POWER RANKINGS
1. Calgary (1)
Winning at McMahon Stadium is nothing new. Winning in spite of a subpar performance from Bo Levi Mitchell, who overthrew receivers all day and still had 297 yards passing, is different. Calgary balanced its attack against Hamilton with 132 rushing yards and found a way to get it done on defence, so they stay at the top.
2. Edmonton (2)
A three-point, come-frombehind win over Winnipeg showed Mike Reilly’s steady hands late in a close game. He’s rarely flustered, he’ll break tackles for first downs and he can be counted on to find Derel Walker, who is also clutch in pressure situations.
3. Saskatchewan (5)
With pressure from Willie Jefferson and Charleston Hughes, the Riders’ front seven looks like it will produce plenty of sacks and pressure. Tyler Crapigna’s season-ending surgery left a question mark over the kicking game, but Brett Lauther went 4-for-5 on field goals. And QB Zach Collaros was solid.
4. B.C. (6)
QB Jonathon Jennings was good on 20 of 24 attempts, threw two touchdowns and no interceptions in a win over Montreal. If he keeps that up, the Lions will be in the mix against contending teams, too. Running backs Chris Rainey and Jeremiah Johnson will keep opponents off balance and kicker/ punter Ty Long will win the field position battle most nights.
5. Toronto (3)
In a lacklustre road loss to Saskatchewan, the Argos looked like a team that didn’t give its starting quarterback a single rep in pre-season. Which was, in fact, the case. Ricky Ray had several layers of rust on his game and it took about 45 minutes to remove it. The visitors were trailing by double digits at that point and weren’t consistent enough to close the gap.
6. Hamilton (4)
But for an ill-advised desperation throw off his back foot that gave Calgary a gameturning, fourth-quarter interception, QB Jeremiah Masoli had the Ticats in position to steal one. But close to good enough isn’t good enough, especially out west where the Tabbies will spend this week before playing the Esks.
7. Ottawa (7)
The Redblacks had the bye. They stay in the seven slot.
8. Winnipeg (8)
Rookie QB Chris Streveler had the Bombers ahead of Edmonton late in a weather-delayed marathon. When he wasn’t under pressure, he made the right reads and tossed three touchdown passes. When he felt heat, he got happy feet and underthrew receivers. That learning curve is going to involve some pain.
9. Montreal (9)
After a strong start in all three phases against B.C., the Alouettes reverted to last year’s form on offence. They couldn’t generate drives and stopped giving the ball to dynamic running back Tyrell Sutton, who had nine of his 15 carries in the first half. They also took too many penalties and mismanaged the clock in the fourth quarter.