With the closure of Week 10, we are officially halfway through the CFL regular season! If you haven’t been paying attention thus far, that’s fine; the old diehards, such as Gord from Shaunavon, SK, Mitch from Yarmouth, NS, and Gord from Orillia, ON, all swear that “the real CFL season doesn’t really start until Labour Day Weekend anyhow” despite that demonstrably being complete bullshit. Anyways, there’s a few big rivalry games coming up this weekend, and this week features a bonus 5th game!

WEEK 10 RECAPS

BC 29 vs. Ottawa 23: The Lions won a nailbiter of a game courtesy of backup QB Travis Lulay rushing for two TDs; for Ottawa, despite yet another disappointing loss, the return of Trevor Harris to the #1 QB slot is some welcome news. Despite falling short, Harris went 23-30 for a 76.7% completion rate and a touchdown, including several other big plays along the way including a 53-yard completion to Chris Williams. BC’s balanced offence continues to rumble along, finding tons of different ways to score, thanks to Lulay’s rushes as well as Jon Jennings’ strong arm. BC will not fly home just yet, as the Lions prepare for a Week 11 game in Toronto, while Ottawa will regroup and leave to go to Montreal.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: BC

Winnipeg 32 vs. Montreal 18: The Bombers keep rolling, with their fourth W in a row! The Alouettes come crashing back down to earth after a heady road win in Ottawa. Justin Medlock was a perfect 6-for-6 on field goals for Winnipeg, DB Maurice Leggett had a pick-six in the second half, and RB Andrew Harris had a rushing TD late in the fourth to seal it, as Montreal’s offence went quiet in the second half of the game. Alouettes RB Tyrell Sutton played his first game since being injured back in Week 2, and was a much-needed boost for Montreal, who need to revitalize their ground game in a big way.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

Saskatchewan 25 vs. Edmonton 33: Close, but no cigar. Saskatchewan scored the most points in a game since their only win of the season against Ottawa back in Week 5 – a last-minute 30-29 victory – but even with Edmonton without their starting running back in John White, the Roughriders couldn’t make things happen. Mike Reilly had another good night, save for an end-zone interception by DB Ed Gainey; while he threw for just 253 yards, he did have two passing touchdowns, and ran for another 45 yards on 6 carries, including a rushing TD. For the Riders, QB Darian Durant was once again the offensive catalyst, going 27-38 for 314 yards, and rushing for two touchdowns himself as well.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Edmonton

Hamilton 24 vs. Calgary 30: Zach Collaros was a machine for the Tiger-Cats, throwing for 432 yards and 3 touchdowns, but it still wasn’t enough, as the Stampeders managed to hold off a fierce comeback. Bo Levi Mitchell had 323 yards on 27-37 passing, with a touchdown to DaVaris Daniels, while Jerome Messam had 43 yards rushing and a TD as well. Fortunately for Calgary, Rene Paredes came to save the day again, going 5/5 on field goals for the night, his longest being from 45 yards. It’s a tough blow to Hamilton, but Calgary continues on their roll to start the year, making this their sixth straight win.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

BYE: Toronto (4-4)

WEEK 11 PREVIEWS

BC (6-3) 16 vs. Toronto (4-4) 13, Wednesday, August 31st, 7:30 PM EST: The Argos are coming off the bye with a (supposedly fully) healthy Ricky Ray back under centre in the lineup, while the Lions have been hanging out in eastern Canada for the past week after a big road win in Ottawa. Even a slightly banged-up Ray is better at QB than what Toronto was toting out in the weeks when Ray was out, with Logan Kilgore being about as close to a tire fire as you could get. That said, the Lions are on a roll this season against pretty well any other team not named Calgary, so it’s likely they’ll keep their strong play going courtesy of a much stronger defence than anything the Argos have trotted thus far this year.

This game ended a defensive battle, with Richie Leone kicking a field goal on the final play of the game with no time left on the clock, giving BC a very hard-fought 16-13 win.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

Ottawa (4-4-1) 19 vs. Montreal (3-6) 14, Thursday, September 1st, 7:30 PM EST: After over two months of waiting, Alouettes receiver Duron Carter has had his 1-game suspension upheld, and will miss out on this week’s game versus the REDBLACKS, where all the controversy started in the first place. Ottawa fans are probably happy about this – he torched the defence for two touchdowns last game, just a couple amongst the five that Kevin Glenn threw in their last matchup. This is the rubbermatch between Montreal and Ottawa, the third and final meeting of the season. With Ottawa’s road record – 3-1 – much better than their home record – 1-3-1 – and with the REDBLACKS having already won once at Molson Stadium this year, I feel OK about picking Ottawa to turn things around this week.

This game ended with Ottawa pulling out a 19-14 win with two field goals from Chris Milo in the 4th to finally pull away for good; it was an ugly, penalty-filled game that no logical person who should’ve been watching the NFL preseason should have taken notice to. REDBLACKS QB Trevor Harris said it was the “ugliest game I’ve ever played [in a REDBLACKS uniform].” Still a win, is a win, and as a biased fan, I’ll take it.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: Ottawa

Winnipeg (5-4) vs. Saskatchewan (1-8), Sunday, September 4th, 3:00 PM EST: A Labour Day weekend tradition continues, and for once, Bomber fans feel good about their chances of winning this matchup. Having historically had their asses handed to them by the Riders, Winnipeg is riding a four-game winning streak coming into this game. Saskatchewan… yeah, it’s about as bad as you can get this year. Despite looking better on offense against Edmonton, the Riders will continue to flounder until defensive deficiencies are addressed in a meaningful way.

PICK: Winnipeg

Edmonton (5-4) vs. Calgary (7-1-1), Monday, September 5th, 3:00 PM EST: The Battle of Alberta has another tilt hosted at McMahon Stadium, and despite having two high-powered offences that both rate amongst the best in the league, it’s a sad, sad mismatch defensively. Edmonton gave up 25 to the lowly Roughriders last week, so expect Bo Levi Mitchell to take apart the Eskimos surgically for this one.

PICK: Calgary

Toronto vs. Hamilton (4-5), Monday, September 5th, 6:30 PM EST: With Toronto getting a scant four days off between games, it’s gonna be a tough road to haul for the Argos. Zach Collaros, despite a 1-2 record in 3 games since returning to the Ti-Cats’ lineup, has still thrown for over 1100 yards, and Hamilton is gearing up for the stretch run. A tired Argos side versus a rested Hamilton squad, at home against their hated rivals? You can’t not take the Tabbies here. At any rate, the Battle of the Queen Elizabeth Way is another excellent Labour Day weekend tradition.

PICK: Hamilton

BYE: None 

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Reilly, EDM – 3096
2. Mitchell, CGY – 2857
3. Jennings, BC – 2490

Passing TDs

1. Rielly, EDM – 16
2. Mitchell, CGY – 15
3. Glenn, MTL – 12

Rushing Yards

1. Harris, WPG – 575
2. Messam, CGY – 542
3. Whitaker, TOR – 432

Receiving Yards

1. Bowman, EDM – 956
2. Williams, OTT – 900
3. Walker, EDM – 887

Sacks

1.  Bazzie, BC – 7
2. Chick, HAM – 7
3. Hughes, CGY – 6

Interceptions

1. Leggett, WPG – 5
2. Sherritt, EDM – 3
3. Heath, TOR – 3

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 32
2. Medlock, WPG – 27
3. Whyte, EDM – 23

Game picks this week: 3-1

Game picks this season: 20-20