CFL Beat: Week 4

It’s one of the best weeks of the entire year… school is out, and Canadians and Americans alike both get to enjoy a long weekend! Hopefully yours is filled with fun, laughter, and the people you love most… and, if you’re especially sensible, some quality Canadian football action.

In league news this week:

• The Hamilton Tiger-Cats traded for veteran OL Colin Kelly earlier in the week, sending their seventh-round pick in the 2023 CFL Draft back the other way to the Edmonton Elks. With some rough OL play as of recent, the Ti-Cats really need some stability at left tackle, and really need Kelly to be their guy from here on out.
• Edmonton continues their significant roster shakeups, releasing five players on Monday; starting DB Matt Elam, DBs Ethan Makonzo and Malik Sonnier, QB Mike Beaudry, and WR Jalin Marshall were all let go following the Elks’ third consecutive loss of the season.
• The BC Lions released LB Micah Awe and signed recently released WR Shai Ross; Awe is a really good linebacker and was very productive last year for the REDBLACKS, but was a victim of roster ratios in BC behind two really good Canadian linebackers in Bo Lokombo and Jordan Williams. He’ll be picked up by a team, I’m confident; Ross will likely also be needed to fill in for an injured Bryan Burnham for the next little while.

Onto the games!

WEEK 3 RECAPS

Saskatchewan 13 vs. Montreal 37: Saskatchewan lost starting centre Dan Clark to a broken leg in their week 2 win over Edmonton, and the offensive line suffered greatly without his presence this past week; the Riders couldn’t protect Cody Fajardo at all as the Alouettes racked up six sacks and three interceptions on the night, thoroughly besting Saskatchewan in their own home opener. Trevor Harris was efficient in his first start in red and blue in the 2022 season, going 16-22 for 262 yards and a TD, while return specialist Chandler Worthy took the opening kickoff to the house… and almost had a second return TD in the second half that was wiped out by a penalty.

PICK: Saskatchewan

RESULT: Montreal

Hamilton 12 vs. Winnipeg 26: The Bombers improve to 3-0 on the year, while their 2021 Grey Cup adversaries remain winless on the year. The Ti-Cats continue to flounder, and the main reason is turnovers – Dane Evans threw two more interceptions in this loss, including a 30-yard pick-six from star DE Willie Jefferson in the fourth quarter that blew the lead wide open for Winnipeg and basically crushed any hope of a comeback from the Tabbies. Winnipeg may not look as impressive as they did last season, but a 3-0 start is a 3-0 start, and they still remain the team to beat in this league.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

Edmonton 23 vs. Calgary 30: Another week, another comeback victory for the Stampeders; the run game was mobilized and Bo Levi Mitchell was focused, as Calgary put together a strong second half and held off a late Elks drive to keep their unbeaten season going. Despite falling for a third consecutive week, the Elks showed a little more improvement once again; Nick Arbuckle played the entire game under centre, going 20-31 for 226 yards, a TD and a pick, while veteran receiver Manny Arcenaux recorded his first touchdown as an Elk.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

Toronto 3 vs. BC 44: Looks like a bye week didn’t cause any rust at all for the Lions, who continue their white-hot start to the season. Nathan Rourke ripped it up once again, setting a new record for the most passing yards by a Canadian QB in a game – he went 39-45 for 436 yards and four TDs, while the defence ran roughshod over an anemic Toronto offence. The only negative for BC was the loss of star receiver Bryan Burnham, who will be out with fractured ribs for the next several weeks.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

WEEK 4 PREVIEWS

BC (2-0) vs. Ottawa (0-2), Thursday, June 30th, 7:30 PM EDT (TSN, ESPN2): The REDBLACKS may be winless, but they might also be the Lions’ toughest challenge yet. As we’ve seen in their previous two games, Ottawa can move the ball well up and down the field, but they’ve had some significant struggles finding the end zone thus far this season. Perhaps maybe getting RB William Powell back for this one might add some added complexities to their offence. Regardless, the D is going to have their hands full with Nathan Rourke – two games does not a season make, but if he can put together a game even half as good as the previous two he’s played, all of a sudden there may well be some serious believers in a Lions Grey Cup run this year.

PICK: BC

Edmonton (0-3) vs. Hamilton (0-3), Friday, July 1st, 7:30 PM EDT (TSN, ESPN+): It’s a battle of the basement-dwellers on Canada Day; Edmonton has continued to improve each week, and in both Week 2 and 3, they led at a few occasions before ultimately blowing the game, while Hamilton’s turnovers have been their Achilles heel this season. On paper, the Ti-Cats are a vastly superior team to the Elks, but if they can’t protect the ball, then chaos will reign. If the team doesn’t win this one, I expect some significant changes may be coming soon.

PICK: Hamilton

Montreal (1-2) vs. Saskatchewan (2-1), Saturday, July 2nd, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, ESPN2): It’s a rematch of last week’s tilt, and the biggest question will be to see what the Alouettes choose to about their QB situation. Vernon Adams, Jr. struggled against Toronto in Week 2, while Trevor Harris, filling for Adams while he had COVID last week, was excellent against the Riders. What does Khari Jones do about this situation? It’s precisely for this reason that I’m so glad I don’t coach. Despite the gaudy point totals, special teams was the real star of the show, and that’s an incredibly difficult thing to replicate from week to week. Montreal will also have to deal with the loss of their own centre Sean Jamieson for the next 6 to 8 weeks, which could well impact their protection schemes significantly. Saskatchewan needs to fix up their line play immediately; while rookie centre Logan Bandy was shaky last week, some more game reps will hopefully help him find his game. More unfortunate for the Riders is the loss of receiver Shaq Evans, who broke his ankle last week; Duke Williams will need to step up significantly, and they’ll need to find another guy or two to be a good second option.

PICK: Montreal

Winnipeg (3-0) vs. Toronto (1-1), Monday, July 4th, 7:30 PM EDT (TSN, ESPN+): The Argos may be sitting at .500 and leading the East division, but this is a team that has some significant holes. BC really exposed them last week, and I expect that the Bombers will still handle them without too much issue. McLeod Bethel-Thompson isn’t mobile enough in the pocket, and former Bomber Andrew Harris, despite having a good Week 2 opener against Montreal, looked slow last week. Even with Winnipeg still not having a clear #1 RB still, I think that there’s enough cool looks they can show on offence to deal with whatever the Argos’ front seven has to offer.

PICK: Winnipeg

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards 

1. Evans, HAM – 884
2. Mitchell, CGY – 833
3. Arbuckle, EDM – 795

Passing TDs

1. Rourke, BC – 7
2. Evans, HAM – 4
3. Mitchell, CGY – 4

Rushing Yards

1. Antwi, MTL – 172
2. Carey, CGY – 165
3. Morrow, SSK – 154

Receiving Yards

1. Lewis, MTL – 307
2. Lawler, EDM – 242
3. Henry, CGY – 238

Sacks

1. Robertson, SSK – 5
2. Lemon, CGY – 3
3. Wakefield, MTL – 3

Interceptions

1. Lee, BC – 2
2. Taylor, WPG – 2
3. Peters, BC – 2

Field Goals

1. Cote, MTL – 11
2. Lauther, SSK – 11
3. Paredes, CGY – 10

PICK POOL

C’mon, WCS! Get your shit together. .500 is only good enough for a crossover playoff berth in this league… depending on the year, I suppose.

Remember to submit your picks here! https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=205786

Enjoy the games, everyone.