Safimod’s Week 8 CFL Power Rankings

Safimod’s Week 8 CFL Power Rankings

Published: Thursday, Jul 27th 2023, 2:07pm

Safimod’s Week 8 CFL Power Rankings

By: Stephen Safinuk (@Safimod)

• 1 – Toronto (5-0)
• 2 – BC (5-1)
• 3 – Winnipeg (5-2)
• 4 – Ottawa (3-3)
• 5 – Calgary (2-4)
• 6 – Saskatchewan (3-3)
• 7 – Montreal (2-3)
• 8 – Hamilton (2-4)
• 9 – Edmonton (0-7)

 

The Toronto Argonauts just keep rolling. Its clear at the 1/3 mark of the season that the Toronto Argonauts are the most complete team in the CFL in 2023. Add in Chad Kelly as the current front runner for MOP, and you have a team that has real potential to go back to back.

BC’s offense was held in check by the Riders this past weekend, but their defense was lights out anyways. YAC yards were non existent for Saskatchewan all day long, and Jamal Morrow couldn’t find daylight to save his life. Vernon Adams’ injury appears less severe than it looked on gameday, which is good news for the Lions.

After their loss to Ottawa, Winnipeg needed a statement game. Instead, they allowed Edmonton to stay in it all game long until finally pulling away in the 4^th quarter. They don’t look like the world beaters of years past, but still belong in the upper third of the league at this point.

If you would have told me that the Ottawa REDBLACKS would vault up to 4^th in my power rankings, I would have laughed at you, but here we are. Ottawa has me believing in the Crumback kid.

Calgary is an enigma that I haven’t quite figured out yet this year. Could have easily lost to the Riders a week ago, and then fall in overtime to the REDBLACKS this past weekend. Is this the year they finish below 500 for the first time since 2004? It just might be.

The Riders have found themselves falling down the rankings of late, and it has a lot to do with the man patrolling the sidelines as head coach. Its not a stretch to say this team could be 5-1 were it not for some questionable decisions by Craig Dickenson, and yet they sit at .500 with a tough schedule coming up. (In fairness, its not a stretch to say they could be 1-5 either).

Montreal sits in 7^th after their bye week. After a decent start to the season, they have cooled off lately. Cody Fajardo is on pace to get sacked 93 times, which is a staggering number as they approach the end of the first third of their season. Maybe it wasn’t just the offensive line in Saskatchewan.

Hamilton has rebounded from their 0-3 start, going 2-1 in their last 3 games. However those wins were against a pre-Crum Ottawa team and the Edmonton Elks so not much to get excited about yet. They face those same Ottawa REDBLACKS this week in a very important game for both teams. Hamilton can’t afford to fall farther back in the race for 2^nd in the East.

What else needs to be said about the Edmonton Elks at this point? Until they win a game, I don’t think there is much point in going in to more detail in the power rankings. For their fans’ sake (and the leagues) I hope they get a win soon, but it doesn’t look good.