I hear the rain is supposed to stop soon. This is a welcome development to me. Although we are not nearly as battered as the Caribbean and American south have been up to this point, it becomes a major pain in the ass to have to deal with rain delays for football games. I’m confident things will continue to move forward smoothly, and I will sit in my dry basement and enjoy it.

In league news this week:

• Edmonton signed DL Shawn Oakman and LB Derrick Moncrief to their roster. Two longtime CFL vets, each with All-Star selections previously in their careers, their help is desperately needed to help right the ship for the Elks. Coming off a bye week, hopefully they’ll be able to slide into the lineup soon.
• Winnipeg signed WR Lucky Whitehead to their practise roster, and I expect him to be in their lineup soon. Winnipeg originally signed Whitehead after his departure from the NFL and the Dallas Cowboys, and he quickly made a name for himself as a key player there due to both his pass catching and his special teams abilities, before becoming an even bigger star during his time in BC. With some notable injuries to stars Dalton Schoen and Kenny Lawler, I’m sure the Bombers are hopeful he’ll be able to get some good snaps in sooner rather than later.
• Calgary tried to sign former Saskatchewan starting RB Jamal Morrow to a contract after suffering some RB injuries this past week, but he failed his physical with the team; having had wrist surgery back in February, he’s still recovering. At 29, he might still have a little bit of football left in him but we’ll have to wait and see.
• Montreal DL Shawn Lemon is now suspended until his upcoming hearing with an independent arbitrator; the CFL initially suspended him indefinitely on April 24th due to evidence of gambling on CFL games back in 2021, including one he also played in; following Lemon’s appeal of the suspension, he initially retired before training camp, but elected come back and join the Alouettes and play until the independent arbitrator first made a ruling on the initial portion of the suspension last week. At any rate, it’s currently very messy, and if the rumours are indeed found to be true, then he’ll almost certainly be banned from the league for life.

Onto the games!

WEEK 5 RECAPS

Toronto 22 vs. Saskatchewan 30: Well, it looks like the Riders may actually be legit. With backup Shea Patterson starting for the very first time in the CFL due to a nagging Trevor Harris injury, the home side jumped out to an early lead before the visiting Argos battled back to tie the game. That said, the Roughriders’ D came to play, forcing five turnovers, including the game-winning pick-six by DB Marcus Sayles, and that was the difference maker in this game; when you win the turnover battle 5-0, you’re almost always in position to come out with a victory. Too bad for Toronto, who did well to neutralize former teammate AJ Ouellette, Saskatchewan’s lead rusher, while also getting a punt return TD out of return wizard Janarion Grant and getting their own RB Ka’Deem Carey to run the ball very effectively. Back to the drawing board for the Double Blue.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Saskatchewan

Ottawa 16 vs. Winnipeg 25: The REDBLACKS may technically be better than last year, but I’m still not sold on them being a true playoff team just yet… The Blue Bombers finally got into the win column for the first time this season thanks to a stifling defensive effort. This was definitely not the prettiest of games. Ottawa’s QB Dru Brown was knocked out of the game in the third quarter due to a very low hit to the head by Bombers DB Redha Kramdi, bringing Dustin Crum back into game action for the first time since last season… and he mostly ran for his life, not providing much offence for the REDBLACKS through the back half of the game.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: Winnipeg

Calgary 26 vs. Montreal 30: This was the toughest test of the season for Montreal, who were down at the half, but finished the game with 15 unanswered points to roar back and steal the win. RB Walter Fletcher had a tremendous game with 160 total yards from scrimmage and the game-winning TD, and QB Cody Fajardo had 374 passing yards to go along with 2 TDs and 2 picks. Calgary, despite losing, had some creative offensive playcalling that kept Montreal’s D on their toes for much of the game, with backup QB Tommy Stevens racking up two TDs on QB sneaks and several cool third-down plays that kept drives going.

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Montreal

BC 44 vs. Hamilton 28: Boy, Hamilton is… not good. Like not good at all. That defence, in particular, is atrocious. The Lions walked all over them, and the final score doesn’t really do justice to just how lopsided the game really was in favour of the visitors. To wit; the Ti-Cats were down 14-0 in the first quarter after letting the Lions score two quick TDs, while failing to even pick up a first down on either of their initial drives. The secondary gave up four TDs and 383 passing yards – 321 of those in the first half. RB William Stanback did a great job of just bleeding the clock in the second half. These Tabbies have some significant work to do.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

BYE: Edmonton (0-4)

WEEK 6 PREVIEWS

Toronto (2-2) vs. Montreal (5-0), Thursday, July 11th, 7:30 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): The Als have already beaten the Argos once already this season, and made Cameron Dukes look especially mortal in the pocket. He’s now thrown five picks and no TDs in his last two games. The Argos have definitely regressed a fair bit; Chad Kelly, despite his massive character flaws and moral failures, is, unfortunately, a significant upgrade at quarterback for the team. Should be allowed back on the field next month? In my opinion, absolutely not. Will he be a significant spark for the team regardless? Almost undoubtedly. Montreal did not play spectacularly last week, but still found a way to come back and win – the best teams in any sport consistently find ways to do that. Still not sure we have another team on Montreal’s level just yet in the league.

PICK: Montreal

Calgary (2-2) vs. Winnipeg (1-4), Friday, July 12th, 7:30 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): Winnipeg played some dull, defensive football last week – and finally got themselves a win out of it. Compared to the high-flying offensive juggernaut of a team that fans have been used to over these past few years, I can appreciate why that feels like a disappointment. There’s a lot that this team will need to do to turn around a poor start to the season, but a win like last week’s is a step in the right direction. Calgary similarly has some kinks to work out; last week’s first half against the Alouettes was overall very strong, but the team faded as the game went on. I liked the playcalling mix there, but the offence needs to ensure they can execute more consistently.

PICK: Calgary

Saskatchewan (4-0) vs. BC (4-1), Saturday, July 13th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): This is going to be an excellent matchup – the winner will claim first place in the West. Saskatchewan had a soft schedule to start the year but last week’s win against Toronto was a solid one – they might actually be legit. Regardless, this will be the toughest test they face to date. Considering how the Lions absolutely dismantled Hamilton on the road, one has to feel good about their chances back on home turf. William Stanback ran the ball a lot to bleed the clock – I expect to see a bit more balanced attack this week as it seems unlikely that BC will be running away things early as they did last week.

PICK: BC

Ottawa (2-2) vs. Edmonton (0-4), Sunday, July 14th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): Dru Brown is in concussion protocol after last week’s errant hit but the team is hopeful that he’ll be able to go for this game. They’ll need him healthy – the Elks are winless, and overall a bad team, but offensively, they’ve at least been able to put some points on the board thus far. Perhaps some of these new defensive signings I mentioned earlier might somehow make a difference – if the Elks can’t win coming fresh off of a bye week, I expect heads to start to roll extremely soon regardless of the difficulty of replacing combo GM/HC Chris Jones in either or both roles.

PICK: Ottawa

BYE: Hamilton (0-4)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Adams, Jr., BC – 1752
2. Mitchell, HAM – 1671
3. Fajardo, MTL – 1574

Passing TDs

1. Mitchell, HAM – 11
2. Adams, Jr., BC – 11
3. Fajardo, MTL – 10

Rushing Yards

1. Stanback, BC – 311
2. Armstead, OTT – 275
3. Carey, TOR – 269

Receiving Yards

1. Hollins, BC – 573
2. Philpot, MTL – 564
3. McInnis, BC – 482

Defensive Tackles

1. Beverette, MTL – 34
2. Hladik, BC – 32
3. Wilson, HAM – 31

Sacks

1. Curtis, EDM – 3
2. Adams, WPG – 3
3. Barlow, HAM – 3

Interceptions

1. Milligan, SSK – 3
2. Houston, CGY – 2
3. Avery, SSK – 2

Field Goals

1. Whyte, BC – 14
2. Castillo, WPG – 13
3. Paredes, CGY – 13

PICK POOL

Four perfect weeks… and I wasn’t one of them. I guess I’ll have to respect Gang Green a little more moving forward.

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

Enjoy the games, everyone.