Another exciting week in the CFL, with 3 of the games being decided by a difference of one touchdown or less!

In the Thursday Night Football game, Toronto squeaked out a victory over Montreal, 20-19.  It was Toronto’s first game of the year, as they had a bye in Week 1.  Trailing 20-12 halfway through the 4th quarter, Montreal looked determined as they scored a touchdown to narrow the score, but failed on their two-point convert attempt which would have tied the game.  Regaining the ball with 2:44 left, Montreal started their final march from their own 34 yard line, and after a drive that included successful 3rd-and-long and 2nd-and-long conversions, they held the ball at the Toronto 13 yard line with 18 seconds left.  Als placekicker David Cote, who was so far 4-for-4 on field goal attempts, lined up for a 21-yard field goal that would give Montreal the lead.  But, he missed the chip shot, Montreal had to settle for a rouge (often the most exciting play in Canadian football, but sadly not in this case), and Toronto ran out the clock for the 20-19 victory.

Friday night’s game saw two-time defending Grey Cup champion Winnipeg play bottom-ranked Ottawa in Canada’s capital.  In a surprisingly close game, Winnipeg won 19-12.  RedBlack quarterback Jeremiah Masoli completed 27 of his 38 passes for 331 yards, but couldn’t score a touchdown.  Winnipeg QB Zach Collaros had a pedestrian performance, going 15 for 22 for 228 yards, but did throw a pair of touchdowns in the victory.

In an exciting game to start Saturday’s doubleheader, Calgary trailed most of the game but came back in the end, defeating Hamilton 33-30 in overtime.  Trailing 24-3 at the half, Calgary scored 3 second-half touchdowns and two field goals, including a tying 39-yarder as time ran out to tie the game.  On the first possession of the overtime, Calgary had to settle for a field goal, but when Hamilton had the ball, they were picked off to seal the thrilling victory for the Stampeders.  For the winners, quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell completed 28 of his 42 passes for 313 and 2 touchdowns, and was helped by Rene Paredes’ four field goals.  On the losing side, Hamilton’s QB Dane Evans went 36 for 51 for 425 yards and three touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough.

In Saturday’s nightcap, Saskatchewan travelled to Edmonton to face the lowly Elks.  In what seems to be a trend for the Riders, they had trouble getting the ball into the endzone, but came through in the end for a 26-16 victory.  The Rider defense looked strong, but their offense needs to start scoring more touchdowns!  The offensive star of the game was Saskatchewan running back Jamal Morrow, who rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown.  QB Cody Fajardo went 20 for 26 for 247 yards.  For the Elks, Nick Arbuckle passed for 315 yards and a touchdown, but threw two interceptions, and receiver Kenny Lawler pulled in 12 passes for 149 yards.

Week 2 Results

Montreal 19  at Toronto 20
Winnipeg 19 at Ottawa 12
Calgary 33 at Hamilton 30 (OT)
Saskatchewan 26 at Edmonton 16

McDonald CFL Power Ratings

Here’s the current McDonald CFL Power Ratings.  The uncertainty that we’ve added at the beginning of the season is surprisingly being worked out faster than expected, as our predictions have gone 7 for 8 in the first two weeks, with the only one we missed being this week’s Calgary / Hamilton game that Calgary won in overtime, whereas we had given Hamilton a 53% chance of winning the game, Week 2’s closest game according to our crack statisticians and prognosticators.

Two-time defending Grey Cup champion Winnipeg continues to be the top-ranked team.  Saskatchewan shows up number 2 in our rankings, just slightly ahead of Calgary.  Toronto is the top-ranked team in the East, as they are the only Eastern team with a victory so far this year!  British Columbia moved past Montreal in the standings, by virtue of not playing while the Alouettes did and lost.  Edmonton and Ottawa are the lowest-ranked teams.

Grey Cup Predictions

There’s been only slight movement in our Grey Cup predictions.  Winnipeg is still the likeliest team to win it all, now at 21% probability, followed closely by Saskatchewan (19%) and Calgary (17%).  Despite being the third-ranked team in the East, Montreal is our top pick for an Eastern team to win the Grey Cup, at 11%.  Overall, there’s a 63% chance of a Western team winning, up from 61% last week.

Our Full Predictions

Here’s our full predictions.

Week 3 Game Predictions

Thursday: Saskatchewan (53%) at Montreal (47%)
Friday: Hamilton (33%) at Winnipeg (67%)
Saturday: Edmonton (29%) at Calgary (71%)
Saturday: Toronto (48%) at British Columbia (52%)