Week 1 is done in the CFL and for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Edmonton Eskimos, it will likely be a rallying point to improve on their failures, while the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders will rally on their successes. Regardless of the outcomes in Week 1, it’s too late to change what happened. All teams can do is learn from their mistakes and move on to the task at hand in Week 2.
A few notes from Week One
The Good
The Toronto Argonauts weren’t terrible in the first half and were able to hang with the Calgary Stampeders.
The Montreal Alouettes, Saskatchewan, Calgary and Winnipeg have to be proud of their offensive performances.
Winnipeg should be proud of their defensive performance as well.
Hamilton was pretty darn good on special teams.
The Bad
Montreal, Saskatchewan, and Hamilton need to work hard to improve their defence. Everyone seemed to show a little rust, but it is only Week 1.
The Ugly
The BC/Edmonton game was a mess. Neither team should be overly proud of their performances.
Speaking of bad performances, what happened to Hamilton?
Players of the week
Offence: Darian Durant – Passing: 30/44, 478yds, 5TDs; Rushing: 5 attempts, 52 yds, 1TD, 1 Fumble
Defence: Joe Lobendahn – 8 tackles, 2 sacks
Special Teams: Marcus Thigpen – 6 KR, 148 yds, 1TD
Now… on to Week 2!
Fri July 9 |
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Breakdown:Chris: The Blue Bombers looked great, The Double Blue didn’t. Jonathan: I didn’t have faith in the Bombers in Week 1, but I do this week. Then again, it would be hard for anyone to pick Toronto to win any game this season. Winnipeg wins easily at home. Scott: The Blue Bombers showed what a good team with good coaching can do in last weeks win over Hamilton. Toronto shouldn’t be much of a challenge, and for their sake, I hope they can hold onto the ball for more than last week. I don’t expect much more from Toronto though, so Winnipeg shouldn’t be tested too much. WINNIPEG 42-19 |
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| Chris | Brandon | Dalen | GizzieWillie | Jonathan | Scott | Chase |
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Sat July 10 |
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Breakdown:Chris: Calgary showed some rust in the first half, but came on strong in the second half. Hamilton should pray that they can keep their special teams on the field, otherwise they may not score this season. Jonathan: Calgary barely beat the worst team in the league. They have some big question marks still. Hamilton was beaten badly in Week 1, but they are better than they looked in that loss. Look for the Tiger-Cats to bounce back with a big victory at home. Scott: Hopefully the Stampeders use more of the playbook, because Hamilton should be more of a challenge than the Argos. Hamilton will also be motivated after a lopsided loss last week, and while Sandro Deangelis will want to beat his former team, the Stamps will also want to make Sandro regret his choice to leave the team he won the Grey Cup with in 2008. CALGARY 39-22 |
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| Chris | Brandon | Dalen | GizzieWillie | Jonathan | Scott | Chase |
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Sat July 10 |
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Breakdown:Chris: BC still has a lot of rust to shake off, luckily for them Jamal Robertson seems ready to carry them while Casey Printers builds up some momentum, but Robertson can only carry them so far. Saskatchewan has to be happy to be facing Printers after getting torched by Anthony Calvillo last week. Jonathan: This is actually an interesting match-up. Saskatchewan faces Printers, whose mobility always seems to cause them troubles. They also face a team that will run the ball much more than Montreal did in Week 1. However, B.C. no longer plays in a dome and Saskatchewan is going into their natural element playing outdoors on the road. B.C. will struggle containing Saskatchewan’s potent passing game. Scott: The Riders offense is in good shape, and if they can continue to run the ball effectively along with keeping the passing game going, it should be a tough day for the Lions. The biggest question will be whose defense plays better. BC has a solid secondary and should give more of a test than Montreal. Durant is the key though, so the Riders should come out on top. SASKATCHEWAN 29-25 |
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| Chris | Brandon | Dalen | GizzieWillie | Jonathan | Scott | Chase |
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Sun July 11 |
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Breakdown:Chris: Montreal looked good last week… Edmonton, not so much. Jonathan: Ricky Ray once again had respectable stats in Week 1, but his offence just isn’t explosive. Arkee Whitlock is a stud, but the receiving core isn’t amazing. Kelly Campbell looks affected by his past injuries just a little bit. But the big thing is, the Eskimos will have their handful with Montreal’s amazing offence. Scott: Is Edmonton this bad? Shouldn’t they be able to put up more points against BC? You’d think so with Ricky Ray throwing to Fred Stamps and Kelly Campbell, and with Calvin McCarty running the ball. Defensively they held BC to mostly Field Goals, but I don’t think they will be able to do that against Montreal. Montreal was as deserving of the win in Saskatchewan and after giving up a 21 point second half lead will be quite ornery. MONTREAL 36-26 |
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| Chris | Brandon | Dalen | GizzieWillie | Jonathan | Scott | Chase |
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Results |
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| Chris | Brandon | Dalen | GizzieWillie | Jonathan | Scott | Chase |
| 3-1 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 0-4 | 2-2 | 3-1 | 2-2 |
| 5-3 | 3-5 | 4-4 | 1-7 | 5-3 | 5-3 | 2-2 |
July 8th, 2010 at 1:43 PM
Wow. No love for the Eskimos this week I guess ;-)
Gizzie Willie recently posted..Mark Restelli- The next great Eskimos linebacker
July 8th, 2010 at 2:41 PM
Well in fairness, they are playing one of the toughest teams and are coming off a poor performance. However, if it were the Riders in this situation I would probably pick them too :).
July 8th, 2010 at 4:32 PM
@Gizzie – I like Edmonton, but not this week… not against an Alouette’s defensive unit with a chip on their shoulder.
July 8th, 2010 at 5:05 PM
I’m either going to look like a genius or a homer on Monday! I just hope it’s more entertaining than last week’s game.
Gizzie Willie recently posted..Mark Restelli- The next great Eskimos linebacker
July 9th, 2010 at 10:47 PM
Uh oh Jonathan! What does that mean when Toronto beats Winnipeg? Does that mean Calgary is better than you thought? I think so!
July 10th, 2010 at 10:26 AM
Lol.
I’ve got no comeback to that. I stand by my power rankings!
July 10th, 2010 at 11:31 PM
:) I’m just having fun with ya! It looks like the East will have a bunch of Jeckyl and Hyde teams by the way the teams are playing one week, and not playing the other. It’ll be hard to rank the east outside of Montreal.
I will admit the Stampeders receivers ALL need to focus on catching, but their defense does look pretty good! Another great game by the Riders though.
July 11th, 2010 at 9:38 AM
For sure. Calgary’s wins haven’t exactly been pretty, but hey, they are 2-0 and tied for first in the West. Nothing bad about that.