CFL.ca Game Notes: A look at Week 9

TORONTO — It’s almost time for Week 9 and there’s plenty of football that will surely provide yet another exciting week of CFL action.

The week will kickoff in Montreal on Thursday as the undefeated Winnipeg Blue Bombers put their eight-game win streak on the line against the Montreal Alouettes, who will be looking to rebound after suffering a Week 8 loss.

On Friday, the Calgary Stampeders will be making their way to the nation’s capital to take on Caleb Evans and the Ottawa REDBLACKS. Historically these two teams have played each other closely. Friday should be no different in a four-round bout between Ottawa and Calgary.

Saturday’s double header features one of the most anticipated games of the week, as fans across the country will get to watch bitter rivals in the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts square off for the first of their four meetings over the next five weeks. In the second of Saturday’s matchups, the high-flyin’ BC Lions will be taking their impressive offensive attack on the road as Week 9 closes out with a matchup between the Lions and the Edmonton Elks.

Buy Week 9 Tickets
» Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET: Winnipeg at Montreal
» Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET: Calgary at Ottawa
» Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Hamilton at Toronto
» Sunday, 10:00 p.m. ET: Edmonton at BC
» GameZone: Play CFL Team Picker

PITCH PERFECT

• Winnipeg became the ninth team to start 8-0, and the first since BC started 11-0 in 2005.
• Clubs to start 8-0:
  • 12-0 | Calgary | 1948
  • 11-0 |BC, | 2005
  • 10-0 | Calgary | 1949
  • 10-0 | Calgary | 1993
  • 10-0| Edmonton | 1955
  • 10-0 | Winnipeg | 1960
  • 8-0 | Montreal | 2002
  • 8-0 | Winnipeg | 1939
• Of the eight teams to start 8-0, only four went on to win the Grey Cup: Winnipeg (1939), Calgary (1948), Edmonton (1955) and most recently, Montreal (2002).

CAPITAL GAINS

• Through seven games this season, Ottawa’s Jaelon Acklin leads the league in receiving yards (687), 100+ yard games (four) and 30+ yard receptions (seven)
• He is 22 receiving yards from eclipsing his personal best of 708 established in his 2019 rookie campaign
• In the past decade, only five players have had a better start through eight weeks:
  • 2018 | Duke Williams | 713 yards
  • 2017 | Greg Ellingson | 749 yards
  • 2017 | SJ Green | 705 yards
  • 2016 | Derel Walker | 800 yards
  • 2016 | Adarius Bowman | 789 yards
• He’s also second in the league with an average reception of 18.6 yards (minimum 15 receptions)
• Acklin is on pace for 1,767 yards, 95 catches and ten 100+ receiving yard games
• Ottawa team records:
  • Receiving Yards |1,459 | 2017 | Greg Ellingson
  • Receptions | 116 | 2018 | Brad Sinopoli

FAMILIAR FOES

• Saturday’s matchup between Toronto and Hamilton will mark their 241^st regular season meeting. The Argonauts will be looking for their 100^th victory in the series.
• The teams last met in the 2021 Eastern Final. Toronto won the season series 3-1 last year, including both contests at BMO Field.
• The rivals will meet four times in the next five weeks, including the Labour Day Classic.
• As a member of the Tiger-Cats, Brandon Banks faced Toronto 20 times; this will be his first game against his former club. Banks’s place in Ticats history:
  • 3,773 kickoff return yards (first)
  • 3,049 punt return yards (first)
  • 65 touchdowns (second)
  • 422 receptions (fifth)
• Banks (13,955) is 45 combined yards shy of 14,000 in his career. With 141 more yards, he will surpass Tom Scott (14,095) and move into the Top-20 all-time.

QUICK SLANTS

• The average duration of games in Week 8 was 2:41, including the fastest game of the year thus far: Calgary vs. Winnipeg (2:33).
• Week 8 had a season-low 12 penalties per game.
• Saskatchewan’s Larry Dean (49) and Darnell Sankey (48) are the Top-2 tacklers in 2022. Two players on the same team have never finished a season in first and second.
• Stamps/Bombers in Week 8 was the 23^rd game in league history (5,822 games in 116 years) to feature seven lead changes.
• Winnipeg and Montreal will open a home-and-home series this week. They have played five previous back-to-back sets with four splits, and a Montreal sweep (2003).
• Last week, Zach Collaros posted his sixth-career game with 4+ touchdown passes. His personal best of five was set on August 20, 2016.
• As Winnipeg’s starter, Collaros is 20-2.
• Montreal is one of two teams to topple Winnipeg in the Bombers’ past 19 games.
• The Alouettes are 509-509-11 since 1946. As a starter, Trevor Harris is 42-42-2.
• Montreal’s Tyrice Beverette leads the league with nine special teams tackles.
• Calgary has not lost three games in a row since 2018.
• In Week 8, Ottawa’s Lorenzo Mauldin IV extended his streak of games with a sack to four, and he has six over that span. His seven sacks on the season have him tied atop the leaderboard with Saskatchewan’s Pete Robertson.
• Boris Bede will play his 100^th game this week. He has amassed 707 points and 183 made field goals across seven seasons.
• Edmonton is coming off a bye, teams are 6-3 off a bye this season.
• Elks QB Taylor Cornelius has passed for 500 yards in his last two games – 190 of which have been to Kenny Lawler. BC is looking to win its third straight game against Edmonton. Nathan Rourke is 2-0 against the Elks.