CFL: The CFL Thread: Part VI

[Kyle McMahon]

They should have put the back-up QB in for sure to end the game. I guess he had to go forward slightly because if he kneeled down, he was super close to the endzone so they might have given up a safety.

He really didn't even have to go forward though, just had to not lose more than a full yard, which should have been easy. They needed to snap the ball one more time after that to end the game and could have given up a safety on that play without harm if it came to that.

It was already being suggested that Steinhauer was rushing BLM back needlessly, considering Powell didn't look half bad the week before. Getting him wrecked on a kneel down situation would be a fire-able offense if there was anyone competent available to replace him. Although based on his performance yesterday, it might be a blessing in disguise if Steinhauer is forced to go back to Powell.

 

[ManByng]

Edmonton Elks misery continues! ZERO points ! Not even a damn field goal !! Weren’t even competitive! This is a shite show! At least they were somewhat competitive in most of their previous games but this was just painful to watch!!

 

[GKJ]

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

The Elks host Winnipeg next so the streak should continue. They do get home games against OTT, CGY and MTL after that. You would think they fluke out a home win at some point.

 

[MM917]

The Elks are an absolute disaster. Terrible coach, GM, players. They have zero quality young players to look forward to/give them hope. Zero even passable QBs on the roster.

They seem like they are stuck with Jones due to the power and contract they gave him. I don't get it with Jones, he has shown he is an incompetent coach, a disaster when he has a say in the roster and at best a passable DC that will always create conflict with others. There was zero reason to bring him as a coach, less reason to give him the GM role. Someone should lose their job and be done in sports for making that decision.

 

[joestevens29]

The Elks are an absolute disaster. Terrible coach, GM, players. They have zero quality young players to look forward to/give them hope. Zero even passable QBs on the roster.

They seem like they are stuck with Jones due to the power and contract they gave him. I don't get it with Jones, he has shown he is an incompetent coach, a disaster when he has a say in the roster and at best a passable DC that will always create conflict with others. There was zero reason to bring him as a coach, less reason to give him the GM role. Someone should lose their job and be done in sports for making that decision.

Who's going to get fired? The president/ceo was hired after Jones and Wally Buono was the one that came in as a special advisor to help find Jones.

 

[sonic92]

I'm feeling fine, let's go to CFL Week 9.

BC (6-1) at Winnipeg (5-2) Thu. 8:30PM ET

• We've got a heavyweight battle here with first place in the West Division on the line. The Lions got a 30-6 win over the Bombers back in week 3, and they'll have one more regular season matchup in week 18.

Toronto (6-0) at Calgary (2-5) Fri. 9PM ET

• Inconsistency has been a big problem for the Stampeders and now they get a bit of a gauntlet to run with their next four games against Toronto (twice), BC and Winnipeg. Labour Day against Edmonton could be a basement battle if they're not careful.

Montreal (3-3) at Hamilton (3-4) Sat. 7PM ET

• While the Argos are running away with the East, there's a huge logjam with the other three teams for playoff positioning. Having beat the TiCats in Week 3, an Alouette win here would give them the head-to-head in a possible tiebreaker down the road.

Ottawa (3-4) at Saskatchewan (3-4) Sun. 7PM ET

• With mediocre records belonging to a number of teams in both divisions, there may be a chance for an Eastern team to cross-over to the West in the playoffs. Something that has never happened since the cross-over began in 1997.

Bye Week - Edmonton (0-8). In today's episode of "deck chairs on the Titanic", Jarius Jackson is the new offensive coordinator for the Elks. Not even pepperidge farm remembers when Edmonton was a dominant team in the CFL.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

The Elks host Winnipeg next so the streak should continue. They do get home games against OTT, CGY and MTL after that. You would think they fluke out a home win at some point.

This post could have been made a full calendar year ago and been just as accurate.

My feeling was the Hamilton game was their last serious chance of winning at home this year. Even in the anything can happen CFL, 0-18 is a distinct possibility.

If the Elks do indeed reach 0-25 as a franchise at home, you've got to figure that's it for them as the Elks. Changing back to the Eskimos or at least Esks might be the only way to avoid the franchise going bankrupt.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

This post could have been made a full calendar year ago and been just as accurate.

My feeling was the Hamilton game was their last serious chance of winning at home this year. Even in the anything can happen CFL, 0-18 is a distinct possibility.

If the Elks do indeed reach 0-25 as a franchise at home, you've got to figure that's it for them as the Elks. Changing back to the Eskimos or at least Esks might be the only way to avoid the franchise going bankrupt.

Still think they should have went with Empire, I think that's where it was lost in the name change. Elks is just too generic to bland. Imperialist overtones is the stated reason they leaned away from it I heard, but I just don't think generic "Empire" is overly imperialistic and certainly isn't going against any one particular culture or minority. Edmonton Empire would have been "cool" and certainly unique. Hell see if they could use some kind of rip off of the Star Wars Empire theme music to come out to. Could have lots of fun with it.

Don't think they'll be bankrupt this soon. I still think Cui is doing fine, he just needs some help on the field, IMO. It's nearly impossible to build goodwill with the fanbase without at least some winning.

The Bombers went through some bad years, but this is the lowest any franchise has basically ever sunk. When IG Field opened and Wade Miller was brought in as President the Bombers were at a pretty low spot, to be honest. After the initial wave of "hey come check out the new stadium" started to wear think in 2014-15ish Bombers began to make massive changes to things like atmosphere, how the team was marketed, etc. By around 2017 the gameday experience was completely overhauled, it was a great time to be out at the stadium. Yet still I couldn't give away tickets to the Bombers games back then. It didn't matter much at all. Until 2019 happened. Now Bombers are held up as one of the premier markets in the CFL, but it took nearly a decade to get there. It takes time, effort COMBINED with some winning to truly recover.

I still think 0-18 is nearly impossible. Elks at very least will have some games down the stretch against some teams resting guys that will result in them fluking out a win or two. Question will be whether that's a home win or not.

Really hope they come out of the bye with Tre Ford as their starting QB. He's not going to give you the passing game that Doege or even Cornelius can give you, but I seriously think that guy is a poor man's Lamar Jackson. Does just enough with the arm to keep the D's honest, but can be a game breaker in so many ways with his legs that he'll give a spark to that offense. I've always come away fairly impressed with watching him play, and if you design an offense around him I think you can definitely build something there. Of course getting the CFL's best WR back in Geno Lewis would make a huge difference as well.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Still think they should have went with Empire, I think that's where it was lost in the name change. Elks is just too generic to bland. Imperialist overtones is the stated reason they leaned away from it I heard, but I just don't think generic "Empire" is overly imperialistic and certainly isn't going against any one particular culture or minority. Edmonton Empire would have been "cool" and certainly unique. Hell see if they could use some kind of rip off of the Star Wars Empire theme music to come out to. Could have lots of fun with it.

Don't think they'll be bankrupt this soon. I still think Cui is doing fine, he just needs some help on the field, IMO. It's nearly impossible to build goodwill with the fanbase without at least some winning.

The Bombers went through some bad years, but this is the lowest any franchise has basically ever sunk. When IG Field opened and Wade Miller was brought in as President the Bombers were at a pretty low spot, to be honest. After the initial wave of "hey come check out the new stadium" started to wear think in 2014-15ish Bombers began to make massive changes to things like atmosphere, how the team was marketed, etc. By around 2017 the gameday experience was completely overhauled, it was a great time to be out at the stadium. Yet still I couldn't give away tickets to the Bombers games back then. It didn't matter much at all. Until 2019 happened. Now Bombers are held up as one of the premier markets in the CFL, but it took nearly a decade to get there. It takes time, effort COMBINED with some winning to truly recover.

I still think 0-18 is nearly impossible. Elks at very least will have some games down the stretch against some teams resting guys that will result in them fluking out a win or two. Question will be whether that's a home win or not.

Really hope they come out of the bye with Tre Ford as their starting QB. He's not going to give you the passing game that Doege or even Cornelius can give you, but I seriously think that guy is a poor man's Lamar Jackson. Does just enough with the arm to keep the D's honest, but can be a game breaker in so many ways with his legs that he'll give a spark to that offense. I've always come away fairly impressed with watching him play, and if you design an offense around him I think you can definitely build something there. Of course getting the CFL's best WR back in Geno Lewis would make a huge difference as well.

Chris Jones has shown he's completely lost the plot as a GM, and his coaching has been a disappointment as well, yet his job appears secure due to the dumb coaching/ops cap. The league is killing itself by preventing teams from firing bad coaches and managers. If Edmonton goes 2-16 or worse (a certainty at this point) and runs back the same management and coaching because they don't have a choice, there's only going to be family and friends in the crowd, and they will quickly be bankrupt.

Rebranding to Empire was a missed opportunity at slightly mitigating the damage, but I think that ship has sailed. Another re-brand to something different would just be laughed at I suspect. Undoing the original mistake would be much more likely to succeed as a last ditch effort. Unless a re-brand to Empire came with a change to private ownership entirely and complete house-cleaning of all coaches and management. (A new owner buying a team out of financial turmoil would certainly be given a one time free pass on the ops cap as a condition of sale).

Ford would be well received by fans who have absolutely no reason left to attend games otherwise. If the organization has any sense left at all, him and Doege will both be getting serious looks in the coming weeks. I have my doubts either are the answer, but best get to finding out.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Elks moving to Tre Ford at QB. Right move, IMO. However first game will be against my Bombers so while I am hopeful that the move pays dividends for the Elks (cause at this point even I can't hate them anymore haha) I'm hoping that the losing streak continues at least one more game

 

[sonic92]

Time for some more CFL shenanigans as we're now at week 10.

Winnipeg (6-2) at Edmonton (0-8) Thu. 9PM ET

• The free space on everyone's bingo card is an Elks home game. Edmonton gives their starting QB job to Tre Ford in their latest attempt to break that hex, but the Bombers are flying high after a 50-14 demolishing of BC last week.

Saskatchewan (4-4) at Montreal (4-3) Fri. 7:30PM ET

• Alouettes QB Cody Fajardo will be looking for a little revenge as he faces his old team. Montreal is looking to put a little space between them and the two teams behind them in the East, while the Riders are only a game up on Calgary for a playoff spot in the West.

Calgary (3-5) at BC (6-2) Sat. 7PM ET

• The Stampeders cleared the first hurdle in their brutal part of the schedule, but the Lions will likely need a win to keep pace with Winnipeg at the top of the West. Counting last year's playoff game and week 1 of this season, BC has won four of their last five meetings with Calgary.

Ottawa (3-5) at Toronto (6-1) Sun. 7PM ET

• An ankle injury to Chad Kelly lead to the Argos getting the first blemish on their record. The people that go to this game (which probably won't be that many because this is Toronto we're talking about) could be in for an interesting one since the RedBlacks have been in the middle of a lot of one score games recently.

Bye Week - Hamilton (3-5). The TiCats offence has been a little wonky this season so they've made some changes. Offensive coordinator Tommy Condell is gone and Scott Milanovich will take over the team's play-calling duties.

 

[GKJ]

Edmonton gonna win?

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Doubt it. 5 point game and we just saw a Fordception. All Bombers right now.

Lawler with a great catch for a TD, the Elks have officially blown the 22 point lead..

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

The Elks lose their 22nd straight home game by blowing a 22 point lead. You can not make this up. They are definitely not feeling 22 and everything is definitely not alright.

Gotta change the name again.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Sounds like the Elks are going to stick with Tre Ford at QB. Right call. He wasn't overly impressive, but I think he adds a dynamicness to the Edmonton O. Once Geno is back and he has that guy he can toss up the ball and know your WR will have a legit chance it'll look a bit different. Dru Brown had that with Lawler, the winning TD was not an open receiver, just a guy he knew he could count on to make a play. I think Edmonton will get off this skid as long as Ford stays at QB. They are a bad team, but not historically bad with Ford at QB, IMO. With Cornelius, sure. With some meaningless games coming down the stretch I think they'll win 2 or 3 in the second half, hopefully one at home. Have the streak over maybe there's some reason for a little optimism next year without the burden off that streak (and hopefully a new coach and GM if they can work that under the dumb staff cap).

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Can't imagine how long it's beein since the Als put up a 40 burger with a backup QB in there.

They had a huge schedule advantage here (extra day of rest AND Sask had to go accross the country) but that was still a hell of a performance.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Sounds like the Elks are going to stick with Tre Ford at QB. Right call. He wasn't overly impressive, but I think he adds a dynamicness to the Edmonton O. Once Geno is back and he has that guy he can toss up the ball and know your WR will have a legit chance it'll look a bit different. Dru Brown had that with Lawler, the winning TD was not an open receiver, just a guy he knew he could count on to make a play. I think Edmonton will get off this skid as long as Ford stays at QB. They are a bad team, but not historically bad with Ford at QB, IMO. With Cornelius, sure. With some meaningless games coming down the stretch I think they'll win 2 or 3 in the second half, hopefully one at home. Have the streak over maybe there's some reason for a little optimism next year without the burden off that streak (and hopefully a new coach and GM if they can work that under the dumb staff cap).

Seeing Ford live, one thing I can say is he really is fast enough to sustain drives with his legs. There were a couple runs he made that I don't think any other QB could have made. He also processes the game quickly. Or maybe even just normal speed, but appears lightning fast after watching Cornelius go through reads at glacial speeds.

The key will be to run enough to keep the sticks moving but try to limit the number of hits. Some people were wondering why Jarius Jackson wasn't running him more by design, but I suspect keeping him healthy is a consideration.

I still think 0-9 at home is more likely than not though. Ottawa and Calgary are beatable, but probably will both be desperate for a win and not take the game lightly. BC and Montreal are simply much better teams and would need to really have an off night to lose to the Elks. Up 22-0 with Collaros looking like shit, Thursday was their best shot. If you find a way to let the backup outscore you 38-7, you'll find a way to lose any game.

Just lose the next 4, kill the Elks and their 0-25 home record for good, and come back fresh as the rebranded Esks or rebooted Eskimos. It'll eventually be an almost-forgotten part of CFL lore like the Alouettes bizarrely switching to the Concorde for a few years, folding, then returning as the Alouettes to great success.

 

[sonic92]

The mid point of the CFL regular season, Week 11.

Edmonton (0-9) at Hamilton (3-5) Thu. 7:30PM ET

• The latest chapter in the Elks tale of woe was them blowing a 22 point lead in their loss against Winnipeg. The Edmonton dumpster fire is probably taking a lot of pressure off the other middling team in the league. That includes the TiCats who are barely holding onto a playoff spot right now.

Winnipeg (7-2) at Calgary (3-6) Fri. 9PM ET

• I'm really starting to think that Dave Dickenson doesn't really know what he's doing with some of the weird coaching decisions he's made recently. Anyhow, the Stampeders continue their hellish schedule with the Bombers looking for back-to-back wins in Alberta.

Montreal (5-3) at Ottawa (3-6) Sat. 7PM ET

• Not too often that I find a game between two East Division to be the most interesting one of the week, but I feel that's the case here. The Alouettes have somewhat quietly won three in a row, and while Ottawa has lost three in a row, they've played pretty tough in those games.

BC (7-2) at Saskatchewan (4-5) Sun. 7PM ET

• The Riders are another one of those middling teams I mentioned earlier as they've lost four of their last five and they're in the middle of a tough schedule stretch between this game and a pair of games against Winnipeg looming.

Bye Week - Toronto (7-1). A weird scheduling quirk here as the Argos will be the first team this season to go through all three of their bye weeks in the regular season. Keep this in mind if injuries and/or fatigue become problems in Toronto later in the season.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Go back in time and start Tre Ford for Edmonton from day 1 as they should have. Edmonton is ~3-6 and doesn't own the NA sporting record for home consecutive losses. Tre Ford needs to get better in practice my ass. Chris Jones is an idiot.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

The Elks have won a game of football.

 

[sonic92]

The CFL season enters it's second half with week 12.

Montreal (6-3) at Winnipeg (8-2) Thu. 8:30PM ET

• Backup QB's have kept both teams rolling with Montreal's Caleb Evans and Winnipeg's Dru Brown helping their teams get to four straight victories. We've never had a Montreal-Winnipeg Grey Cup matchup before, but something tells me that we may see that this year.

Calgary (3-7) at Toronto (7-1) Fri. 7:30PM ET

• GAAAAAH!!! A bunch of monkeys playing Madden could make better play-calling decisions than whatever the hell Dave Dickenson and his staff have been doing. They should all get fired on principle, but this cheapskate organization won't do anything, sigh.

Hamilton (3-6) at BC (7-3) Sat. 7PM ET

• Some stupid penalties killed the Lions in their loss to Saskatchewan last week, despite a somewhat hobbled Vernon Adams throwing for 455 yards. If I'm BC, I'd try to give him a little more rest this week since the TiCats are about as intimidating as a newborn kitten.

Ottawa (3-7) at Edmonton (1-9) Sun. 7PM ET

• Would now be a bad time to point out that the Elks first win of the season was on the road? They still haven't won at Commonwealth since the birth of King Tut. (although this one might break the streak since Ottawa likes to shoot themselves in the foot recently).

Bye Week - Saskatchewan (5-5). Drunken Rider fans who think they have some semblance of hope are the worst fans in not just the CFL, but all of sports. They have their annual Labour Day/Banjo Bowl set with the Bombers up next, but their schedule is insanely easy after that.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

I chalked this up as a ''schedule loss'' for the Alouettes tonight (short week, Bombers had an extra day of rest, 2nd straight road game, having to travel halfway accross the country, etc) but woof...what a brutal performance after a solid start.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

With what is going on in EDM, it might be time for the it's happening old guy gif................

 

[Holden Caulfield]

With what is going on in EDM, it might be time for the it's happening old guy gif................

This EDM team is a completely different team with Ford at QB. They actually have a legitimate playoff chance. If Bombers sweep Sask on Labour Day/Banjo Bowl, EDM hangs on here then sweeps a mediocre CGY team over Labour Day/Rematch the standings would read...
Sask 5-7
Edm 4-9
Cgy 3-10

Elks in the hunt haha