By Bob Coatsworth,
Fantasy Sports Network
1. B.C. Lions (3-0) – When you talk about the West, you talk about the B.C. Lions. Friday’s trip to Regina was supposed to be difficult, though the Lions strode into Mosaic Stadium, forced seven turnovers and snatched up a victory with relative ease. The only concern for the owners of first place in the West is the health of their quarterbacks. Dave Dickenson was knocked woozy and bruised up his chest, while Buck Pierce injured a hand. Their statuses are in both in question for this week’s home game with Hamilton. Grade: A-
2. Toronto Argonauts (2-1) – Until Michael Bishop broke his wrist in Thursday’s game against Calgary, the Argonauts had the look of a Grey Cup contender. The pass defence was spectacular as usual and they were doing a great job of bottling up Joffrey Reynolds. That changed when Mike McMahon entered the game. He completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes, threw a nice touchdown pass to Derrell Mitchell, but was intercepted twice and outscored 15-14 in the final quarter and a bit. As the new starter McMahon will need to be better or the Argonauts will suffer while Bishop is on the shelf. Grade: B+
3. Montreal Alouettes (1-2) – Anthony Calvillo might have surpassed the 50,000-yard mark, but does he have a handle on the new offence? He completed his first 14 passes on Saturday night, threw his first touchdown pass of the season and finished with three TD strikes for the first time in 15 regular-season starts. The Ticats aren’t the greatest measuring stick, but the offence looks to be coming around. We’ll know for sure after Thursday’s match-up with Winnipeg. Grade: B-
4. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1-1-1) – Going into Friday’s game with Edmonton, the Bombers were missing Anthony Marlbrough, Robert Bean and Greg Moss from their defensive secondary. Despite the injuries, they stood up surprisingly well against the Eskimos’ passing attack. It was on special teams where they faltered. The Bombers allowed Edmonton to recover an onside punt and an onside kick, while they had two punts blocked and saw a wild snap go over the head of punter Rob Pikula before they lost both long snappers. Grade: C+
5. Edmonton Eskimos (1-1-1) – With just seven wins in 2006, Edmonton got their first victory of the season Friday in Winnipeg and looks to have improved over last year’s team. Now that Ron McClendon’s healthy, Danny Maciocia has a dilemma. How do they get both McClendon and rookie Tyler Ebell on the field? For now he’ll go with Goldie, but having both in the line-up would give the Esks a deadly one-two rushing punch with some new receiving options coming out of the backfield. Grade: C+
6. Saskatchewan Roughriders (2-0) – For as good as the Roughriders looked in the first two weeks of the season, they were equally as bad Friday in their face off with B.C. for top spot in the West. After Kerry Joseph completed four-of-14 passes for 35 yards in the first half, Marcus Crandell took over. For awhile it looked like the Roughriders would make a comeback, though it all fell apart in the final minutes. The Riders tumble five spots this week. Grade: C
7. Calgary Stampeders (1-2) – First it was a 49-8 loss to Saskatchewan, then four days later, a 48-15 loss to Toronto. Working with a rebuilt defence you knew there’d be an adjustment period, but no one ever expected these kind of problems with the offence. Between Henry Burris and Akili Smith, they’ve had seven passes intercepted in the last two games. Now that the Stampede is over, Calgary will welcome a return to their home field. Unfortunately, they face the Argonauts again this Saturday. Grade: D
8. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-3) – The Tiger-Cats have a long way to go to avoid the 0-4 and 0-8 starts of the last two seasons, especially with their next two games on the road and a 2-17 record away from home since the start of the 2005 season. Coach Charlie Taaffe seems content to continue with a platoon at quarterback, as Timmy Chang is not ready to take the reigns on his own. Jason Maas will start Thursday in Vancouver but Chang will more than likely come on in relief again. Grade: D
A+ of the Week:
Orlondo Steinauer, Toronto – 3 INT
Steinauer pulled down three of Toronto’s five interceptions Thursday against the Stampeders. As impressive as that is, it wasn’t the first time in his 11-year career he’s picked off three passes in one game. He’s done it twice before – once in 1998 with Hamilton, and again in 2001 with the Argonauts.
Bob Coatsworth works as an editorial coordinator at The Score Television Network and has been a fantasy sports enthusiast for years.
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily of the Canadian Football League)
