- Montreal Alouettes (Last Rank: 1)
Montreal travelled west to Winnipeg for a Grey Cup rematch against the Bombers. The majority of the CFL fanbase (about 80% including me) thought that while Montreal are the reigning champs, the Bombers were still the cream of the crop. Well, just like last year, Montreal come out swinging and beat the Bombers in THEIR house which just does not happen very often. Montreal is the real deal. Next week they are in Edmonton. - Toronto Argos (Last Rank: 6)
Just like Montreal, the Argos were written off this week. They were without last year’s MOP, while he sits out an (at least) nine game suspension but that did not matter. Cam Dukes played lights out and the Argos beat the odds-on Grey Cup favourite in an offensive shootout, but it was their defense that made it tough for Vernon Adams Jr. and the rest of the Lions to make plays. Toronto is on bye next week. - Saskatchewan Roughriders (Last Rank: 4)
Saskatchewan started off slow but finished strong to beat the Elks in Edmonton on a windy, rainy, chilly day. Both teams made mistakes, but the Riders capitalized on them and scored twenty-one unanswered points in the fourth quarter to leave the City of Champions with Corey Mace’s first win as a Head Coach. Shawn Bane Jr. had 3 TD receptions and will look to continue that pace when they travel to Hamilton next week. - BC Lions (Last Rank: 2)
BC may not have gotten the win in Toronto, but it was not without a significant effort by the Lions. Toronto’s defence was just too much for BC’s offensive line and Vernon Adams Jr. was running for his life often, but he was still able to put up 363 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT. Maybe the Lions overlooked the Argos, but the Lions head back to the west coast for their home opener where they will have over fifty thousand fans on hand (with some credit to the pregame performance by 50 Cent) to face the Stampeders. - Calgary Stampeders (Last Rank: 9)
Just like Montreal and Toronto, the Stampeders we able to pull out the victory as the underdog at home vs the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Maier of Cowtown looked to be leaner and had help from his receivers making plays. Bo Levi Mitchell looked decent and if he would have had some more help from his receivers, this game could have turned out quite differently. But Calgary got the win and that is all that matters. We shall see if they can keep that up as the travel to BC Place for a matchup with an angry Lions team. - Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Last Rank: 8)
Hamilton went into Calgary as the slight favourites but could not get the job done. Bo Levi’s arm strength looked good, and he was able to run around a bit, so there were positives. RB James Butler was a game time decision that turned out to be the right one as he was able to break the 100-yard mark in the losing effort. Receiver Tim White had a couple costly drops so he will look to rebound as the Ticats host the Riders next week. - Ottawa REDBLACKS (Last Rank: 7)
Ottawa had the bye week and in MY power rankings, when the team is on a bye, their spot will stay the same. They look to start their season on Thursday at home when the Blue Bombers make the trip to the nation’s capital. - Edmonton Elks (Last Rank: 5)
The Elks looked like they were on their way to securing a rare home win against the Riders, but completely collapsed. QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson looked good at times, able to find his receivers down field, but also struggled with a couple costly turnovers and after gaining all the momentum after Riders’ offensive linemen Logan Ferland was Disqualified from the game for throwing a punch, lost that momentum terribly in the 4th quarter as the Riders came from behind with 21 unanswered points to steal the victory. They now host the #1 ranked Montreal Alouettes this week. - Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Last Rank: 3)
The Bombers were the hardest team for me to place this week. They looked TERRIBLE and even though I do still feel they are a top tier team in the CFL, they did not do enough to be ranked higher than last. They scored the fewest points, lost by the most points, etc. I am sure their stay at the bottom will be short lived, but as power rankings are about what the team has done for me lately, you are the weakest link. The Bomber fans picked Chris Streveler as the player of the game with thirty-two yards rushing… They now travel to Ottawa to see if they can bounce back.
2 and Out CFL Podcast 