Real football is back at last! And by “real football”, I of course mean the fact that NFL training camps have returned after much anticipation. I’m expecting the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to be knocking on my door to investigate me for treasonous statements any second… though realistically, since CSIS is just two guys in the back of a rusted-out Ford Aerostar on an IBM 386, I’m honestly not that concerned about it.

WEEK 6 RECAPS

Winnipeg 30 vs. Edmonton 23:  I guess I’m eating crow about Matt Nichols… for now. At any rate, the new #1 for the Bombers had a strong game taking over from a faltering Drew Willy, going 26-33 for a 78.8 completion percentage, totalling 304 yards and a score, while Andrew Harris added 127 yards on 22 carries plus another touchdown; Justin Medlock kicked five field goals, and Winnipeg’s normally porous defence did enough to hold up the league’s best quarterback in Mike Reilly. Reilly did throw for 346 yard and a TD, but also threw a costly pick in the fourth quarter as well which kept the Eskimos from making a more serious comeback. Despite the very unexpected road win for the Bombers, it came at a steep cost, as receivers Weston Dressler and Darvin Adams will both miss significant time with injury moving forward.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Winnipeg

Saskatchewan 3 vs. Montreal 41: I’m not certain that the Roughriders even remembered they had a game this week based on that final score. At any rate, despite coming into Montreal with some good vibes from Week 5 after getting their first win of the year over Ottawa, Saskatchewan got their asses handed to them by a Montreal team that played its best game of the season thus far. Kevin Glenn threw for 299 yards and 2 TDs, backup Rakeem Cato threw another in garbage time; the Als also had 3 rushing TDs, the most any team in the league has scored so far this season. Saskatchewan’s only points were off a 38-yard field goal from Tyler Crapigna.

PICK: Saskatchewan

RESULT: Montreal

BC 41 vs. Calgary 44 (OT): The second overtime game of the year for the Stampeders thus far, and what a way to mount a comeback victory. Down 34-19 at the start of the fourth quarter, Calgary scored 22 points to knot the score at 41 before sending it to OT, where a Rene Paredes field goal and a Jon Jennings pick sealed the win for the Stamps. Both offences were electric this game – Bo Levi Mitchell went 29-44 for 364 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT, while BC counterpart Jon Jennings went went 26-41 for 374 yards, 3 TDs, and, of some concern, two picks as well. Chris Rainey (he of former shitheadedness for the Steelers and also Rod “He Hate Me” Smart’s little brother) also had a sick 95-yard punt return TD for the Lions that opened the scoring in the first quarter.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

Toronto 23 vs. Ottawa 20: It was a game of kickers between the Argos and REDBLACKS. Ottawa’s Chris Milo was 2-2, including both a 50-yarder and a 55-yarder that tied the game in the 4th quarter, while Toronto’s Lirim Hajrullahu was a perfect 5-5, including a 53-yarder that ultimately proved the winner. Rookie Logan Kilgore, in his first start for the Argonauts, threw two picks to go along with a touchdown, but ultimately looked as though the Toronto offence will be able to hang on with starter Ricky Ray out for an extended period of time. Henry Burris, coming back for his first game since Week 1, did not play well – no dancing around it. The play-calling didn’t help – OC Jaime Elizondo oddly refused to go deep for most of the game – but, as someone who was literally playing catch on live TV with Burris last week (it’s a long story, ask me about it), I can say that his injured pinky finger still did not look good, and it was likely affecting his throwing more than he’d care to admit. Burris got picked off twice by DB AJ Jefferson, and had two other surefire INTs miraculously dropped at the last minute too. At any rate, hopefully some more time for practise this week for Burris will prove to be useful.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: Toronto

BYE: Hamilton (3-2)

WEEK 7 PREVIEWS

Hamilton (3-3) 11 vs. Winnipeg (3-4) 37, Wednesday, August 3rd, 8:30 PM EST: Due to scheduling this week, I dropped the ball on having the CFL Beat ready in time to preview this game, but will still write about it all the same. A lengthy weather delay due to a severe thunderstorm left many wondering if this game would indeed be played, but two and a half hours after kickoff was initially scheduled, the game got underway. The long delay in starting clearly threw off the rhythm for the Ti-Cats, who turned the ball over 6 times. Winnipeg scored 23 points off turnovers, most notably the three picks and fumble from QB Jeremiah Masoli, who, after a strong performance against the Eskimos in Week 5, has a serious Jekyll-and-Hyde vibe going currently. Hamilton fans are desperately clamouring for the return of Zach Collaros, who has returned to practice, but the team has made no indication of when he’ll return. For the Bombers, this comes as a doubly impressive win due to the strong defensive effort as well as the fact they managed to find a way to win without receivers Weston Dressler and Darvin Adams.

PICK: Hamilton

RESULT: Winnipeg

BC (3-2) vs. Montreal (2-4), Thursday, August 4th, 7:00 PM EST: You wouldn’t think it due to geography, but this is a big rivalry game. Montreal is coming off a big win at home while BC is coming off a crushing loss on the road; so far, however, Montreal’s only wins have come against a feckless Blue Bombers team and a defensively inept Roughriders side. Expect BC to rebound in this one, and hopefully keep the turnovers down – if the Lions can adequately protect the ball in this game, they should get rolling.

PICK: BC

Saskatchewan (1-4) vs. Calgary (3-1-1), Thursday, August 4th, 10:00 PM EST: The Stampeders pulled out a gutsy win late against the Lions last week; they shouldn’t likely have this same problem against Saskatchewan, who dropped to 1-4 last week after an obliteration by the Alouettes. With such a balanced offence, Calgary will likely give the Riders’ D fits.

PICK: Calgary

Edmonton (2-3) vs. Ottawa (3-2-1), Saturday, August 6th, 7:00 PM EST: Ottawa’s hoping for a big bounce-back game from Henry Burris – he needs to be better than last week where he tossed two picks and had a few other bad throws bounce out of Toronto DBs’ hands. On defence, the REDBLACKS will be missing two key pieces of their secondary in Jerrell Gavins and Abdul Kanneh; both don’t have a timeline for return just yet. For Edmonton, almost all their issues as a team come solely on the defensive side of the ball; after imploding in the second half against Hamilton and allowing the Blue Bombers to carve them up last week, DC Mike Benevides has to be frustrated, and is hopefully looking for some new solutions to their woes. The first match up in Week 1 saw Ottawa take it in overtime, 45-37; if Burris can be healthy enough to act like his old self, I’d bet it’s going to be another high-scoring affair.

PICK: Ottawa

BYE: Toronto (4-2)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Reilly, EDM – 1926
2. Masoli, HAM – 1867
3. Mitchell, CGY – 1584

Passing TDs

1. Mitchell, CGY – 11
2. Rielly, EDM – 11
3. Ray, TOR – 9

Rushing Yards

1. Harris, WPG – 382
2. Messam, CGY – 295
3. Whitaker, TOR – 281

Receiving Yards

1. Walker, EDM – 642
2. Williams, OTT – 625
3. Bowman, EDM – 586

Sacks

1. Bazzie, BC – 5
2. Chick, HAM – 4
3. Bowman, MTL – 4

Interceptions

1. Heath, TOR – 3
2. Campbell, CGY – 2
3. Jefferson, TOR – 2

Field Goals

1. Medlock, WPG – 19
2. Milo, OTT – 17
3. Crapigna, SSK – 16

Game picks this week: 1-3

Game picks this season: 8-16