CFL Beat: Week 8

We’ve officially hit the one-third mark of the 2026 regular season. I have no doubt that things are going to turn yet again, particularly as the injury bug will likely start to strike even harder over the next few weeks, but it has been interesting to see how bad Ottawa has been – and how good Edmonton has been. Luck is always a factor, but it’s also a testament to management and ownership groups’ visions when it comes to the high-level decisions that help teams to rebound and win. That rebound finally appears to be happening in Edmonton after so many years in the weeds – not so in Ottawa yet.

In league news this week:

• A very sad story out of Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan Roughriders DB Jayden Dalke, a team captain, died in a car accident this past week on Highway 11; unfortunately, it appears that he drove away from a gas station without paying for his fuel at the pump, drove the wrong way on a divided highway, and hit and killed another driver, all with alcohol and cannabis found in the car. Sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the other driver, 22-year-old Bhishma Rajyaguru of Regina, as well as to Dalke’s family.
• Toronto is bringing back DL DeWayne Hendrix after he was released last week; while he has yet to play this season for Toronto, I believe this move signals a return to the field may be imminent. Toronto is also signing veteran pass rusher Shawn Lemon, who was most recently with Montreal, though he similarly had a stint with the Argos from 2016-19, winning the Grey Cup in 2017 and also recording a career 14 sacks in 2016.
• With Nathan Rourke on the shelf for the next several weeks due to an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, the BC Lions are signing QB Tyrie Adams, formerly an Ottawa REDBLACK, to the roster, while also adding former NFL journeymen Kyle Trask and Logan Woodside to their negotiation list. Not sure we’ll see Trask or Woodside sign for BC, let alone suit up, but considering how bad Chase Brice was last week, it makes sense that they’re pursuing all potential options as they stare into the abyss of life without Rourke.

Onto the games!

WEEK 7 RECAPS

BC 17 vs. Edmonton 19: Nathan Rourke was injured from a sack just two plays into the game, before he even threw his first pass, and it was all downhill from there for BC. His backup Chase Brice threw four picks on the night and the Elks D looked the sharpest it has in years. Despite the strong defensive effort from Edmonton and an overall good night from Cody Fajardo, who had 282 yards and a TD, the Lions still somehow hung around for quite some time, and things weren’t truly settled until Brice was sacked twice in the final possession to force a turnover on downs and hand the Elks first place in the West Division.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Edmonton

Montreal 38 vs. Calgary 32: The Als topped the Stamps for the second straight week, this time walking away with a road victory to expand their lead on the rest of the East Division. Montreal QB Davis Alexander also set a CFL record, besting Hall of Famer Darian Durant by throwing 324 pass attempts without an interception. The Als had a 22-3 lead at halftime before letting the Stamps back into the game in the fourth quarter; Calgary actually managed to tie the game thanks to three TDs, including one after forcing a turnover on downs to strike while the iron was hot. However, Montreal got the winning score with just over a minute to play, as Davis Alexander connected with receiver Kaseem Ferdinand for the 27-yard strike that sealed the deal.

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Montreal

Toronto 23 vs. Hamilton 24: It was a crazy end to a game – after a back and forth second half, the Argos’ Lirim Hajrullahu was poised to kick a chip shot field goal from 31 yards out to win it for the Double Blue… but against all odds, he missed, giving the Tiger-Cats a much-needed home win. Toronto almost completed their comeback from being down 14, but fell just short in the end; Tre Ford’s first action in black and gold was a big improvement from Jake Dolegala’s dismal outing last week. The Canadian QB finished 21-27 for 218 yards, a TD and a pick; he also added 109 rushing yards on 10 carries for Hamilton.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Hamilton

Winnipeg 36 vs. Ottawa 34 (OT): The REDBLACKS looked poise to break their winless streak… and then, yet again, managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory after another fourth-quarter collapse. Dru Brown threw for 317 yards and two TDs in the victory over his old team, though things could’ve gone really differently for Ottawa had their defensive backs genuinely been able to hold onto three different balls that came their way that really should have been interceptions. Alas, for Ottawa, the Bombers came back in the fourth quarter after being down 26-9 to send the game to OT; after trading field goals in the first two rounds of overtime, the rules shifted to alternating two-point conversions to settle things. Winnipeg scored on their possession attempt, but Ottawa couldn’t do likewise, sending home fans away crushed yet again.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

BYE: Saskatchewan (4-1)

WEEK 8 PREVIEWS

Edmonton (5-1) vs. Saskatchewan (4-1), Thursday, July 23rd, 9:00 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): This game is definitely the Elks’ toughest test of the season thus far. Saskatchewan remain defending Grey Cup champs and are lauded as very likely to return to another title game, but they are playing with heavy hearts after Jayden Dalke’s death this past week. It’s a sad story all around, particularly considering his reckless actions, but good or bad, there is something to be said about adversity allowing teams to come together and really play as a unit. These Riders remain a deep, disciplined, and skilled group, and I still like their chances against these promising, upstart Elks, especially as the home side.

PICK: Saskatchewan

Calgary (2-4) vs. Winnipeg (4-2), Friday, July 24th, 8:30 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): Despite Zach Collaros’ injury, the Bombers are somehow staying afloat right now. Last week’s win over Ottawa was sloppy, but they’ll take it. Calgary has faced some tough luck to start this season due to some tough matchups early in their schedule, but offensively they have a lot of things going very well right now – and even being on the road I like their chances. Their pass game has been excellent this year – and I don’t expect them to sit back this week in the fourth quarter, unlike what Ottawa did against Winnipeg.

PICK: Calgary

Toronto (2-4) vs. BC (1-4), Saturday, July 25th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CTV, CBSSN, CFL): With Nathan Rourke out for the next several weeks, things are going from bad to worse for the Lions. While he’s only expected to be out a few weeks and not a few months, the Lions can still ill afford to get behind the eight-ball with their other divisional counterparts all finding ways to win, or to at least be competitive right now. Toronto hasn’t had a great start to the year in part due to a very suspect defence; with no Rourke to pick them apart, the dropoff to Chase Brice will hopefully give them some time to gel a bit more as a unit.

PICK: Toronto

Hamilton (3-3) vs. Montreal (5-1), Sunday, July 26th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CBSSN, CFL+): The good news for the Tiger-Cats is they looked much more lively with Tre Ford under centre than they did with Jake Dolegala. The bad news is that they’re on the road against the clear-cut division leader this week. Montreal just continues to roll having beaten the Stamps twice in a row; I think a lot is going to need to go very right for the other East teams to be able to catch them for the division title again this year.

PICK: Hamilton

BYE: Ottawa (0-6)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Alexander, MTL – 2181
2. Kelly, TOR – 2126
3. Fajardo, EDM – 1781

Passing TDs

1. Adams, Jr., CGY – 17
2. Kelly, TOR – 15
3. Harris, SSK – 12

Rushing Yards

1. Mills, CGY – 524
2. Rankin, EDM – 522
3. Oliveira, WPG– 423

Receiving Yards

1. Philpot, MTL – 807
2. Snead, MTL – 583
3. Johnson, SSK – 479

Defensive Tackles

1. Lee, CGY – 42
2. Jones, WPG – 39
3. Morgan, OTT – 38

Sacks

1. Hicks, CGY – 4
2. Howsare, HAM – 4
3. Ceresna, WPG – 4

Interceptions

1. Katsantonis, HAM – 3
2. Alexander, CGY – 3
3. Hutter, OTT – 2

Field Goals

1. Lauther, OTT – 20
2. Castillo, WPG – 18
3. Blanchard, EDM – 17

PICK POOL

Well, damn. Game Time Decision got my ass. I challenged him to nail two consecutive perfect weeks of picks in a row, and then he went and did exactly that. I will learn from my mistake in goading him into greatness.

Remember to submit your picks here! https://www.officepooljunkie.com/picks-pickem.php?Pool=NFA9D4OXO6C2U0A1

CFL FANTASY

In Week 7 matchups, Maestrottawa thoroughly bested BC Dick’s Dead Horse by a score of 89-40; my thanks to Davis Alexander and Kalil Pimpleton for really coming through in my time of need. Might have been a different result if BCD hadn’t forgotten all the Riders were on a bye…

In the second matchup of the week, Superfluous “U”s absolutely demolished Sacre Blew by a score of 104 to 25. Not easy to win when your starting QB is out indefinitely with a broken ankle, you know… However, also not easy to win when you have almost everyone on the roster underperform their projections.

Finally, O Spamada defeated RoughRougesGTD by a final score of 89-54; weirdly enough, pretty well every single player on both teams underperformed their projections, even with both sides all active and available… sadly for GTD, his guys just fell short by way, way more. Curious stuff…

***

Enjoy the games, everyone.