Safimod’s 2018 Power Rankings – Week 3

Safimod’s 2018 Power Rankings – Week 3

Published: Monday, Jul 2nd 2018, 4:07pm

By: Stephen Safinuk (@Safimod)

1 – Calgary (3-0)

2 – Hamilton (2-1)

3 – Edmonton (2-1)

4 – Ottawa (1-1)

5 – Winnipeg (1-2)

6 – BC (1-1)

7 – Montreal (1-2)

8 – Toronto (0-2)

9 – Saskatchewan (1-2)

Calgary looks every bit the team we’ve come to expect during the regular season. Eric Rogers has 4 touchdowns in 2 games and seems to be every bit as dangerous as he was before he left to the NFL. Through 3 games, they have a +58-point differential going into their bye week this week.

Hamilton is a team on the rise right now. Jeremiah Mazola has 8 consecutive games with 300+ yards passing and goes up against Duron Carter and the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the next two weeks. Unless the new DB (Mike Elam) is ready to go soon, we might just see Masoli break the record for most consecutive games with 300+ yards (9). The thought of Brandon Banks going up against Duron on the corner this week and next is a tad bit worrisome for Rider Nation.

Edmonton started slowing versus the Lions this week but outscored the Lions 39 to 8 over the final 2 and a half quarters. Their receiving corps isn’t skipping a beat missing Brandon Zylstra and Adarius Bowman. They are every bit as lethal offensively as they were last season. Add in CJ Gable for a full season, and they will be a force.

Ottawa seems very much to be the CFL version of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Last week, they dominated the Roughriders in every aspect of a game that you can, and this week they couldn’t seem to get anything going versus the Calgary Stampeders. Until they get going, the Ottawa game plan should revolve entirely around William Powell. He is the key to their season.

Speaking of Jekyll and Hyde – the Winnipeg Blue Bombers fell to the Ti-Cats on Friday, and we saw a different Chris Steeler than we saw through the first 2 games. He looked out of sync until the 4^th quarter.  The man leading the Bombers “Strevolution” finished with 146 yards passing (56%) while seemingly only being able to get things going with his legs. I don’t think there is much of a quarterback controversy brewing in Winnipeg.

Speaking of 1-2 teams, the BC Lions fell to Edmonton and looked awful in the process. After a great start that saw them forcing turnovers and jumping out to an early double-digit lead before falling off. BC appears to be the team we expected to see on the West Coast. Unless something changes, I still expect them to finish 4^th/5^th in the West

The Montreal Alouettes walked in to Mosaic Stadium and did what they haven’t done since August of last season. After 13 consecutive losses, they beat the Roughriders on Saturday night in Regina. Unfortunately, they didn’t look all that good doing it, and will remain near the bottom of the rankings for the time being, but a win is a win.

Toronto sticks around in 8^th place in the rankings, coming off a much-needed bye week after an 0-2 start. Unfortunately, a tough Edmonton team sits on the other side of that bye week, so things aren’t looking up yet for the defending champions.

Coming off an embarrassing loss in Ottawa, the Riders manage to find a way to embarrass themselves a little more with a loss to the Montreal Alouettes. Both Brandon Bridge and David Watford couldn’t get much going, and Chris Williams made Duron Carter look silly on multiple occasions. As long as the Duron Carter at DB experiment continues, this team will seemingly have trouble moving the ball, and have on trouble giving up a ton of yards to speedy receivers. Brandon Banks is up next, so that should be fun.