
Jamie Douglas/CFL.ca
We entered last week with two unbeaten teams and left the week with both Montreal and Saskatchewan falling for the first time.
This week, we enter with two winless teams as the Edmonton Elks make a major move with Chris Jones’ departure, while the Scott Milanovich led Tiger-Cats come off the bye week hoping to kick start their season against their rival.
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We saw breakout games to potential new CFL stars in Winnipeg’s Ontaria Wilson and Ottawa’s Kalil Pimpleton. Wilson became Zach Collaros’ number one receiver, while Pimpleton’s 153-yard debut was just what the REDBLACKS needed to add another weapon to the offence.
Nevermind some more 400-yard throwing games of Vernon Adams Jr. and Dru Brown, while Justin McInnis nearly set a new Canadian receiver single game high with 243 yards.
Oh, and another walk-off, game-winning field goal. I can’t wait to see what’s in store in Week 7.
Edmonton at Ottawa
Friday, July 19
7:00 p.m. ET
I still can’t believe what I saw play out at Commonwealth Stadium on Sunday night. I still can’t believe the Elks have been losers of three- straight games to walk-off field goals.
Now we see how Jarious Jackson does in his first shot as a head coach. However, he only has about one day of full practice to get the team re-focused after seeing their coach get fired after another devastating loss.
While it is tough to win back to back games, I think it’s tougher to recover from a hectic and short week and then travel East to play an Ottawa team who just put up a ton of yards on your defence.
Yes, I think the Elks are a better team than what their record indicates but Dru Brown and the REDBLACKS are gaining more and more confidence as the season moves forward. Like I said, Pimpleton adds a new speed dynamic to this offence with Dominique Rhymes having his biggest game of the season and Justin Hardy one of the biggest playmakers in 2024.
PICK: OTTAWA
Winnipeg at Saskatchewan
Friday, July 19
9:30 p.m. ET
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers meet their prairie rival on a two-game winning streak. Brady Oliveira has back to back 100-yard games. Coincidence? Not a chance.
The Bombers identity has always been a strong run game to wear down defences and have Zach Collaros chew up yards with play action.
And they needed someone to come up and fill the void of injuries to Kenny Lawler and Dalton Schoen. Enter Ontaria Wilson.
The Riders are coming off their first loss of the season but another massive blow for the Riders is losing former Bomber Jermarcus Hardrick. It’s expected to be a serious injury for the biggest addition to the offensive line. Left tackle, Trevor Reid, also went down so the injury report will be something to keep an eye on before locking in your picks.
But with a strong run game by Winnipeg, they meet the best run defence in the league. And the worst rushing team in the league meets the worst rush defense in the league.
Willie Jefferson coming off the edge with those tackle injuries in Saskatchewan…. I hesitantly…
PICK: WINNIPEG
Toronto at Hamilton
Saturday, July 20
7:00 p.m. ET
The Toronto Argonauts definitely sent a message with their victory over Montreal. You do have to take into consideration they did it against an Alouette team without Cody Fajardo for most of last week’s game.
It was a great bounce back game by Cameron Dukes, Janarion Grant is a major addition to flip the field with back-to-back weeks with return touchdowns and the Argonauts are also the best rushing team in the league.
While it’s been an up and down season for the Argos so far, it can be expected with Dukes finding his way at quarterback.
Meanwhile, in Hamilton, their defence needs to improve after the bye week. They’ve had a lot of moving parts and they make some communication mistakes but where they need the most improvement is taking the ball away.
They only have three takeaways this season. They’re the only team averaging less than one takeaway a game.
On offence, you see flashes of what could be a dangerous group but they are not consistent enough. Will it all come together after the bye week? I think they’ll be closer, but not close enough.
PICK: TORONTO
BC at Calgary
Sunday, July 21
7:00 p.m. ET
At some point Vernon Adams Jr.will slow down, right? Right???
His stats are insane. He has over 1,000 yards in targets 20+ yards down field. That’s more than double the next closes quarterback and it’s only after SIX GAMES! Toronto only has 1,118 yards TOTAL in passing.
Then you have Justin McInnis and Alexander Hollins as first and second in the league in receiving.
The Lions are rolling and Adams Jr. has never been better. But you know every quarterback has a down game.
The issue I have here is Calgary hasn’t been able to get consistent pressure on quarterbacks this year so Adams Jr. having more time to throw is a recipe for another big day by the Lions passing game.
Calgary’s Dedrick Mills has been great this season and is the main focus of this offence. He leads the league in rushing yards per game.
I do think the Stampeders need more from Jake Maier. He’s been alright this season but that isn’t going to beat their opponent this week the way BC is putting up yards and points.
PICK: CALGARY