CFL 'Quick Kicks': Week 10

By Chris Lawton

Welcome to week ten of our weekly review of each CFL game week for the 2024 season. ‘Quick Kicks’ will bring 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 first tied game in the CFL for seven years as the Ottawa RedBlacks and Saskatchewan Roughriders played out a dramatic 22-22 game in overtime. Coincidentally, the last time this happened, June 2017, it was again the RedBlacks involved, as they played out a 31-31 tie at home to the Calgary Stampeders.

On a wet and windy night there was some sloppy offensive play and outright defensive dominance that led to a low scoring game to start out. It was 3-3 at the half.

Saskatchewan came into this one with a banged-up O line and Ottawa took advantage in the running game, holding the Roughriders to 24 yards on the ground at 1.8 yards per carry. As well as making 3 interceptions to keep Ottawa in it. However, they did let Saskatchewan pass for 299 yards and only managed 1 sack.

On the flip side, the Saskatchewan D recorded five sacks and six tackles for a loss. But it might just have been their special teams that kept them in it to record a tie. That is because although Ottawa kicker Lewis Ward hit on five Field Goals, Saskatchewan special teamers also blocked two kicks – one just before halftime, and one in the third quarter.

Dru Brown started at QB for Ottawa, but after going 6 of 9 for 55 yards was forced from the game with a leg injury. Stand in Dustin Crum went 21 of 32 for 211 yards and a pick. For Saskatchewan Shea Patterson was 30 of 49 for 299 yards with 2 touchdowns, but also threw three interceptions.

In his CFL debut Saskatchewan receiver Dohnte Meyeres had 8 catches for 101 yards.  

The game was low scoring until late on when, with Ottawa 10-3 ahead, Patterson hit Bane in the end zone to tie it up at 10-10 with just 1:53 remaining. With 1:25 showing, league interception leader Rolan Milligan added to his tally and that led to a Brett Lauther Field Goal and 13-10 Roughriders lead. Ottawa then raced downfield to set up Lewis Ward for a game tying kick with zeros on the clock.

OT saw both teams trade touchdowns but fail on the 2-point conversions, before both hit on Field Goals to end it in a 22-22 tie leaving the Roughriders at 5-3-1 and the RedBlacks at 5-2-1.

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The second game of the weekend featured the Calgary Stampeders at the Toronto Argonauts, as the Argos hosted the home game of a home-and-home series against Calgary. Having lost 27-23 in Calgary the week before thanks to a Stampeders comeback, this time it was Toronto who mounted a comeback and registered a 39-25 win.

Given that Calgary are 4-0 at home and now 0-5 on the road, this result had a feel of inevitability about it even when Toronto were behind. The Argos have now gone 4-1 at home so far this season on the way to a current 5-4 record. In fact, the Argonauts have now won 13 of their past 14 home games and gone 8-0 against West teams at BMO Field during that run.

Former Stampeder Ka’Deem Carey had 13 carries for 89 yards and a touchdown, as well as 2 catches for 22 yards as he keyed an Offence that had 118 rushing yards and 181 passing yards in the game. For Calgary, QB Jake Maier went 33 of 45 for 373 yards, 1 TD and 1 pick. While Peyton Logan had 11 carries for 61 yards and a score and 5 catches for 43 yards, and veteran receiver Reggie Begelton had 8 catches for 104 yards.

Calgary led 15-7 at the half before Toronto’s return specialist Janarion Grant took the second-half kickoff to the 42-yard line. A couple of quick possessions were followed by the Argos cutting the deficit to 15-10 before Grant made his mark on the game again. This time with an 86-yard punt return touchdown that gave Toronto the lead.

It looked like being a back and forth affair when Calgary took the lead again to make it 22-21 but after DaShaun Amos got a pick-six to regain the lead for the Double Blue the Argos never gave up the lead again.

Toronto learnt their lessons here. A week earlier they had led 23-6 after three quarters before losing 27-23. This time around they played to the gun and outscore Calgary 32-10 in the second half of this one.

The third game of the weekend was in Montreal where the Alouettes continued their fine form with a 33-23 win against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Montreal have now won seven times in a row against Hamilton, but this is the first time they had swept them in back-to-back games since 2006.  This is the first time Montreal have started a season 8-1 since 2004, a year they finished 14-4.

Even though Montreal won the game, the biggest story of this one came from the Hamilton sideline where Bo Levi Mitchell was benched. Mitchell was 3 of 4 for 25 yards but threw an interception that saw him pulled from the game in favour of Taylor Powell at QB. Mitchell, a future Hall of Fame player had gone 214 of 314 for 2522 yards 18 touchdowns and 10 picks on the season before being pulled here. Head Coach Scott Milanovich was keen to tab Powell as the starter going forward in a post-game press conference.

None of this drama should take away from how impressive Montreal are as they march on with another win however. Going back to September last season, they are now on a 16-1 run (including playoffs). And they have done it despite cycling through players at QB.

Davis Alexander led them to the win here going 17 of 24 for 247 yards and 2 touchdowns, as well as having three carries for 27 yards. A big chunk of that went to Charleston Rambo who had 6 catches for 124 yards and both of the TDs.

They say if you win the turnover battle, you usually win the game, and it was Montreal who forced two turnovers here. Linebacker Darnell Sankey was responsible for both, netting an interception and a fumble recovery to swing things Montreal’s way.

As for Taylor Powell who is the nominated starter for Hamilton now? He did pretty well going 30 of 38 for 319 yards, 2 touchdowns and zero interceptions, as well as 5 carries for 52 yards.

The final game of the weekend saw the Edmonton Elks host the BC Lions. It was the home team who won their second game in a row, this time with a convincing 33-16 home win over the Lions.  

Prior to this BC had won eight consecutive contests between the two teams, including with a walk off Filed Goal in a 24-21 win in Week 4. The Lions, who were 5-1 and are now 5-4 will be keen to arrest the slide in form. Edmonton meanwhile who started out 0-7 and are now 2-7 will hope to keep trending in this direction.

Tre Ford started hot in this one going 6 for 6 for 96 yards and having 2 carries for 11 yards before an injury forced him from the game. Former starter McLeod Bethel-Thompson stepped back into the lineup and went 14 of 18 for 171 yards 1 TD and 1 interception in his stead.

As they did in their first win of the season last week, Edmonton established a strong ground game and went from there. Javon Leake keyed the ground attack with 21 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown as the Elks ran for 200 yards on 35 carries as a team. That went a long way to them dominating yardage as they had 456 net yards compared to BC’s 271 and they dominated time of possession holding the ball for 35:39 of game time. They also scored well when the chance arose. Four red zone visits netted three touchdowns and a Field Goal.

It all seems such a long way from how it all started here. BC came out big to start with an 8 play, five minute 67-yard touchdown drive to open the game. After that they never found the End Zone again. One welcome sight for the Leos was the return from injury of Keon Hatcher who had 4 catches for 62 yards.

The best receiving performer on the field was representing the double Es here however, as Tevin jones snagged 6 catches on 6 balls thrown his way for 123 yards.

MOP's of Week 10

O – Charleston Rambo, WR, Montreal Alouettes: 6 catches for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns.

D – Darnell Sankey, LB, Montreal Alouettes: 6 tackles, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery.

ST – Janarion Grant, KR, Toronto Argonauts: 2 kick returns for 49 yards, 4 punt returns for 103 yards and a touchdown.

Interdivisional Standings 2024 This Week: East Division 1-0-1 West Division 0-1-1

Interdivisional Standings 2024 season: East Division 13 West Division 7 Ties 1

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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