Jason Halstead/CFL.ca
By and large, the West Division has had the edge over its eastern counterpart for the last number of years. From what I’ve seen through almost half of the current season, though, this is the best the West has looked since expanding to five teams for the 2014 campaign.
Not only do all five teams have legitimate playoff aspirations, but the separation between them is much smaller than we’ve seen.
Going West
We know at least one West Division team is going to miss the playoffs, as only four teams can qualify if the crossover comes into play. I think it’s going to come right down to the end of the season to figure out which four teams those are, though.
Last season saw the Calgary Stampeders dominate the West, as they were head and shoulders better than everyone else. After a busy off-season for every team in the division, though, things have tightened up significantly. That, more than anything else, is the reason things look as competitive as they do right now.
It’s important to note the Stamps haven’t taken any dramatic steps back. I think this team is pretty close to the caliber it was last year while scorching the regular season. Calgary remains as stingy as it comes defensively, and the fact that it sits near the top of the league in most important categories is testament to that. And, even with a boatload of injuries at receiver, the Stamps remain extremely efficient with the ball and have been one of the league’s highest-scoring teams.
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Despite falling in Week 9, Mike Reilly has the Eskimos on top of the CFL standings at 7-1 (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
But the gap has closed at the top. In fact, even after suffering their first loss of the season, the Eskimos still own the CFL’s best record at 7-1. The Eskimos are full marks for their great start to the season and they’ve got all the tools to battle near the top of the division for the rest of 2017.
Quarterback Mike Reilly is the Most Outstanding Player frontrunner in many minds as he’s piloted one of the most potent aerial attacks in the league for a second straight year. Just as formidable is Edmonton’s defensive front four and, even shorthanded, that unit looked good Thursday against Winnipeg. I can’t see the Eskimos dropping off significantly and their two games against Calgary to start next month should be outstanding.
Let’s give the Bombers some credit here, too. With four straight wins and a 6-2 record, Winnipeg is now 16-5 with Matt Nichols at quarterback and he put together one of his best performances to help knock off Edmonton. Andrew Harris, on the other hand, is on pace to become the first CFL player ever to hit 1,000 rushing and receiving yards and deserves serious MOP consideration, too.
If you remember back to the beginning of the season, I questioned whether the Bombers would be able to force turnovers the same way they did last year. Well, while they might not hit 30 interceptions like they did last year, the Bombers still lead the league in that category and are on pace for 24 by the end of the season.
It’s the “bottom” of the West Division making the biggest impact in 2017, though. The West has had at least one team with five or fewer wins the last two seasons, but I just can’t see that happening this year.
Yes, the BC Lions have lost three of their last four games, but I still believe this group has the chops to battle near the top of the division. The Lions gave Calgary all they could handle on Friday night and quarterback Jonathon Jennings looked far more effective as opposed to his first game back the week before.
Buy Week 10 Tickets
» Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET: Winnipeg at Montreal
» Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET: Saskatchewan at Edmonton
» Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET: BC at Ottawa
» Saturday, 9:00 p.m. ET: Toronto at Calgary
Don’t sleep on the Riders, either. My feel on them was they were going to be better than they were last season, but right now they look like a team that can compete with anyone. At 3-4, the Riders have been competitive in all of their losses and they’re coming off an impressive win over the Lions in Week 8.
The best part of having an ultra-competitive West Division is how things shape up going forward. The schedule sees teams start to play far more often inside the division, including some big time Labour Day showdowns on the horizon.
I’m not sure we’ll see the crossover come into play this season, but I do know the danger exists of two good West Division teams missing the playoffs. While that opens up an interesting question about playoff formats going forward (for another week), it also should give us some great football for the rest of 2017.
Leading the way
Has anyone looked at Trevor Harris’s passing numbers this season? The Ottawa REDBLACKS quarterback has done everything in his power to keep his team competitive and I think that needs to be pointed out despite Ottawa’s 2-6-1 start.
There isn’t much Harris hasn’t done in 2017. He leads the league with 18 passing touchdowns and 2,862 passing yards, boasts the best touchdown-interception ratio, and sits near the top in terms of completion percentage and efficiency rating. We’ve talked a couple times already about MOP consideration, and any conversation right now has to involve Harris, too.
The thing is, I don’t think Harris gets the due he deserves. I think perception has a lot to do with that, and I think that perception is starting to change. The reality is, though, Harris has been one of the CFL’s most prolific passers over the last three seasons. If anyone is surprised by what we’ve seen from him in 2017, they shouldn’t be.
With 18 TDs against only four INTs, Trevor Harris continues to be prolific for the REDBLACKS (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
Harris’s perception has suffered mainly because of who he’s been teammates with in recent years. 2015 saw Harris start 16 games for Toronto and was one of the league’s most accurate passers while fighting near the top of the yardage table. But, as the Argos moved towards the playoffs, incumbent Ricky Ray finished his rehab and took over late.
With Ottawa one year later, Harris was doing his thing once again. He was slinging the ball over the field, throwing for a ton of majors with very few interceptions, and racking up the yardage totals. This time Harris was paired with Henry Burris, and the REDBLACKS went with the latter late in the season en route to a Grey Cup title.
I’m not critical of the decisions to move away from Harris the last two years. It’s tough not to go to proven winners like Ray and Burris, with the latter decision paying the biggest dividend of all. My point is more that what we’re seeing from Harris this season is nothing new. Harris is one of the league’s best quarterbacks and should be discussed as such.
Quick hits
Nik Lewis certainly deserves than a couple paragraphs for what he’s done during his dynamite career. But, knowing the Montreal receiver is almost certain to make CFL history over the next few weeks, we’ll hold off so we don’t repeat ourselves.
Lewis moved into second on the all-time receptions list in Montreal’s 38-6 loss to Toronto on Saturday afternoon. With a pair of catches, Lewis tied and then surpassed Ben Cahoon on the list and now sits all alone in second with 1,018. Geroy Simon holds the CFL record of 1,029, while Lewis is averaging just over five catches per game. If that holds up, Lewis should lock down number one by the end of September.
Nik Lewis is hitting milestone after milestone in what could be his final CFL season (David Chidley/CFL.ca)
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats still don’t have a win and won’t have a chance to change that until their Labour Day matchup with Toronto. Knowing that, Sunday’s trade with Edmonton is exactly the type of move the Ticats need to be making right now.
Hamilton sent defensive end John Chick (along with a fifth round pick) to help the Eskimos with their depleted front four. In return, the Tiger-Cats got a very valuable 2018 second round pick, which is a nice return for a 34-year-old in the midst of a down season statistically.
At 0-8, the Ticats aren’t completely out of it in the East, but they need to be open to moves aimed at next season. Sunday’s deal with Edmonton was a perfect example of just that.
