CFL providing plenty of intrigue

We’re now more than a third into the 2024 CFL season and it still feels like anyone’s game.

Ok, maybe not anyone’s.

I, too, have a hard time thinking the 0-6 Edmonton Elks or 1-5 Hamilton Tiger-Cats will capture the Grey Cup this year. While the 2-5 Winnipeg Blue Bombers also feel like a long shot at this point, they have been to the last four championships, so they get a bit of a longer leash when it comes to earning the benefit of the doubt.

It’s fair to say the Montreal Alouettes (5-1), Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-1) and B.C. Lions are the early Tier 1 teams. We’ll see how the Alouettes and Riders fare without their No. 1 quarterbacks for the foreseeable future, as both Cody Fajardo and Trevor Harris remain on the six-game injured list. Even the Lions have looked beatable this year, most recently falling to the Calgary Stampeders Sunday night.

The Stamps and Ottawa Redblacks are perhaps the most intriguing clubs, if not the most impressive. Calgary just defeated B.C. to move into sole possession of third place in the West Division, at 3-3, while the 4-2 Redblacks have leap-frogged the Toronto Argonauts for second place in the East, just a game behind the Alouettes.

There’s still plenty of football to be played, and things could look very different as the months go by. It’s been an incredibly tough schedule to predict so far, with the parity in the league arguably the best it’s been in years.

That’s good for the game, and for your team, even if you’re rooting for one of the bottom-feeders. Lots can and will happen between now and the Grey Cup in November.

Now, let’s dive into the top stories from the week that was in the three-down loop in the latest edition of CFL Rundown.

1) I personally hate putting a spotlight on officiating. It’s a difficult job to do and calls are made sometimes within a split second. These officials are also part-time employees with jobs outside the game. Officiating in the CFL this year, however, has been difficult to ignore. There were 23 flags thrown in the Calgary-B.C. game, including a questionable holding call that led to a safety by the Lions, who would go on to lose by a single point. The biggest issue, however, is officials seem to be struggling with calling defensive pass interference. By struggling, I mean the refs are calling everything, as if they are afraid to miss a penalty. The problem for teams is trying to defend small grabs with a challenge flag. Without indisputable evidence that the defender didn’t have contact — even the smallest of grabs — the call will undoubtedly stand. It’s at a point where some teams are asking for clarification on defensive pass interference. It’s worth keeping an eye on.

2) It was great to see longtime manager and coach Wally Buono being added to the ring of honour in Calgary. As a young reporter new to covering the CFL, I greatly appreciated Buono’s no-nonsense approach with media, as he was always willing to openly share his opinions about the game. In fact, there were times when Buono would get too tired from answering so many questions, that rather than simply ending the scrum, he would instead ask reporters to move to a nearby table, where he continued taking more questions.

3) I wasn’t all that surprised that during a TSN interview, when Buono was asked what he would do if he was commissioner for a day, he dove head first by suggesting U.S. expansion. That got me thinking a lot about the early 1990s and the CFL’s first dip into the U.S. and how chaotic it was. The CFL was desperate for money at the time, and seemingly willing to give a team to whichever owner was willing to write a big cheque. It ended a few years later, but the wild stories from those days live on. Expansion would look very different today versus back then, and I do think it’s something the league will one day consider. I don’t see it coming anytime soon, and if/when it does, my hope is the Canadian game remains intact as much as possible.

4) There has been a lot of talk about the play of Winnipeg’s Zach Collaros and how the league’s back-to-back MOP in 2021 and 2022 has taken a step back this season. There’s no argument that Collaros needs to be better, which can be said about everyone on the 2-5 Bombers. I think it’s ludicrous to suggest Winnipeg move on from its leader. With the club’s two top receivers in Kenny Lawler and Dalton Schoen injured, an O-line with new pieces and a run game that still needs to be established, we’ve yet to see the best of Collaros. Hopefully for Winnipeg, he returns to form sooner than later. The Bombers’ playoff hopes depend on it.

5) Adam Bighill created quite the stir with his takedown of Riders QB Shae Patterson on the final play at Mosaic Stadium Saturday. If anyone is to blame, it’s Patterson. The game was already out of reach when the Riders snapped the ball, with Saskatchewan leading by 10 points and five seconds remaining on the clock. All Patterson had to do was step back and throw the ball deep out of bounds to end the game without issue. Instead, he had a massive brain fart and kept running with the ball until he was tackled inbounds. It started a bit of a ruckus between the two sides, but cooler heads eventually prevailed, with all sides agreeing Patterson shouldn’t have held onto the ball that long.

6) Staying on the Riders, I’m officially a believer. What new head coach Corey Mace has done with the organization in just a matter of months is incredibly impressive. They have a solid defence and sturdy offence, with Patterson only getting better while the Riders wait for Trevor Harris to return. Injuries have started to add up, though, with running back A.J. Ouellette and receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker both ruled out this week against the Alouettes on the road.

7) There’s an interesting report out of Edmonton claiming backup QB Tre Ford has turned down different offensive packages designed for him this season. It’s a curious claim and a damning one, as fans have been clamouring to see Ford replace McLeod Bethel-Thompson (MBT) behind centre. Until the details of these packages become public, I’m going to reserve my judgment on Ford. That’s because he was playing for Chris Jones, and if you ask any QB around the league who has played for Jones, he’ll tell you how much he likes his QBs to feel uncomfortable. Ford deserves a chance to play, and the hope is it will come sooner than later.

8) On MBT, the Elks 0-6 pivot took yet another opportunity to rip the CFL for the short turnaround between games, the same way he did a couple weeks ago. While he has a point now and back then, MBT comes across as a whiner in this one, especially since the Elks were playing the same Redblacks club from the week before. What was harder to ignore during MBT’s vent was the shot he took at Ford, arguing the decision to give him two series in the game was enough to throw him off his rhythm. For clarity, Ford played a total of two series, both of which came in the first quarter, leaving MBT to play exclusively in the final three quarters to regain his rhythm. Also, it’s pretty rich that MBT, when first signed, said he looked forward to mentoring Ford, only to tear him down after his first bit of game action.

9) Congrats to the Ticats for finally earning a win this season. It must have felt extra sweet coming against the Argos, their most-hated provincial rival. Now win another game.

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Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

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