Contenders vs Pretenders – Week 4

Contenders vs Pretenders – Week 4

Published: Monday, Jun 26th 2023, 10:06am

By Alex Dormuth (@RealAlexD) 

 

It was another entertaining week in the CFL that started with a few statement games, a wild, wacky double overtime game and another home loss in Edmonton. Here is Week 4 of Contenders vs Pretenders (listed in alphabetical order)

 

BC Lions – Contenders (Last Week – Contenders)

When you go into the best team’s building and blow the doors off of them on both offence and defence, you stake your claim as the best in the league. That’s the BC Lions. Vernon Adams Jr. has their O running smoothly (with some big time weapons out of the lineup) and their D is only allowing 7 points per game. This is the team to beat in the CFL.

 

Calgary Stampeders – Pretenders (Last Week – Pretenders)

Most teams would have been up on the Riders by about 20 points in the first half with how things unfolded for the green and white… with Jake Maier at the helm, the Stamps are simply being held back. All the injuries don’t help much, either.

 

Edmonton Elks – Pretenders (Last Week – Pretenders)

I said they will be pretenders as long as Taylor Cornelius is at the helm. Well, he had his best showing, got benched and Chris Jones somehow managed to piss off his entire QB room on Sunday night. The Elks are in trouble and Jones HAS to be on the hot seat now.

 

Hamilton Tiger-Cats – Pretenders (Last Week – Contenders)

I said last week that if they lost to Montreal at home, then it’s time to panic… well, Hamilton, hit that panic button. This is a team that has just been downright bad and now with their starting QB on the 6 game injured list, it likely won’t get any better.

 

Montreal Alouettes – Contenders (Last Week – Pretenders)

Time to start taking the Als seriously. Cody Fajardo has looked like he did in 2019 and despite getting sacked quite a bit already, he’s making some big time throws. They are absolutely a threat to Toronto in the East Division.

 

Ottawa Redblacks – Pretenders (Last Week – Pretenders)

A bye week may be just what Ottawa needed. Their O looks awful, but their D hasn’t been that bad. If Jeremiah Masoli is ready to go, we’ll get a real sense of what this team is.

 

Saskatchewan Roughriders – Contenders (Last Week – Contenders)

Good teams find a way to win. The Riders are the third best team in the West, but these injuries are starting to become too much. Luckily, Trevor Harris is going to keep them in every single game, but he is going to learn very quickly what Cody Fajardo went through with the O-Line last season if Jeremy O’Day can’t find an immediate fix at tackle. It might be a bye week, but I sure hope GM Jeremy O’Day is working the phones. For now, they stay as a Contender.

 

Toronto Argonauts – Contenders (Last Week – Contenders)

Sure, they beat the Elks in Edmonton, but they absolutely dominated the 2nd half. Chad Kelly looked good again and how about A.J. Ouellette? He might be my favourite player in the league right now! The defending Grey Cup champs are looking like they are poised for another run at the Cup.

 

Winnipeg Blue Bombers – Contenders (Last Week – Contenders)

Maybe it’s just a blip on the radar, but I’m not going to hold last week’s loss to the Lions against the Bombers… yet. Teams now have video on how to exploit the Bombers’ offence, but much like last week, it’s their defence that you have to worry about. They’ve given up a lot of points through three games and if they don’t turn it around against Montreal this week, I’ll strongly have to re-think which column I put Winnipeg in next week.