A whole bunch of news from around the league to kick off this week’s CFL Beat. In lieu of any creative intro, we’re just gonna jump right into things.

• Montreal Alouettes coach Khari Jones has COVID-19. He was notified on Tuesday of his positive test, and as a result, he’ll miss out on coaching the team’s next game, at home against the BC Lions.
• Saskatchewan Roughriders DE AC Leonard was suspended two games for refusing a drug test before last week’s game against the Blue Bombers. He allegedly failed to provide a urine sample before the game – and as a result, will miss this week’s matchup against the Argos, after having additionally missed the Banjo Bowl last week against Winnipeg.
• Speaking of Saskatchewan, Chris Jones – the man who abandoned his job as head coach and GM of the most popular team in the CFL in order to become a defensive coach for the Cleveland Browns  – returns to the CFL this week as the new DC for the Argos. Jones has made a lot of enemies in Saskatchewan for his rapid departure back in 2019; while his contract had an out clause for NFL opportunities, his abrupt end with the franchise came just days after signing a contract extension, leaving a lot of bitter feelings behind. Regardless of his personal story, he remains a very talented football mind – he was instrumental in rebuilding Saskatchewan from the ground up to become one of the premiere teams of the league and a serious contender to win the West. How fitting that his first game back in the CFL will come against his old team.
• The Ottawa REDBLACKS signed veteran receivers Kenny Stafford and Terrance Williams this week while on a bye. The team is short on weapons and needs a boost to the offence; Stafford, age 31, has played six CFL seasons with Calgary, Montreal, and Edmonton, with a career high of 781 receiving yards in 2018. Williams, age 32 played five years with the NFL Dallas Cowboys from 2013-18, appearing in 83 games and recording 3377 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns. They also signed four others, including receivers Terry Williams (no relation to the aforementioned Williams) and Damon Sheehy-Giuseppe, running back De’Lance Turner, and long snapper Maxime Latour.
• The Argos signed veteran Canadian fullback Patrick Lavoie, who will hopefully provide a little more QB protection and blocking ability. Lavoie, 33, has played in 118 CFL games over eight seasons, catching 148 balls for 1343 yards and seven TDs.
• The Riders signed former NFLer and XFLer, DB Jeremy Clark; he also played five seasons at the University of Michigan, appearing in 36 games and making 49 tackles, nine pass breakups, and three interceptions. With the secondary ailing, Clark will provide a little added depth once he clears league COVID protocols.

Onto the games!

WEEK 6 RECAPS

Hamilton 16 vs. Toronto 17: Revenge for the Argos, after last week’s sound defeat on the road. Back at home for the rematch against the Tiger-Cats, Toronto did just enough to squeak out the victory and improve their record to 3-2 on the year. Unlike last week, this game wasn’t an offensive showcase – Hamilton was missing star receiver Brandon Banks, while Toronto QB Nick Arbuckle was inconsistent, throwing two interceptions. Arbuckle did, however, score one TD through the air (a nice 40-yard connection to DJ Foster) and another on the ground. In particular, Arbuckle’s second interception on the night almost blew it for Toronto; Hamilton turned the ensuing possession into what was potentially the game-tying score, with Sean Thomas-Erlington finding the end zone on a 21-yard run; however, Ti-Cats’ kicker Michael Domagala hit the right upright with the extra point conversion. That single point proved to be the difference-maker here, and despite having a much better second half, Hamilton just couldn’t quite pull off the late comeback.

PICK: Hamilton

RESULT: Toronto

Saskatchewan 9 vs. Winnipeg 33: The Bombers won their second straight against the Riders, and while fans in the Peg are undoubtedly thrilled about how the team dominated their Prairie arch-rivals, this game was mired by an ugly brawl in the end zone. Saskatchewan DL Garrett Marino and S AJ Hendy were both tossed for the scuffle, which happened towards the end of the first half after Winnipeg scored their second TD of the game. Curiously, Bombers RB Andrew Harris was not tossed, despite having ripped Riders DB Christian Campbell’s helmet off of his head in the scuffle. Fights aside, Winnipeg dominated this game; after Saskatchewan struck first, it was all Blue Bombers for the rest of this one. Zach Collaros had two TD passes on 18-22 attempts for 278 yards, while Andrew Harris had 18 carries for 80 yards. Backup QB Sean McGuire had three rushing touchdowns, all from goal-line sneaks; meanwhile, the Winnipeg defence abused Riders QB Cody Fajardo so thoroughly that he was placed in concussion protocol in the third quarter (though tests proved that he is ultimately fine for this week’s upcoming game).

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

Calgary 32 vs. Edmonton 16: More revenge from Labour Day weekend. With Bo Levi Mitchell back in the saddle at QB for the Stampeders, the offence returned to life. Mitchell’s chemistry with his favourite receiver, Kamar Jorden, was extremely evident all game long, as Jorden caught a dozen passes for 159 yards and a TD. Calgary was also fortunate to get a perfect night from kicker Rene Paredes, who went 6-6 on field goals to cap off a clear win. The Elks fell apart in the second half – Trevor Harris really didn’t get much protection from his O-line, and the offence as a whole was lucky to get bailed out by the D. DB Trumaine Washington scored a 47-yard pick-six to make it a 19-16 game at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but it was all Calgary from that point on, and Bo Levi Mitchell wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Calgary

Ottawa 13 vs. BC 45: Two beatdowns in a row; the REDBLACKS are a mess. The team is performing as virtually everyone predicted as they would at the start of the year – but perhaps maybe they’d have made things a tiny bit more even than what we’ve seen recently. Dominique Davis started in place of a benched Matt Nichols, but it didn’t really do the offence a ton of good. More concerning for Ottawa, however, is the state of their D, particularly against the pass – the secondary got absolutely spitroasted in this one. The Lions had three passing TDs in the first quarter alone, and then to add insult to injury, receiver/returner Lucky Whitehead returned a rare FG miss by REDBLACKS kicker Lewis Ward 119 yards for another major score. Add another pick-six from Lions DB Bo Lokombo, and the first half went from utterly awful to somehow even worse for Ottawa fans. This is a bad, bad football team – it’s good that the coaching staff changed from 2019, but there need to be some sweeping roster changes made moving forward. This current squad simply cannot get the job done.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

BYE: Montreal (2-2)

WEEK 7 PREVIEWS

Calgary (2-4) vs. Hamilton (2-3), Friday, September 17th, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): Still not sure what the deal is with Jeremiah Masoli. Hamilton swears they’re not “being coy” with his injury status, but one has to wonder what exactly is going to happen moving forward. Dane Evans was dinged up with a hip injury late last week, and one has to imagine the coaching staff probably doesn’t want to start third-stringer David Watford. The Ti-Cats will need all hands on deck to deal with Calgary, even though the team hasn’t had a great start to the year. They may be last in the West and a game below .500, but Bo Levi Mitchell is back – and a good quarterback can take you a hell of a ways in this league. I think Calgary still has the potential to rebound – if they can win this one, they’re just half a game back of .500 and can easily build into a strong second half of the season.

PICK: Calgary

Toronto (3-2) vs. Saskatchewan (3-2), Friday, September 17th, 10:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): Cody Fajardo was in concussion protocol last week, but he should be good to go against the Argos. The last two weeks demonstrated a lot of weaknesses in the Saskatchewan O-line, however; for a team like Toronto, which has some excellent pass rushers in Charleston Hughes, Shane Ray, and former Baylor man-mountain Shawn Oakman, they’ll have watched some pretty significant tape to see how to get pressure on Fajardo. Toronto’s offence has still been very up-and-down; Nick Arbuckle continues to show flashes of sheer brilliance, but he’s also made some poor reads and paid the price for it. All the same, I think the Argos have made their bed. Arbuckle is both the present and the future, and while McLeod Bethel-Thompson has a cannon arm, his lack of pocket mobility probably prevents the offence from being dynamic as possible. Continuing to switch back and forth between QBs at the midpoint of the season probably doesn’t do anyone any good, really.

PICK: Toronto

BC (3-2) vs. Montreal (2-2), Saturday, September 18th, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): With no Khari Jones at the helm due to being in COVID-19 isolation, RB coach Andre Bolduc will take the reins for the Alouettes. Not a great start coming out of a bye week, but at least everyone else on the team is healthy. When the Als are at their best, they remain fun as all hell – that Labour Day weekend beatdown of the REDBLACKS proved as such – but they haven’t been as fun when stacked up against good teams. Of all the games on the slate this week, I think this one may be the most even stacked one – based on the ball-hawking abilities of the Lions secondary, however, I think I am going to give the road team a slight edge here. The Lions are four-point dogs – which means I am either gonna feel ridiculously vindicated or general malaise about my pick. What’s new, really?

PICK: BC

Winnipeg (4-1) vs. Edmonton (3-2), Saturday, September 18th, 9:45 PM EST (TSN, ESPNews): The Elks need to fix their O-line issues and give Trevor Harris more time and space – he didn’t throw a TD last week against Calgary. Against an absolutely ferocious Bombers’ defence, that’s a really, really, tough order. Week in and week out, Winnipeg has shown they remain the top team in the league – I don’t see anything changing much this week. What can you do as a coordinator when the opposing D is all so mobile and versatile? Just call some deep daggers and say a little prayer? Edmonton has very little margin for error if they want to take this one.

PICK: Winnipeg

BYE: Ottawa (1-4)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Harris, EDM – 1481
2. Collaros, WPG – 1479
3. Reilly, BC – 1293

Passing TDs

1. Adams, Jr., MTL – 9
2. Collaros, WPG – 9
3. Harris, EDM – 6

Rushing Yards

1. Wilder, EDM – 428
2. Stanback, MTL – 346
3. Carey, CGY – 339

Receiving Yards

1. Jorden, CGY – 516
2. Lawler, WPG – 468
3. Whitehead – 421

Sacks

1. Jeffcoat, WPG – 5
2. Woodard, SSK – 5
3. Lemon, CGY – 4

Interceptions

1. Gainey, SSK – 2
2. Lokombo, BC – 2
3. Kanneh, OTT – 2

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 20
2. Whyte, EDM – 14
3. Lauther, SSK – 14

PICK POOL

Did I fuck up last week and forget to submit my picks? Dear reader, you know I did. It is my absolute curse and as long as my ADHD ass keeps forgetting to set reminders, the more likely it’s going to happen. Sigh.