The Canadian Press
Welcome to Overreaction Monday, where we look back on the previous week’s action and root out some angles that could be prone to hot takes that may or may not be a tad over the top. Either from fans and the media in general or, maybe just specifically me.
Then, I’ll render a verdict as to whether I think it’s an “overreaction,” a “fair” assessment, or if it’s “too soon to tell.”
This week, the unsinkable Alouettes, in defence of a play call, and a slate of games that looks like the fulcrum of the 2026 season.
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*SHORESY VOICE* THIS TEAM WILL NEVER LOSE AGAIN
The Montreal Alouettes are rollin’, rollin’, rollin’.
In a top-of-the-league showdown, they came up big against the Edmonton Elks, in a 48-30 win that bumped their record to 8-1, four points up on the Elks and Saskatchewan Roughriders for the overall lead and six clear of the second-place Argos in the East Division.
“They’re pretty well unbeatable at this point.”
THE VERDICT: Fair.
The Als had been winning prior to this one, obviously. But there had been one little criticism surrounding them and that was that they weren’t playing full 60s, allowing opponents to either stay in games or get back into games that Montreal seemed to have in hand.
Over the last couple of games, the Als have been thorough and they have been deadly all the way through, with their offence hanging 481 total yards on Edmonton’s number-one ranked defence on Saturday. On the other side of the ball, Montreal’s defence held the fort while being down four starters.
Right now, it’s hard to see a way through them and they look like a credible threat to set a league record for wins in a regular season.
But this is August.
All other contenders have more than two months to get themselves ramped up in time for the playoffs and we have seen that sort of thing come to fruition over and over again.
Can the Als stay up there at the edge of the atmosphere? And if so, who will join them?
A FAILURE, YES. BUT NOT OF DESIGN
On a third-and-one from the Toronto 53-yard line and with 90 seconds to go in a tie game, Calgary Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson decided to go for it.
The ball was snapped in shotgun formation, with quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. handing off to running back Dedrick Mills.
The Argos defence rose up and turned the ball over.
“You can’t go from the gun on third-and-one.”
THE VERDICT: Overreaction.
Yes you can. The fact that the Stampeders got stopped there does not in and of itself make it a bad formation decision. We often see good running rips come from the gun.
Sometimes, the other guys make a great play and you have to give credit.
In this case, it was a matter of “their battering ram bested our battering ram.”
Dedrick Mills is one of the most powerful backs in the CFL and stopping him dead in his tracks is a very, very difficult proposition when he has gotten up any steam at all. But that’s just what happened due to a big time defensive play.
Mills got the ball with time and space to decide which door he thought was best.
As he often does, he made the correct choice. There was a hole and he accelerated right at it.
But Argos’ safety Bubba Bolden made a sensational play, reacting quickly and with explosive brute force to get into that hole as Mills arrived.
If Bolden doesn’t make that play, Mills was getting a bunch more than just one yard.
Mills didn’t get blown up in the backfield, after all. He was stopped just prior to the marker on a special play by Bolden, who not only slammed the door on a powerful runner, he forced a fumble too.
The design was sound. Bolden just flat out negated it.
I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT. I’M TALKING ABOUT GOING FOR IT AT ALL
90 seconds to go, ball at the 53-yard line, tie game.
“Punt and pin is the thing to do there.”
THE VERDICT: Fair.
You can make a case for that. On a night where Toronto quarterback Chad Kelly was mistake-prone, you could have gotten a quick stop or maybe even another turnover.
There’s a “but,” though.
Dickenson was wary of his team’s banged up, tired out defence.
“We were just hangin’ on by fumes,” said the coach, post-game. “I wasn’t too sure we had a lot left in us if it went to overtime.”
WHO’S READY FOR PRIME TIME?
Week 11 in the CFL is absolutely brimming with intrigue and with teams looking to set the tone for upward mobility in the second half of the season.
“This week is the most crucial week of the season so far.”
THE VERDICT: Fair.
BC (3-5) at Calgary (4-5) on Thursday night is Exhibit A in all of this. The Stamps come off a game they must feel they should have won, in Toronto, and the Lions are keen to grab a signature road win that can let them leave a terrible start long behind them. Who’s a contender? Two teams enter, one team leaves.
On Friday, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-4) come off the bye looking to make Princess Auto Stadium a truly terrible place for opponents to play again, after going 1-4 in their first five there and after giving up 377 rushing yards on that field in Week 9 against BC. Should they lose this one to the winless Ottawa REDBLACKS? Hoo boy.
Saturday sees a couple of games with notable pivot points of their own.
The Edmonton Elks (6-3) got tossed around by the Alouettes in Week 10 after being beaten by the Roughriders in Week 9. Do they truly belong on the list of Grey Cup contenders? Then they need a bounce-back win, pronto. The visiting Toronto Argonauts (4-4) may or may not be about to put things together. A clean offensive showing coupled with another stout defensive effort would be a statement.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (3-6) are in desperate need of a win that they can plant a flag on, one where they hope they can put their quarterback questions to rest. The visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-2) look pretty great despite a whack of injuries. Cough this one up, though, and we’d have to stop short of saying they are locked and loaded for the second half.
