This is the time of year where the injury bug is starting to get very noticeable in the CFL. I’m not certain how many times you’ll see that word or a related one throughout this week’s league update, but I’m certain it’s a lot. I’m also concerned with my own well-being as I fulfil a traditional Canadian stereotype and step back on this ice for the first time this season, as beer league hockey starts back up. I think I read somewhere that most of the biggest injuries encountered in amateur sports happen within the first 2 or 3 weeks of a season – since we’re all apparently fat lazy slobs after taking our long layoffs from playing. Don’t quote me on that one, though – I can’t remember for the life of me where I saw that info in the first place.

Onto the games!

WEEK 13 RECAPS

Saskatchewan 27 vs. Hamilton 19: With Kevin Glenn on the shelf with a hand injury, Canadian QB Brandon Bridge stepped into the starting role, and became the first Canuck to throw a 3-TD game in over 30 years; that feat hadn’t been done since Greg Vavra managed it for the Calgary Stampeders in 1984. The Riders started strong, with a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter, but the Ti-Cats, despite yet another loss, did show some pushback throughout this one, trailing 20-10 at the half and adding three field goals in the late third and fourth quarters to try and make a game out of this one. While Hamilton QB Jeremiah Masoli had a tougher go this week than in his previous starts, tossing 2 interceptions, he did have 328 yards passing and a touchdown on 28-48 attempts, and also added 62 rush yards on 9 carries as well. Roughriders DB Ed Gainey also had two interceptions on the night, bringing his league-leading total to 8, more than double the second-place holders Chris Randle and TJ Heath of the Blue Bombers, who both have four each on the season.

PICK: Saskatchewan

RESULT: Saskatchewan

Edmonton 26 vs. Toronto 34: The Argos got back in the win column with an impressive display of offence in this one; the team had 457 yards total yards of offence, but it was running back James Wilder Jr. who was far and away the player of the game for Toronto. Wilder became the first Argonaut to rush for more than 150 yards since 2010, finishing this one with 190 yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries… he also led the team in receiving yards as well, with 7 catches for 67 yards as well. Mike Reilly had a solid game, with 323 yards on 23-36 attempts and two touchdowns, and while it helped the Eskimos keep pace for a while, ultimately, in the end, Toronto just had a rhythm going all game. The highlight of the afternoon was without a doubt a spectacular touchdown from Argos return man Martese Jackson, who turned a missed Hugh O’Neill field goal kick in the third quarter into a giant 125-yard end zone run. It was the Argos’ first missed field goal returned for a touchdown since Chad Owens managed the feat in 2013. Edmonton wouldn’t quit, even threatening to score late in the fourth when Reilly connected with receiver Bryant Mitchell for a 60-yard gain, but a late sack by Argos DB Matt Black helped to seal the deal for Toronto.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Toronto

BC 13 vs. Calgary 27: Despite the score, this one was, overall, a defensive battle. With a lot of Calgary’s offence still banged up, Bo Levi Mitchell has looked much more average than normal in recent weeks, but fortunately, the Stamps have continued to find ways to win. This week, both the Stamps’ rushing and pass defences came up huge, limiting Lions QB Jonathon Jennings to just 167 yards in the air on 15-29 attempts and no touchdowns, in addition to picking him off three times. They also held the Lions to 77 total rushing yards – thoroughly a stifling effort. The Stampeders had the advantage in seemingly every category for this one; from the defence’s four sacks, three picks, and safety; to LB Alex Singleton becoming the first player in CFL history to record 10 or more tackles in 3 consecutive games; to kicker Rene Paredes going 4/4 on field goals; to Roy Finch racking up up 174 yards on 6 punt returns; to punter Rob Maver faking a punt and pulling off a 24-yard run to pick up a first down and put the Stamps in field goal range. There’s not much more you could have asked from Calgary for this one; once they get receivers DaVaris Daniels, Lemar Durant and Kamar Jorden back into the lineup, they’ll be even more of a force to be reckoned with. BC did, however, inflict some damage on Stamps running back Jerome Messam; he was forced to leave the game after a helmet-to-helmet hit with Lions LB Micah Awe in the third quarter, though he did walk off the field under his own power.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

Ottawa 29 vs. Montreal 11: Another day, another yank of Darian Durant from his starting QB job. With the major shakeup to the coaching staff that happened last week, GM and interim coach Kavis Reed was probably hoping to see an inspired team try and pull out of a tailspin, but once again, the Als came out flat at the start of the game, and this time, after starting 0-6 on passes, Durant was benched early in the second quarter in favour of Drew Willy. Ottawa swept the season series against the Alouettes with yet another dominant win; they had offensive possession for over 41 minutes of this game – an absolutely preposterous ratio. William Powell, back in the lineup for the REDBLACKS after missing the last two games with injury, had a very solid night with 144 yards on 25 carries, while Diontae Spencer, filling in as the top returner with Quincy McDuffie still sidelined, racked up a gorgeous 113-yard touchdown off a missed Boris Bede field goal. The one sour note for the REDBLACKS – the injury woes continue; with starting center Jon Gott sidelined and with quarterback Trevor Harris also out for a while, backup Drew Tate got hit hard by DB Dondre Wright and was forced to leave the game. Ryan Lindley, formerly of the Arizona Cardinals, came in to finish this one, and looked overall solid despite tossing an end-zone interception on his first career CFL pass.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: Ottawa

BYE: Winnipeg (8-3)

WEEK 14 PREVIEWS

Ottawa (5-7-1) vs. Winnipeg (8-3), Friday, September 22nd, 8:00 PM EST: Another week, another new starting QB for the REDBLACKS. While Ottawa’s fortunate that the injury last week to Drew Tate wasn’t as serious as initially thought (just a bruised shoulder and ribs and no other damage otherwise), they’re playing it safe by giving Ryan Lindley the start this week instead. While Lindley is, technically, the 3rd-stringer on the official depth chart, there aren’t a lot of CFL teams who can claim to have a guy with this much previous NFL experience on their roster, let alone as the third man down the chart. Winnipeg is coming off the bye hopefully feeling quite rested, but they will have to contend with the loss of top D-lineman Jamaal Westerman for the season; he suffered an undisclosed upper-body injury in the Banjo Bowl against Saskatchewan and has been shut down for the year by team medical staff. Regardless of the loss of Westerman, which is certainly a blow to the defence, the offence, which remains the league’s best, will hopefully be able to come out guns blazing in order to counter any deficiencies on the other side of the ball.

PICK: Winnipeg

Hamilton (2-9) vs. BC (6-6), Friday, September 22nd, 11:00 PM EST: BC may have lost last week, but they did gain a key piece of their 2016 defence back this week; linebacker Alex Bazzie, who had most recently been with the Arizona Cardinals, was released, and will return to the front seven where he was a CFL West All-Star last season. Despite a .500 record and last place in the West Division right now, they still remain in the thick of the playoff hunt… but Jonathan Jennings need to stop throwing picks. It’s absolutely killing them once again this season, just like it did last year, and with no stopgap behind him now that Travis Lulay is done with a torn ACL, there’s essentially zero margin for error left for the Lions. Hamilton, meanwhile, despite having started out 0-8, is miraculously, not officially out of things just yet, and if they can win this week along with a Montreal loss, they’ll have officially leaped them in the East standings. That in itself seems incredibly unlikely, even as of three short weeks ago… the playoffs, however, remain very unlikely.

PICK: BC

Montreal (3-9) vs. Toronto (5-7), Saturday, September 23rd, 7:00 PM EST: Will this finally be the week where Drew Willy gets to start? With Darian Durant benched in each of his last four games, and with the Als in a complete tailspin, some other shakeup needs to happen; after firing their head coach, a QB switch-up seems likely. The Argos, meanwhile, had a very strong game last week, and if they can look like they did against Edmonton, they should be able to claim another win. Even if the ground game doesn’t get going like it did with James Wilder Jr., Ricky Ray has had some excellent chemistry with SJ Green and DeVier Posey, and an increased passing game should be able to handle the workload. The Alouettes need to get something – anything, really – going on offence, because 15 total points in 2 games in 3 weeks against the REDBLACKS is absolutely piss-poor at this level of play.

PICK: Toronto

Calgary (10-1-1) vs. Saskatchewan (6-5), Sunday, September 24th, 4:00 PM EST: I think this could end up being an incredibly entertaining game. The Riders have bolstered their roster, most notably on the defensive side, in recent weeks, due to a bevy of players getting cut from NFL training camps. The help is definitely needed, for two reasons – it’s an all hands on deck approach as Saskatchewan battles for a playoff spot against high-powered Calgary and Winnipeg, as well the Eskimos – who have been faltering in recent weeks. Plus, the Roughriders have faced a bevy of injuries as of late, and a replenishment of bodies was severely needed, especially with 10 different players leaving the game with injuries at various times against the Ti-Cats last week. Meanwhile, with a dynamic receiving corps, it should give the Calgary secondary – arguably tops in the league – a real challenge, with a number of guys who are versatile threats on both high-percentage plays as well as deep shots. For Calgary, they’re also hoping their injury list gets shorter – the Stamps are hopeful to have one of their top receivers back this week in Kamar Jorden, while also hoping that RB Jerome Messam is available to play; as I write this, there’s been no update on his status for the game after he was forced to leave last week’s matchup against the Lions after getting hit in the head. Regardless of the missing pieces on offence, the Stampeders have still been far and away the league’s best team once again – and clichéd as it sounds, the best teams find a variety of different ways to win.

PICK: Calgary

BYE: Edmonton (7-5)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Reilly, EDM – 3949
2. Harris, OTT – 3724
3. Ray, TOR – 3567

Passing TDs

1. Harris, OTT – 23
2. Nichols, WPG – 22
3. Glenn, SSK – 21

Rushing Yards

1. Messam, CGY – 770
2. Johnson, BC – 661
3. Harris, WPG – 656

Receiving Yards

1. Ellingson, OTT – 1123
2. Green, TOR – 1010
3. Zylstra, EDM – 982

Sacks

1. Johnson, CGY – 8
2. Westerman, WPG – 7
3. Butler, TOR – 7

Interceptions

1. Gainey, SSK – 8
2. Randle, WPG – 4
3. Heath, WPG – 4

Field Goals

1. Medlock, WPG – 36
2. Paredes, CGY – 34
3. Hajrullahu, TOR – 32

PICK POOL

Remember to submit your picks here! http://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=138425