It appears the CFL was kind enough to wait until I was home from vacation in order to start giving us some more significant league-wide news stories this week. Just as well, since I burned through an unreal amount of data in the last two weeks! The things we do for the love of writing, I suppose.

In league news this week:

• The Edmonton-Toronto game scheduled for this week has been postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak among the Elks. Edmonton’s not having a great year either on or off the field, so the hits just keep coming, it seems. It’s unclear when this game might be re-scheduled; if it can’t be done, then the Elks will likely forfeit… which means players will lose their game cheque for the week. A pretty significant penalty, but if this happening at the start of the season, it needs to be nipped in the bud. Twelve players have currently tested positive for COVID on Edmonton’s roster.
• In another shakeup for the Elks, special teams coordinator Chris Rippon was let go by the team last Friday; he’d joined the coaching staff in April as an assistant to former special teams coordinator AJ Gass, but took the job himself when Gass resigned in June. Rippon has decades of coaching experience, but none in the CFL prior to this year… and the rules quirks may have played a part in why he was fired, as the Elks’ special teams have been pretty dreadful through three games thus far.
• The BC Lions have a new owner: Amar Doman. The Vancouver businessman bought the team from the estate of former owner David Braley, who passed last October. Doman made his fortune off of lumber and building materials, and his local ties – as well as South Asian heritage – may potentially pave the way for redeveloping the Lions’ marketing and branding in an exceptionally diverse Vancouver sports market.
• A number of teams have announced new COVID requirements for fans and media attending games in person, requiring proof of vaccination, or in a few places, proof of a negative COVID test. So far, all of the Ontario teams (Hamilton, Ottawa, Toronto), BC, Calgary, and Winnipeg all have policies in place that require a proof of vaccination, while the Montreal Alouettes will follow the guidelines issued by the Quebec provincial government’s vaccine passport that launches on September 1st. Only Saskatchewan and Edmonton have not put forward any policies yet… and we’ll see if there’s any change on that front in the future.

WEEK 3 RECAPS

Edmonton 21 vs. BC 16: Despite the chaos taking place off the field, the Elks had a solid on-field performance against the Lions last week. Trevor Harris went 26-31 for 296 yards, a TD and a pick, including nine passes to favourite receiver Greg Ellingson, who had 148 yards on the night… finally, RB James Wilder, Jr. had 22 carries for 127 yards, averaging 5.8 yards a carry. Still just one touchdown scored, but the Edmonton D also delivered in huge fashion, limiting Lions’ QB Michael Reilly to 128 passing yards on 15-24 attempts, though he did have a rushing score in the red zone during the third quarter. The Lions’ offence was never perfectly in sync for this one, in part due to the good job Edmonton did on pressuring Reilly, who was sacked three times on the night. With COVID running amok in the Elks’ locker room currently, it’s the last action we’ll see from them for a little while, apparently.

PICK: BC

RESULT: Edmonton

Montreal 22 vs. Calgary 28: Surprising just about every single person, Calgary elected to go with rookie American QB Jake Maier rather than Canadian pivot Michael O’Connor for this game, with two-time MOP Bo Levi Mitchell on the shelf for the next six weeks with a broken fibula. Perhaps it was a bit of a gamble to go with the rookie, but it paid off for Calgary, as Maier’s first CFL game was one he won’t forget any time soon. Maier did have a rocky start, with two first-quarter picks snagged by Wes Sutton and Adarius Pickett, which Montreal turned into touchdowns… but as the game went on, he found his groove, going 16-29, 304 yards, and a touchdown to Kamar Jorden, allowing Calgary to claw their way back into this one. Down by two at the half, Calgary also had an excellent effort from running back Ka’Deem Carey (14 carries, 62 yards and two TDs) that gave them the lead in the third quarter. Montreal pushed back late, with a TD from Vernon Adams, Jr. to Quan Bray with three minutes left on the clock, but it wasn’t enough… Calgary held strong on the Als’ final possession of the game, and the Als are probably kicking themselves for letting Calgary back into this game in the second half.

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Calgary

Winnipeg 23 vs. Toronto 30: It was the Argos’ first home game since 2019, and Nick Arbuckle’s first career start in double blue… and he and the team looked great. Arbuckle led the way with 310 pass yards on 23-32 attempts, plus a pass TD to DaVaris Daniels and a rushing score of his own. Winnipeg’s TD from Zach Collaros to Rasheed Bailey in garbage time made the final look closer than it was, but the Bombers were mostly outmatched through this game. In particular, Winnipeg had difficulty establishing the run game, with Brady Oliveira recording just 28 yards on seven carries. That said, Darvin Adams did have a beauty 51-yard TD score in the second quarter for Winnipeg, but Toronto just looked like the better team consistently. The Argos paid big money for Nick Arbuckle at the start of this season, and if he can sustain a level play like what he showed in this game, team execs are going to be thrilled with their aggressive pursuit and signing.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Toronto

Ottawa 10 vs. Saskatchewan 23: The REDBLACKS’ offensive issues continued, yes, but that was almost certainly going to be the case for them from the get-go. With the victory, the Roughriders remain the only unbeaten team in the CFL. This game started off as a field goal extravaganza, with Saskatchewan taking a 9-3 lead into the half. In the third quarter, however, the Riders finally hit paydirt, with QB Cody Fajardo finding the end zone on a 2-yard run. Ottawa RB Devonte Dedmon had a rushing score of his own early in the fourth quarter to cut the Riders’ lead to 7, but it wasn’t enough, as the REDBLACKS wouldn’t muster anything else offensively for the rest of the game. Brett Lauther went 5-5 on field goal attempts, and the Roughriders enter Week 4 in first place overall in the league.

PICK: Saskatchewan

RESULT: Saskatchewan

WEEK 4 PREVIEWS

Edmonton (1-2) vs Toronto (2-1), Thursday, August 26th, 7:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): This game is postponed until further notice due to Edmonton having 12 players come down with COVID-19. As mentioned previously, this game is going to be quite tricky to re-schedule for a number of reasons, including both teams having differing bye weeks, as well as the availability of Toronto’s BMO Field due to the MLS team, Toronto FC, getting priority of scheduling over the Argos. We’ll see what happens in a few weeks from now if the league is able to come to a suitable remedy. Toronto has to be pretty steamed even if they do claim a forfeit victory –  the loss of revenue from one of their seven home games really has to hurt the books. If the game has to be re-scheduled to be played in Edmonton, expect some sort of revenue-sharing agreement to take place to try and make the Argos as whole as possible.

PICK: COVID fatigue fucks up Edmonton’s season after players return to the field in a few weeks.

Hamilton (0-2) vs. Montreal (1-1), Friday, August 27th, 7:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPNews): The Ti-Cats have had a terrible start to their season. Jeremiah Masoli has a rib injury from the Saskatchewan game two weeks ago, so Dane Evans will get the start at quarterback for this one. Evans became the starter two years ago after Masoli tore his ACL in Week 7, and he looked really good out right up until the Grey Cup game against Winnipeg. Perhaps a shakeup on offense, regardless of whether it really is injury- or performance-related, might be what Hamilton needs. They’ll also be without star DE Ja’Gared Davis, who has been suspended for a game by head coach Orlondo Steinauer for violating team COVID protocols. As for the Als, Montreal didn’t have a great defensive game last week against Calgary, so they’ll need to tighten things up moving forward. Hamilton’s previous offensive woes might prove to be a useful thing for the Als’ D this week.

PICK: Montreal

BC (1-2) vs. Ottawa (1-1), Saturday, August 28th, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): It’s Rick Campbell’s first game as a head coach against his old team, the REDBLACKS. As he continues to settle into his new job with the Lions, it’s clear that some of the issues that caused him to choose not to return to the team – specifically, Ottawa’s offensive woes – haven’t really gone away since 2019. The Lions haven’t been consistent to start the year, but with Michael Reilly’s elbow now seeming to no longer be an issue, it seems reasonable to think they’ll be resurgent over the next few weeks, with two games against Ottawa, a bye week, and one game against Montreal before squaring off with Saskatchewan again on Sept. 24th. REDBLACKS RB Timothy Flanders is out for this game, making it even more likely that Ottawa will have to grind out this game against BC if they want to walk away with their first home win of the season.

PICK: BC

Calgary (1-2) vs. Winnipeg (2-1), Sunday, August 29th, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN2): After rookie Jake Maier got the Stamps their first win of the season last week against Montreal, he’ll be back in the saddle again as Calgary takes on the Blue Bombers. Winnipeg faltered last week against a strong Toronto D, but I expect them to put forward a better effort in this one… The Bombers have a better pass rush than Montreal and should likely use that to their advantage in order to force the Stamps’ rookie QB to make mistakes under pressure. Additionally, the Stamps are not especially adept at shutting down the run game, and the Bombers are fortunate to have the league’s best running back, Andrew Harris, as well as a capable backup in Brady Oliveira. Despite being favoured by 6, Winnipeg cannot get complacent with this Calgary team – flawed as they may be this season.

PICK: Winnipeg

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Harris, EDM – 862
2. Fajardo, SSK – 773
3. Collaros, WPG – 713

Passing TDs

1. Collaros, WPG – 6
2. Fajardo, SSK – 4
3. Adams, Jr., MTL – 4

Rushing Yards

1. Wilder, EDM – 301
2. Stanback, MTL – 194
3. Carey, CGY – 185

Receiving Yards

1. Whitehead, BC – 275
2. Burnham, BC – 245
3. Lawler, WPG – 229

Sacks

1. Woodard, SSK – 5
2. Jeffcoat, WPG – 3
3. Leonard, SSK – 3

Interceptions

1. Kanneh, OTT – 2
2. Hardin, BC – 2
3. Sayles, BC – 1

Field Goals

1. Whyte, EDM – 10
2. Lauther, SSK – 9
3. Paredes, CGY – 9

PICK POOL

Apparently I forgot to submit my picks last week… although I don’t think it would’ve made much of a difference for me, considering my track record from before. I’d be only a single point better if I’d remembered. Yikes.

Remember to submit your picks here! https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=193216

Enjoy the games, everyone.