The CFL regular season has started!!! It was a good week for the home team, as all 4 games ended with home victories. As might be expected, the Eastern Division doesn’t look real good, as the first place team is Toronto, with an unblemished 0-0-0 record. Okay, maybe that’s not fair, as all four games this week were held in the West, but we like to poke fun at the traditionally weaker Eastern Division.
In the season opener on Thursday night, Montreal played Calgary in Calgary. It was an exciting game, with the scored tied at 27 with 45 seconds left, when Rene Paredes kicked the game-winning field goal to give Calgary the 30-27 victory. Stampeders running back Ka’Deem Carey was the standout player of the game, scoring two touchdowns and racking up 90 all-purpose yards. Montreal’s Eugene Lewis was the leading receiver, pulling in 4 passes for 112 yards, including a 55-yarder. Unfortunately for the Alouettes, their star running back William Stanback was injured in the second quarter and didn’t return — that might have been the difference in the game.
Friday night, the Ottawa RedBlacks travelled to Winnipeg to face the two-time defending champion Blue Bombers. In the second exciting game of the weekend, Winnipeg pulled out a come-from-behind victory when kicker Marc Liegghio put through a 25-yard field goal, giving Winnipeg a 19-17 victory. Quarterback Zach Collaros led Winnipeg with an 18-for-26, 188 yard, 1 touchdown performance, before being pulled late in the fourth quarter after taking a hit to the head. Backup QB Dru Brown came in and put together the game-winning drive for the Bombers. In a losing cause, new RedBlacks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli put in an impressive performance, going 24-for-34 throwing for 380 yards and a touchdown.
The game all CFL fans were waiting for started a double-header on Saturday, as Hamilton visited Mosaic Stadium to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders. What, aren’t all CFL fans Rider fans? Maybe it just seems like it. Anyways, the game was a low-scoring affair for three and a half quarters, with neither team scoring a touchdown until Hamilton scored with 7:10 left in the game to narrow Saskatchewan’s lead to 15-13. And then Saskatchewan exploded, scoring two touchdowns 20 seconds apart (separated by a Rider interception) to give the home team the 30-13 victory. Kicker Brett Lauther led the Rider scoring, going 5-for-5 in his field goal attempts, while quarterback Cody Fajardo went 22-for-32 for 311 yards, as well as being the game’s leading rusher with 42 yards.
In Saturday’s nightcap, Chris Jones’ coaching/GM career with the Edmonton Elks looked like how it ended when he held the dual role with Saskatchewan, as his much-vaunted defense held the BC Lions to 59 points in a resounding 59-15 thumping by British Columbia. New BC quarterback Nathan Rourke went 26-for-29 (wait a minute, let me check that — yes, 26 for 29!) for 282 yards and three touchdowns, while also running for 78 yards and scoring two touchdowns himself. Lions running back James Butler also had a good night, rushing for 108 yards and scoring 4 touchdowns, 2 on the ground and 2 receiving TDs.
It was an exciting first week of the season! The McDonald CFL Power Ratings team are looking forward to next week!
Week 1 Results
Montreal 27 at Calgary 30
Ottawa 17 at Winnipeg 19
Hamilton 13 at Saskatchewan 30Edmonton 15 at British Columbia 59
McDonald CFL Power Ratings
Here’s the McDonald CFL Power Ratings after the first week. Remember, we’ve adjusted these ratings to account for the early season uncertainty, but still, we’ve got two-time defending CFL champion Winnipeg as the top team. Despite losing in the final seconds to last year’s champion, we have Ottawa as the lowest-ranked team, even after Edmonton’s drubbing by British Columbia. But, we’re not super confident in these ratings; it usually takes about 4 games before that uncertainty gets worked out of the rating system. Anyways, here’s this week’s ratings.
| Ranking | Team | Rating | Record |
| 1 | Winnipeg | 1557 (▲8) | 1-0, T-1st West |
| 2 | Saskatchewan | 1540 (▲11) | 1-0, T-1st West |
| 3 | Calgary | 1535 (▲10) | 1-0, T-1st West |
| 4 (tie) (▲1) | Toronto | 1509 | 0-0, 1st East |
| 4 (tie) | Hamilton | 1509 (▼11) | 0-1, T-2nd East |
| 6 | Montreal | 1488 (▼10) | 0-1, T-2nd East |
| 7 | British Columbia | 1483 (▲10) | 1-0, T-1st West |
| 8 | Edmonton | 1452 (▼10) | 0-1, 5th West |
| 9 | Ottawa | 1441 (▼8) | 0-1, T-2nd East |
Grey Cup Predictions
There is very little change in our Grey Cup predictions, as would be expected this early in the season. Winnipeg is still the favourite to win, now with a 20% chance of winning it. After their first game drubbing, Edmonton has dropped down to just a 2% Grey Cup-winning probability. Overall, there’s a 61% chance of a Western team winning, which is helped by the Grey Cup being held in Regina this year.
| Grey Cup Ranking | Team | Rating | Win Grey Cup |
| 1 | Winnipeg | 1557 | 20% (▲1) |
| 2 | Saskatchewan | 1540 | 17% (▲1) |
| 3 | Calgary | 1535 | 15% (▲1) |
| 4 | Hamilton | 1509 | 11% (▼1) |
| 5 (tie) | Montreal | 1488 | 10% (▼1) |
| 5 (tie) | Toronto | 1509 | 10% (▼1) |
| 7 (tie) | Ottawa | 1441 | 7% |
| 7 (tie) (▲1) | British Columbia | 1483 | 7% (▲1) |
| 9 | Edmonton | 1452 | 2% (▼3) |
Our Full Predictions
Here’s our full predictions. There’s not much to add beyond what was said earlier.
| Team | Rating | Make Playoffs | Host Playoff Game | Win Division | Make Division Final | Make Grey Cup | Win Grey Cup |
| Winnipeg
1-0, T-1st in West |
1557 | 85% | 57% | 32% | 57% | 32% | 20% |
| Saskatchewan
1-0, T-1st in West |
1540 | 82% | 51% | 26% | 51% | 26% | 17% |
| Calgary
1-0, T-1st in West |
1535 | 80% | 50% | 25% | 50% | 25% | 15% |
| Hamilton
0-1, T-2nd in East |
1509 | 69% | 56% | 29% | 56% | 27% | 11% |
| Montreal
0-1, T-2nd in East |
1488 | 64% | 50% | 23% | 50% | 27% | 10% |
| Toronto
0-0, 1st in East |
1509 | 74% | 62% | 35% | 62% | 26% | 10% |
| Ottawa
0-1, T-2nd in East |
1441 | 45% | 32% | 12% | 32% | 19% | 7% |
| British Columbia
1-0, T-1st in West |
1483 | 63% | 29% | 12% | 29% | 12% | 7% |
| Edmonton
0-1, 5th in West |
1452 | 38% | 13% | 5% | 13% | 5% | 2% |
Week 2 Game Predictions
Thursday: Montreal (40%) at Toronto (60%)
Friday: Winnipeg (59%) at Ottawa (41%)
Saturday: Calgary (47%) at Hamilton (53%)
Saturday: Saskatchewan (55%) at Edmonton (45%)