However, the concerns surrounding the offensive line continue to be present for Saskatchewan. I had concerns after the first 2 weeks regarding Saskatchewan’s ability to protect Trevor Harris and keep him healthy. In week 3 the 38-year-old quarterback completed 16 of his 21 passes for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns and an interception before leaving the game due to an apparent leg injury before halftime. Shea Patterson played the rest of the game completing 4 of his 10 passes for 41 yards. Patterson played fantastic in the preseason but it is yet to be seen if he will be able to maintain a level of production close to what we have seen from Harris in the regular season.
On defense last week DB Deontai Williams led the team in tackles with 8. Three players recorded an interception in the win for the Riders including LB Jameer Thurman, BB Rolan Milligan Jr., and DB Damarcus Fields. DT Charbel Dabire had 2 sacks in week 3. Jameer Thurman returned his interception for the first defensive touchdown of the CFL season.
The timing of Saskatchewan&
#x2019;s bye works out great for the franchise giving Trevor Harris time to recover. The Riders will need better play from their offensive line if they hope to contend for a Grey Cup. There’s nothing wrong with having the oldest starting quarterback in the league but pass protection is much more important in such a scenario.Week 4: Bye Week.
#5 Calgary Stampeders (1-1)
Previous Rank: 5
Week 1 Result:
rong>Defeated Hamilton at home 32-24.Week 2 Result: Lost to BC on the road 17-26.
Week 3 Result: Bye Week.
Week 4: Hosting Winnipeg on Saturday.
#6 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (0-3)
Previous Rank: 4 (Down 2)
Week 1 Result:
rong>Lost to Montreal at home 12-27.Week 2 Result: Lost to Ottawa on the road 19-23.
Week 3 Result: Lost to BC at home 24-26.
After 4 consecutive trips t
o the Grey Cup, the Bombers have begun the season 0-3 for the first time since 2012 which saw them finish the season 6-12 and narrowly miss the playoffs. It is also the first time Winnipeg has lost 2 home games in a row since 2018. It is also the first time Winnipeg has lost 4 games in a row in the Zach Collaros era.Winning has been such a normal occurrence for the Bombers over the last several seasons that it is easy to take a glance at their record and dismiss them as no longer being a threat. But that is not the case.
Winnipeg did not generate a sack in week 3 but they were able to generate some pressure on Vernon Adams Jr. Defensive end Willie Jefferson had 6 total pressures. DT Jake Thomas and DE Ali Fayad both had 4 total pressures.
Brady Oliveira had a strong
rushing average in week 3 rushing 9 times for 64 yards (7.1 average) in large part due to a 28-yard rush. Chris Streveler had 3 rushing touchdowns in short-yardage situations. He now leads the league in rushing touchdowns with 4. Nic Demski led the team in receiving in week receiving in week 3 as he caught 8 passes for 94 yards.Collaros has no touchdowns over his last 5 games while having 4 interceptions over that span. Winnipeg chose not to play him in the preseason and we saw him have a slow start after not having recent playing time, similar to what we have seen in the past. Collaros did look good in week 3 against BC completing 23 of his 30 passes for 247 yards. The result in week 3 could have been different if Collaros and Demski were able to connect on a deep pass late in the 4th quarter that passed mere inches away from Demski’s hand on a 2nd and 6 during Winnipeg’s last drive.
While I expect Winnipeg to bounce back and still be one of the most formidable teams in the league this season their poor start to the season after 3 games has them undeserving of a higher position on the power rankings.
Week 4: Vi
siting Calgary on Saturday.#7 Edmonton Elks (0-3)🃏
Previous Rank: 9 (Up 2)
Week 1 Result: Lost to Saskatchewan at home 21-29.
Week 2 Result:
rong>Lost to Montreal at home 20-23.Week 3 Result: Lost to Toronto on the road 36-39.
Edmonton looks like a much improved team over last season but are still looking for their first win. The Elks have lost their last 2 games by only 3 points against some of the strongest teams in the league.
Mcleod Bethel-Thomson has b
een putting up some impressive numbers with Edmonton since rejoining the CFL. MBT had his best game as an Elk so far completing 28 of his 38 passes for 342 yards and 4 touchdowns. He has completed 73% of his passes this season for 978 yards and 6 touchdowns with 3 interceptions. He is currently 2nd in passing yards in the league.Receiver Dillon Mitchell led the team again in receiving last week as he caught 5 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown. He leads the team in receiving and is 4th in the league after having caught 17 passes for 274 and a touchdown. Hergy Mayala, Kurleigh Gittens Jr., and Eugene Lewis all had a touchdown reception in week 3.
One area Edmonton needs to do better in is more consistency in the run game. Kevin Brown has rushed 25 times this season for 100 yards. His 4 yards per carry is currently the 2nd lowest among starting runningbacks.
A key area that needed to b
e improved for Edmonton coming into the season was defending against the run as they allowed the most total yards rushing at 136.6 per game and the most on average per rush at 5.7. This season they have allowed 114 yards per game and 5.2 yards per rush. They have shown signs of improvement in this area but there is still a lot of room to do better as the Elks are allowing the 2nd most rush yards per game and per rush trailing only Calgary in both of these metrics.Week 4: Visiting BC on Thursday.
#8 Ottawa RedBlacks (1-1)
Previous Rank: 7 (Down 1)
Week 1 Result:
rong>Bye WeekWeek 2 Result: Defeated Winnipeg at home 23-19.
Week 3 Result: Lost to Montreal on the road 21-47.
Ottawa lost by the largest
margin of victory of any game so far this CFL season losing to Montreal 21-47. Ottawa’s defense against the pass continues to be an area of concern. Last season they allowed the most passing yards at 5,591 and were the only team to allow more than 300 yards per game at 310.6. So far this season Ottawa has allowed the 2nd most passing yards per game at 339.5 yards per game allowed after 2 games.Sam linebacker Adarius Picket had a strong game in which he recorded 7 tackles. He put pressure on the quarterback 4 times and also made a solo run stop and was in on 2 shared run stops. Defensive ends Bryce Carter and Lorenzo Mauldin were able to generate some pressure in the pass rush although there were no sacks for Ottawa in week 3. Carter had 6 total pressures while Mauldin had 5.
Dru Brown completed 21 of his 35 passes for 292 yards and a touchdown with 1 interception in week 3. Justin Hardy led the team in receiving with 7 catches for 143 yards. Surprisingly Ottawa largely went away from the run game after having much success in the previous week. Ryquell Armstead rushed 6 times for 26 yards (4.3 average) in week 3. Ottawa did not hand the ball off to him until 20 minutes had passed into the game. He rushed 16 times for 95 yards in week 2 (5.9 average).
DeVonte Dedmon has been a b
right spot in Ottawa in the return game. In week 3 he returned a kickoff 71 yards for a touchdown early in the 4th quarter. He is the first return man to score a kick return touchdown so far this season and currently has the longest return average among returners with more than 1 return.Week 4: Hosting Hamilton on Sunday.
#9 Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-3)
Previous Rank: 8 (Down 1)
Week 1 Result:
rong>Lost to Calgary on the road 24-32.Week 2 Result: Lost to Saskatchewan at home 30-33.
Week 3 Result: Lost to Saskatchewan on the road 20-36.
Hamilton, we have a problem
. Hamilton regressed in week 3 after looking like a team with the capacity to be dangerous in large part due to the quality of play from Bo Levi Mitchell in the first 2 weeks. In week 3 BLM completed 29 of his 45 passes for 295 yards and 2 touchdowns with 3 interceptions. The interceptions came within the final 17 minutes of the game.Pass protection was an issue at times for Hamilton in week 3’s loss to Saskatchewan. The team also had it’s least productive game on the ground as James Butler rushed 5 times for 10 yards. By halftime James Butler had only 2 carries for 6 yards. Butler had a down game in week 2 in part due to a down week in run blocking. But to completely put him on the shelf and give him 5 carries compared to the 45 pass attempts is a ridiculous way to run any offense. Voluntarily being 1-dimensional as an offense is a great way to not win football games.
Hamilton has allowed the most points against so far this season at 101 and has allowed over 30 in each of their losses. To see 36 allowed from a team without their starting quarterback in the 2nd half is not inspiring. Saskatchewan scored 18 points in the 2nd half while missing Trevor Harris although in part thanks to the defense scoring late in the third quarter.
The Ti-Cats had great numbe
rs against the pass in the 2nd half after Harris exited with injury but in the 6 quarters against him, there were 567 passing yards allowed and 4 touchdowns with 1 interception. In week 1 Jake Maier completed 80% of his passes against Hamilton for 252 yards and 2 touchdowns. Hamilton simply needs their secondary to play better moving forward.Week 4: Visiting Ottawa on Sunday.
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