Another entertaining week of CFL football passes us by as every team in the league finally has a win... except Edmonton. Derek Slywka had an absolutely bonkers week with two long returns on defence for touchdowns in the winning effort against the Ottawa RedBlacks. But before we get into all that, let's take a look at everyone's favourite. Power rankings!
9: BC LIONS (6)
The Lions dropped a big game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders and just can't seem to be competitive without Nathan Rourke. BC has dropped three straight games since beating Edmonton in week one. The ground game for BC was the bright spot in this game, as James Butler rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown. Injuries have certainly caused problems for the Lions, and if they can't figure things out or have Nathan Rourke return soon, the west division may become out of reach.
8: EDMONTON ELKS (9)
The Elks, while winless, held their own against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers until the very end of the game, posting a 36-23 final. Tre Ford had his best game of the year, throwing for 252 yards and a touchdown. Kaion Julien-Grant had a big chunk of those passing yards go to him, catching 5 balls for 115 yards and a touchdown. Edmonton is heading in the right direction, now it's just a matter of finishing games.
7: OTTAWA REDBLACKS (4)
It's becoming clear that the RedBlacks are going to need Dru Brown playing in order to stay competitive. The Argonauts had their way with Ottawa at TD Place, as they beat them 29-16. Dustin Crum threw for 235 yards and an interception in the loss and was also the team's leading rusher. Ottawa's defensive line had a great outing, however, holding Toronto to 30 total rushing yards and recording three sacks.
6: HAMILTON TIGER-CATS (8)
After an impressive win over a Davis Alexander-less Montreal Alouettes, Hamilton finally has a win. The Tabbies scored two defensive touchdowns, a pick-six from rookie Devin Veresuk and a fumble recovery in the endzone from Julien Howsare. Bo Levi Mitchell threw for only 247 yards but threw two touchdowns in the win over the Als.
5: TORONTO ARGONAUTS (7)
Derek Slywka. That's all.
In all seriousness, the Argos definitely did enough to win against the RedBlacks to pick up their first W of the season. Nick Arbuckle threw for 269 yards, a touchdown and a pick. Toronto's rushing attack was pretty much non-existent, however, rushing for 30 yards between four ball carriers. Miyan Williams rushed twice and got zero yards both times. But Derek Slywka was the force that kept Toronto in this game, picking up a fumble and running it almost the whole length of the field for a touchdown, and then using his speed, returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown. If Slywka can keep playing like this, we may have a most outstanding rookie on our hands.
4: CALGARY STAMPEDERS (5)
Bye week! Nothing much to say for Calgary here.
3: MONTREAL ALOUETTES (2)
Davis Alexander is apparently very important to the success of the Montreal Alouettes as they dropped their first game of the season by a sizeable margin to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw for only 203 yards, 1 touchdown and two interceptions. Barely any rushing attack and not a single receiver close to 100 yards on the day, plus some bad turnovers spelled disaster for the Montreal Alouettes.
2: SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (3)
The Riders proved that they don't need their starting quarterback to win games as they beat the Lions 37-18. They held Jeramiah Masoli to 173 yards, one touchdown and THREE interceptions. Granted, Jake Maier only threw for 170 yards, but he didn't throw a single interception in this contest. Tevaughn Campbell had an interception that he returned all the way to the house, and AJ Ouellette rushed for 139 yards and one touchdown, marking his first 100 yard game as a Rider.
1: WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (1)
They made it closer than it had to be, but ultimately the Bombers beat the Elks at home. They're 3-0 and so far this year, they've been without their starting quarterback for one and their MOP running back for most of all three. Oliveira has returned to practice, so the Bombers may very well continue to build on this momentum going into week five.
GAME OF THE WEEK: EDMONTON ELKS AT WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
Week four's slate of games was not particularly exciting compared to other weeks we've seen in the CFL this year and in years past. However, the game between the Edmonton Elks and Winnipeg Blue Bombers did have some entertaining moments, specifically when Zach Collaros dodged pressure and took a big scamper into the endzone to put the nail in the coffin for the Elks.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: S DEREK SLYWKA
I mean, come on.
Slywka had a relatively quiet game tackles-wise, but what he lacked in tackles, he made up for in touchdowns. Slywka recorded as many touchdowns as he did tackles, recording a fumble recovery return for a 105 yard scoop and score, followed later in the game by a ginormous blocked field goal return for a second touchdown on the evening.
PLAY OF THE WEEK: OL RYAN HUNTER
Who doesn't love a big man touchdown? An expert play call from Ryan Dinwiddie left Hunter wide open in the endzone for an extremely easy touchdown to widen the visitor's lead. We've already seen two offensive lineman touchdowns this year, when will DB's start learning to cover them near the endzone?
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT WEEK
Who will win the inaugural Stampede Bowl?
Which one-win team will add a second in the battle of Ontario?
Will Nathan Rourke return to play the Davis Alexander-less Alouettes?
Can Tre Ford and Edmonton pull out their first win of the year at home against Ottawa?
By Bruce Chimirri-Olson
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