I’ve spent a lot of time in nature this past week. Thank the Lord for 5G internet. Nothing like a gentle breeze, a perfect campfire, a cold beer, a good book… and the joys of following sports news from the comfort of your phone. Back to civilization later today – which will certainly make watching these games a little easier.

In league news this week:

• REDBLACKS DB Money Hunter is headed to the six-game injured list, with some undisclosed injuries; Roughriders QB Trevor Harris is also bounded for the six-game IL with an MCL sprain suffered in Week 3.
• In the CFL Supplemental Draft, the Edmonton Elks selected newly-Canadian WR Zach Mathis out of FCS North Dakota State University. Born to Canadian parents, Mathis is a native of Tampa, Florida, and at 6’7″, 203 lbs, is a huge target who won two national championships with the Bisons – an intriguing pick who just finalized his citizenship papers. As a result of selecting in the supplemental draft, the Elks now forfeit their 2025 first-round pick.
• Hamilton dismissed their special teams coordinator, Paul Boudreau, after several uninspiring performances by his unit; his replacement is Dennis McKnight, a former NFL offensive lineman with 20 years of coaching experience, most recently as O-line coach of the Seattle Sea Dragons. McKnight also previously coached in Hamilton as their ST coordinator in 2017 before moving to their O-line coach role in 2018 and 2019.

Onto the games!

WEEK 4 RECAPS

Edmonton  21 vs. BC 24:  The Elks-Lions game set the theme for this week, which was “walk-off field goal wins”; despite putting up another 300-yard passing game, Vernon Adams, Jr. couldn’t help the Lions completely translate all that offensive time into points on the board. Edmonton had a 12-10 lead at the half and 18-13 at the start of the fourth quarter, but BC managed to come alive and score a late TD to re-take the lead before Boris Bede tied the game again with a field goal with just over a minute to play. Thanks to an ill-timed face mask penalty and a first down by RB William Stanback, the Leos had just enough time to get Sean Whyte on for the 42-yard game-winning kick. It’s yet another win for the Lions over the Elks, who extend their streak over their Western rivals to eight straight games.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

Montreal 30 vs. Toronto 20: In Montreal’s biggest test of the season to date, the Als were more than up to the task of dealing with the Argos, coming away with a big road win, extending their streak from 2023 to 12 straight victories, both regular season and playoff. The Alouettes contained the Argo passing attack effectively, with Cameron Dukes failing to throw a TD for the first time this season; the run game was a bit more energized, but it didn’t account to much, as Montreal had momentum all game long. Credit to backup QB Caleb Evans for making things happen when called upon – despite limited snaps in the game, he had a cool fake QB sneak where he instead hit WR Cole Spieker with a 44-yard TD pass. Hopefully Cody Fajardo is healthy after taking a few vicious shots from Toronto’s front seven, particularly from Jake Ceresna.

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Montreal

Winnipeg 19 vs. Calgary 22 (OT): Talk about a close game. Once again, the Bombers’ offence sputtered under Zach Collaros, but with Chris Streveler in under centre in the second half, Winnipeg finally had a passing TD – from Streveler to Drew Wolitarsky. Kicker Sergio Castillo had a fantastic game for the visitor, kicking four field goals, including a franchise-record 60 yarder in the fourth quarter… but at the end of the day, it was all for naught. Calgary battled hard, and despite giving up the late score that sent the game into extra time, managed to lock in during OT… DB Demerio Houston picked off Chris Streveler’s pass, giving Rene Paredes the opportunity to kick the game winning 52-yard field goal. A bitter pill to swallow for Winnipeg fans, who see their team now drop to 0-4 for the first time since 2012.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

Hamilton 22 vs. Ottawa 24: After several weeks of poor play, receiver Tim White busted out of his slump, with eight catches for 118 yards and a TD; his QB, Bo Levi Mitchell, had 322 passing yards and two TDs… despite an overall solid game, the visitors made some mental lapses late, and it cost them yet again. Ottawa had a pretty mediocre offensive showing, until receiver Justin Hardy was inexplicably left all alone in the end zone to score the go-ahead TD to put the REDBLACKS on top late. While Hamilton responded with a TD drive of their own, they squibbed the kickoff afterwards and gave Ottawa some excellent field position, setting Lewis Ward up to kick his fourth field goal of the game to seal it for the home side and beat Hamilton for this first time since 2018. Yowza.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: Ottawa

BYE: Saskatchewan (3-0)

WEEK 5 PREVIEWS

Toronto (2-1) vs. Saskatchewan (3-0), Thursday, July 4th, 9:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): While it’s true that the Riders are 3-0 to start the year, every single one of those victories have come against winless teams this year – two against Hamilton and one against Edmonton. The Argos, despite losing last week to Montreal, have a big win on the books in taking down West-leading BC back in Week 1. I still think the Riders are much improved from last season but this is going to be a significant test for them, particular with QB Trevor Harris now on the 6-game injured list with an MCL sprain. The Argos have also shown the ability to shake off the dust very effectively after losing a game during Ryan Dinwiddie’s tenure as head coach; sometimes it’s good to go on the road to shake things up a bit.

PICK: Toronto

Ottawa (2-1) vs. Winnipeg (0-4), Friday, July 5th, 8:30 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): The REDBLACKS beat the Bombers back in Week 1 at home, and now they’re going to try to do it again on the road this time. Winnipeg’s early-season struggles may be the shock of the CFL season to date, for myself and for many other pundits. It’s true they’ve had a lot of luck in order to pile up the wins they’ve amassed over the last two seasons – and now it just feels as though despite playing in a series of close games and being very competitive, their luck has now run out and they sit on the losing side of things. While losing two star receivers to injury of course causes problems, it’s arguably more concerning that QB Zach Collaros can’t seem to read the field like he used to – it’s been four weeks and he’s still yet to throw a TD pass – something even his backup, Chris Streveler, managed to do last game. For the REDBLACKS, there are still some kinks to be worked out on both sides of the ball – last week’s win was sloppy – but in a manner that somewhat mirrors the Bombers, the last few editions of Ottawa’s team have just felt insanely unlucky despite playing in close contests – and so far this luck appears to finally be turning positively for them.

PICK: Ottawa

Calgary (2-1) vs. Montreal (4-0), Saturday, July 6th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): The Alouettes are a juggernaut. I have been extremely impressed with how every single person on this roster has stepped up their game since midway through last year (with a notable exception in Shawn Lemon, whose gambling suspension has still yet to be ruled upon by an independent arbitrator, for reasons unknown to me). Hard to not pick them for this one, especially at home. I think that despite seeing some improvements this year for the Stamps, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, this one is going to be some tough sledding for them. That’s not a unique problem to Calgary – Montreal has so far dealt with everyone with relative ease.

PICK: Montreal

BC (3-1) vs. Hamilton (0-4), Sunday, July 7th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): Despite their atrocious record, the Tiger-Cats haven’t been awful, actually – mostly just unlucky. Their defence – particularly the secondary – is probably the team’s biggest area of concern right now. Going up against BC’s deep receiving corps is probably not going to do the team any favours this week, unfortunately. The Lions played well against Edmonton and limited their offence reasonably well – they still have some similar work to do on becoming a more well-rounded team but the early season results have been promising. A good showing on the road,  against a team going through it, would be another good sign that the Lions are the favourites to win the West this year.

PICK: BC

BYE: Edmonton (0-4)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Adams, Jr., BC – 1369
2. Mitchell, HAM – 1297
3. Bethel-Thompson, EDM – 1225

Passing TDs

1. Fajardo, MTL – 8
2. Mitchell, HAM – 8
3. Harris, SSK – 7

Rushing Yards

1. Carey, TOR – 230
2. Stanback, BC – 229
3. Mills, CGY – 184

Receiving Yards

1. Hollins, BC – 457
2. Philpot, MTL – 430
3. Mitchell, EDM – 355

Defensive Tackles

1. Morgan, EDM – 28
2. Hladik, BC – 27
3. Wilson, HAM – 27

Sacks

1. Curtis, EDM – 3
2. Barlow, HAM – 3
3. Dabire, SSK – 2

Interceptions

1. Avery, SSK – 2
2. Houston, CGY – 2
3. Hladik, BC – 1

Field Goals

1. Whyte, BC – 11
2. Paredes, CGY – 11
3. Cote, MTL – 9

PICK POOL

Whooooo! Two straight 4-0 weeks for me! I guess it’s simple… I’m just not allowed to mistake a mistake ever again.

Remember to submit your picks here! https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=231808

Enjoy the games, everyone.