Minas Panagiotakis/CFL.a
The Montreal Alouettes were able to sit back and relax during OK Tire Labour Day Weekend last week as they were off on a bye.
And while they were enjoying all of that well-deserved R&R, the Als became the first team this season to clinch a playoff spot.
At 10-1, Montreal is looking like a team that could become back-to-back champions. But as we know, records aren’t everything and anything can happen (just look at the 16-2 Toronto Argonauts that the Als beat last year in the Eastern Final).
I’m not say that the same fate will be waiting for Montreal, I’m just reminding everyone that anything can happen in this league (and that’s the way we like it!). They’ll look for their 11th win this weekend against the BC Lions.
With eight weeks left in the regular season, I sure can’t wait to see what happens starting with Week 14’s contests.
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Here’s my CFL Fantasy team for this week:
QB – Cody Fajardo ($13,200) CAPTAIN
RB – William Stanback ($12,200)
RB – Frankie Hickson ($4,200)
WR – Tevin Jones ($7,500)
WR – Justin Hardy ($10,700)
FLEX – Nic Demski ($10,900)
DEF – Edmonton Elks ($8,400)
Going up against a Lions defence that allows 293.3 yards per game, I’m hoping that Cody Fajardo, fresh off a bye week, will be able to get some yardage against BC. He had 19.8 FP in his return to action two weeks ago against Edmonton and another performance like that, or better than that one, will be good enough for me.
How could I not choose William Stanback as my running back? Not only is the BC Lions tailback having an excellent season (and 29.1 FP last week), he’s playing against his former team. I’m sure there will be an extra pep in his step as he faces the Als for the first time since leaving in the off-season. I also went with Frankie Hickson. I liked the price tag, $4,200, and if Trevor Harris gets in trouble against the tough Winnipeg defence, he may need to rely on his running back a bit more than he did last week.
Tevin Jones and Justin Hardy are my receivers. Do I think Jones will go off for 200+ yards again this week? No, but I do think he’ll continue to be one of McLeod Bethel-Thompson’s favourite targets. In five games, Jones has had four games of double digital fantasy outputs including a 27.3 FP outing in Week 9 and, of course, his 37.8 FP last week. Hardy has had some big fantasy performances this season as well, including four games of 20+ points, I think he’s in for another as Dru Brown’s favourite target when the REDBLACKS welcome the Argonauts to town.
Nic Demski is my FLEX player this week. Demski had a touchdown against his former team last week and I’m hoping for much of the same in the Labour Day rematch in Winnipeg. And finally, my defence this week is Edmonton. 11 FP last week against Jake Maier and the Stampeders, along with no Stamps on my fantasy team to contradict this pick, made this a pretty easy choice for me.
KRISTINA’S PICKS (make your picks here!)
BC at Montreal
Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Montreal is rested, returning from their bye week. If the Lions play like they did last week, I think this one will be close, especially if Nathan Rourke can do what he did to Ottawa against this Als defence. That being said, I’m predicting Montreal improves to 11-1.
PICK: Montreal
Toronto at Ottawa
Saturday, 1:00 p.m. ET
With both of these teams are coming off a loss, I think this one comes down to home field advantage. Ottawa hasn’t lost at TD Place yet this season (5-0-1) and Toronto has only one win on the road (1-4).
PICK: Ottawa
Saskatchewan at Winnipeg
Saturday, 3:00 p.m. ET
The Roughriders have to win again eventually, right? Right? Right….? Saskatchewan hasn’t gotten a win since Week 7 and despite a few games that were oh-so-close, they have been on the losing (or tie!) end of the score for a while. While Winnipeg has been on a run and their defence has looked very good, I think it’s time for the Riders to finally get a W.
PICK: Saskatchewan
Calgary at Edmonton
Sunday, 7:00 p.m. ET
Edmonton has won four of their last five games and as I wrote in my storylines to watch, the increase in turnovers forced has been impressive. Along with the defence doing their job, McLeod Bethel-Thompson is playing his best football of the season and the team’s receivers and running backs are performing as well. It was the running backs stealing the show a few weeks ago (Justin Rankin or Javon Leake) and last week three receivers went over 100 yards; Eugene Lewis and Kurleigh Gittens Jr. had 112 and 115, respectively and Tevin Jones went for 208. I think they go back-to-back against their Alberta rivals this week.
PICK: Edmonton
