CFL on TSN Power Rankings
(Last updated: August 4th)
[1] Saskatchewan (Last Week: 1)
[2] B.C. (Last Week: 2)
[3] Montreal (Last Week: T-4)
[4] Edmonton (Last Week: 6)
[5] Calgary (Last Week: 3)
[6] Toronto (Last Week: T-4)
[7] Winnipeg (Last Week: 7)
[8] Hamilton (Last Week: 8 )
(Power Rankings are compiled on a weekly basis by the CFL on TSN commentators and analysts)
The undefeated Saskatchewan Roughriders are making things easy for the TSN crew that determines the weekly power rankings. But the same cannot be said for the Lions, Alouettes and Eskimos.The Roughriders continue to lose players to injury, win games any way possible and hold on to top spot. But second, third and fourth places were hotly contested this week.
In a clash between two of the top three teams in last week’s rankings, the Roughriders held on for a narrow 22-21 victory over the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon Stadium on Saturday.
While the margin of victory was not large, the effort put forth by the injury-riddled squad from Regina certainly was. And there were some breaks along the way. Stampeders’ linebacker JoJuan Armour was ejected for physical abuse of official on the second play from scrimmage, a call that was later labelled “unwarranted” by Director of Officiating Tom Higgins. And, after Matt Dominguez fumbled the ball, running back Wes Cates picked it up in full stride and ran it in for a crucial touchdown.
With the loss, the Stampeders dropped from third to fifth in the rankings.
Despite a 35-24 loss to the resurgent Edmonton Eskimos, the underachieving B.C. Lions remained in second place. The Lions led the Eskimos by a wide margin in the third quarter but could not hang on at an emotionally-charged Commonwealth Stadium. A pre-game visit from injured wide receiver Jason Tucker, who suffered a broken neck last week, played a factor but it wasn’t the entire story.
“After all the emotion early for Edmonton, the Eskimos lulled and needed a wake-up call and it came from Bradley Robinson’s interception,” said CFL on TSN analyst Duane Forde. “The offence responded to that play by taking over the game with 25 unanswered points.”
With the win, the Eskimos made the biggest move of the week, moving up from sixth place into fourth.
The Montreal Alouettes jumped up from a tie for fourth to sole possession of third with a 40-33 win over the struggling Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Coming in on a three-game losing skid, the Alouettes got back in the win column thanks in large part to the play of pivot Anthony Calvillo, who became the fourth quarterback in CFL history to reach 300 career touchdown passes.
‘‘It’s something that I’m definitely going to reflect on, now and then when I’m done,’’ Calvillo said after the game. ‘‘I continue to stay healthy and I’m surrounded by good talent and good things are going to come from that, so as long as I can stay healthy and these guys do their job around me, we’re going to do some special things here in Montreal.’’
The Toronto Argonauts defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in a rematch of last year’s East Final but the CFL on TSN dropped the Double Blue down two spots due in part to the fact the Argos could not manage an offensive touchdown in the sloppy contest.
The Blue Bombers and Tiger-Cats remain unchanged at seventh and eighth respectively.