Reviews of the weekend results can be found below.
Edmonton at Hamilton
Consistency is something that the Tiger Cats have been lacking all year, the usual pattern being that the Cats would have one really good game, followed up by a stinker that no one wishes to talk about. The good news is that the Cats have found some consistency, the bad news, it's going in the wrong direction.
For the second week in a row the Cats were on the wrong end of a score and for the most part were outplayed by the competition, this time the visiting Edmonton Eskimos, who found a fair bit of success on the field at Ivor Wynne Stadium on their way to the 38 to 23 victory.
Edmonton made quick work of the Ticat defence, a trend that seems to be an ongoing concern of late for football fans in Hamilton, as opposing teams rattle off yardage gains in the hundreds and add points by the dozens.
Offensively Hamilton struggled once again, Kevin Glenn never seemed to be in sync with his receivers and found Alouette hands at key times that worked against any Ticat comeback, Avon Cobourne coughed up the ball at a vital moment of the game, a gift that the Eskimos exploited for seven points.
Edmonton's offence found a bit of its direction once again as Ricky Ray read the field well, taking every opportunity provided by the Cats defence to put more points on the board, resulting in a win, combined with a weekend loss by the Stamps that will tighten up the CFL West once again.
In the meantime, the Cats continue to lose ground in the east, a division which they had a very good chance to move to the top of just a few weeks ago, but with consecutive losses and a suddenly porous defence and anemic offence the Cats are suddenly mired in third with a shot at first place starting to fade off into the distance.
Hamilton Spectator-- Eskimos have Cats for dinner
Globe and Mail-- Eskimos push Tiger-Cats into tailspin
National Post-- Edmonton rolls over Hamilton
Edmonton Sun-- Back on the Esks bandwagon
Edmonton Journal-- Eskimos primed for a good run at the playoffs
Toronto at Saskatchewan
Another week and well, it's the same old result for the Argos, another loss in the standings and the prospect of post season action all but a fanciful wish at this point.
The reassurances of the Argo management that coach and GM Jim Barker's job is safe, about the only good thing to happen in Toronto these last few weeks, if only because, firing Barker probably wouldn't do much to change the dynamic at the moment.
Though as GM he has his share of responsibility for the team the Argos have put on the field this year, one which we imagine he thought would have had much more success than their record would show. However, the Argos just aren't clicking as a unit, half the season lost in a failed experiment to turn Cleo Lemon into a CFL quarterback has left the Argos far behind their competition in each and every CFL city.
That gap was never more in evidence than it was in Saskatchewan on Saturday, up until a few weeks ago the Argos and the Riders were partners in misery, each with but a single win on the CFL season, the Argos able to hold bragging rights of the horrible by the virtue of their win over the Riders.
But with Labour Day now far in the rear view mirror the Riders under returned head coach Ken Miller are on the rise, collecting consecutive wins over three weeks, suddenly very much part of the CFL West playoff picture and chasing down a potential cross over playoff spot if need be.
The Argos in the meantime are off in the dust, bottom dwellers with a record of 2-9 and in a city that quickly can lose interest in its CFL team if there isn't any kind of winning buzz associated with them.
The Argos were improved on Saturday and seemed to be the dominant team on the afternoon, but in the end they couldn't push the ball over the goal line for the winning points for their third win of the season, finding yet more ways to lose a game that they had a chance to win.
The Argos were deep into the Saskatchewan end of the field four times on Saturday and on each occasion it was up to Noel Prefontaine to provide the points, a total of 12 compared to 28 any team that settles for that kind of margin is not going to be on the winning side of the scoreboard and once again that was the Argo story.
Saskatchewan once again found the points when required, resulting in a 30- 20 Rider victory, though Saturday's game was a test for the Riders who couldn't count on the emotion of the annual back to backs with the Blue bombers to help motivate the troops.
Still, with the prospect of a playoff spot now back on the Rider radar, Saskatchewan made the most of their opportunities, that combined with the Argos problems scoring touchdowns proved good enough to secure the third consecutive victory.
Regina Leader Post-- Riders needed gutsy win
Toronto Star-- Argos cough up another one on the Prairies
Toronto Sun-- Argo turnovers lead to another loss
Globe and Mail-- Surging Riders sink Argonauts
National Post-- Streaking Roughriders stay hot over Argos
British Columbia at Calgary
If you're looking for a team with a bit of swagger, give some thought to British Columbia, where the Lions have quietly put together a three game winning streak, the third in row coming with an impressive 32 to 19 defeat of the Calgary Stampeders.
The Lions who were among the ranks of the Argos and the Roughriders for the first few months of the season, have been gaining confidence with each week since late August, riding along with quarterback Travis Lulay as they find success and make their run up the CFL West standings.
The best test for the resurgent Lions came this weekend in Calgary, having dispatched their cousins the Argonauts in two consecutive weeks, Saturday's prime time match up with the Stamps offered a much better measuring stick for Wally Buono as to where his team is at heading towards the final month of the season.
And by the time that the full sixty minutes of football was done, Buono probably was relatively happy with the effort, perhaps a little disconcerted over some of their mistakes but thankful for the forward momentum in the standings.
The third quarter offered up some hope for Calgary as the Lions let the Stamps back into the game, Calgary clawing their way back to within five points, but between the Lions special teams and their defence in the fourth the Stamps couldn't mount enough of a comeback to send the hometown crowd off with a win.
Lions receiver Arland Bruce III seems to be finding his place in the Lions offensive arsenal, scoring the key touchdown in the fourth to put the game away, since joining the Lions in August, Bruce has slowly begun to carve his nice into a team loaded with talented receivers, his presence enough to draw defenders which in the end frees up Geroy Simon or any of the other Lions receivers to make key plays.
The Stamps struggled on both offence and defence, Henry Burris once again did not have a stellar game, part of a trend which sees him having one good game alternating with a bad one and while blame can't be necessarily assessed just to him, it does seem that as goes Henry so goes the Stamps offence.
Calgary now moves on to the Touchdown Atlantic festival, where they play the Tiger Cats in Moncton this weekend, the Lions will meet up with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, heading into Mosaic Stadium, putting their winning streak up against that of the Riders.
Vancouver Province-- B. C. Lions extend win-streak to four in Calgary
Vancouver Sun-- Lions ride half time lead to 32-19 victory over Stampeders
Calgary Herald-- Stampeders fall prey to surging B. C. Lions
Calgary Sun-- Stamps need a few fixes
Globe and Mail-- Lions continue roll; Stamps stumble
Winnipeg at Montreal
A few of the players didn't make the team flight, some of the players were getting a little ornery in the media scrums and yet when the scoreboard shut down for the day in Montreal on Sunday, it was the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on the winning side.
It was a most interesting result, one that probably most CFL observers probably hadn't anticipated heading into Sunday's game.
The Als are a juggernaut when playing in the comfy confines of Molson Stadium, losses on the home field a rather rare occurrence, the prospect of the local home crowd heading for the Metro in a foul mood something that doesn't happen all that often.
Combine that with the fact the Bombers had seemed to be losing their focus over the last few weeks, what with the smack downs at the hand of Saskatchewan, the swaggerville strut getting a bit of a knock down and then the much discussed missed flights and snarling media scrums and well, no one probably would have been surprised if the Bombers dropped the ball in Montreal.
However, to their credit, Winnipeg put all of that baggage behind them on their way to the 25 to 23 win, as signature a win as they could have had thus far in the year, a gut check for a team that had been punched in the gut a few times over the last few weeks.
Sunday's game had to be the most rewarding one of the season thus far for head coach Paul LaPolice, with all the distractions, the nervous commentary back in Winnipeg in the background his team went out and made their statement, shutting down the always dangerous Alouette offence and despite some heavy hits administered to the Bombers Buck Pierce, the Winnipeg quarterback continued to impress in an already impressive season.
The game was no cakewalk for the Bombers however, going down to the last minute or so, with the Bomber defence rising to the occasion to keep the Als from putting any go ahead points on the board, Holding onto two valuable points and securing first place once again for another week for the Blue and Gold.
Winnipeg Sun-- Bombers relish beating the best
Winnipeg Free Press-- Swaggerville reincarnate
Globe and Mail-- Bombers hold on to down Als 25-23
National Post-- Winnipeg wins battle for first in Montreal
Canada.com-- Lack of execution dogs Alouettes
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