It’s Week 9 in the CFL and, this week, it’s all about the Western Conference. And this week, we don’t have to worry about West vs. East or home team advantage.
The East has the bye this week so there are only two games on the CFL schedule, both Western Conference matchups. On Thursday night, Saskatchewan, coming off that tough home loss to Calgary, will travel to Edmonton to meet an Eskimos team that just might be better than everyone thought while on Friday night, the Calgary Stampeders with its league-leading offence heads into B.C. Place Stadium where it has lost seven consecutive games to the B.C. Lions.
As we head into this week’s two-game Western affair, Saskatchewan leads the way at 6-1 while the remaining three teams are deadlocked at 4-3. It would be a surprise if one of the four Western teams missed the playoffs. This is shaping up to be a crossover year.
This week, two teams will close the gap and a fourth-place team will actually become a legitimate fourth-place team. Although it will be a legitimate third-place team in the East.
Here’s a look at the games for Week 9… think close, high-scoring games.
Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-1) at Edmonton Eskimos (4-3)
Thursday, 8 p.m. CT, TSN
Saskatchewan will have a couple of its seriously injured players back, but there has to be one question asked: How long will the Riders last with so many injuries to so many skilled players? This team went 6-0, even without some of its top performers in the lineup, but even with a week off, Rider fans are not going to see the likes of Andy Fantuz, D.J. Flick, Matt Dominguez or defensive end John Chick. When they lost to Calgary last week, the Riders had 18 players on the injured list. This week, 16 players are still on the list despite the two-week break. Interestingly, earlier in the season with all their skilled players in the lineup, in a game at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, the Riders whipped Edmonton 34-14. With all the injuries, it won’t happen twice.
Pick: Edmonton
Calgary Stampeders (4-3) at B.C. Lions (4-3)
Friday, 9:30 p.m. CT, TSN
Sport Select’s Point Spread game has made the B.C. Lions 4 1/2-point favourites this week and one supposes that’s probably fair. After all, the Lions have won seven straight games against the Stamps at B.C. Place Stadium. There is no reason why Calgary should be considered a favourite. But I just can’t help myself. The Stamps won last week in Regina and the Roughriders — with 18 players on the injured list — is still a better football team than the Jarious Jackson-led Lions. In most offensive categories, B.C. is in the bottom half of the league while Calgary is in the top half. On defence, Calgary dominates. The real question here is: How did Calgary and B.C. both get to 4-3? Calgary is a 6-1 or 5-2 team that blew late leads (to Edmonton and Winnipeg, for instance). B.C. is a 2-5 team that won some games it should not have won (against Montreal and Edmonton). In Week 1, Calgary beat B.C. by 10 (28-18). It’s hard not like the Stamps.
Pick: Calgary
Last Week: 1-1
Season: 16-6