Welcome to my first attempt at the CFL! I know we are into week 7 here, and it’s kind of odd to just start doing these, but the opportunity came and I wasn’t about to turn away from talking about another league that I love and watch all the time. The CFL season has been a crazy one so far and we’ve seen a lot of surprising performances and results. The season is only about to get crazier and I’m going to try and navigate that landscape.
Edmonton Elks(0-6) v. Winnipeg Blue Bombers(4-2)
To say it’s been a disappointing start for Edmonton would be an understatement, The Elks had one of the best free agency periods and there was some hope on he horizon for the Elks, who have now lost 19 straight homes games. The biggest question coming into the season was QB Taylor Cornelius, and here we are in week seven, and we’re still asking ourselves “who is Taylor Cornelius?” Cornelius’ stats are actually far better looking on paper than the eye test. Missed throws, poor decisions, holding onto the ball too long, and poor pocket awareness has plagued Cornelius through six weeks and head coach Chris Jones continues to be hard headed and refuses to bench Cornelius for Tre Ford or Jarrett Doege.
Doege had one start this season, but Jones had him on an extremely short leash before turning back to Cornelius. If the Elks want to turn this around, week seven probably isn’t going to be the best place to look. The Blue Bombers welcome the struggling Elks pissed off and very angry. Emerging star, QB Dustin Crum, led the Ottawa Redblacks to a comeback victory last week and shocked the CFL and football world. The Blue Bombers struggled earlier in the season on defense. They were letting up an insane amount of passing yards, but in the last few weeks seem to have settled down.
Willie Jefferson has returned to being an absolute stud along the DL and leads the team in sacks, to the surprise of no one. But late in the game last week, Winnipeg faltered. Crum was able to use his rushing ability to create positive chunk plays and exploit the middle of the Winnipeg defense. While Cornelius doesn’t have Crum’s mobility, Tre Ford does and if this game is close late, and Chris Jones was smart, we could see Ford enter the game to try and pull another major upset for the second week straight on the Blue Bombers.
Prediction: Score looks closer than the game plays out. Winnipeg 32-20
Toronto Argonauts(4-0) v. Hamilton Tiger-Cats(2-3)
Hamilton limps into the week with a quarterback change: QB Taylor Powell gets the start this week and they also signed veteran QB Antonio Pipkin. This will be the Ticats third starting quarterback this season. Bo Levi Mitchell was hurt week one and they’ve been riding the Matt Shiltz train for the last few weeks, but Shiltz got hurt last week and has landed on the 6-game short term IR list.
The rookie Powell will have to do his best to limit his mistakes and drawing the undefeated former CFL Champions in your first start is a tall task. Luckily for Powell, we’ve seen things like this before and with the lack of overall CFL tape on a backup quarterback, if he limits his mistakes, it could lead to a surprising outcome. On the other side of the field, the Argos currently boast the early front runner for MVP in QB Chad Kelly. Kelly has played lights out for most of the year and has looked like a natural born CFL QB. His skillset and playing style fits perfectly into the CFL play style and offensive schemes, it looks like he’s been playing in the CFL for years, and not less than 10 career starts.
The Argos have been the most complete team in the league this season and they look to take advantage of a bruised and battered Ticats squad who can’t seem to have any positive luck fall their way this season. It could be a long night for Powell and the Hamilton fans, players and coaches.
Prediction: Hamilton starts hot, fizzles quick. Toronto runs over the D. Toronto 37-16
Saskatchewan Roughriders(3-2) v. BC Lions(4-1)
Saskatchewan enters Lions’ territory this week after expelling a lot of energy in the game against Calgary last week. While the Roughriders and Stampeders look like they’re equally matched, the same can’t be said for those teams against the top of the league. And the Roughriders, unfortunately for them, draw one of those top teams this week.
QB Trevor Harris has been inconsistent this year, so far. A lot of those down spots can be attributed to his equally inconsistent offensive line and his wide receivers just haven’t made the consistent plays you expect all year. With Harris injured, Mason Fine will need time in the pocket and his receiving corps to turn around their case of the dropsies if they want to remain in the playoff hunt or on the cusp of being an upper tier team.
The Lions, on the other hand, have been one of the most explosive offenses in the CFL behind QB Vernon Adams, Jr. The Lions are also coming into this game after having a bye week last week and so far, this season, there’s only been one team that has lost coming off of a bye week. The defense has been hitting it’s stride lately and the Lions look like the only team that might be able to contend with the Argonauts at this point in the season. Trevor Harris has the talent and ability to pull off upsets, will this game be another one?
Prediction: Roughriders put up a fight, lose late in the second half. BC 27-23
Ottawa Redblacks(2-3) v. Calgary Stampeders(2-3)
A rematch from week two that saw the Stampeders come out victorious, the Redblacks look to exact revenge on Calgary. They’ll be coming into town with a full steam of momentum on their side after the heroic antics by second year QB Dustin Crum last week. The final drive that Crum put together was masterful and his wide receivers stepped up and made big play after big play down the stretch to, not only, tie the game but win the game in overtime.
While last week was something special, it’s been an injury-riddled season for Ottawa so far, especially at the QB position that has seen three QBs all go down with injuries, including two season-ending injuries. Tyrie Adams and Jermiah Masoli have both landed on IR and Ottawa may have found something special with Crum. The second youngest team in the league, Calgary has been inconsistent to say the least.
QB Jake Maier has not had the start to the season that the Calgary faithful had hoped after letting Bo Levi Mitchell walk to Hamilton. Maier has missed wide receivers and at times looked completely lost in the pocket, which has led to numerous overthrows and interceptions this season. While Ottawa has improved, especially on defense, the Stampeders don’t seem to pass the eye test in the improvement category through six weeks.
The best game of Maier’s young season came last week and they still barely beat the Roughriders. While both teams are riding a wave of momentum, only one of those tanks appears to be full on the surface, if Maier can perform like he did last week, Calgary might be able to take the wind out of the sails of Ottawa’s high early and escape with a victory.
Prediction: Hard fought battle. Crum continues to emerge. Ottawa 23-18
While you guys weren’t riding with me through the six weeks, I still made predictions and play the CFL Fantasy games on their website. I haven’t had a perfect week predicting yet and I’m still looking to change that. Hopefully, week seven gives me that perfect record. So far, through the six weeks, I have a 15-8 record, hopefully 19-8 soon.
~Michael Washington
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