Standings as of 20151108, End of Regular Season

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.cfl.ca/article/nissan-titan- ... their-move

Nissan Titan Power Rankings: Esks make their move

Posted: September 15, 2015 09:30 AM

CFL.ca Staff

TORONTO -- They came through with much-needed Week 12 wins, so now the Bombers, REDBLACKS and Eskimos are moving up. Who's sitting where after a busy weekend of movement in the Nissan Titan Power Rankings?

Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Week 12 Ranking: 1 (Last Week: 1)
The Ticats proved they can win close games, too, answering every Trevor Harris touchdown drive with a scoring surge of their own. With a sweep of the season series of the Toronto Argonauts, the Ticats are in control of the East Division right now while Zach Collaros looks like a legit MOP candidate.



Edmonton Eskimos
Week 12 Ranking: 2 (Last Week: 3)
The Labour Day rematch on Sunday was a make or break game for the Esks, and they responded by ending their 12-game regular season losing streak vs. their biggest rival Calgary. With the season series even and Mike Reilly back under centre, the Eskimos are again a threat to take the West.



Calgary Stampeders
Week 12 Ranking: 3 (Last Week: 2)
The Stamps are this week's hard-luck loser, falling to third despite owning the league's top record (tied with Hamilton). A loss to Edmonton was Calgary's first since July 24, an overtime loss to the REDBLACKS -- but it opens the door in the West for a surging Eskimos team.



Ottawa REDBLACKS
Week 12 Ranking: 4 (Last Week: 5)
The REDBLACKS are for real. They've overtaken the Argos in both the standings and the Power Rankings on the heels of a 31-18 win over BC, a score that could've been more lopsided had they finished more drives. Ottawa boasts a dangerous offence featuring a multitude of weapons, while the defence has a league-high 37 sacks and just added Shawn Lemon.



Toronto Argonauts
Week 12 Ranking: 5 (Last Week: 4)
After sitting in the top-four virtually all season, the Argos are trending in the wrong direction following their third straight loss Friday to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Trevor Harris has cooled off and now they'll get a bye week to figure things out before competing with both the REDBLACKS and Als for playoff positioning.



Montreal Alouettes
Week 12 Ranking: 6 (Last Week: 7)
The Alouettes move up despite not even playing, mostly thanks to a disappointing showing by BC. We'll see the effects of an offensive shuffle-up on Sunday against Winnipeg, after the team recently fired Offensive Coordinator Turk Schonert and promoted Anthony Calvillo and Ryan Dinwiddie.



Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Week 12 Ranking: 7 (Last Week: 9)
The Bombers were without a direction in a loss to Saskatchewan on Mark's Labour Day Weekend, but oh how quickly things change. Matt Nichols turns the ball over too often but he also produces, much like he did in a win over the Riders in the Banjo Bowl on Saturday. Nichols gives Winnipeg a new outlook while Drew Willy heals up.



BC Lions
Week 12 Ranking: 8 (Last Week: 6)
The Lions fall to eighth with a thud after a home loss to Ottawa, a disappointing result considering Week 11's impressive road win over Montreal. John Beck looked competent but his two interceptions held the Lions back. He'll face a tough task in career start #2 with a visit to Calgary, against an angry Stamps team no less.



Saskatchewan Roughriders
Week 12 Ranking: 9 (Last Week: 8)
Even after starting 0-9 the Riders were able to move out of the basement with a win on Labour Day Weekend. But after a step forward then, Week 12 was a step back. While the defence looked strong for a second straight week, rookie quarterback Brett Smith was unable to take advantage and provide a spark.

[WestCoastJoe]

Austin is intense. He bumped Dave Stala at game. Later apologized. He is intense, but he is one helluva good coach. His intensity is reflected in his team.

Chris Jones has the Eskimos climbing the ladder. Not a surprise. He seems somewhat one sided to this fan. Defence.

The Stamps will not stray far from the top.

Campbell has surprised me. He seems very non intense. But the RedBlacks are clearly very well coached.

Harris has slipped somewhat. Ricky Ray to the rescue?

Als move up while not playing.

Due to B.C. slipping. We have seen this backsliding since 2013. Benny had a deceptive good year in 2012. Snapshot: Wally might seem confused in his thinking in many ways, but the team knew he was the Boss. He did insist on playing hard. Benny started to bring in the ice cream culture. And we see it very much these days. Just IMO ...

Woe for the Riders. But the franchise is strong. The melon heads can deal with it.

[DanoT]

They got the power rankings wrong. The Riders are a better team than their record and the Lions are worse than their record. Imo Lions should be #9. I'm still waiting for the positive, productive Tedford influence on Cortez's game planning and play calling, but so far Tedford is a dud.

[sj-roc]

They got the power rankings wrong. The Riders are a better team than their record and the Lions are worse than their record. Imo Lions should be #9. I'm still waiting for the positive, productive Tedford influence on Cortez's game planning and play calling, but so far Tedford is a dud.

I don't know for sure if this is one of the metrics for assembling power rankings, but if so then I think the only thing that saves the Lions from the basement is that BC's chances of making the playoffs, dwindling as they may be, are much better than Ssk's.

It would be interesting to see the raw scores by which teams are ranked, say on a scale of 1-100. A team ranked at #8 could be scored much closer to #9 than #7 (say, 35, 24, 22 for #7-8-9) and this would not be obvious based solely on the ordinal ranking which doesn't tell you the gap from one ranking to the next which isn't always going to be the same all the way down the list.

[MexicoLionFan]

Austin is intense. He bumped Dave Stala at game. Later apologized. He is intense, but he is one helluva good coach. His intensity is reflected in his team.

Chris Jones has the Eskimos climbing the ladder. Not a surprise. He seems somewhat one sided to this fan. Defence.

The Stamps will not stray far from the top.

Campbell has surprised me. He seems very non intense. But the RedBlacks are clearly very well coached.

Harris has slipped somewhat. Ricky Ray to the rescue?

Als move up while not playing.

Due to B.C. slipping. We have seen this backsliding since 2013. Benny had a deceptive good year in 2012. Snapshot: Wally might seem confused in his thinking in many ways, but the team knew he was the Boss. He did insist on playing hard. Benny started to bring in the ice cream culture. And we see it very much these days. Just IMO ...

Woe for the Riders. But the franchise is strong. The melon heads can deal with it.

Great stuff Joe, as for Campbell in OTT, he's his father's son. And if I remember correctly, all Hughie did was win.

[Sir Purrcival]

They got the power rankings wrong. The Riders are a better team than their record and the Lions are worse than their record. Imo Lions should be #9. I'm still waiting for the positive, productive Tedford influence on Cortez's game planning and play calling, but so far Tedford is a dud.

I would agree for two reasons.

One, we have no starter QB and the Riders are getting Glenn back.

We have injuries on Oline, Dline and in secondary. It is all semantics at the end of the day. Are we 8th or 9th. It is all bad regardless.

[WestCoastJoe]

Our record puts us 7th of the 9 teams, out of the playoffs at this time.

We are last in total offence.

We are 8th of 9 teams in total defence, ahead of just the Riders.

Hard times. On the downslope. Rock bottom yet?

Strange dynamic in Regina. Dunno what happened. Seem to have lots of talent. Wonder about Durant and his effect. Has he not run at least one coach out of town?

Our team? Pretty well documented on this website. Some Lionbackers have never been afraid to call it as they see it. Others are more patient, and even perhaps more loyal, less inclined to be critical.

What we have ain't so good. Based on what we have seen over the years, chances are it might get worse before it gets better. But, we can enjoy some aspects of CFL football.

Offence. Abysmal. And this despite generally good OL play, to the best of their ability. Great, even heroic, effort from Andrew Harris. He deserves better. Jennings gives us some hope.

Defence. Abysmal. Overly conservative to a ridiculous degree. Deep, deep zone to prevent big plays. And yet we give up endless big plays. Teams pass us to death. Teams run us to death. And Wally will still show tape defending our system. Hey, let's go small and fast at DT. LOL We will recruit that way. And we will even draft that way. Yeah ...

STs. Rainey makes the difference. Could be here for just a cup of coffee.

Anything else? Oh yeah. Management. Wally's 13th year here. Past his best before date? Could be. Stuck in his ways? Could be. Outdated philosophy of football? Could be. Judgment questionable in many areas? Could be. Too hands on? Could be.

But of course Wally is the survivor. When absolutely up against it, he has a reluctant willingness to change. But can he let go?

[WestCoastJoe]

Some capsule comments ...

Calgary. Flagship. Hufnagel. Dickenson. Stubler. (Hey, weren't all those guys here at one time? How did we let them get away? Are they not better than what we have from GM to HC to OC to DC?) Player buy in. Talent. Drafting. Recruiting. Coaching.

Hamilton. Austin is intense. See him bump Dave Stala. And yet his players totally buy in. He can manage and develop QBs. He is a master of Xs and Os. Cannot ask for anything more it seems to me. Will he stay beyond a relatively brief time? He might. His gig in Hamilton is pretty good. Excellent owner.

Edmonton. Jones plays wonderful defence. This fan wonders if he has staying power. He may lose player buy in at some point.

Toronto. Amazing to me how well they do considering all that have had to deal with. Ownership. Stadium issues. No respect in the town of the Leafs and Blue Jays and Raptors. To this fan, Milanovich is one truly outstanding coach.

Ottawa. Rick Campbell has gone far beyond what I expected. That team and franchise look very solid.

Montreal. Stability? Coaching changes. Role of Calvillo. Is the owner too involved in some ways that are counter productive?

B.C. Humble times.

Winnipeg. Dunno ... Inexperienced first time Head Coach? Same with the GM? Nice new stadium, or does it have serious issues?

Saskatchewan. Dunno. Talent seems good. Chamblin seemed strange towards the end of his time there. Taman has always seemed kind of over his head. Someone has to be at the bottom. Why not the Melon Heads?

[peeby]

Don't agree that SK is all that much better than their record. This is not a few more losses than wins. It's 1 and 11. That's some pretty serious losing. My recollection (which may be wrong) is that SK started 8 Canadians in the Grey Cup a few years back. At least one or two retired, plus giving Sholigun to Ottawa in the draft was odd. Solid DT to this day. Not sure about the overall age of the team, but I suspect that they may be a little long in the tooth.

My own power ratings:
Calgary-Edmonton-Hamilton (any order)
Ottawa
The rest

[DanoT]

Don't agree that SK is all that much better than their record. This is not a few more losses than wins. It's 1 and 11. That's some pretty serious losing. My recollection (which may be wrong) is that SK started 8 Canadians in the Grey Cup a few years back. At least one or two retired, plus giving Sholigun to Ottawa in the draft was odd. Solid DT to this day. Not sure about the overall age of the team, but I suspect that they may be a little long in the tooth.

My own power ratings:
Calgary-Edmonton-Hamilton (any order)
Ottawa
The rest

The Riders are a little like the 2013 Esks who lost a lot of games that they were in by a close margin. They didn't know how to close out a game. Then along comes Chris Jones and an immediate turn around follows.

Riders do need some help at LB and DB but they sure played a better, closer game against Ottawa than the Lions did.

Riders have the best or close to it O and worst D. Lions have the worst O and 2nd worst D.

[peeby]

Yes, SK seems to have good offensive stats with or without their number 1 QB. Wonder who the offensive coordinator is? Yuk-yuk! And no, I don't regret his departure.

[David]

My

Calgary - won quite a few games this year they had no business winning. But you can't ague with their record
Hamilton - their D and special teams will have to win it for them from here on in
Edmonton - menacing D keeps them in every game. Emerging question, what's happened to Reilly?
Ottawa - Burris for MOP?
Toronto - injuries have taken their toll on this team. Haven't looked sharp for the past several weeks
Montreal - under-rated D. Just need their QBs to manage the offense
BC - Lions fans pin their hopes on a 3rd string QB. Will Jennings provide playoff hope?
Saskatchewan - statistics are for losers, but have been in nearly every game this season
Winnipeg - if their last game in Montreal is any indication, not much hope for the Bombers this season. Surprisingly flat effort.


DH

[DanoT]

Yes, SK seems to have good offensive stats with or without their number 1 QB. Wonder who the offensive coordinator is? Yuk-yuk! And no, I don't regret his departure.

I do regret Chaps departure because Cortez is way worse of a play caller and even less of a people person if that is possible.

[WestCoastJoe]

Calgary Stampeders
Week 15 Ranking: 1 (Last Week: 1)
The Stampeders used some clutch kicking to secure a home playoff date and to keep their spot atop the Nissan Titan Power Rankings. Jon Cornish had 154 combined yards and looks to be in great form. If Calgary can top Edmonton in Week 16, the West Division crown could stay with the Stampeders.


Edmonton Eskimos
Week 15 Ranking: 2 (Last Week: 2)
Mike Reilly looks to still be getting back into top form but has been improving every week in his return from injury. It took a last second field goal for the Esks to leave Winnipeg with a win but Edmonton still remains a force on both sides of the ball.



Ottawa REDBLACKS
Week 15 Ranking: 3 (Last Week: 5)
The REDBLACKS are riding the momentum of the record-setting Henry Burris and jump two spots this week. The offence is tops in the league and find themselves second in the defensive rankings. The team is loaded with receivers and Burris has taken full advantage of his arsenal.



Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Week 15 Ranking: 4 (Last Week: 3)
The Ticats have lost two games in a row for the first time this season and fall a spot. Jeff Mathews was solid under centre but faced both a tough opponent and bad weather. He will need to work to build chemistry with his offence as he prepares to close out the season.



Toronto Argonauts
Week 15 Ranking: 5 (Last Week: 4)
Despite being on the bye the Argonauts see the REDBLACKS pass them in the rankings. The team was swept in the season series by Hamilton and now face Ottawa in a crucial game that is a battle for first place in the East. Toronto's secondary, which allows almost 300 yards passing per game, will be tested by Burris.



BC Lions
Week 15 Ranking: 6 (Last Week: 7)
Jonathon Jennings looks to be the real deal in his two starts and ignited a Lions offence with his five touchdown performance. BC now finds themselves in sole possession of the final playoff spot in the West and hope to carry this newfound momentum over the next few weeks.



Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Week 15 Ranking: 7 (Last Week: 8)
The Bombers suffered another last minute loss in an otherwise competitive game. With the standings as tight as they are, the Bombers need to find a way to pull out victories in these matchups. Winnipeg faces BC in one of its most important games of the season with the playoffs still a possibility.



Montreal Alouettes
Week 15 Ranking: 8 (Last Week: 6)
Just when it looked like Rakeem Cato's return would settle the Alouettes' quarterback carousel, he was pulled late for Anthony Boone. The team's normally strong defence gave up the most points (39) this season to Ottawa while the offence struggled and only had the ball for 20:34 of the game.



Saskatchewan Roughriders
Week 15 Ranking: 9 (Last Week: 9)
The Roughriders could not string together two wins as their slim playoff chances took another hit. The offence wasn't clicking and the defence struggled to contain Jonathon Jennings. It could be time to start thinking about next year in Riderville.

[WestCoastJoe]

Standings ...

BC Lions
Week 15 Ranking: 6 (Last Week: 7)
Jonathon Jennings looks to be the real deal in his two starts and ignited a Lions offence with his five touchdown performance. BC now finds themselves in sole possession of the final playoff spot in the West and hope to carry this newfound momentum over the next few weeks.