Get Set For The CFL Labour Day Classics

By Chris Lawton

Welcome to week two of our weekly review of each week of the 2025 CFL season. ‘Quick Kicks’ brings you week to week news of how the games went, scores, surprises, and a general feel of ‘what we learned’ from the games.

Let’s dive right in. The first game of the weekend saw the BC Lions visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as the home team became the final CFL team to kick off their 2025 campaign. Unlike last year when the Blue Bombers got off to an 0-4 start this time out the men from Winnipeg kicked off their season with a win, defeating the Lions 34-20.  This meant that, including last week’s games, the opening five games of the 2025 CFL season were won by the home team.

Nathan Rourke, former Most Outstanding Canadian (2022) has performed admirably against most of the teams he has faced with the Lions. When not playing Winnipeg, he has a 13-5 record with 32 touchdowns to 19 interceptions. It would appear however that the Blue Bombers are a different matter. Following this game he now has an 0-4 record against the men in blue and gold. Here he was 2 for 11 early on and had an interception that led to 3 points for the home team. He finished 12 of 27 for 249 yards with 1 TD and 1 pick. He left the game to be replaced by Jeremiah Masoli late on, but it looks like Rourke will be back to face his nemesis D as the two teams square off again next week, this time in the Lions’ den at BC Place in Vancouver.

On the other side of the ball starting QB Zach Collaros was serving a one game suspension, so the Blue Bombers backup Chris Streveler was stepping up to start. Historically Streveler has been great with the ball in hand and taking off through defences but inconsistent when throwing. Here he had probably his best game as a passer in his time in the CFL, finishing 15 of 24 for 246 yards, with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. The main recipients were Keric Wheatfall with 5 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown, and Nic Demski who had 4 receptions for 53 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Reigning MOP Brady Oliveira had 2 carries for 49 yards before leaving the game injured and his understudy Matthew Peterson did a fabulous job with 23 carries for 130 yards and 1 touchdown.

Going into this week every team that had rushed for more yards had won and it proved the same here. Whilst the Blue Bombers only narrowly edged the Lions in nett offence (438 yards to 410) they dominated on the ground with 201 yards on 33 carries to 85 yards on 16 carries.

Off the field one thing of note was the attendance. Last season the Blue Bombers had 31,196 fans per game in attendance – a franchise record. For the home opener this year 32,343 were in the stands. A great start.

The second game of the weekend was in Ottawa where the Ottawa RedBlacks faced the Montreal Alouettes. The Als are already looking like the class of the East Division again this year (they finished with the best East Division record last year at 12-5-1) and won this one 39-18 meaning the move to 2-0. They are also the only East Division team to record a win in the first two weeks of the season!

The Alouettes have now won the last nine games between these two teams, and the last 11 (including this win) times they have played the RedBlack at TD Place in Ottawa!

Once again, the home team had to look to a backup QB as Dru Brown was out injured for Ottawa. In his place came former Alouette Matthew Shiltz making his 14th overall CFL start. He did not have the impact Streveler had managed in Winnipeg however as the Alouettes Defence hounded him and he ended the game 22 of 32 for 205 yards with 1 touchdown, but most importantly 3 interceptions – all made by defensive linemen. All 3 passes were intercepted behind the line of scrimmage.

Across the line, opposing QB Davis Alexander posted his sixth straight win. 6-0 is the best start made by an Alouettes quarterback and his coach has already expressed he wants him to run and get hist as much as he had been doing. This week he did stay in the pocket more and finished this one 23 of 32 for 344 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception.

 A key area of the Alouettes resurgence from 2019 onwards has been growing defensive strength. That was on display here as the RedBlacks were repeatedly held at bay. For example, in the fourth quarter they held Ottawa to three forced punts and registered a pick six. While in the first half they had held the home team to three turnovers and a punt on three possessions that started in the Als half of the field. If you believe the adage defence wins championships, then the Alouettes have been laying down an early season marker.

The third game of the weekend was between the Calgary Stampeders and their hosts the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field. It was the visitors who took home the win with a 29-19 decision. 17,902 fans were on hand to see the Argos get their 2024 Grey Cup banner unfurled before the game and the first 10,000 through the gates got replica rings so things started upbeat for the home team. That attendance figure is remarkable too when you consider that as recently as 2021, they were averaging less than 10,000 people per home game. Some of it is down to on field success (they have won 2 championships in three years), but also the team has worked to slowly re-grow the attendance too.

Adrian Greene may have been the difference here. He threw a spanner in the works for Nick Arbuckle who went 31 of 42 for 309 yards but threw two interceptions both picked off by Calgary’s Adrian Greene. One of which was returned all the way for a touchdown. It has been a struggle under centre for Arbuckle to rediscover his Grey Cup MVP form of last season, but the team says there are no plans to replace him right now.

One of the banner offseason signings was Calgary bringing in Vernon Adams Jr to lead the Offence and so far, that has delivered for them. Here he was 17 of 25 for 301 yards and had 54 yards on the ground. Adams Jr is not having the phenomenal start to the year he made in BC last year but the veteran is doing enough to deliver wins. Given the Stamps went 5-12-1 last season, every win in the bank right now has to be appreciated.

This is the first time Toronto has been 0-2 since Ryan Dinwiddie became Head Coach and he has not lost three straight as the Argos coach. Toronto fans will be hoping that is a stat that remains in place after next week. Meanwhile the Stamps will play the 0-2 RedBlacks looking to sweep the East teams they faced over the first three weeks of the season.

The final game of the opening round of matchups was in Hamilton as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats  hosted the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Again, the visiting team won. This time by a score of 28-23. After 5 straight home wins to open the 2025 season we then saw 3 straight road wins.

Coming into this season Saskatchewan were hoping to make a run at the Grey Cup around veteran QB Trevor Harris. Key to that would be keeping him healthy as they are a different team with the savvy veteran at the helm. They are off to a great start there as they have allowed only 1 sack in the opening two contests this season. Here he went 26 of 37 for 295 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception.

Hamilton actually led here after Bo Levi Mitchell hit Tim White in the end zone for a 9-yard strike. But some big plays sparked the visitors. First Mario Alford had a 23-yard punt return where he skipped around people for extra yardage, then AJ Ouellette ran in a score from 47-yards out. After which 2024 Most Outstanding Defender Rolan Milligan Jr. had a 64-yard pick six to give the Riders the lead. Although the game would be tied, the Roughriders never trailed again after this.

Brett Lauther came into this game having hit 23 straight field goals – third best in franchise history. But this is a game he will want to forget as he went 2 for 5 on all kicks – and missed a couple by a wide margin. Swirling winds were a factor. Roughrider fans will hope for a repeat of last year where Lauther had a terrible game Last year, going three-of-seven against Montreal in Week 11, then turned into Mister reliable for the rest of the year.

For the Ticats Bo Levi Mitchell completed his first 12 passes for 139 yards before throwing his first incompletion late in the second quarter. He finished the game at 26 of 40 for 336 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Unfortunately, the interception was a pick six and either he just didn’t see Milligan or lost something on the flight of the ball. Kenny Lawler balled out for Hamilton with 8 catches for 162 yards.

Week 3 starts out with Montreal at Edmonton 2 am Friday morning UK time. Of the rest of the games the easiest one for UK based fans to watch will be Ottawa at Calgary at 9PM on Saturday. All of these games are available free on CFL+. The league’s free streaming service is a great way to check out some CFL action and see what you think of it.

MOP's of Week 2:

O – KeeSean Johnson WR, Saskatchewan Roughriders: 8 catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. All catches were either a first down or touchdown and 5 of the catches were contested.  

D –. Adrian Greene DB, two tackles, two interceptions, one touchdown.

ST – Jose Maltos K, Montreal Alouettes 6 for 6 on Field Goal Kicks, including from 49 and 50 yards.

Interdivisional Standings 2025 This Week: East Division 0 West Division 2

Interdivisional Standings 2025 season: East Division 0 West Division 4

CHRIS LAWTON

CFL ANALYST

Chris originally started following the NFL with the ‘first wave’ of fans when it was shown on Channel 4 in the 1980’s. He has been a keen supporter of the Miami Dolphins since 1983. Chris first encountered the CFL in 2016 and instantly fell in love with the Canadian game. He has been writing about the CFL 2017. Chris has a degree in history, postgraduate degree in librarianship and can be found on twitter as @CFLfanUK

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