Chris Tanouye/CFL.ca
TORONTO — Week 6 in the CFL season emphasized the difficulty of trying to pick a winner.
Four of the six writers thought that the Edmonton Elks would finally pick up win No. 1 on the season and end their home losing streak. That of course, didn’t happen, as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats prevailed and prolonged Edmonton’s suffering.
With the status quo seemingly poised to dominate the rest of the week, we got three wild games in a row. Sure, the Toronto Argonauts lived up to the pick on Friday, eventually downing the Montreal Alouettes, but the game seesawed all night before the Argos showed why they’re the top team in the league right now.
Then Saturday’s double-header took us on an out of control carnival ride. The Ottawa REDBLACKS stunned the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with a fourth quarter comeback that had everyone at TD Place (save for the team in Blue and Gold) celebrating like they’d won a playoff game. The Calgary Stampeders survived the trifecta of two Mario Alford return TDs and a Mason Fine-Tevin Jones Hail Mary TD that was aided by the most fortuitous of bounces. They won with a 50-yard Rene Paredes walk-off field goal, picking up the kind of win that the Riders had deftly become masters of early in this season.
Hopefully, you were entertained enough to push your picks to the back of your mind for a moment or two. And hopefully, we’re treated to another entertaining slate of games this week. There are heavy favourites in three of the four Week 7 matchups, but we should know now that nothing is written in stone.
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EDM at WPG
For the second time this season, the Bombers look to rebound after an uncharacteristic loss. They get to do so under similar circumstances as their Week 6 setting, where they’ll still be heavily favoured when they face the winless Elks. The Bombers played the game that everyone thought they would this past week in Ottawa, only to see it all unravel in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter. Could that type of letdown come two weeks in a row from a team that’s been so dominant these last three-plus seasons? The vast majority of fans and writers don’t think so.
PICK
Writers: 83% Winnipeg
Fans: 96% Winnipeg
TOR at HAM
The Argos roll into Tim Hortons Field on a high that they haven’t felt in 40 years, with their perfect 4-0 record. The Ticats have some momentum — they’ve won two in a row, shaking off a 0-3 start — but they’ve also got some troubles, with Matthew Shiltz being moved to the six-game injured list. That’s a space that Bo Levi Mitchell still occupies, so the team turns to Taylor Powell at QB. Powell’s first CFL pass came last week against Edmonton and he turned it into a 17-yard touchdown. Going against the Argos, Powell faces one of the league’s toughest tests for the first start of his CFL career.
PICK
Writers: 100% Toronto
Fans: 89% Toronto
SSK at BC
The well-rested Lions come out of the bye and get to go back to work at home, where the upper level of seats are already starting to fill up at BC Place. The top team in the West hosts a Riders’ team that will also have a new-ish face at QB. Mason Fine assumes starting duties after Trevor Harris‘ unfortunate injury in Week 6. Despite how well Fine played in relief of Harris in the fourth quarter of their loss to the Stamps, the consensus of pick makers think the Lions will defend their home turf.
PICK
Writers: 100% BC
Fans: 87% BC
OTT at CGY
Dustin Crum and the REDBLACKS made some fourth-quarter magic last week against a very, very good Bombers team. Can they do it two weeks in a row? It feels like a tall task, but maybe not an impossible one. The Stamps, meanwhile, looked their most Stamp-iest in last week’s sensational win over the Riders. Have Jake Maier and the offence turned a corner? Were the REDBLACKS a one-game miracle sensation? This game might pose the most questions out of all four this week, which is why it’s the most open to writer/fan interpretation.
PICK
Writers: 50-50 split
Fans: 67% Calgary
