SAFIMOD’S POWER RANKINGS – WEEK 12 EDITION

SAFIMOD’S POWER RANKINGS – WEEK 12 EDITION

Published: Tuesday, Sep 3rd 2019, 4:09pm

2 – Hamilton Tiger-cats (9-2) (LW: 3)

3 – Calgary Stampeders (6-4) (LW: 4)

4 – Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-3) (LW: 1)

5 – Montreal Alouettes (5-4) (LW: 6)

6 – Edmonton Eskimos (6-5) (LW: 5)

7 – Toronto Argonauts (1-9) (LW: 7)

8 – BC Lions (1-9) (LW: 8)

9 – Ottawa REDBLACKS (3-7) (LW: 9)

The Riders take their place atop the Safimod Power Rankings, thanks to a game winning 25 yard field goal from the Pilsner crushing Brett Lauther. While the Bombers may have been missing Andrew Harris and Matt Nichols, it is their defence that will push them through. Cody Fajardo and William Powell sliced through that high-powered Winnipeg defence, killing the final 3:44 and going 87 yards to victory. Say what you want about the Riders “not beating anybody”, but they have now beat the other 2 teams that fill out the top 3 in the standings in their most recent matchups.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats rise from 3 to 2, winning a penalty and ejection filled affair that left their defensive backfield near empty. You have to respect a team winning a game after losing 2 starting DBs (and having a 3^rd on the IR before the game), no matter what team they beat. The Ti-Cats are for real, and were it not for a late rushing touchdown from Cody Fajardo, they would be in 1^st in the rankings.

Calgary rises from 4^th to 3^rd after a convincing Labour Day win over the Edmonton Eskimos. Bo Levi Mitchell returned and showed why he was an MOP in 2018. No offence to Nick Arbuckle, who did well in BLM’s stead, but the Calgary Stampeders needed Bo Levi Mitchell back. Especially in a tight race in the West, teams can’t afford to drop division games right now.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are exactly who I thought they’d be with Chris Streveler at the helm. A run first, short pass offence with limited imagination. He played better than he did in the week prior, but in the end, he’s not a guy who is going to put a lot of fear in opposing teams’ defensive coordinators. Since power rankings are a representation of how a team is today, they drop a few spots as they await the return of Nichols and Harris.

Edmonton drops from 5^th to 6^th after falling to the Calgary Stampeders. Coincidentally enough, there inability to get “6” is the main reason for their 6thplace spot. As good as Sean Whyte is, Trevor Harris needs to improve in the red zone. Field goals will not cut it against top tier teams.