Introduction | Week 2 | Week 4
Another week of football is in the books. The games weren’t quite as even this week, but still pretty fun. Edmonton @ Toronto in particular was a barn burner; definitely the best game of the season so far and totally worth a watch.
OTTAWA REDBLACKS @ MONTREAL ALOUETTES
Played: Thursday June 20
Final Score: OTT 21 – MTL 47
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: OTT-1 MTL-17 | Q2: OTT-0 MTL-13 | Q3: OTT-11 MTL-0 | Q4: OTT-9 MTL-17
Game VOD
What a rout. Montreal certainly proved that the Redblacks’ preseason win over them was a fluke. There was no point at which Ottawa had control of this game. Their defence put up a valiant effort, but were unable to stop the Alouettes’ offence. On the other side of the ball, Ottawa’s offence appear to have coated their hands in lube before the game because they just could not hold onto the football. Their drives ended one of two ways for most of the game; they either went 2 and out, or they put together a solid drive and turned it over when the endzone was in sight. Compounding both of these issues was the sheer number of penalties. The Redblacks did rally somewhat in the second half, including a beautiful kick-six by DeVonte Dedmon, but it just wasn’t enough. Some adjustments need to be made, but they face the Ticats next week, so they don’t need to be made urgently.
Montreal completely dominated this game from top to bottom. Every part of the team was firing on all cylinders, and they simply could not be stopped. On offence, quarterback Cody Fajardo played a fantastic game, even picking up 39 rushing yards and running in a touchdown himself. Receivers Tyson Philpot and Kaion Julein-Grant put up a combined 266 yards. On defence, Tyrice Beverette put on an absolute clinic. The Als ran roughshod over the Ottawa offence, and while they didn’t manage to score any points on their own, every interception and fumble set the offence up for an almost immediate touchdown. I really don’t have any critiques for Montreal this week. I suppose their special teams were just good as opposed to the outstanding play of the offence and defence, but there weren’t any mistakes or errors. This team is scary, and now they’re 3-0. We’ll see if they can repeat this against the Argos next week.
BC LIONS @ WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
Played: Friday June 21
Final Score: BC 26 – WPG 24
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: BC-10 WPG-7 | Q2: BC-3 WPG-0 | Q3: BC-7 WPG-7 | Q4: BC-6 WPG-10
Game VOD
BC came out swinging this game and pretty well kept up the pace through the whole thing. Vernon Adams Jr. looked very comfortable in the pocket most of the game, which allowed him to set up some extremely long passes. Adams very nearly hit 400 passing yards, and receiver Alexander Hollins made up an astounding 215 of those yards. This was a pretty good illustration of why teams have been so aggressive on defence against BC; if you don’t send Adams running for the hills he will fire the ball 50 yards down the field and make it. On defence, they stalled out Winnipeg pretty regularly, and put solid pressure on Collaros. BC did make one fumble, and it would have cost them the game if not for poor time management from Winnipeg. The only thing that really concerns me, and I mentioned it last week, is Adams staying for short yardage regularly. It’s worked out so far, but I’m just waiting for him to get injured doing it.
There are signs of life in Winnipeg. It wasn’t enough to win, but they’re definitely looking more like themselves. It was, admittedly, a slow start, but they pulled it together and made a solid showing. By the second half, this team was finally looking like the Grey Cup contenders they should have been up to now. The offence looked great in the second half and clawed back to trade field goals for the lead through the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, they could have won if not for a costly error at the end of the 2nd quarter, where they accidentally ran out the clock deep in the Lions’ end before they could kick a field goal. They left 3 on the table, and lost by 2. All that said, they put up a much stronger fight than they have until now, although somehow Zach Collaros still has not gotten a touchdown pass yet this season. If Winnipeg shows up like this to Calgary next week, and can get going in the first half, they might finally pick up a win.
EDMONTON ELKS @ TORONTO ARGONAUTS
Played: Saturday June 22
Final Score: EDM 36 – TOR 39
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: EDM-14 TOR-7 | Q2: EDM-1 TOR-14 | Q3: EDM-7 TOR-8 | Q4: EDM-14 TOR-10
Game VOD
It’s a crime that this Elks team is 0-3. They’ve been playing fantastic football, and they just haven’t been able to make it happen. Their offence was on fire, making huge passes all game long. Edmonton made great use of their receiving corps, with all four touchdown passes made by different receivers. On special teams, Javon Leake gave Edmonton great field position with a number of fantastic punt returns. The defence took a little time to get online, but they played solid once they found their footing. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough to contain Toronto’s fearsome rushing offence. Edmonton has had bad luck so far, having to start their season facing down every undefeated team so far. I don’t think they’re quite out of the woods yet, as they face a very good BC team next week, but I think this team is going to be very scary once they start facing worse teams.
In contrast to Edmonton’s heavy passing offence, the Argos had great success on the ground. They used rushes and short passes to punch through the Elks defence and drive down the field. Their defence also had some trouble in the early stages of the game, but they rallied and were able to slow Edmonton down enough for their offence to secure the win. The lone field goal of the game belonged to Toronto’s Lirim Hajrullahu, and it won them the game. This Argos team has proven pretty decisively that they don’t need Chad Kelly to still be one of the best teams in the league. That said, the real test will be next week, when the Montreal team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year comes to town. If the Argos can win that, or at least keep the loss competitive, they’ll be in good shape.
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS @ SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
Played: Sunday June 23
Final Score: HAM 20 – SSK 36
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: HAM-0 SSK-17 | Q2: HAM-7 SSK-1 | Q3: HAM-0 SSK-7 | Q4: HAM-13 SSK-11
Game VOD
Look, I really didn’t want to make the picture for this game the fumble, but I kind of had to. The story of this game for the Cats was turnovers. It started in the opening kickoff with Lawrence Woods III fumbling the ball and setting the Riders up for a quick touchdown. Hamilton had 2 fumbles and 3 interceptions this game, giving Saskatchewan a huge advantage. The offence had serious problems all game, though they did start to show some life in the 4th quarter, but kept turning over the ball as soon as they’d get some momentum. Most concerning continues to be under-performing receiver Tim White, who did not make a single catch despite being targeted 6 times. For being the leading receiver in the CFL last season, he has not performed like it. This team needs to make improvements top to bottom if they want to get out of this downward spiral they’re stuck in. They play Ottawa next week, which is likely they’re best chance for a win for while. They need to figure this out, or it’s going to be a very long road to November.
Alright, these Riders may be the real deal. Their first couple games were comebacks that could at least partly be attributed to luck, but there’s no denying this one. Running back AJ Oulette finally got a chance to prove why he was worth trading for, putting up nearly 100 rushing yards. The defence did a great job of shutting down Hamilton and keeping them in their own end for most of the game. They took the lead early and did not let it go once. The defence even got in on the action, taking the ball from the Ticats offence 5 times with Jameer Thurman getting a touchdown off one of those interceptions. That said, 2 wins against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats is not exactly the kind of achievement your parents put on the fridge. The Riders are off next week, and then they face the Argonauts. If they can win that one, they’ll have proved they’re good and not just lucky.
STANDINGS AT THE END OF WEEK 3
EAST
MONTREAL ALOUETTES 3 – 0
TORONTO ARGONAUTS 2 – 0
OTTAWA REDBLACKS 1 – 1
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS 0 – 3
WEST
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS 3 – 0
BC LIONS 2 – 1
CALGARY STAMPEDERS 1 – 1
EDMONTON ELKS 0 – 3
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS 0 – 3
NEXT WEEK: WEEK 4
Edmonton @ BC – Thursday June 27 10PM EDT
Montreal @ Toronto – Friday June 28 7:30PM EDT
Winnipeg @ Calgary – Saturday June 29 7PM EDT
Hamilton @ Ottawa – Sunday June 30 7PM EDT