CFL Beat: Week 3

BC 15 vs. Calgary 9: Michael Reilly went 26-33 for 342 yards and a rushing TD, while the Lions played some impressive shutdown defense and handed the Stamps their second loss of the season. Calgary has looked surprisingly out of sync thus far in the season; to further add to their woes, starting QB Bo Levi Mitchell was picked off four times in a single game for the first time in his career. Mitchell’s performance is likely to do with an injury he suffered last week against the Argos, but the Stamps’ coaching staff is not specifying anything at this time. For Lions fans, it’s always nice to see Reilly when he’s at his best – looks like the elbow does not appear to be bothering him too much at this point of the year.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: BC

Toronto 7 vs. Winnipeg 20: The Bombers improved to 2-0 on the year while Toronto was dealt its first loss of the season. Winnipeg QB Zach Collaros had his second straight game of 200-plus passing yards, going 32-40 for 292 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, while his Toronto counterpart McLeod Bethel-Thompson was held to just 70 yards on 10-20 pass attempts on the night. Bethel-Thompson was replaced by Nick Arbuckle midway through the third quarter, though he fared only marginally better, going 10-19 for 96 yards and an interception. The Argos’ only points on the night came on a nice 30-yard touchdown run by John White, marking another overall strong defensive effort from Winnipeg, who remain tied for the West Division lead with Saskatchewan.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

Montreal 30 vs. Edmonton 13: The Alouettes looked really sharp in their first game of the season; Vernon Adams, Jr. threw two touchdowns, while special teamer Mario Alford had a nice 86-yard punt return that he took to the house for another score. Edmonton’s offensive woes continued; they’ve only scored a single touchdown in two games, with this one happening in garbage time when Trevor Harris connected with Shai Ross on an eleven-yard pass. Things do not look good for the Elks – it may still be only two games into the season, but there’s a lot of work to be done if they want to keep pace with heavyweights Winnipeg and Saskatchewan in the West.

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Montreal

Hamilton 8 vs. Saskatchewan 30: I could pretty much copy and paste most of my commentary from the previous game into this one – but even for my standards, that would be phoning it in a bit too much. Jeremiah Masoli had his second sub-par game, throwing for two interceptions and no TDs once again, and he was yanked for Dane Evans towards the end of the third quarter. Hamilton has little momentum on offense over the last two games, so one has to wonder if a shakeup is coming after the bye week. Meanwhile, Riders fans are rejoicing at how lucky they are to have solid, consistent quarterback play for the first time in a while – Cody Fajardo had another excellent outing for Saskatchewan, going 17-25 for 222 passing yards and two touchdowns, while adding another on the ground.

PICK: Hamilton

RESULT: Saskatchewan

BYE: Ottawa (1-0)

WEEK 3 PREVIEWS: 

Edmonton (0-2) vs. BC (1-1), Thursday, August 19th, 10:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN2): The Elks need to right the ship – and fast. With only a single TD thus far in the year, the offense needs to get in sync if they want to keep pace with star quarterbacks like BC’s Michael Reilly. The Lions have the ability to control the game when Reilly’s in – and so long as his elbow continues to hold up, they have to be considered the favourites here.

PICK: BC

Montreal (1-0) vs. Calgary (0-2), Friday, August 20th, 9:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+):  Canadian QB Michael O’Connor will get his first start for Calgary against the Alouettes tomorrow, as the team placed starter Bo Levi Mitchell on the six-game injured list with a broken fibula on Tuesday. The Stamps have not looked like their usual dominant selves yet this season – if Montreal can put together an effort like they had against Edmonton last week, they’ll have to be considered as the new favourites to win the East this year. Yes, I know there’s a lot of football left in the year, but good coaches know that establishing rhythms early in the season helps for them to be sustained consistently.

PICK: Montreal

Winnipeg (2-0) vs. Toronto (1-1), Saturday, August 21st, 4:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN2): This is a rematch of last week’s game – it’ll be interesting to see if Nick Arbuckle will get the start for this one after coming in to relieve McLeod Bethel-Thompson after a weak first half last time out against the Bombers. Winnipeg, meanwhile, just needs to stick to their game – a win is a win, yes, but if they do show another decisive victory here, it makes one wonder about what may happen when it’s time for them to play early Grey Cup faves Saskatchewan – or perhaps Montreal. I hate to prognosticate too deeply too early, but this appears to be a good football team this far in the year.

PICK: Winnipeg

Ottawa (1-0) vs. Saskatchewan (2-0), Saturday, August 21st, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): The REDBLACKS come off their bye week rested and hopefully ready against their former namesake counterparts, but they’ll have their work cut out for them. The Roughriders are likely going to be almost everyone’s toughest challenge this year, especially if Cody Fajardo continues his strong play. The REDBLACKS displayed a good pass rush and good secondary in Week 1 against Edmonton, two things which might help them stay close in this one.

PICK: Saskatchewan

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Harris, EDM – 566
2. Reilly, BC – 545
3. Mitchell, CGY – 542

Passing TDs

1. Collaros, WPG – 4
2. Fajardo, SSK – 4
3. Adams, Jr., MTL – 2

Rushing Yards

1. Wilder, EDM – 174
2. Oliveira, WPG – 155
3. White, TOR – 139

Receiving Yards

1. Whitehead, BC – 244
2. Burnham, BC – 213
3. Walker, EDM – 174

Sacks

1. Woodard, SSK – 3
2. Leonard, SSK – 2
3. Moore, EDM – 2

Interceptions

1. Kanneh, OTT – 2
2. Rocquemore, WPG – 2
3. Brown, SSK – 1

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 7
2. Whyte, EDM – 6
3. Yamasaki, BC – 4

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Enjoy the games, everyone.