CFL Beat: Week 3

School’s out! We (Beerguyrob and myself, mostly) made it! Huzzah! Time to head up to the cottage and do nothing but drink 12 hours a day for this whole long weekend. Happy early birthday, Canada.

A pretty quiet week this week in league news:

  • After getting suspended two games for his hit to the head on Roughriders’ QB Zach Collaros, Ti-Cats LB Simoni Lawrence appealed his suspension last week. Until the appeal is heard, he’s allowed to play; against the Argonauts last week, Lawrence had another very strong game, with a sack and an interception to help lead Hamilton to victory.
  • The Argos lost so badly last week that Toronto RB Mercer Timmis retired from the CFL at just age 25. I kid. Timmis apparently has been suffering concussion-related issues for a while, and decided to hang up the cleats in order to preserve his health – something I’ll always support, no matter what. All the best, Mercer.
  • The Alouettes added former Stampeders WR Marquay McDaniel as an offensive assistant coach this week; considering the gongshow that has been Montreal’s CFL franchise these past few seasons, I actually like this move. It’s a minor one, sure, but McDaniel brings a wealth of CFL experience, having just retired from the league last season, and his ability to mentor a young team will likely prove to be useful.

Onto the games!

WEEK 2 RECAPS

Saskatchewan 41 vs. Ottawa 44: A topsy-turvy game, but featuring some excellent quarterback play – definitely a positive for both teams! A week after tossing four interceptions, Dominique Davis responded with a very strong outing to put the REDBLACKS to 2-0 on the season; Davis went 30-39 for 376 yards, 3 TDs, and zero picks – looking every bit like the starting QB that Ottawa pegged him to be at the start of the season. For the Roughriders, Cody Fajardo got his first-ever CFL start – and also looked awesome, making a game of it for Saskatchewan despite being down by a whole bunch of points halfway through the second quarter. With 27 completions on 34 attempts for 276 yards and 2 touchdowns, Fajardo and the Riders got very close towards the end of the game to tying things up. Both teams’ defenses took the night off, though DL Avery Williams forced a crucial fumble on RB William Powell, to which Ottawa responded with a field goal to start off the second half. A loss for the Riders, yes, but there’s stuff to build on from this one.PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: Ottawa

BC 23 vs. Edmonton 39: The Lions started strong, but the Eskimos came racing back to spoil Mike Reilly’s first game in Edmonton playing on the visitors’ side. Edmonton once again had a very balanced offensive attack, with CJ Gable, the current league rushing leader, racking up 111 yards on 23 carries, while Trevor Harris had another strong game at QB, racking up 294 yards passing on 25-33 attempts and 3 scores, plus an additional rushing TD as well. While the Lions started out strong, with Reilly tossing a touchdown to WR Lemar Durant, the Eskimos made some key defensive adjustments that resulted in tons of pressure on the Leos’ QB for the rest of the game, racking up six sacks. Reilly finished with just 149 yards through the air to go along with the touchdown, as well as an interception.PICK: BC

RESULT: Edmonton

Hamilton 64 vs. Toronto 14: A beautiful, blue sky, perfect weather, and a decently-sized crowd out to watch the Argos’ home opener, looking forward to rebound from a disappointing 2018 season. And Toronto absolutely blew it. They were humbled left, right and centre by the Ti-Cats, who dominated the Argos, but most notably during the second half. Jeremiah Masoli threw 3 touchdowns and ran for another, backup Dane Evans threw one of his own, while Bralon Addison grabbed 3 catches for major scores. To rub salt into the wounds, DB Derico Murray grabbed Argos’ backup McLeod Bethel-Thompson’s final pass of the game to score a 37-yard pick-six on the final play of the game. Just brutal for Toronto. If every game is like this one for them, it’s gonna be a long, long season.PICK: Hamilton

RESULT: Hamilton

BYE: Calgary (0-1), Montreal, (0-1), Winnipeg (1-0)

WEEK 3 PREVIEWS

Edmonton (2-0) vs. Winnipeg (1-0), Thursday, June 27th, 8:30 PM EST: Chris Matthews makes his season debut for the Blue Bombers after a training camp injury from last month, giving Matt Nichols another talented weapon to use on the field. Edmonton has looked fantastic the last two games, but BC has a ton of roster turnover – not to mention a new head coach and offensive scheme – and Montreal is, well, Montreal. Winnipeg will be the Eskimos’ first true test of the season. On paper, this looks like it could shape up to be another shootout, and if Matt Nichols shows some chemistry with Matthews, well, that’s about as perfect a counter as you could ask for when Trevor Harris and Greg Ellingson are on the other side of the field. My prediction? A lot of yards, a lot of “bend but don’t break” defensive schemes, and a lot of RPOs.PICK: Winnipeg

Montreal (0-1) vs. Hamilton (2-0), Friday, June 28th, 7:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPN2)After spanking the pants off Toronto last week, Hamilton gets Montreal at home. Talk about a fortunate break, schedule-wise! The Alouettes are coming off the bye week, and hopefully the early rest will have done them some good – while they lost their first game of the season to Edmonton, they did make it a competitive one – something that the team has had a lot of difficulty doing over the past little while. Antonio Pipkin will be on the shelf for the next few weeks with a leg injury he suffered in Week 1, so we’ll see former Oregon star Vernon Adams, Jr. take over as Montreal’s #1 guy for the foreseeable future. The Ti-Cats mostly just need to keep doing what they’re doing so far – it’s clearly been working very well for them.

PICK: Hamilton
BC (0-2) vs. Calgary (0-1), Saturday, June 29th, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN2)The Stamps lost Week 1 at home – a very rare defeat at McMahon Stadium – and are also coming off the bye week looking to regroup. The game two weeks ago was very sloppy, and the Stamps’ D blew it late by letting the REDBLACKS put together a late touchdown drive that proved to be the game-winner… they can’t afford to do that again. For BC, after letting Mike Reilly get sacked six times last week by Edmonton, the OL needs to be much, much better than it was against the Eskimos. Additionally, the Lions still need to figure out the run game – John White didn’t have much once again – they should really be trying to get Brandon Rutley the ball more often, if you ask me.PICK: Calgary

Toronto (0-1) vs. Saskatchewan (0-2), Monday, July 1st, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+)The Argos need to burn last week’s game tape and just hit the reset button. I imagine James Franklin is getting the start again, but it seems that just like last year, the leash is short. For Saskatchewan, despite the loss last week to Ottawa, Cody Fajardo was an extremely pleasant surprise – after being a backup in BC and Toronto, his first-ever start was a hell of a game, and the hope moving forward is that he’ll be able to replicate the success he had against the REDBLACKS. With great communication with both Kyran Moore (5 catches, 117 yards) and Shaq Evans (7 catches, 103 yards), the offense looks sharp – the question now is whether Fajardo can sustain his success from last week, even temporarily, or if he’ll just be another flash-in-the-pan fill-in starter until Zach Collaros presumably returns to the job.PICK: Saskatchewan

BYE: Ottawa (2-0)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

Team Games Wins Losses Points For Points Against
Hamilton 2 2 0 87 31
Ottawa 2 2 0 76 69
Montreal 1 0 1 25 32
Toronto 1 0 1 14 64

West Division Standings

Team Games Wins Losses Points For Points Against
Edmonton 2 2 0 71 48
Winnipeg 1 1 0 33 23
Calgary 1 0 1 28 32
Saskatchewan 2 0 2 58 67
BC 2 0 2 46 72

Passing Yards

  1. Harris, EDM – 741
  2. Davis, OTT – 630
  3. Masoli, HAM – 507

Passing TDs

  1. Harris, EDM – 6
  2. Masoli, HAM – 4
  3. Davis, OTT – 3

Rushing Yards

  1. Gable, EDM – 265
  2. Thomas-Erlington, HAM – 177
  3. Madu, OTT – 162

Receiving Yards

  1. Ellingson, EDM – 240
  2. Burnham, BC – 186
  3. Collins, EDM – 186

Sacks

  1. Hughes, SSK – 2
  2. Lawrence, HAM – 2
  3. Moore, EDM – 2

Interceptions

  1. Roberson, CGY – 3
  2. Lawrence, HAM – 2
  3. Hecht, WPG – 2

Field Goals

  1. Ward, OTT – 9
  2. Castillo, BC – 8
  3. Hajrullahu, HAM – 6

PICK POOL

For the first time since anyone can remember, someone other than Beerguyrob leads the pool! A shocking revelation!

Remember to submit your picks here! https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=168258

Rank Total Points Weekly Score Win Percentage
Game Time Decision 5 2-1 71.43%
Blaxabbath 5 2-1 71.43%
Litre_Cola 5 3-0 71.43%
SonOfSpam 5 3-0 71.43%
The Maestro 5 3-0 71.43%
Ballsofsteelandfury 5 3-0 71.43%
Beerguyrob 4 1-2 57.14%
BC Dick 4 2-1 57.14%
Sharkbait 2 0-3 28.57%
Dolph Ucker 0 0-3 0.00%
nomonkeyfun 0 0-3 0.00%
Spanky Datass 0 0-3 0.00%
Wakezilla 0 0-3 0.00%

Enjoy the games, everyone.

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The Maestro
The Maestro is a mystical Canadian internet user and New England Patriots fan; when the weather is cooperative and the TV signal at his igloo is strong enough, he enjoys watching the NFL, the Ottawa Senators & REDBLACKS, and yelling into the abyss on Twitter. He is somehow allowed to teach music to high school students when he isn't in a blind rage about sports, and is also a known connoisseur of cheap beers across the Great White North.
https://www.doorfliesopen.com/index.php/author/the-maestro/
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Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

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Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Off topic;

R.I.P. Billy Drago, dude was in everything.
https://movieweb.com/billy-drago-dies-73-years-old/

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh
theeWeeBabySeamus

He always played the best villains.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Yes, check out the IMDB link; fucker played in a LOT: good, bad, terrible. I think he did some of his best work in the bad stuff.

SonOfSpam

Really great as Frank Nitti.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

I think that was THE role for him.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

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blaxabbath

Not saying anything about beerguyrob but CFL pick-um is not exactly designed for…..someone who prefers the company of men.

ballsofsteelandfury

6 way tie!!

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

An orgy of neck-wear.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh
Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

Gaah! The still image of Hutchence there is terrifying.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

At least the eyes are not bulging out like the coroner’s photo.

Beerguyrob

I’d still be on top if the Argos hadn’t been the Ti-Cats gimp. Curse the ghost of Pinball Clemons!