Top of the West crowded to start Week 7

Friday’s matchup between the Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium was supposed to be the must-watch game of the week in the CFL, with top spot up for grabs in the heavily competitive West Division.

Instead, it became a frustrating, drawn-out saga, ultimately postponed due to hazardous air quality owing to northern Saskatchewan wildfires. While player safety must always be top priority, the league’s handling of the situation exposed a glaring flaw in its current policy.

The Air Quality Health Index was well above the required threshold of 7, hovering at a troubling 10+ in the hours leading up to kickoff. Despite these dangerous levels, the league and the CFL Players’ Association — who jointly agreed on the policy — allowed the situation to drag on for hours, desperate that the skies would eventually clear.

What began as a 45-minute delay quickly morphed into a seemingly endless series of postponements, pushing the final cancellation right up to 9:45 p.m. — nearly four hours after the scheduled kickoff.

This prolonged uncertainty, with players stuck in limbo for as many as eight hours, presents a serious health risk. Even if the air had miraculously cleared by then, asking athletes to perform after such a lengthy period of idleness is unreasonable and unsafe.

The current policy seems to allow for indefinite delays if a game hasn’t officially started, and that needs to be addressed. Had the game already kicked off, a three-hour delay would have triggered an automatic cancellation, or at least given fans a reasonable expectation of what they were getting into.

Common sense dictates that a similar timeline should apply to pre-game delays as well. Had the skies started to improve, the CFL said they would have been fine with warm-ups starting at 10:45 p.m., with an 11:15 p.m. kickoff. That’s after 1 a.m. ET.

The league has vowed to review its protocols when it comes to communicating with fans — a prudent move, as wildfires become more commonplace — but the core issue runs deeper. A more proactive approach, with a clear cut-off for pre-game delays, would have spared everyone a night of uncertainty and allowed for a much more sensible reschedule to Saturday afternoon.

That’s exactly what ended up happening, with the game starting at 2 p.m. the next day. The Stampeders, who had to sleep in university dorm rooms the night before, then added insult to injury with a convincing 24-10 win.

Now, let’s dive into the latest edition of CFL Rundown.

1) The Stampeders have continued to shift the narrative in the West.

With wins against previously unbeaten teams in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and then the Riders, it can be said with confidence that the Stamps are the best team in the CFL right now.

It’s an impressive resurgence for a team that had a lot of critics, me included, at the start of the year. But Calgary has proved all its doubters wrong through six weeks and are definitely a team to watch.

I had mentioned a few columns ago that we would find out what the Stamps were truly made of during this current tough stretch on the schedule, which includes another date with Winnipeg this week.

Given the success the Bombers have had coming off the bye, another victory over Winnipeg would only add to Calgary’s serious intrigue.

 

2) I’m not going to say the Riders were exposed this week, as that would take away from their impressive 4-0 start.

But Calgary did beat them up at times in this one, much like against Winnipeg, including taking a commanding 17-3 lead into halftime despite turnovers on its first two possessions.

When Saskatchewan appeared to show some life to start the third quarter, scoring a touchdown to cut Calgary’s lead to a touchdown, the Stamps answered back with an 81-yard score from Vernon Adams Jr. to rookie — and first overall pick in May’s CFL draft — Damien Alford.

But as much as Adams continues to find his groove, it’s Calgary’s defence that is carrying the load, averaging the fewest points against in the league.

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3) Indeed, the top of the West is pretty crowded with strong starts for Calgary, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg.

But there’s another team trying to make their case and that’s the B.C. Lions, who improved to 3-3 with their win over the Edmonton Elks.

The Lions look much better with Nathan Rourke behind centre and their record proves that, with the Lions 3-1 when led by their star pivot.

But I’m not sold just yet, not when you consider the Lions have two of their three victories against the lowly Elks, with the other being a win over the Montreal Alouettes.

A victory against Montreal would usually be impressive, but it came on a last-second field goal and with Alouettes starting quarterback Davis Alexander sidelined.

The Lions host the Riders Saturday night, so let’s wait until next week before considering B.C. in the top tier with the three aforementioned clubs.

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4) The good times certainly didn’t last long for the Elks, who dropped to 1-4 following a listless effort against the visiting Lions.

Edmonton injected some life into their season with a win over the Ottawa Redblacks the week before, but any momentum from that has vanished following their performance over the weekend.

With the rest of the West distancing themselves in the standings, it might be time to replace quarterback Tre Ford with Cody Fajardo.

Ford has shown flashes through five games but has proven to be far too inconsistent to bank your playoff hopes on.

Something has got to give and with Ford mustering just 34 passing yards before getting yanked is just not going to cut it.

Fajardo came in and promptly led the Elks to a touchdown, and, while it was garbage time, it also wasn’t like the Lions were just giving away points. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and if the Elks are anything, it’s desperate.

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5) The Hamilton Tiger-Cats trailed pretty much the entire game, but credit to them for sticking with it and trusting the process, as they took the lead for good in the final two minutes to earn a 23-20 victory over the Redblacks.

And a shout-out to receiver Kenny Lawler, who continues to produce at a torrid pace, with five of his seven touchdowns coming in the last two games.

While Lawler has been a top receiver in the league for years, it’s interesting to note that seven touchdowns is a career high.

He had hit the six-TD mark twice before, most recently in 2023. Injuries have certainly affected those numbers, as Lawler hasn’t played more than 13 games in a season since the truncated 2021 campaign owing to COVID-19.

 

6) The loss to Hamilton was the latest example of Ottawa finding new ways to shoot itself in the foot.

That’s been the story for the Redblacks all year, but particularly over its past three games, which have included losses to Hamilton, Edmonton and Toronto.

While there’s still plenty of season left to play, especially for those teams in the East, the Redblacks had high aspirations this year and if they hope to hold off a potential crossover from the West, they better get their act together sooner rather than later.

They have Hamilton again this week and it feels like must-win territory in the nation’s capital. I predict the Redblacks get their revenge on home turf, but it will require a big game from quarterback Dru Brown. I see this being an absolute shootout.

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7) Toronto is back in action this week, but quarterback Chad Kelly remains sidelined as he continues to recover from a broken leg suffered last season.

Argonauts head coach Ryan Dinwiddie, seemingly tired of giving weekly updates, proclaimed a month ago that Kelly wouldn’t be back until at least Week 7.

That deadline will have come and gone by the end of the week, putting another spotlight on Kelly’s return.

The Argos have been reeling without their starting quarterback, with backup Nick Arbuckle unable to create a significant spark on offence.

It doesn’t help that Alexander is on track this week to return from a hamstring injury that has forced him to miss the last two games.

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8) I’m ending on a personal note. We lost a good friend and colleague last year in Ted Wyman, who passed in November following a brief battle with cancer.

I scribbled some words about him for a profile in our Passages section this past Saturday.

Ted and the CFL season are synonymous for me, having covered the Bombers together for seven years. No one loved covering the league more and nobody had more fun doing it.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca