Week 8 saw Division leaders battle it out as Montreal beat Saskatchewan 20-16 in large part thanks to the hot hand of third-string quarterback Davis Alexander leading a 2nd half comeback alongside stout defensive play. The Ottawa RedBlacks look increasingly dangerous after putting the hurt on the Calgary Stampeders by beating them at home 33-6. Meanwhile, the Edmonton Elks continue to struggle and their fans ponder as to what the team’s future looks like.
Predictions: CFL News Hub Writers’ Week 9 Picks
The Crown Holder and the Court Jester
Crown Holder 👑 – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats held onto the Crown by defeating Edmonton 44-28.
Court Jester 🃏 – Edmonton Elks remained the Court Jester after losing to Edmonton at home 28-44.
If a team defeats the Crown Holder they steal the Crown and become the new Crown Holder.
If a team loses to the Court Jester they become the new Court Jester thus freeing the previous team from being the Court Jester.
#1 Montreal Alouettes (6-1)
Previous Rank: 1
Week 1: Defeated Winnipeg on the road 27-12.
Week 2: Defeated Edmonton on the road 23-20.
Week 3: Defeated Ottawa at home 47-21.
Week 4: Defeated Toronto on the road 30-20.
Week 5: Defeated Calgary at home 30-26.
Week 6: Lost to Toronto at home 18-37.
Week 7: Bye week.
Week 8: Defeated Saskatchewan at home 20-16.
The Montreal Alouettes made a comeback to win against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in week 8 at home in a similar fashion to what we saw in their week 5 win over Calgary when they allowed only 3 2nd half points. Montreal was trailing 16-3 entering the 2nd half against Saskatchewan and the defense did not allow any points as quarterback Davis Alexander led the team to a 20-16. Alexander came into the game in the third quarter and completed 15 of his 18 passes for 178 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Montreal Alouettes (6-1) Week 9 Preview vs Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-5): Prediction, Depth Chart, Injuries, Odds
Week 9: Visiting Hamilton on Friday.
#2 B.C. Lions (5-2)
Previous Rank: 2
Week 1: Lost to Toronto on the road 27-35.
Week 2: Defeated Calgary at home 26-17.
Week 3: Defeated Winnipeg on the road 26-24.
Week 4: Defeated Edmonton at home 24-21.
Week 5: Defeated Hamilton on the road 44-28.
Week 6: Defeated Saskatchewan at home 35-20.
Week 7: Lost to Calgary on the road 24-25.
Week 8: Bye week.
The BC Lions were on the bye week in week 8. Despite not playing in week 8, BC took control of 1st place in the West due to Saskatchewan losing as they have the tiebreaker over them having won their head-to-head match in week 6.
BC Lions (5-2) Week 9 Preview vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2-6): Prediction, Depth Chart, Injuries, Odds
Week 9: Visiting Winnipeg on Thursday.
#3 Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-2)
Previous Rank: 3
Week 1: Defeated Edmonton on the road 29-21.
Week 2: Defeated Hamilton on the road 33-30.
Week 3: Defeated Hamilton at home 36-20.
Week 4: Bye week.
Week 5: Defeated Toronto at home 30-20.
Week 6: Lost to BC on the road 20-35
Week 7: Defeated Winnipeg at home 19-9.
Week 8: Lost to Montreal on the road 16-20.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders were in control heading into halftime as they led the Montreal Alouettes 16-3 however they were unable to successfully slow Montreal’s passing offense after a quarterback change was made. Additionally, the Riders were kept off of the score sheet in the 2nd half and lost 16-20. Quarterback Shea Patterson continues to show strong potential and looks like a quarterback with more experience than he has showing good composure under pressure. Patterson completed 21 of his 33 passes for 222 yards. Running back Frankie Hickson had success on the ground as he rushed 16 times for 117 yards and a touchdown. Despite the success in the run game the Riders partially went away from it as Hickson only had 4 carries in the 2nd half.
Week 9: Hosting Edmonton on Saturday.
#4 Toronto Argonauts (4-3)
Previous Rank: 4
Week 1: Defeated BC at home 35-27.
Week 2: Bye week.
Week 3: Defeated Edmonton at home 39-36.
Week 4: Lost to Montreal at home 20-30.
Week 5: Lost to Saskatchewan 23-30.
Week 6: Defeated Montreal on the road 37-18.
Week 7: Lost to Hamilton on the road 27-24.
Week 8: Defeated Winnipeg at home 16-14 in overtime.
The Toronto Argonauts stayed above .500 by defeating Winnipeg 16-14 in overtime this past Saturday. Cameron Dukes completed 3 of his 4 passes for 37 yards before he was pulled early in the game in favor of Nick Arbuckle. Arbuckle completed 12 of his 22 passes for 87 yards, 4 yards per attempt. Ka’Deem Carey rushed 10 times for 62 yards. The Argos defense was able to generate 5 sacks in the win as Jake Ceresna led the way with 2. Ralph Holley, Woody Baron, and defensive back Benjie Franklin also had a sack.
Week 9: Visiting Calgary on Sunday.
#5 Ottawa RedBlacks (5-2)
Previous Rank: 7
Week 1: Bye Week
Week 2: Defeated Winnipeg at home 23-19.
Week 3: Lost to Montreal on the road 21-47.
Week 4: Defeated Hamilton at home 24-22.
Week 5: Lost to Winnipeg on the road 16-25.
Week 6: Defeated Edmonton on the road 37-34
Week 7: Defeated Edmonton at home 20-14.
Week 8: Defeated Calgary at home 33-6.
Week 8 was a strong outing for the Ottawa RedBlacks as they outpaced the Stampeders 33-6. Dru Brown had his highest completion percentage in a game so far as a RedBlack as he completed 30 of his 37 passes (81.1%) for 325 yards and a touchdown. It was Ottawa’s best game of the season defensively as they did not allow a touchdown and held Calgary to only 241 yards of net offense. Ottawa’s defensive line generated 4 sacks as Bryce Carter had 2 and Lorenzo Mauldin IV and Kene Onyeka had a sack as well.
Week 9: Bye week.
#6 Calgary Stampeders (3-4)
Previous Rank: 5
Week 1: Defeated Hamilton at home 32-24.
Week 2: Lost to BC on the road 17-26.
Week 3: Bye Week.
Week 4: Defeated Winnipeg at home in overtime 22-19.
Week 5: Lost to Montreal on the road 26-30.
Week 6: Lost to Winnipeg on the road 37-41
Week 7: Defeated BC at home 25-24.
Week 8: Lost to Ottawa on the road 6-33.
Week 8 was a game to forget for Calgary as they got squished on the road against the RedBlacks 6-33. Jake Maier was held to 5 yards per pass attempt as he completed 20 of his 27 passes for 136 yards. Logan Bonner completed 4 of his 8 passes for 43 yards. Dedrick Mills rushed 9 times for 43 yards, 4.8 yards per carry. Calgary largely abandoned the run game after trailing 3-16 at the half and handed the ball to Mills just 3 times in the 2nd half with only 1 carry in the final 20 minutes. On defense, Julian Howsare, James Vaughters, and Mike Rose all had a sack.
Week 9: Hosting Toronto on Sunday.
#7 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2-6)
Previous Rank: 6
Week 1: Lost to Montreal at home 12-27.
Week 2: Lost to Ottawa on the road 19-23.
Week 3: Lost to BC at home 24-26.
Week 4: Lost to Calgary on the road in overtime 19-22.
Week 5: Defeated Ottawa at home 25-16.
Week 6: Defeated Calgary at home 41-37.
Week 7: Lost to Saskatchewan on the road 9-19.
Week 8: Lost on the road to Toronto 14-16 in overtime.
With how much success Winnipeg has had recently heading into this season it may be easy for fans to feel like all hope is lost and that this season is already a failure having won only 25% of their games over the first 8. However, that is simply not the case. Only 2 of their losses have been by 2 scores or more. The other 4 losses were very close games with 2 of them being in overtime. Despite the limited success in winning games for Winnipeg after 8 games, they are still right in the thick of it in the playoff race as they trail Calgary by just 1 game for the third and final playoff spot in the West. They are also only 2 games behind Toronto who are third in the East. Additionally, they are only 2 games behind Ottawa whose schedule will become more difficult moving forward.
Week 8 was another close loss for Winnipeg as they lost 14-16 in overtime to the Toronto Argonauts. Zach Collaros completed 25 of his 32 passes for 317 yards and a touchdown with 1 interception. Ontario Wilson led the team in receiving having caught 7 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. Brady Oliveira rushed 13 times for 96 yards, a strong average of 7.4 yards per carry.
The Bombers Try To Get Luck On Thursday Night With BC by Don Cruickshank
Week 9: Hosting BC on Thursday.
#8 Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-5)👑
Previous Rank: 8
Week 1: Lost to Calgary on the road 24-32.
Week 2: Lost to Saskatchewan at home 30-33.
Week 3: Lost to Saskatchewan on the road 20-36.
Week 4: Lost to Ottawa on the road 22-24.
Week 5: Lost to B.C. at home 44-28.
Week 6: Bye week.
Week 7: Defeated Toronto at home 27-24.
Week 8: Defeated Edmonton on the road 44-28.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats had a big win over the Edmonton Elks 44-28 in week 8. Bo Levi Mitchell averaged an impressive 12.6 yards per attempt as he completed 17 of his 25 passes for 316 yards and 5 touchdowns with 1 interception. Luther Hakunavanhu led the team in receiving with 2 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, James Butler rushed more than any running back in week 8 as he rushed 21 times for 98 yards, 4.7 yards per carry. On defense, DL Kobe Jones, LB Jonathan Moxey, and DB Robert Panabaker all had a sack. Jamal Peters recorded an interception.
Hamilton has been significantly better than their record would indicate particularly in the passing game. They will have a difficult test against Montreal’s pass defense on Friday.
CFL Week 9: Can the Tiger-Cats Upset the Alouettes? by Aaron Sauter
Week 9: Hosting Montreal on Friday.
#9 Edmonton Elks (0-7)🃏
Previous Rank: 9
Week 1: Lost to Saskatchewan at home 21-29.
Week 2: Lost to Montreal at home 20-23.
Week 3: Lost to Toronto on the road 36-39.
Week 4: Lost to B.C. on the road 21-24.
Week 5: Bye Week.
Week 6: Lost to Ottawa at home 34-37
Week 7: Lost to Ottawa on the road 14-20.
Week 8: Lost to Hamilton at home 29-44.
The Commonwealth Curse is going very strong for the Edmonton Elks who have now lost their last 11 games. The Elks lost their first 5 games all by 1 score before firing head coach Chris Jones. Things have not improved since the firing of Jones as Edmonton scored their fewest points in a game this season in week 7 and then this past week lost by the largest margin as they lost to Hamilton 29-44.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed 10 of his 22 passes for 85 yards with 1 interception before Edmonton switched to Tre Ford with under 10 minutes left to play trailing 8-41. Ford had impressive numbers completing 10 of his 15 passes for 121 yards and 3 touchdowns. The third touchdown came in the final minute after a fumble gave Edmonton the ball at Hamilton’s 12-yard line.
While many publications like to lean into the spin that Canadian quarterback Tre Ford is the franchise’s savior if allowed to have more playing time, however, this narrative is largely hyperbole as Edmonton has had strong play from MBT in the position. The passing game is not the problem in Edmonton. MBT has averaged 255 yards per game so far this season and led the CFL in passing yards in 2022 before joining the USFL. Last year Ford only broke 200 passing yards in 4 of his 10 starts.
With Edmonton now 0-7 the team will be shaking things up this week. Per TSN’s Farhan Lalji, Tre Ford is expected to start for Edmonton this Saturday. While it’s not MBT’s fault the team is 0-7, this move will help to get Ford some valuable playing time to further develop.
Week 9: Visiting Saskatchewan on Saturday.
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