POWER RANKINGS

WEEK 7 (LAST WEEK’S RANKING IN PARENTHESIS)

1. Calgary (1) They left a lot of points on the field against the Alouettes, but when you allow only nine points against per game, it matters not. Now 5-0 against Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa (twice) and Montreal, it’s time for the Stamps to start beating up the rest of the West. 2. Edmonton (3) It was their bye week, but they still move up one spot, the benefactors of Hamilton’s horrid home loss. 3. Saskatchewan (5) Though we’re still not convinced head coach Chris Jones is the smartest guy in the CFL, his insistence on rotating quarterbacks and playing Duron Carter at cornerback worked for another week against Hamilton. Pressure and scheming from the Riders’ defence made Ticats QB Jeremiah Masoli look ordinary, or worse. And Brandon Bridge tried to put in a claim on the starting spot for the Riders. We’ll see if that makes any difference with the smart guy who decides his fate. 4. Winnipeg (6) Bombers coach Mike O’Shea didn’t get the memo on challenging illegal contact, return man Kevin Fogg gave the Argos a special teams TD, and Nic Demski was stripped for another fumble that went the other way. So there were signs of the secondhalf sloppiness that cost them a game in B.C. the previous week. But a sharper QB Matt Nichols and a swarming defence put the Argos in the rear-view mirror early on. 5. Ottawa (7) The Redblacks benefitted from B.C.’s time-clock blunder late in what was then a tie game. But Ottawa showed signs of life in all three phases, both early and late in their fourpoint win over B.C. Perhaps they were judged too harshly for losing twice to Calgary. 6. Hamilton (2) Head coach June Jones called for quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to quick kick the ball on third down and long. Masoli botched the kick, turning the momentum in Saskatchewan’s favour as the Tabbies went meekly into the night. Completing that play in practice, as Jones said they did a few times, means nothing, with no pressure or threat of bodily harm to the QB. It was horrible play call. 7. B.C. (4) The Lions are clearly better with Travis Lulay at quarterback than they were with Jonathon Jennings at the helm. But they had a road win in hand and threw it away. They mismanaged the clock, settled for a field goal rather than a shot at a TD, and the defence allowed Ottawa to go the length of the field in the final two minutes. 8. Toronto (8) The Argonauts need a new field-goal kicker and must find a way to get running back James Wilder Jr. back on track. Their defence could use some backbone, too. 9. Montreal (9) They paid a hefty price now and in the future to acquire QB Johnny Manziel from Hamilton, and it won’t pay off immediately. But they were desperate and they made a desperation move. It should be fun to watch.