I’m not ready yet to go back to school. I need to hang onto this summer just a little tiny bit longer. With an exceptionally noisy music teaching job to return to shortly, not to mention the sounds of an infant arriving in just a few short months’ time, the sound of silence needs to be savoured for as long as humanly possible. I’m excited for what’s coming up… but I just need a little bit more time to savour relaxing in the basement in a quiet house with some football on, muted in the background. That’s one of life’s most simple pleasures, is it not?

In league news this week:

• With the World Cup coming to North America next year, the Toronto Argos and BC Lions will be affected significantly by the world’s biggest soccer tournament temporarily evicting them from their home stadiums of BMO Field and BC Place. The Argos will host the majority of their home games in the second half of the 2026 CFL season to compensate for this scheduling dilemma, but will also host “home” games in Hamilton, Winnipeg and Regina against their respective host teams, and get to keep the majority of the ticket revenue there. BC is going to announce a similar plan soon. I don’t like this at all – I think there were a number of better options on the table for the Argos, including maybe even squeezing a game (with a small set of temp bleachers added, maybe?) at their former long-time home of Varsity Stadium on the University of Toronto main campus, in the heart of the city. Home teams deserve home crowds.
• The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced that the team will play a preseason game in Saskatoon, the province’s largest city, for the first time since 1991. The Riders have always called Regina home, and the city, while slightly smaller than Saskatoon, has enjoyed elevated social status across the country due to its status as a provincial capital. Regina and Saskatoon have always had a friendly rivalry going which is most notable in Canadian junior hockey, with the Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats consistently leading the Western Hockey League in attendance.
• The Als’ quarterback injury woes continue; third-stringer Caleb Evans, who started last week due to #1 Davis Alexander and #2 McLeod Bethel-Thompson already on the six-game injured list, tore his ACL last week against BC, and he’s out for the year. Montreal already signed Cameron Dukes last week in the wake of so many blows to their depth chart; this week, they also signed former Saskatchewan backup and University of Michigan standout Shea Patterson to their roster. This week, fourth-stringer James Morgan will get the start against Winnipeg, and will be backed up by Dukes and Patterson… If anything else happens to the Als’ quarterbacks, any one of us might get the call to come suit up next week in Montreal.
• 2019 CFL MOP Brandon Banks, best known for his time with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, has called it a career in pro football. A tiny, shifty, and incredibly fast kick returner and receivers, Banks is Hamilton’s franchise leader in kickoff return yards, punt return yards, missed FG return yards, and missed FG return TDs; he’s second in punt return TDs, total combined yards, and total TDs in franchise history. While Banks is American, he plans to live permanently in Hamilton following his retirement.
• Winnipeg signed DB Demerio Houston this week; a former Blue Bomber and Calgary Stampeder, this signing is going to raise a number of eyebrows in Canada due to the fact that Houston was arrested in North Carolina on domestic violence charges back in November, though they were dismissed back in March. Houston is a good player, unquestionably, but the league’s agreement to bring him back – which included mandatory counselling and therapy for gender-based violence – seems like a lot of unnecessary baggage.

Onto the games!

WEEK 11 RECAPS

Ottawa 27 vs. Winnipeg 30: For a moment there, it really looked like the REDBLACKS were going to complete another insane comeback. Down 20-3 at halftime, they actually tied things at 27 late in the game thanks to a 117-yard touchdown by Kalil Pimpleton off a missed field goal attempt. Unfortunately for the visitors, Zach Collaros had just enough time to put together a drive for Sergio Castillo to kick the game-winning 47-yard field goal as time expired to seal it for Winnipeg. A sloppy win for Winnipeg, but they’ll take it; a demoralizing loss for Ottawa, who have still yet to put a complete 60-minute effort together this year; they also lost starting QB Dru Brown with a knee injury, though it’s not expected to be long-term, fortunately.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: Winnipeg

Toronto 20 vs. Edmonton 28: Justin Rankin had another monster night for the Elks, with 179 combined rushing and receiving yards on 18 touches, plus a TD; Edmonton’s O-line did a really nice job of opening up holes and protecting Cody Fajardo, who went 25-31 for 273 yards, a TD and a pick. The Argos had a third-quarter 17-13 lead courtesy of a TD from Nick Arbuckle to Jake Herslow, but couldn’t find a timely defensive stop later on. The Elks regained the lead, and the Argos, despite little time left in the fourth, fumbled a long snap on a punt and turned the ball over on downs, allowing Edmonton to kick an insurance field goal to cement the final score. A sloppy game from the Double Blue’s D and special teams, yet again.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Edmonton

Hamilton 9 vs. Saskatchewan 29: The Roughriders’ D was playing for keeps this past week. The Tiger-Cats’ high-octane offence was effectively neutered, with MOP candidate Bo Levi Mitchell sacked six times and picked off twice, failing to throw any TDs at all in the contest. The Riders also had a tidy offensive game, with Trevor Harris throwing three TDs to go with 21-27 attempts for 307 yards, plus a pick. RB AJ Ouellette also pounded the rock effectively with 116 rush yards on 20 carries. The Tabbies had pretty much no answer for Saskatchewan’s relentless defense, and while they maintain a hold on top spot in the East, they’ll need to use this game to think about what can be done for better QB protection moving forward.

PICK: Saskatchewan

RESULT: Saskatchewan

Montreal 18 vs. BC 36: The Lions manhandled the visiting Alouettes, who lost yet another QB to injury in this game when Caleb Evans tore his ACL in the second quarter. In relief duty, James Morgan did alright, going 20-33 for 211 yards and a late TD to Tyler Snead, but it just wasn’t enough to compete with the Lions’ relentless passing game. Keon Hatcher had an immaculate night, catching 11 balls on 11 targets for 156 yards and two scores; QB Nathan Rourke had four TDs in this game and went over 300 passing yards for the sixth time this season. With the Lions competing neck and neck with Winnipeg in the West, not to mention keeping their eyes wide open about a potential crossover playoff berth to the East, this was an extremely valuable home win.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

BYE: Calgary (6-3)

WEEK 12 PREVIEWS

Winnipeg (5-4) vs. Montreal (5-5), Thursday, August 21st, 7:30 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): With Montreal down to fourth-stringer James Morgan as their best available QB for this game, it might be reasonable to argue that home fans may not be getting their best value for ticket money if watching this game live at Molson Stadium. Winnipeg gets RB Peyton Logan back in the lineup for the first time this season after suffering a training camp thigh injury; he’ll be the main backup to star rusher Brady Oliveira and will likely be featured as a returner too. The Als are in free-fall due to lack of stability at quarterback; their D remain overall effective but with the offence drying up these past few weeks, the pressure’s on to not be caught by the struggling REDBLACKS for second in the division.

PICK: Winnipeg

Edmonton (3-6) vs. Ottawa (3-7), Friday, August 22nd, 7:30 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): It’s true that Ottawa’s season has not really gone how they’ve wanted it to thus far, and with Dru Brown on the shelf yet again, they’re facing further adversity once again. Dustin Crum will go under centre once again, and while he remains young with upside, his main knock as a player, as it’s been for his entire CFL career, is his lack of ability to get a deep ball out to receivers due to not being able to see his reads effectively. While shifty when escaping the pocket, it is unfortunately the type of player that can be game-planned for effectively, particularly with an Edmonton front seven that has done an OK job of getting quarterback pressure up this year.

PICK: Edmonton

BC (5-5) vs. Toronto (2-8), Saturday, August 23rd, 3:00 PM EDT (TSN, CTV, CFL+): The Lions aren’t having a fantastic year, but they remain a playoff contender in part due to the weak East Division and the ability for a crossover playoff berth to potentially come into effect this year (i.e. if the fourth-place team in one division has a better record than the third-place team in the other division, they will bump that team from the third and final playoff slot in that alternate division). And at the same time, it wouldn’t feel unreasonable to see them finish ahead of Winnipeg for third in the West if they’re able to stay more healthy than the Bombers in the second half of the season. A game against the last-place Argos might be just what’s needed at this juncture of the year. For Toronto, a REDBLACKS win and a loss for themselves this week might prematurely stick a dagger in their playoff hopes for the year, despite there being almost half a season yet to play.

PICK: BC

Saskatchewan (8-1) vs. Calgary (6-3), Sunday, August 24th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): Calgary upset the league-leading Riders 24-10 n Regina for their only loss of the season back in Week 6; in that game, Trevor Harris threw for 425 yards but only managed a single touchdown in the third quarter for Saskatchewan. That game was probably the biggest surprise of the year to date; while there are a lot of factors that may potentially help the Stamps to try and win their season series this week, including home field advantage and coming off of a bye week last week, I think Saskatchewan won’t be caught by surprise this time around. If the Riders can get the run game going this week, you’ll likely see a far different ball game.

PICK: Saskatchewan

BYE: Hamilton (6-4)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Mitchell, HAM – 3057
2. Arbuckle, TOR – 3033
3. Rourke, BC – 2686

Passing TDs

1. Mitchell, HAM – 21
2. Arbuckle, TOR – 17
3. Harris, SSK – 16

Rushing Yards

1. Butler, BC – 785
2. Mills, CGY – 660
3. Ouellette, SSK – 648

Receiving Yards

1. Hatcher, BC – 878
2. Coxie, TOR – 854
3. Lawler, HAM – 845

Defensive Tackles

1. Awe, BC – 77
2. Pickett, OTT – 63
3. Judge, TOR – 61

Sacks

1. Adeyemi-Berglund, MTL  – 7
2. Hutchings, CGY – 6
3. Chatfield, TOR – 6

Interceptions

1. Greene, CGY – 4
2. Ento, MTL  – 3
3. Peters, HAM – 3

Field Goals

1. Maltos, MTL – 32
2. Hajrullahu, TOR – 27
3. Castillo, WPG – 24

PICK POOL

A whole series of perfect weeks; another bad omen for me if I’m ever to close this gap over the second half of the season…

Remember to submit your picks here! https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=243178

Enjoy the games, everyone.