Safimod’s 2018 Power Rankings – Week 6

Safimod’s 2018 Power Rankings – Week 6

Published: Monday, Jul 23rd 2018, 3:07pm

By: Stephen Safinuk (@Safimod)

1 – Calgary (5-0)

2 – Edmonton (3-2)

3 – Winnipeg (3-3)

4 – Saskatchewan (3-2)

5 – Ottawa (3-2)

6 – Hamilton (2-3)

7 – BC (2-3)

8 – Toronto (1-4)

9 – Montreal (1-4)

 

I said it last week, and I’ll say it again this week. What a weird season in the CFL. One thing is for certain, though. Calgary is the cream of the crop, and right now they are head and shoulders above anyone else in the CFL. Beyond that, everything else is a crap shoot.

Everyone and their dog predicted that the Hamilton Tiger-Cats would beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Thursday night at home. And for 2 quarters of football, it looked like they would all certainly be proven wrong. And then the offense woke up and managed to score more than their allotted one touchdown per game on route to a 24-3 second half. There are no questions that the Riders have a championship calibre defense. If their offense can ever get it together for four quarters, look out.

Hamilton, on the other side, dropped two straight to the Riders, and shook things up on Sunday night with a blockbuster trade. They moved Johnny Manziel and put a quick end to the talk about whether June Jones should give him a shot after Masoli struggled. Their receiving corps will get a boost with the addition of Chris Williams, but they are 1 hit away from Dane Evans starting at QB. Then again, Dane Evans has exactly as much CFL experience as Manziel did so…

Ottawa is the one team I just can’t wrap my head around. Some weeks I feel like they are world beats (see week 2 vs Saskatchewan) and others, they are down right awful. BC is still a bad football team, and they managed to give the East leading Ottawa REDBLACKS all they could handle. Were it not for an awful time count penalty on their final drive, this game could have (and likely would have) been a BC loss. Still, its hard to argue that Ottawa is the top team in the Eastern Division right now.

Winnipeg is also difficult to place, for much the same reason. We have seen them dominate games versus Toronto, BC and Montreal, but haven’t put it together for four quarters in several games this season.

Toronto and their 1-4 record have opened an early door for another season with a Western crossover. While there are still 13 games to go, it’s not a good look to see 2 teams at 1-4 and still only 1 game out of a home playoff game (2-3 Hamilton in second place). We know Toronto will turn it around eventually, right? James Franklin has been thrown into the fire with Ricky Ray out for the season, but so far he’s as inconsistent as the rest of the CFL (outside of Calgary).