Just when it looked like the 2018 CFL season was set to separate the wheat from the chaff, Week 4 through a monkey wrench into the old threshing machine. Two home underdogs – the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Toronto Argonauts – eeked out wins against higher ranked squads and now we five have teams with two wins creating a mess in the middle of the table.
Let’s try and figure this out.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
1. Calgary Stampeders (Previous ranking: 1)
Calgary, the only team in the CFL with three victories, was on a bye and so sat back and watched the carnage take place this week. The Stamps are on the road this week in Ottawa with another chance to cement their stranglehold on the No. 1 ranking (or potentially lose it altogether.)
THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
2. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Previous ranking: 5)
The Bombers were very solid in their win over B.C. with quarterback Matt Nichols looking comfortable in his first game back from a knee injury and the defence giving the Lions fits. They get the Leos again this week on the back half of a home-and-home.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
3. Ottawa Redblacks (Previous ranking: 4)
Ottawa stormed out to a comfortable lead over Montreal, then cruised home. Teams that take down the Alouettes aren’t generally given much by the way of credit but it was enough to boost the Redblacks one spot.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Taylor
4. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Previous ranking: 2)
A loss to the Riders in which they dominated virtually every statistical category was enough to knock the Ticats down a couple of notches but not send them into freefall, a sign the voters aren’t ready to write-off the Tabbies just yet.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
5. Toronto Argonauts (Previous ranking: 7)
James Franklin led the Argos to their first win of the season while James Wilder Jr. finally had a breakout game. Can they do it again this week in Edmonton?
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
6. Edmonton Eskimos (Previous ranking: 3)
Another slow start and some dubious decision-making down the stretch dooms the Esks and sees them drop three spots this week. Hard to know what to make of this team.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Taylor
7. Saskatchewan Roughriders (Previous ranking: 9)
The Riders jump all the way to the No. 7 spot after beating the Ticats despite being thoroughly outplayed for much of the game. Nonetheless, a win’s a win.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
8. B.C. Lions (Previous ranking: 6)
The Leos looked very sloppy in the loss to Winnipeg and there are plenty of questions about the job security of starting quarterback Jon Jennings. Not good.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
9. Montreal Alouettes (Previous ranking: 8)
Well, that didn’t take long. The Alouettes are back in the basement from a one-week hiatus after their loss to Ottawa.
