The CFL season is nearing the half way mark with a few surprises, a couple of teams are positioned where many didn’t think they would be. The top two teams however are battling hard to earn the top spot on our rankings ladder and are determined to have a Grey Cup rematch. Here are the Week 9 CFL power rankings, showing where the teams stand at this point.
1. Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are having a lot of success in all three facets of the game. The offence and defence are the second most productive in the CFL today. Then there are the special teams. Between Beau Landry, Brandon Banks, and Justin Medlock, we can award them the top spot in that category as well. The Cats have played a favorable schedule so far but are entering shark-infested waters through the next four weeks. Stay tuned.
2. Calgary Stampeders
The defending Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders are improving week to week and appear strong despite some internal personnel issues of recent. Bo Levi Mitchell did not look like his regular outstanding self for much of the first six weeks. The Stampeders still found ways to win games and are locked with their provincial rival Eskimos for top spot in the west. They may not hit number one all year but they are full value at number two.
3. Edmonton Eskimos
The Eskimos’ gritty performance earned them a much-needed win against the Alouettes in week eight. The green and gold entered this year as a favorite to come out of the west, however they have not done enough to show the belong in the top two of the power ladder. The Labour Day match up against Calgary will be crucial in either their rise up or solidifying their second place to their rivals to the south.
4. Toronto Argonauts
Good teams find a way to win, plain and simple. Sure, the Argos haven’t dominated thus far this season, but there is a higher ceiling for the double blue. Chad Kackert is back which will solidify the ground game, and the young gun wide outs are performing better than anyone could have guessed. Still, they are in the east, where all roads appear to lead through Hamilton.
5. Ottawa Redblacks
Ottawa continued to show inconsistencies in their three-point outing in Calgary last week. After a dominating home performance two weeks ago, the Redblacks were stomped on the road and failed to jump up in the rankings. With much weaker teams below them, fifth is a comfortable and reasonable spot for the Redblacks, a team with a powerful offence and an effective defence.
6. Montreal Alouettes
Meanwhile in Montreal, six points were scored from the defence and six more from their kicker in yet another loss, making it three in a row, this time at home against Edmonton. Rakeem Cato has shown nothing but flaws in the past few weeks. The Alouettes are lucky to be in this position considering their unpredictable results. Don’t expect much from this team when they travel west to B.C. this week.
7. B.C. Lions
If only the B.C. Lions could be consistent. That’s where they’ve struggled for most of this year. Sure, Travis Lulay may not be back up to his pre-injury form, and may never be, but he can still produce. The consistency just isn’t there. What’s worrisome for the Lions this week is that their defence will have to go without Soloman Elimimian, who fell to injury this past week with a torn achilles and is now on the six-game injured list. B.C. has been able to rely on Elimimian to make big plays, so they’ll have to figure out to make big stops before they play Montreal.
8. Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers played well against the Argos this past week, and Robert Marve was impressive in his first start as quarterback, having 203 yards with one touchdown and one interception. They came out strong and the defence played well against an aggressive Argo offence. But Winnipeg suffered with the punt coverage and allowed an Argo touchdown on a punt return. Winnipeg has the bye this week, and it’s probably coming at a very good time. They need to iron out some of their wrinkles and players need to heal.
9. Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Roughriders remain in ninth as they had a bye this past week. This was a much-needed bye week as they need to sort out their issues, namely costly penalties at the worst point in the game. They have a tall order this week, playing division rivals, the Calgary Stampeders. In order to win, they are going to have to have strong coverage on Mitchell’s receivers, namely Rodgers and McDaniel. Most importantly, they will need to clean up their act when it comes to unnecessary penalties. Calgary is coming off a strong win and their confidence is soaring. Saskatchewan will have to remain focused all 60 minutes.
That concludes the LWOS week nine CFL power rankings as seen by Kelly Bale, Lance Keiser, Nick Di Giovanni and Gina Schiltz.
Got something to add? Feel free to drop a comment below to contribute to conversations about the power rankings.
