Week 7 of the CFL regular season saw Winnipeg expand its dominance, Ottawa expand its ineptitude, and Saskatchewan dropping like a rock.
On Thursday night, 1-4 Montreal travelled to Ottawa to face the winless RedBlacks. In a topsy-turvy game, Montreal beat Ottawa 40-33. Ottawa led 8-0 after the first quarter, Montreal led 18-14 at the half, Ottawa led after 3 quarters 26-25, but Montreal took the lead with 15 4th quarter points and took the victory when Ottawa dropped a pass in the endzone on their final drive. Quarterback Trevor Harris led Montreal, completing 25 of 31 passes for 341 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Dominique Davis scored three touchdowns on the ground.
In the second game of the Thursday night doubleheader, struggling Hamilton visited up-and-coming British Columbia. In a low scoring game, BC defeated Hamilton 17-12. BC QB Nathan Rourke completed 22 of 30 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns, and receiver Lucky Whitehead caught 8 of those passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.
Friday night’s game saw undefeated Winnipeg face last-in-the-West Edmonton. In an unsurprising result, Winnipeg beat Edmonton 24-10. However, Edmonton quarterback Taylor Cornelius was the outstanding QB, completing 25 of his 42 passes for 270 yards but one interception, while Winnipeg QB, possibly the best quarterback in the CFL this year, only went 7 for 16 for 188 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. Cornelius’ game wasn’t helped by the fact that he was sacked five times. Winnipeg receiver Dalton Schoen led all receivers with 146 receiving yards on just four receptions, one of which was an 81 yard touchdown.
The final game of the weekend was on Sunday, pushed back a day because 10 Rider players tested positive for COVID, including starting quarterback Cody Fajardo and backup QB Mason Fine. As a result, third-stringer Jacob Dolegala got the call. Although the Riders hoped to avenge last week’s loss to the Argos, it was not to be, as Toronto defeated Saskatchewan 31-21. Toronto running back Andrew Harris rushed for 143 yards, giving him over 10,000 yards for his career, and quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson passed for 30 for 38 for 336 yards and two touchdowns. Argo receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr. caught 8 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. In his debut, Rider QB Dolegala was disappointing, going 13 for 28 for 131 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He did show signs of brilliance at times, but not enough. The Rider highlight of the game was a missed 61 yard field goal attempt by the Argos, which Mario Alford returned 112 yards for a touchdown!
Week 7 Results
Montreal 40 at Ottawa 33
Hamilton 12 at British Columbia 17
Winnipeg 24 at Edmonton 10
Toronto 31 at Saskatchewan 21
McDonald CFL Power Ratings
There was very little change in the rankings this week. Winnipeg continues to sit at the top with a league-best 7-0 record, and the top rating of 1618. Calgary is next, far back with 1556 rating points, with Saskatchewan still in third, but at 1526, a drop of 28 points from two weeks ago. Toronto is the top-ranked Eastern team, fourth ranked overall, just 2 rating points behind Saskatchewan. With Montreal’s win over Ottawa and Hamilton’s loss to BC, Montreal and Hamilton swapped 6th and 7th places in our rankings. Ottawa’s rating has dropped to 1392, making them by far the lowest ranked team (Edmonton is 8th at 1447), and they now sit 8 points below the “stink line.”
| Ranking | Team | Rating | Record |
| 1 | Winnipeg | 1618 (▲9) | 7-0, 1st West |
| 2 | Calgary | 1556 | 4-1, T-2nd West |
| 3 | Saskatchewan | 1526 (▼15) | 4-3, T-2nd West |
| 4 | Toronto | 1524 (▲16) | 3-2, 1st East |
| 5 | British Columbia | 1506 (▲10) | 4-1, T-2nd West |
| 6 (▲1) | Montreal | 1478 (▲12) | 2-4, 2nd East |
| 7 (▼1) | Hamilton | 1471 (▼10) | 1-5, 3rd East |
| 8 | Edmonton | 1447 (▼9) | 2-5, 5th West |
| 9 | Ottawa | 1392 (▼12) | 0-6, 4th East |
Grey Cup Predictions
Undefeated Winnipeg remains the team to beat, with the McDonald CFL Power Ratings team giving them a 35% chance of winning the Grey Cup, up 3 percentage points from last week. Toronto has the second best chance of winning, with a 19% chance. Overall, there’s a 67% chance of a Western team winning the Grey Cup, down 1% from last week’s report.
| Grey Cup Ranking | Team | Rating | Win Grey Cup |
| 1 | Winnipeg | 1618 | 35%(▲3) |
| 2 | Toronto | 1524 | 19% (▲3) |
| 3 | Calgary | 1556 | 14% (▼1) |
| 4 | Saskatchewan | 1526 | 9% (▼4) |
| 5 (▲1) | Montreal | 1478 | 8% (▲1) |
| 6 (▲1) | British Columbia | 1506 | 7% (▲1) |
| 7 (▼2) | Hamilton | 1471 | 5% (▼3) |
| T-8 | Edmonton | 1447 | 1% |
| T-8 | Ottawa | 1392 | 1% |
Our Full Predictions
Here’s our full predictions.
| Team | Rating | Make Playoffs | Host Playoff Game | Win Division | Make Division Final | Make Grey Cup | Win Grey Cup |
| Winnipeg 7-0, 1st in West |
1618 | >99% | 93% | 75% | 89% | 56% | 35% |
| Toronto 3-2, 1st in East |
1524 | 92% | 90% | 69% | 82% | 48% | 19% |
| Calgary 4-1, T-2nd in West |
1556 | 95% | 57% | 15% | 58% | 25% | 14% |
| Saskatchewan 4-3, T-2nd in West |
1526 | 81% | 20% | 4% | 40% | 16% | 9% |
| Montreal 2-4, 2nd in East |
1478 | 70% | 65% | 18% | 47% | 21% | 8% |
| British Columbia 4-1, T-2nd in West |
1506 | 86% | 29% | 6% | 41% | 15% | 7% |
| Hamilton 1-5, 3rd in East |
1471 | 41% | 36% | 10% | 27% | 13% | 5% |
| Edmonton 2-5, 5th in West |
1447 | 24% | 1% | <1% | 10% | 4% | 1% |
| Ottawa 0-6, 4th in East |
1392 | 11% | 9% | 2% | 6% | 2% | 1% |
Week 8 Game Predictions
Thursday: Montreal (44%) at Hamilton (55%)
Friday: British Columbia (40%) at Saskatchewan (59%)
Saturday: Winnipeg (51%) at Calgary (48%)
Sunday: Ottawa (26%) at Toronto (73%)