CFL 'Quick Kicks': Week 6

By Chris Lawton

Welcome to week six 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.

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Let’s dive right in. The opening game of the weekend saw the Toronto Argonauts avenge a defeat from Week 4 as they went to Montreal and came away with a 37-18 win against the Alouettes. The real turning point came when Cody Fajardo, who was 5 of 6 for 62 yards at the time left the game limping and did not return. The Als only had a single point when he left, but the O was looking in control and Fajardo has had a great season so far (1,584 yards passing and 10 touchdowns leading Montreal to 5-0 going into this game) and bringing the backup Caleb Evans in changed the dynamic for Montreal.

This was a big win for Toronto too. They were the last team to beat the Alouettes last season, and now 300 odd days later they are the first to do it this year. Montreal were on a Franchise record run of 10 consecutive wins for regular season play prior to that. Also, Argos coach Ryan Dinwiddie (who holds a 27-6 record so far) had never had a three-game losing streak before and winning here meant that stat stayed intact.

As for the game itself, the Argos ground game really controlled things as they had a 183 yards to 85 yards advantage in the running game, and you could see this reflected in their time of possession advantage of 37:34 to 22:26.

For the Argos Cam Dukes went 16 of 20 for 131 yards with 1 TD as well as 9 carries for 46 yards. On the flip side, Caleb Evans subbing in for the Als finished 12 of 22 for 127 yards with 2 TDs and 2 picks – one of those being a pick six.

A key signing for the Argos this year was to find a replacement for 2023 CFL All-star and Most Outstanding Special Teams Player Javon Leake. They did that by signing former Rutgers Receiver and Winnipeg return specialist Janairon Grant. The two-time Grey Cup champion and 2022 CFL All-Star had himself a game in this one. He had 242 total return yards, including a 103-yard kickoff return for a score and a 43-yard return that put the Boatmen in great position at the start of the second half.

The second game of the weekend saw the Calgary Stampeders travel to face the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. This one was an end to end game full of everything you could wish for, and the Blue Bombers edged it with a 41-37 win to record their second straight win after starting 0-4.

This one also saw a return to form of 2021 & 2022 MOP Zach Collaros who finished the game 27 of 36 for 344 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The Pivots put up over 650 yards between them as for Calgary Jake Maier finished 20 of 31 for 316 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

A real break out performance came for Winnipeg Wide Receiver Ontaria Wilson who had 13 catches for 201 yards and a touchdown.

On the ground both teams’ feature backs made an impact. Brady Oliveira had 15 carries for 109 yards for Winnipeg whilst Dedrick Mills had 15 carries for 131 yards for Calgary.

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The third game of the week saw the top two in the West battle it out as the Saskatchewan Roughriders travelled to face the BC Lions. It was the home team that came out on top with a 35-20 win.

The game itself was littered with impressive performances too. We have already noted on this site that Vernon Adams Jr is on a record setting pace. Well, ‘Big Play VA’ was at it again in this one, completing 26 of 42 passes for 451 yards and a touchdown. He also had 4 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown too.

One area of concern for the Lions may have been the O line as they gave up 4 sacks for 44 yards, and Adams threw up 2 picks, having only had 1 interception all season prior to this. While the rushing game was held to 53 yards (3.3 yards per carry). Aside from that though this performance was sprinkled with outstanding performances.

Doing most of the damage alongside Adams, was Wide Receiver Justin McInnis who held onto all 14 passes thrown his way and turned that into 243 yards receiving and a touchdown.

Meanwhile veteran kicker Sean Whyte was 7 for 7 on Field Goals, meaning he has now made 39 straight, second most in CFL history.

Let’s be fair to Saskatchewan here though, the Lions didn’t have it all their own way. Far from it in fact. The Roughriders had some momentum in the fourth quarter when AJ Ouellette (12 carries 72 yards 2 touchdowns), ran in a score to make it 22-20 BC.

Their D played well too – after all on seven occasions they made the explosive BC attack settle for a Field Goal, plus they had 4 sacks and 2 interceptions and 2 tackles for a loss to slow the Leos down. A real standout on O for the green and white was Samuel Emilus who hauled in 8 receptions for 161 yards, including one for 51 and another for 50 yards to really get Saskatchewan moving.

Both teams can take something from the game then, but BC will be happiest now that they sit at 5-1 atop the West Division, including being 4-0 versus fellow West Division teams.

The final game of Week six saw the Edmonton Elks host the Ottawa RedBlacks. It was the visitors who walked away with the spoils in a 37-34 walk off win.  

It seems the Elks just can’t buy a win this year as they drop to 0-5 with defeats coming by just 3 points in each of their last 4 games, and every game this season finishing within one score of their opponents. They will look to rectify that next week as they travel to face Ottawa in back-to-back meetings.

As for the RedBlacks, who stand at 3-2, all three of their wins have come by 4 points or less. This is also the second time this season they have won with a walk off Field Goal. The last time being two weeks ago against Hamilton.

Dru Brown had his biggest game since becoming the Ottawa starting QB, going 26 of 38 for 480 yards, with 2 touchdowns and 1 pick. He wasn’t afraid to go after the deep ball either. Beneficiaries of this arial barrage were three RedBlacks receivers in particular; Kalil Pimpleton – 4 catches for 153 yards and a score, Dominique Rhymes – 7 catches for 131 yards, and Justin Hardy – 5 catches for 110 yards and a score.

Kicker Lewis Ward went 5 for 5 on Field Goals, 7 for 7 on all kicks, scored 17 points and kicked a walk off winner for the second time in three weeks.  

For the Elks McLeod Bethel-Thompson finished up completing 26 of 35 passes for 272 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Elks have rarely been dominated this season, but in this game, they had a double-digit lead and let it slip. For CFL fans with longer memories perhaps Edmonton fans can dream of emulating the 2011 BC Lions season where they too started out 0-5 and went on to win the Grey Cup.

So, there we have it, Week six in the books. After this weekend we have no unbeaten teams left in the league. At the other end of the spectrum, we have Edmonton and Hamilton both looking to record their first W after both making 0-5 starts to the season.

MOP's Of Week 6:

O – Justin McInnis, Wide Receiver BC Lions, 14 catches on 14 balls thrown his way, 243 yards and 1 touchdown.

D – Rolan Milligan Jr DB Saskatchewan Roughriders, 5 tackles 1 interception.

ST – Janairon Grant, Kick returner, Toronto Argonauts, 2 kick returns 145 yards and 1 TD, 242 total kick and punt return yards.

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

Interdivisional Standings 2024 season: East Division 7 West Division 6

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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