene Paredes had made even one of the two field goals he missed, Calgary could have come out much happier instead of going down 20-18. BC has been an excellent team this year though, and I certainly don’t want to take away from the first half record they’ve put together thus far; I think it wouldn’t be an unreasonable bet to have this as your West Division final in this year’s playoffs. The last time out, in Week 6, BC was out in front for most of the game until Calgary mounted a massive comeback in the fourth quarter to win 44-41. No matter the outcome, this’ll be a hell of a matchup.

PICK: Fuck, this is honestly a complete wash… going with my gut and saying Calgary though.

Edmonton (3-4) vs. Toronto (4-3), Saturday, August 20th, 4:00 PM EST: While Edmonton’s defence only allowed 12 points last week, that’s been an anomaly to most of their season… that said, if Logan Kilgore has another start for the Argos like he did last week, then not only will the Eskimos feast on the turnovers, but Kilgore may end up getting literally keelhauled out in Lake Ontario. Plus, when you’ve got a quarterback like Mike Reilly and receivers like Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker, you’re gonna give any defence fits. In the CFL, of course.

PICK: Edmonton

Saskatchewan (1-6) vs. Hamilton (3-4), Saturday, August 20th, 7:00 PM EST: With a massive upgrade under centre, expect Zach Collaros’ emergence as one of the league’s best quarterbacks to continue even from a very good first game from last week. Add in a league-worst defence with a -95 point differential in Saskatchewan, as well as a home crowd of Tiger-Cats fans desperately eager for some good news after a very up-and-down start to the year, and you have all the pieces in places for what is likely to be a Hamilton win.

PICK: Hamilton

BYE: Winnipeg (4-4)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Reilly, EDM – 2481
2. Mitchell, CGY – 2194
3. Jennings, BC – 2048

Passing TDs

1. Mitchell, CGY – 12
2. Rielly, EDM – 11
3. Jennings, BC – 11

Rushing Yards

1. Harris, WPG – 505
2. Messam, CGY – 431
3. Whitaker, TOR – 324

Receiving Yards

1. Walker, EDM – 800
2. Bowman, EDM – 789
3. Williams, OTT – 687

Sacks

1. Hughes, CGY – 6
2. Bazzie, BC – 6
3. Chick, HAM – 5

Interceptions

1. Leggett, WPG – 4
2. Sherritt, EDM – 3
3. Heath, TOR – 3

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 24
2. Medlock, WPG – 21
3. Milo, OTT – 20

Game picks this week: 3-1

Game picks this season: 14-18