The NFL is back tonight! Yahoo! Very exciting! I’ll be watching all of it, as we all love to do here. I’m just glad the the CFL has mostly come to their senses about game scheduling during the fall season when the big league is back in session; they’re finally well aware that going head to head on a Sunday afternoon in the regular season would get them crushed with viewership. At least I now have two weekend afternoons of non-stop football to look forward to now. Everything’s coming up Maestro!

In league news this week:

• • The Ottawa REDBLACKS released starting RB RyQuell Armstead, and signed RB Jamal Morrow to the practise roster, who is likely to take his starting position. While Armstead had been having a fairly strong rookie season on the field, reading between the lines amongst coaches and reporters suggests to me that he was not bringing the best attitude and hard some difficulties keeping his composure during games. I can thus see why that may have been necessary, if a little bit surprising at first. Morrow rushed for over 900 yards last season and is a good back; he signed earlier with Calgary this season but failed the physical due to still being in recovery from off-season wrist surgery. As that was back in June, he appears good to go now, and I think will help keep the ground game effective for the REDBLACKS.
  • Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver Lucky Whitehead is under fire online for posting about offering to buy a Bombers fan a beer after video from last week’s Banjo Bowl showed the fan slugging it out with Roughriders in the stands in Regina. Personally, I think the whole thing is hilarious and people need to lighten up. At least it’s still up on X… for now, at least.

#33 I got a beer for you! #FortheW twitter find me this man. https://t.co/a2s60umVG7

— Lucky Whitehead (@Luck2fastt) September 2, 2024

Onto the games!

WEEK 13 RECAPS

Ottawa 12 vs. BC 38: After taking time to get re-acclimatized to the Canadian game in his first two weeks back in the league, Lions megastar Nathan Rourke finally looked like his old self, and the home side delighted fans in nearby Victoria, BC during their Touchdown Pacific match against the REDBLACKS. The Lions looked pretty unstoppable on offence, with Rourke throwing three TDs and rushing for another; on the other side, the REDBLACKS came unglued with a dozen undisciplined penalties, putting the kibosh on any sort of hope for a rally. Returning DE Mathieu Betts, also fresh after returning from an NFL training camp in Detroit, helped the Lions’ pass-rush look like its usual deadly self, with Betts racking up a sack and the unit as a whole picking up four on Ottawa QB Dru Brown. If this team can play like this for the stretch drive, watch out, West Division.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: BC

Winnipeg 35 vs. Saskatchewan 33: It wouldn’t be a Labour Day Classic in Regina without some seething hatred. The Bombers jumped out to a big lead in the second quarter thanks to a blocked punt returned for a TD by Winnipeg special-teamer Nick Hallett, followed by a Chris Streveler rushing TD… and then Zach Collaros got hit in the head. With their star out, Streveler played the entire second and didn’t throw much. Conservative ball allowed the Roughriders to claw their way back into this one. Saskatchewan QB Trevor Harris had an excellent game, with three TDs and no picks, and it looked as though the Riders had a chance to tie things late if they could make a two-point conversion after a big TD. Alas… they missed. But wait… an onside kick?? The Riders grabbed it! One last chance to go for the win. With time winding down, Brett Lauther tried to connect from 60 yards out on a field goal. The kick was straight and true… but five yards short. Bomber win, and the Riders go home unhappy yet again against their hated Prairie rivals.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

Toronto 28 vs. Hamilton 31: Bo Levi Mitchell played his best game in a Hamilton Tiger-Cats uniform and helped make the home fans really happy with an always-meaningful Labour Day Classic victory over the heavily-favoured Argonauts. Mitchell had 347 pass yards and two TDs to leading receiver Tim White, who had 180 receiving yards on the afternoon to help seal the deal in the win. While the Argos had been down 20 at the half, they pushed hard to shut out the Tabbies in the third frame to whittle their lead down and eventually sneak ahead; however, Marc Liegghio hit a big kick from 55 yards out to score the game-winning points for the Ti-Cats, and the Hamilton D, which has been mostly atrocious all season long, managed to get a key stop late in the fourth quarter to help get possession back and run out the clock.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Hamilton

Edmonton 35 vs. Calgary 20: McLeod Bethel-Thompson and Tevin Jones both had career days for the Elks to help them win their first Labour Day Classic since 2021 and only their second in the last twelve years against their provincial rivals. MBT had 486 passing yards and three TDs, while Jones had 208 receiving yards and two majors of his own. The Elks’ offence has really come into its own over the last few weeks, and even when the Stamps were attempting to push late in the game thanks to a spectacular 104-yard punt return TD by RB Peyton Logan, the D stepped up when it mattered most. Not only was Calgary QB Jake Maier picked off four times in the game, but the pass rush was flying all over the place. The Stamps look pretty darn bad. They did make the playoffs last season with a sub-.500 record, but they don’t look remotely close to a playoff team right now. I guess all good things must eventually come to an end?

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Edmonton

BYE: Montreal (10-1)

WEEK 14 PREVIEWS

BC (6-6) vs. Montreal (10-1), Friday, September 6th, 7:30 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): There’s no question that Nathan Rourke is the best quarterback the Alouettes’ strong defence will face this year. Coming off a bye and hopefully feeling rested, I look forward to seeing what happens with this one; many pundits at the start of the season predicted this matchup as a Grey Cup preview. We still have two months left in the season, but with the Als having clinched a playoff spot already and the Lions seemingly on the ascent following last week’s fantastic performance against a very good REDBLACKS side, those are some reasonable odds. Mathieu Betts is going to bring some hellfire down on Cody Fajardo too, so I look forward to seeing what Montreal does with their deep receiver group and the passing scheme to help keep the blitz off and buy Fajardo some more time.

PICK: BC

Toronto (6-5) vs. Ottawa (7-3-1), Saturday, September 7th, 1:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): This is the first time these two Eastern rivals have faced off this season. While Ottawa played poorly last week in Victoria, they’ve been truly excellent at home thus far this season. The Argos are just still working on trying to find the rhythm they managed to set so well last year on offence; when your star quarterback is suspended for half a season for being a sex pest, these things are bound to happen. I am confident that he will probably improve on the field over the next few weeks while continuing to get much worse off it as well. Mostly, the REDBLACKS just need to find their composure again and avoid any of the mental lapses or susceptibilities to trash talking that did them in last week. Mental toughness goes a long way.

PICK: Ottawa

Saskatchewan (5-6-1) vs. Winnipeg (6-6), Saturday, September 7th, 3:00 PM EDT (CTV, CFL+): After a crazy finish last week, a lot of fans on both sides are mad. Riders fans, of course, lost another Labour Day Classic against their hated rivals – always a reason to be salty – while Bombers fans are upset that star QB Zach Collaros was targeted with a dirty hit to the head that knocked him out of the game. I expect that bad blood to continue this week – not that it ever really needs much of an excuse to boil over between these teams. Still not sure about Collaros’ status – we may not know until later in the week – but the game certainly got a lot closer in his absence. Maybe it’s enough to tip the scales in Saskatchewan’s favour… but defensively, they’re going to need to be a lot more consistent if they hope to shut down the Bombers on the ground as well.

PICK: Winnipeg

Calgary (4-7) vs. Edmonton (4-8), Saturday, September 7th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): I gotta say: credit where credit’s due. The Elks offence has been seriously balling out these last few weeks, regardless of whether it’s been McLeod Bethel-Thompson or Tre Ford under centre. Edmonton has a chance to leapfrog Calgary with a win this week to take over fourth in the West; they haven’t been out of the basement in years and years, so even those marginal steps forward seem to be an exciting process. When you look at just how close the West is this year, we have to remember that both Calgary and Edmonton, who at times this year have looked as though they’ve entirely forgotten how to play the sport of football, are just two games back of BC and Winnipeg – who are both supposed to be Grey Cup contenders this season. These final two months of football are going to be absolutely wild – and Edmonton besting Calgary for a season series win would be a significant shot in the arm in this playoff race.

PICK: Edmonton

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Mitchell, HAM – 3383
2. Maier, CGY – 2921
3. Bethel-Thompson, EDM – 2879

Passing TDs

1. Mitchell, HAM – 21
2. Bethel-Thompson, EDM – 17
3. Maier, CGY – 15

Rushing Yards

1. Oliveira, WPG – 851
2. Stanback, BC – 810
3. Carey, TOR – 724

Receiving Yards

1. McInnis, BC – 1026
2. Hardy, OTT – 853
3. White, HAM – 829

Defensive Tackles

1. Morgan, EDM – 79
2. Milligan, SSK – 73
3. Anderson, EDM – 73

Sacks

1. Jefferson, WPG – 6
2. Johnson, SSK – 6
3. Johnson, MTL – 5

Interceptions

1. Milligan, SSK – 6
2. Houston, CGY – 4
3. Amos, TOR  – 4

Field Goals

1. Ward, OTT – 37
2. Castillo, WPG – 36
3. Whyte, BC – 33

PICK POOL

Rough week for me. Rough week for a lot of us, it seems. At any rate lots of time to make back that fall in the standings…

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

Enjoy the games, everyone.