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TORONTO — Wins and losses are often disposable items for coaches and players, but there’s a chance that Week 11 provided each of its winners with the kind of game that can help shape a season.
We saw Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton and Winnipeg all go on the road and all come away with big wins. The results are ultimately what matter but each of those wins felt like the kinds of performances that coaches will point to for the remainder of this year as examples of what their respective groups are capable of.
The REDBLACKS rallied around the return of Jeremiah Masoli and capped a strong game from the veteran quarterback with Lewis Ward‘s 51-yard game-winning field goal. The Alouettes, still dealing with a multitude of injuries, refused to quit and came out of Mosaic Stadium with a win on Friday. The Elks went back to McLeod Bethel-Thompson at quarterback on Saturday and handedly defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, earning their third straight win and proving to themselves that they do have the pieces to be a competitive team in this league. Finally, the Blue Bombers came out of their bye week and drowned out all of the hype around Nathan Rourke and his return to the BC Lions with a masterclass defensive effort that has vaulted them into third place in the West Division.
What does that mean for this week’s CFL Power Rankings, presented by AMSOIL? Let’s find out.
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1. Montreal Alouettes (9-1)
1. Montreal Alouettes (9-1)Last Week: 1
Last Game: 27-24 win over Saskatchewan
Next Game: Vs. Edmonton, Sun. Aug. 25
Worth noting: The Als should be brimming with confidence as they’ve pushed into the second half of their schedule with a league-leading 9-1 record. This of course comes while the team scales a mountain of injuries at key positions. There’s hope that Cody Fajardo will be back in action at the end of this week when the Als host the Elks, but seeing Davis Alexander play as well as he has should give the organization some reassurance as their 2023 Grey Cup MVP gets full back to health. The defending champs added some high-end receiver talent on Monday as well, as they welcomed Austin Mack back to their roster.
2. Ottawa REDBLACKS (6-2-1)
2. Ottawa REDBLACKS (6-2-1)Last Week: 3
Last Game: 31-29 win over Calgary
Next game: Vs. BC, Sat. Aug. 24
Worth noting: Masoli won’t unseat Dru Brown as the REDBLACKS’ starter, but if he stays healthy this team has a strong and steady QB duo that can take them a long way this year. We saw Masoli thrive with Dane Evans in Hamilton, as that QB pairing got the Ticats to a pair of Grey Cup games (2019 and 2021). Given Masoli’s rough go with injuries the last few years, it would be a fantastic development to see him continue to impact games and help the REDBLACKS — who now have the league’s second-best record — back to the playoffs for the first time since the 2018 season.
3. Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-4-1)
3. Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-4-1)Last Week: 2
Last Game: 27-24 loss to Montreal
Next game: At Toronto, Thurs., Aug. 22
Worth noting: Rider Nation is reeling after a very winnable game against the top team in the league went just wide of the uprights on them. The good news for the Riders is that despite their recent struggles — they’re winless in their last four — Trevor Harris had a very solid return from his knee injury. The Riders’ 433 yards of net offence is their highest output since Shea Patterson got them 457 yards in their Week 6 loss to the Lions. Corey Mace’s defence forced two turnovers and limited Davis Alexander and the Als to 318 yards of net offence. Were it not for a deeply uncharacteristic game from Brett Lauther, the Riders would have gained some ground on their West Division rivals and would still be holding the No. 2 spot in these rankings.
4. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-6)
4. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-6)Last Week: 5
Last Game: 20-11 win over BC
Next game: Vs. Hamilton, Fri. Aug. 23
Worth noting: We’re not ones to pat our own backs or toot our own horn over here; not too often anyway. We will say again, though, that when the Bombers were struggling early in the season and we dropped them to the lower echelon of these rankings that we thought they’d be back. Two games under .500, their record doesn’t fully show it yet, but the Bombers have won two in a row and three of their last five, while out-scoring their divisional rival Lions 45-11 in the process. This team will be one to keep an eye on in the second half of the season. Owning the season series with the Stamps, they were able to leapfrog them in the standings into third in the West. The Bombers now also have the season series over the Lions, which could factor into things as we begin to shift from summer to fall.
5. Edmonton Elks (3-7)
5. Edmonton Elks (3-7)Last Week: 7
Last Game: 47-22 win over Hamilton
Next game: At Montreal, Sun. Aug. 25
Worth noting: The Elks are on their first three-game win streak in six years, which prompted TSN’s Davis Sanchez — a one time wearer of the Green and Gold himself — to declare this team a contender in the West Division. Throughout their 0-7 start, the Elks seemed to be fighting themselves just as much as their opponents. Over their last three games they seem to have gotten past that. Now just a game behind the Stamps in the West and with Edmonton set to face Calgary and Winnipeg two times each in September, things could get very interesting for new team owner Larry Thompson. It’d take an impressive run, but despite all of the hardship this season, the playoffs aren’t out of the picture in Edmonton.
6. Toronto Argonauts (5-4)
6. Toronto Argonauts (5-4)Last Week: 6
Last Game: 39-25 win over Calgary (Week 10)
Next game: Vs. Saskatchewan, Thurs. Aug. 22
Worth noting: The Argos will likely start the freshly reinstated Chad Kelly on Thursday night against the Riders, as both teams look to move themselves away from the .500 neighbourhood. To do that, they’ll need to start winning consistently. They go into Week 12 looking for their first win streak since their 2-0 start. With the Alouettes out in front in the East and the REDBLACKS starting to stack wins, the Argos will need to do the same if they want to get in position to host a playoff game this year. Finally, we can’t not mention Janarion Grant, who stands at four return touchdowns on the season through nine games. Can he do it again this week?
7. BC Lions (5-5)
7. BC Lions (5-5)Last Week: 4
Last Game: 20-11 loss to Winnipeg
Next game: At Ottawa, Sat. Aug. 24
Worth noting: Add this to the list of low rankings you may not have expected to see this season. Now on a four-game losing streak, the Lions’ offence has come to a screeching halt over the last three games and had endured a seven-quarter scoring drought that was snapped in Sunday’s loss to the Bombers. Similar to the Bombers, we’ll say that this spot in the rankings is only a reflection of where the team is at this moment. Once Nathan Rourke settles into the offence and re-familiarizes himself with the speed of the game, we expect things to rebound and for a subsequent rankings climb to follow.
8. Calgary Stampeders (4-6)
8. Calgary Stampeders (4-6)Last Week: 8
Last game: 31-29 loss to Ottawa
Next game: Vs. Edmonton, Mon. Sept. 2
Worth noting: The Stamps saw their perfect home record take a hit in the Week 11 opener. Their last-second loss to Lewis Ward, Jeremiah Masoli and the Ottawa REDBLACKS left them vulnerable in the West Division standings to a Winnipeg overtaking, which is exactly what happened when the Bombers went out and locked down the Lions’ offence on Sunday night. Since the Bombers won the season series with the Stamps back in Week 6, the Stamps have eight games left in the regular season to try to get ahead and stay ahead of them in the standings.
9. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-8)
9. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-8)Last Week: 9
Last game: 47-22 loss to Edmonton
Next game: At Winnipeg, Fri. Aug. 23
Worth noting: First off, the Ticats let fans know that Luther Hakunavanhu and Taylor Powell were both discharged from the hospital after their in-game injuries in Week 11. Big picture, that’s the important news from their game. For more trivial things like the game that we’re following, it’s obviously not going well in The Hammer this season, as the club relieved longtime defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Mark Washington of his duties and hired Chris Jones on Monday. Down 32-3 at halftime against the Elks, who came into Saturday’s game with a matching 2-7 record, the Ticats had another poor, penalty-riddled, turnover-laden start and put themselves in a hole too deep to climb out of. As we await news on Powell’s status, the Ticats get little reprieve, with the Blue Bombers and their emerging defence waiting for them on Friday at Princess Auto Stadium.