Quick Kicks - CFL Week 11

By Chris Lawton

Welcome to week twelve of our weekly review of each CFL game week for the 2024 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.

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Let’s dive right in. The first game of the weekend saw the Toronto Argonauts win by the narrowest of margins as a walkoff rouge saw them win 20-19 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Argos stuck around long enough in this one to take their only lead of the game on the last play of the game.

This one saw the controversial ‘last chance’ return of 2023 MOP Chad Kelly at quarterback for the Argos. There was hardly an offensive explosion from Toronto on his return, but he finished 24 of 39 for 322 yards and 1 pick. Defenses were in the ascendancy here as for Saskatchewan Trevor Harris finished the game 18 of 29 for 190 yards, with 1 TD and 2 interceptions.

The Argos, (6-4), have now won 14 of their last 15 home games and have won ten in a row at home against West Division teams, while Saskatchewan, (5-5-1), are now on a 0-4-1 run over their last five games.

Saskatchewan got off to a fast start here taking a 13-0 lead early on and looking in control. But the Argos always stuck around, and despite being behind for most of it had a chance at the end. Of course, with the game tied and the clock running out they could have won 22-19 with a field goal, or 20-19 with a rouge as the ball went through the End Zone on a missed attempt. Which is exactly what happened, opening up debate once again around whether the rules around the rouge should be updated to cover this.  

Of course, this debate might never have happened had it not been for the Roughriders D. They mounted three separate goal-line stands in this game, denying the Argos a potential 21 points and much more comfortable outcome.  

The second game of the weekend featured the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and it was the Bombers who came away with a 26-23 victory.

Winnipeg running back Brady Oliveira got off to a slow start this season, not recording a 100+ yard ground game until the Blue Bombers’ fourth outing. Since then, however he has rushed for over a 100 yards on 5 separate occasions, including here. If Oliveira gets a 100+ on the ground then more often than not Winnipeg win, and his 18 carries for 120 yards were key to this victory too.

After starting the season 0-4, Winnipeg have now won five of their last seven games and this was their third straight win taking them to 5-6. Other teams in the West will be eyeing them nervously now. Unfortunately for Ticats fans this was more of the same as they recorded their fourth straight defeat and fell to a league-low 2-9.

For Hamilton Bo Levi Mitchell finished 14 of 28 for 220 yards and their biggest offensive performer was Tim White who had 7 receptions for 134 yards. For Winnipeg Zach Collaros had a poor performance by his standards going 18 of 36 for 177 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions, but he led the winning touchdown drive at the end.

Sergio Castillo had another solid game for Winnipeg, hitting on all six of his kicks, including going 4 for 4 on field goals.

There was a scary moment here as future Canadian Football Hall of Fame Lineman Stanley Bryant went down and left the game. Happily, there was a positive update for the seven-time CFL All-Star and four-time CFL lineman of the year.

The third game of the weekend was in Ottawa as the RedBlacks hosted the BC Lions. It was Ottawa who continued their impressive run with a 34-27 win.

The RedBlacks are now unbeaten in six games (5-0-1 over that stretch), the best in season run for an Ottawa team since the Rough Riders had a six game unbeaten run in 1978. They are now 5-0-1 at home so far this season, and in their franchise decade anniversary year at 7-2-1 have made their best start to a campaign.

Looking good for Ottawa in this one were Dru Brown, who returning from a one game injury absence, went 28 of 37 for 390 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. While Justin Hardy had 11 receptions for 114 yards, Nick Mardner who had 3 catches for 95 yards and 2 touchdowns and Javon Santos-Knox who had 8 tackles, 2 pass knockdowns and blocked a field goal.

Nathan Rourke had a better game in his second on returning to the Lions going 22 of 31 for 234 yards but had no scoring passes and was picked off once. William Stanback had 15 carries for 99 yards to add balance.

BC had started well too, scoring on their opening drive and being 10-3 up early. At one point they were up 17-9 but it was 17-12 at the half. Dru Brown hit Mardner in the third and he went 64-yards for the go ahead score. Although both teams exchanged points after this, the RedBlacks never trailed again.

The final game of the weekend saw the Edmonton Elks travel to Montreal to face the Alouettes. The Als, sporting their nifty 1974 retro unis moved to 9-1 with a 21-17 win here. With this win, Montreal are now 18-1 over their last 19 games, including in the playoffs and Grey Cup. This was another tight one, and Edmonton led early and tow opportunities near the end, but yet again the Als found a way to see it out.

For Edmonton, this may have ended their 3-game winning streak, but they were competitive and led early on – there are plenty of positives for them to take away too. Just not the W.

Cody Fajardo looked good in returning to his starting role under centre going 22 of 34 for 336 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 pick, while Cole Spieker had 5 catches for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns – getting a brace to mark his first scores in the CFL.

Having been down 17-6 at halftime the Alouettes recorded 15 second half points whilst blanking the Elks completely after intermission. Linebackers Tyrice Beverette, Darnell Sankey and Geoffrey Cantin-Arku were all over the field making tackles.

The Elks have relied on their running game over recent weeks, and they performed well again here, with Kevin Brown leading the way with 16 carries for 105 yards. The difference was they didn’t have it punched into the endzone on the ground like they had in their wins. Both TDs came through the air as McLeod Bethel-Thompson connected on 21 of 33 passes for 200 yards with touchdowns thrown to Kurleigh Gittens Jr and Eugene Lewis.

Week 12 is in the books, and it was a week of close games as they were decided by 1, 3, 7, and 4 points respectively. The league would love to see more of these close games going forward. Next week we will see the traditional Labour Day Classics and the run towards post-season will really begin to gather momentum.

MOP's of Week 12:

O – Dru Brown, QB, Ottawa RedBlacks: 28 of 37 for 390 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.

D – C J Reavis, DB, Saskatchewan Roughriders: 10 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass knockdown. 3 tackles made at the Saskatchewan one yard line as part of goal-line stand.

ST – Sergio Castillo, K, Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 4 for 4 on Field Goals, 6 for 6 on all kicks. 3 kickoffs for 215 yards (71.7 yard average).

Interdivisional Standings 2024 This Week: East Division 3 West Division 1

Interdivisional Standings 2024 season: East Division 18 West Division 9 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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