We’ve made it past two stat holidays, and now there’s not much to do for the rest of the summer on the relaxation front except drink, mutter curses at Chris Berman as he ruins yet another Home Run Derby, and, if you’re of my mindset, watch the CFL (at least until NFL training camps begin, maybe?…). We’re getting close, people! In some noteworthy CFL news, the league appointed its newest commissioner yesterday; Randy Ambrosie is the 14th man to hold the league’s top job, replacing Jeffrey Orridge, who stepped down from the role on June 15th after he and the league agreed to part ways earlier in April due to “philosophical differences”. As a CFL fan, I applaud the move; while Orridge had a good business and sports background, he lacked the intimate knowledge necessary to run a uniquely Canadian product – it was a difficult role for both an American, as well as someone lacking a football pedigree, to properly have. In Ambrosie, the league now has both a former player – he played offensive guard from 1985-1993 for Calgary, Toronto and Edmonton – as well as a commissioner with a strong business and leadership background. After retiring from football, he served as the secretary for the CFL Players’ Association, was the North American head of HSBC Securities, head of sales and marketing at AGF Management, and later president and CEO of a number of other Canadian investment firms. All in all, I think having someone uniquely familiar with the idiosyncrasies of Canadian football, not to mention a Canadian citizen himself, can only hope to strengthen the league’s future and security in the Canadian professional sports landscape.

Anyways, I’ll stop boring you. Time for the good stuff!

WEEK 2 RECAPS

Ottawa 39 vs. Calgary 43: This game was absolutely bananas – it’s been one of the best games that the league has seen in years, and absolutely up there with last year’s thrilling Grey Cup final. The Stamps finally pulled out a win, but both teams were back-and-forth with tons of highlight reel plays over an entire 60 minutes of action. The REDBLACKS had three receivers go over 100 yards of gains in Greg Ellingson, Brad Sinopoli and Diontae Spencer, but it was Spencer who was unquestionably the player of the game for both teams. He finished the night with 351 total yards gained, including two touchdowns; one was a 96-yard punt return in the 2nd quarter, and the other came on a 65-yard bomb from Trevor Harris that he took deep. All in all, Diontae Spencer finished with 107 yards receiving, 148 yards on punt returns, and 96 yards on kick returns. Still, the Stampeders were extremely impressive in their own right – Bo Levi Mitchell threw three touchdowns on the night, including two to WR Kamar Jorden, and backup quarterback Andrew Buckley scored a 60-yard rushing touchdown on a quarterback sneak where the Ottawa secondary absolutely shit the bed on coverage. Backup punt returner Tunde Adeleke, filling in for the suspended Roy Finch, even had a 71-yard return TD of his own in this game. All in all, it was a hell of a game to watch, and as much as I am worried as a REDBLACKS fan whenever the Stamps are the opponents, I hope we get to see these two teams square off again in the playoffs this year.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

BC 28 vs. Toronto 15: The Lions had a big fourth quarter to pick up their first W of the year over the hometown Argonauts, scoring 18 points to finally come back after starting the final frame down 15-10. Ricky Ray didn’t have quite the game he had last week, but one of the positives for Argos fans will definitely be that thanks to the emergence of DeVier Posey and Armanti Edwards, not to mention the veteran presence of SJ Green, the receiving corps is so far in very good hands – something that was expected to be a weakness during offseason analysis. For the Lions, Bryan Burnham was Jonathon Jennings’ favourite target on the night, racking up a team-high 9 catches and 118 yards; Jennings had a slow start but recovered well, ending the game with 23-35 completed passes for 301 yards, a TD, and a pick. The Argos’ Ricky Ray still leads the league in passing after two weeks, but his 321 yards are definitely much less than last week’s total of 506, a career high. The other bummer for Toronto fans – this game’s announced attendance was just 11,219, one of the lowest totals the Argos have seen in decades. It’s really too bad – the team has a far more stable front office, and is performing more competitively on the field, than last year – hopefully attendance will rebound later on in the season, but it’s been two disappointing weeks so far.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

Montreal 19 vs. Edmonton 23: Another win for the Eskimos put them alone atop the CFL standings after the first couple weeks of the season, but this one came at a big cost – starting running back John White is done for the year after tearing his ACL, his second major leg injury in 3 seasons (he ruptured his Achilles in the 2015 pre-season as well). After a slow start, and still reeling from the loss of White, the Eskimos managed to get back into things after a slower first half; backup running back Travon Van scored Edmonton’s first TD in the third quarter on an 11-yard run up the gut, where he absolutely levelled a couple defenders in his way. The Eskies followed this up shortly thereafter with a big interception of Darian Durant by Kenny Ladler, who brought it back deep into Alouettes territory. When Mike Reilly connected with Adarius Bowman for his sole passing touchdown of the game, it made the score 23-16 Edmonton, and the Eskimos would not trail again after that point. The Eskimos defense did a great job this game – Alouettes QB Darian Durant was held to just 166 yards, a TD and a pick on 14-24 completions.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Edmonton

Winnipeg 43 vs. Saskatchewan 40 (2OT): With another game on the line, the Roughriders sent out Tyler Crapigna to kick a field goal… And for the second time in a row, he missed, and the Riders lost their first-ever home game at the new Mosaic Stadium in Regina. It was a gunslingers’ delight, with the Bombers’ Matt Nichols throwing for 331 yards, four TDs and a pick, and his Saskatchewan counterpart Kevin Glenn racking up 377 yards, 4 TDs, and 2 INTs of his own. The Riders jumped out to an early lead, up 17-3 partway through the second quarter, before a Winnipeg TD and another late field goal cut the deficit to just 4 points before play ended. The Blue Bombers then had all the momentum to start the 2nd half, with two touchdown throws from Nichols to top receiver Weston Dressler, plus a fumbled kickoff by Saskatchewan which Winnipeg recovered; they had a 14-point lead with about five minutes left in the third quarter. Not wanting to go down quietly, Saskatchewan scored two majors in the fourth quarter to send it to overtime… where after trading field goals, it all fell apart for the Riders. Head coach Chris Jones still insists that Crapigna will unquestionably remain as Saskatchewan’s kicker… but with the team now into its third season of “rebuilding”, you have to wonder if he might be starting to feel the heat as the team continues to flounder.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

BYE: Hamilton (0-1)

WEEK 3 PREVIEWS

BC (1-1) vs. Montreal (1-1), Thursday, July 6th, 7:30 PM EST: The Lions stayed out east after their win over the Argos, practising in my former home city of Kingston, Ontario (halfway between Toronto and Montreal along Highway 401), for four days, before making their way eastward into Quebec. If they can keep they can sustain some good pressure from their front seven, akin to what Edmonton did last week against the Alouettes, then they’ll likely be poised for a second straight victory. Montreal needs to regroup and refocus, particularly in trying to get some longer plays happening… Darian Durant’s longest completion against the Eskimos last week was 30 yards, so he needs to feel secure enough to stretch the field in order for this offense to be working better.

PICK: BC

Calgary (1-0-1) vs. Winnipeg (1-0), Friday, July 7th, 8:30 PM EST: Both teams won their games last week in dramatic fashion, each scoring 43 points as well… Talk about coincidences. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not the Blue Bombers can make some magic happen again this week, considering the Calgary secondary is likely going to do what Saskatchewan’s failed at doing last week – namely, actually covering top receiver Weston Dressler. As good a game as Matt Nichols had last week, he also needs to make sure to not throw an interception if he can help it – the Calgary defense made Ottawa pay dearly for turnovers the past two weeks, and they’ll undoubtedly do the same here if given the opportunity.

PICK: Calgary

Toronto (1-1) vs. Ottawa (0-1-1), Saturday, July 8th, 7:00 PM EST: So far this year, the Argos have gone pass-heavy on offense, which means that last year’s second-leading rusher, Brandon Whitaker, who missed last week’s game with an ankle injury, hasn’t had much to do yet. It’s going to be overall a pass-heavy game from both sides – with DeVier Posey, Armanti Edwards and SJ Green playing well at receiver for Toronto, and with Ottawa countering that combo with Greg Ellingson, Brad Sinopoli, and Diontae Spencer, there’s lots of targets available for both quarterbacks. Ottawa may also have the use of William Powell at running back; he missed last week’s game after leaving their Week 1 matchup against Calgary at home. Kenny Shaw and Juron Criner, other offensive weapon for Trevor Harris, were moved to the six-game disabled list, along with OL Tommie Draheim and DE Connor Williams as well.

PICK: Ottawa

Hamilton (0-1) vs. Saskatchewan (0-2), Saturday, July 8th, 10:00 PM EST: After a listless opening week matchup against Toronto and an early bye week, this week presents an opportunity for the Ti-Cats to get a second season opener, and hopefully show more life than they did two weeks ago. Zach Collaros had to deal with a ton of pressure from an aggressive front seven, and fortunately for him, Saskatchewan lacks the depth there that Toronto displayed against Hamilton – with a little more time, there’s no doubt he’ll have lots of chances to move the chains as Matt Nichols did last week. For the Riders, after two ridiculously close losses, this team is definitely improved from last season’s squad, but there’s no doubt that they’re probably feeling rather frustrated at the opportunities that cost them wins in the last two games… specifically the two missed kicks by Tyler Crapigna. While they’re doing a lot of good things, Zach Collaros is also the best quarterback that they’ve faced so far, and he could easily end up torching them if they can’t keep their secondary disciplined and organized.

PICK: Hamilton

BYE: Edmonton (2-0)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Ray, EDM – 833
2. Harris, OTT – 725
3. Glenn, SSK – 675

Passing TDs

1. Harris, OTT – 5
2. Mitchell, CGY – 5
3. Glenn, SSK – 5

Rushing Yards

1. Johnson, BC – 162
2. Sutton, 156 – 156
3. Messam, CGY – 116

Receiving Yards

1. Posey, TOR – 218
2. Edwards, TOR – 209
3. Sinopoli, OTT – 199

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