The injury report may have been the most viewed statistic from the weekend's play, with a number of high profile injuries coming out of the week three action.
Drew Tate, Buck Pierce and Kierrie Johnson are the latest to find themselves on the not to see action list, Tate and Johnson perhaps for significantly longer periods of time that Pierce, but three weeks into the CFL season the injury parade is starting to take its toll on the plans of CFL coaches.
Week three also provided us with just one undefeated squad, as one of the previously undefeated fell from the title.
The week brought word of plans for the new stadium in Saskatchewan and a renewal of the Argos/TiCats rivalry which did not disappoint.
The reviews of the week follow.
Calgary at Montreal
A wild CFL finish in Montreal, where Calgary imploded to surrender late points to Anthony Calvillo, the late game collapse providing the Als with a 33-32 victory. A game that Calgary appeared to be winding down suddenly got out of control, where the term play to every whistle clearly was forgotten by the Stamps.
Perhaps Calgary's players had other things on their mind, the loss of starter Drew Tate who suffered what has turned out to be more or less a season ending injury, with the Calgary QB out until at least November.
For Montreal the road to reception in week three came late in the game and at the hands of a timely interception of a Kevin Glenn pass, a turning point that eventually led to the Alouettes late game heroics and victory, even if they probably didn't deserve the victory.
A team that did not provide for one first down in the third quarter and could only muster six offensive plays, allowed the visitors from Calgary to score unanswered points and take the lead, looking very much in control and destined to victory until the late game turnaround for the home side.
To add insult to injury, with a chance to salvage the game still at hand, Glenn and the Stamps then managed to not properly manage the clock, leaving the field goal unit on the sidelines as time ran out, a final possession that could have given the Stamps a last second victory left to slip through their fingers.
As always, any time you provide Anthony Calvillo with the opportunity to score and leave him time on the clock is going to deliver bad news on your doorstep, Cavlillo the wily veteran that he is engineered yet another remarkable Alouette comeback.
Montreal will take the win, the two points always a valuable thing in the East division, though there can hardly be a sense that the team is firing on all its cylinders three weeks into the season. The Als still seem quite out of sync, offensively they are having trouble generating yards and points while the defence is still giving up plays that need to be stopped.
The reviews and previews on the Stamps and Als can be found here
Winnipeg at Edmonton
There's trouble in River City an that starts with a T, the Bombers the wandering vagabonds of the CFL in these first three weeks of the CFL schedule continued on with their losing ways, suffering a good old fashioned whuppin' at the hands of the Edmonton Eskimos on Friday Night.
The Eskimos, who themselves were embarrassed the week before in Saskatchewan, seemingly heeded their coaches and the concept of working harder and scoring often, as they laid on the points seemingly at will against the Bombers, finally halting the fireworks at Commonwealth at 42-10.
It was a pivotal bounce back game for the Eskimos, who were totally dominated a week ago, Friday they provided some evidence for the home folk that all isn't necessarily a write off this year just ye.
The worrisome thing however is the seeming free fall that the Bombers are in at the moment, with injuries to both Buck Pierce (a recurring theme) and back up Alex Brink the Bombers were deep into their QB depth chart as Joey Elliot took to the field.
To his credit, the third stringer made a pretty good impression early in the fourth quarter with a 72 toss and catch with Christ Matthews for the Bombers only TD on the night.
Unfortunately, that was the extent of the Bombers highlight reel for Friday.
And while they have concerns on offence, it might be that the largest weakness for the Blue at the moment is on the D side, where in three games the Blue Bombers have surrendered 116 points. A porous defence and a sputtering offence, all in all a recipe for a very long and tortured season for the Bomber faithful.
Meanwhile in Edmonton, the Jekyll and Hyde Eskimos will take the convincing victory and use it to build on the rest of the season, though the next test arrives quickly as they travel to Vancouver to play the Lions, who have just come off a tough loss in Saskatchewan.
The trip to Vancouver will offer up some evidence if the Eskimos are more of the team of week two or if they've moved on to being the team of week three, then again maybe they're somewhere in the middle.
The reviews and background on the Bombers/Eskimos game can be found here.
British Columbia at Saskatchewan
As if a Saskatchewan crowd needed any motivation to be loud or to be involved, the Riders, along with the City of Regina and provincial government provided for a pre game booster club moment, announcing that the Riders will move into a brand new, state of the art, roof ready stadium in 2017.
With 30,000 plus roaring their approval at that concept, the 2012 Riders joined in on the celebrations by providing the home side with an entertaining 23 to 20 victory and with it remaining undefeated thus far in the CFL campaign with a 3-0 record.
An explosive special teams play provided for a pivotal moment in the game Saturday, as Tristan Jackson took back a missed field goal attempt, galloping 129 yards for a touchdown, pushing the Riders to a 23-13 lead and while the Riders would score no more on the day, the 23 points proved to be just enough to secure the victory and keep the undefeated string alive for another week.
Darian Durant continued to erase the bad memories of 2011 for the RiderNation, managing the Rider offence with continued confidence, though the Riders benefited by Lions miscues in interceptions, special teams troubles and some curious calls from the officials.
Still, the Riders took advantage of what was provided and their streak continues to live on for another week, a short one which sees them in Calgary on Thursday night
For the Lions the loss was costly in more than the standings table, the Lions Kierrie Johnson electrified the Mosaic Field crowd with a 69 yard touchdown, but then suffered a broken forearm at the end of the play, leaving him out of the lineup for at least a few months.
A loss for Travis Lulay, who was starting to find Johnson as one of his more popular targets, though BC is rather deep in the receivers department these days, still losing someone of the calibre of Johnson makes things a bit more difficult in the CFL West.
The Lions are home to Edmonton on Friday night.
The reviews and background to the Riders/Lions game can be found here.
Toronto at Hamilton
As always the Battle of Ontario lived up to the bombast usually provided for whenever the Argos and the Tiger Cats get together.
Henry Burris quickly learned that if you beat the Argos, there's a fair amount of credit in your account at Tiger Cat central, so with the Ti Cats convincing victory over the Double Blue on Saturday, Burris is in good stead with the Tiger Cat fan base for the foreseeable future (or Labour Day whichever comes first)
However if Burris is in good stead, then Chris Williams is the new poster boy for all that is good in Hamilton, his three touchdowns providing for more than enough offensive output to push the Cats on to victory a remarkable performance for which the Argos had no answer for on Saturday.
And like that, with a 36-27 victory over an arch rival at a timely moment, the Cats have seemingly quieted some of the tumult that had surrounded their squad heading into week three, little has been heard post game about internal problems between the coach and his veterans.
Burris' struggles of the early going have been put on the back burner in the light of the Tiger Cat victory, any worries about the defensive squad can be pondered upon on another day, like that all is well in Tiger town.
Yes, the Cats struggles in the first few weeks have raised a few eyebrows, a team many felt would dominate the CFL east didn't look quite ready to play, that was not the case on Saturday.
Despite the score, it was an entertaining game, taking us back to the days of smash mouth Ti Cat football, some ferocious play on the line with frequent visits to the Toronto backfield provided for a handy quick lesson on the ferocity of the Argos/Cats rivalry for Argo QB Ricky Ray.
The Argos to their credit, didn't shrink from the battle, they surrendered the lead early but then chipped away through the game to keep within striking distance, any chance however to claim victory in Hamilton disappeared on a Noel Prefontaine field goal attempt that went wide, resulting in 119 yard TD return for Williams, the perfect punctuation mark to the game for the Cats.
The inability of the Argos to turn opportunity into points proved to be their undoing on Saturday, something that the coaching staff will seek to redress heading into week four and a Wednesday night match up with the struggling Blue Bombers.
Hamilton will seek to keep the good vibe moving along on Saturday when the Alouettes come to town.
The reviews and background to the Tiger Cats/Argos game can be found here.
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