POWER RANKINGS WEEK 2
HAMILTON
Even with their backup quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli, at the controls and having lost half of the starters from their smothering 2015 defence in the off-season, the Tabbies looked like world beaters on opening night at Toronto’s BMO Field. Linebacker Simoni Lawrence was a one-man wrecking crew on defence. Off-season additions John Chick and Chad Owens were superb.
OTTAWA
Henry Burris was playing well until banging up the pinky finger on his throwing hand, and then his backup, the newly signed Trevor Harris, came in and started delivering long bombs and touchdowns like he’s soft tossing before practice. The Eskimos defence isn’t what it used to be, but the Redblacks showed signs of a powerhouse offence.
MONTREAL
Yes, it was only the sad-sack Bombers they beat, but the under-appreciated Alouettes looked good in picking up the win. Veteran quarterback Kevin Glenn spread the ball around to his talented receiving corps to build up a comfortable lead and then cruised to the finish line.
B.C.
Their home triumph over the Stampeders was the least convincing of the four victories on opening weekend. Wally Buono’s return to the sideline was a successful one, but it required a Chris Rainey punt return for a touchdown and two misses from Calgary robo-kicker Rene Paredes. Those things aren’t going to happen every week.
SASKATCHEWAN
The Riders enjoyed the bye week to kick off the season, which gave them a chance to gather film on their first opponent, the Argos, and to scoop up other teams’ castoffs and possibly get them into the lineup on Thursday night. There appears to be some talent in Regina this year, but how long will it take for the group to jell?
CALGARY
They could have easily beaten the Lions in their opener, but the aforementioned Rainey and Paredes caused Dave Dickenson to fall in his first game as Calgary’s head coach. It looks like it might take a while for them to get going as a group. Their special teams were dominant in the first half, but it killed them in the second.
EDMONTON
It looks like the Esks might be involved in a few shootouts this season. Defensive genius Chris Jones is gone, as is half of the defence, and it showed as the Green and Gold surrendered 43 of the 45 points in their overtime loss to the Redblacks. Mike Reilly and the offence are good to go. Now it’s up to Mike Benevides and Co. to get the defence up to the same speed.
WINNIPEG
It rained, both literally and figuratively, on the Blue and Gold during their seasonopening loss to the Alouettes. There was plenty of optimism after the team’s off-season free agent spending spree, but it was dampened by their dismal Week 1 showing.
TORONTO
Ricky Ray looked more like he was 76 and not 36, the offensive line was porous, and Ticats backup QB Masoli sliced the defence with three passing TDs. The one positive, of course, was the team’s debut at BMO Field, but it didn’t help one bit.