CFL 2012 Wins/Losses, Rankings and Opinions

[KnowItAll]

I knew edmontons offense was going to suck this year, but had no idea their D would be so good.

[KnowItAll]

Sask - no reason to put anyone else here
Ed - Amazing defense
Cal - They showed they got the grit. They got the talent and the coaches. I beleive in Huff.
Hamilton - just keeps getting better every week
BC - Sometimes a loss is just a loss, but I got a bad feeling. Somethings just wrong.
Tor - A lot of offensive and defensive stats favour the argos but they keep screwing up. If they get it together, I can see them closer to the top
Montreal - Ailing and aging AC. Past stars gone. Jeff Reinbold.
Wpg - whats left to say

[notahomer]

Sask - no reason to put anyone else here
Ed - Amazing defense
Cal - They showed they got the grit. They got the talent and the coaches. I beleive in Huff.
Hamilton - just keeps getting better every week
BC - Sometimes a loss is just a loss, but I got a bad feeling. Somethings just wrong.
Tor - A lot of offensive and defensive stats favour the argos but they keep screwing up. If they get it together, I can see them closer to the top
Montreal - Ailing and aging AC. Past stars gone. Jeff Reinbold.
Wpg - whats left to say

I think your rankings are right, Knowitall. A few breaks here or there, BC could have easily lost another/won another. I think Calgary/Hamilton at least have offences that can get it done all season. I'm not so sure the fail/safe offence that seems to be popular in Edm and Sask can do well over a fully season, IMO. Really interested in seeing how the Bombers respond to playing home games.............

[WestCoastJoe]

Win/Loss records after 5 games ... Opinions also ...

1 Lions ... Dominant win over what might be the second best team in the league, the Stampeders. Lulay unstoppable. Harris amazing. Receivers very dayum good. D very, very tough. PMc back on his game. Coverage teams good. And all is right in the World.

2 Argos, Eskimos, Riders and TiCats all close. All flawed a bit. All talented in their own ways. So I will leave them alphabetically. Argos have very good offence, and the best defence in the East (not saying much). Scott Milanovich beat his mentor Marc Trestman this weekend.

3 Eskimos ... Great defence. Not much offence. Excellent coaching however. IMO Reed is top drawer.

4 Riders ... They blew a couple of games in a row. But they have lots of good elements. New coach looks good to me. Tough D.

5 TiCats ... Scary speed. Cortez working his influence now, as the team adjusts to him. Defence not so hot.

6 Stampeders ... They lost to the Lions, but might well have beaten any other team this week. Tough D Line. Too much focus on Nik Lewis, not enough on Romby Bryant. Cornish whining about lack of blocking is not going to help. Just run the goddam ball, Jon. "Oh look at the blocking that Andrew Harris gets." Paraphrasing, but, Jon, Andrew Harris is making it work, a lot of it on his own, too.

7 Alouettes ... Yikes. This low? Well IMO the league has caught up to the advantage Trestman and Hufnagel enjoyed for a few years on their arrival in the CFL. Ha ha

8 Blue Bombers ... In the win column now. And the league just gets tighter and tighter. And that is all to the good.

Just for discussion. Not too serious.

[WestCoastJoe]

West Division
  
GP W L T PTS F A HOME AWAY DIV STREAK
BC  6  4  2  0  8  158  119  2 - 1 - 0  2 - 1 - 0  1 - 2 - 0  W2 
Saskatchewan  5  3  2  0  6  155  113  2 - 1 - 0  1 - 1 - 0  2 - 1 - 0  L2 
Edmonton  5  3  2  0  6  111  79  2 - 0 - 0  1 - 2 - 0  1 - 1 - 0  L1 
Calgary  5  2  3  0  4  155  154  2 - 1 - 0  0 - 2 - 0  1 - 1 - 0  L1 
 
East Division
  
GP W L T PTS F A HOME AWAY DIV STREAK
Hamilton  5  3  2  0  6  162  167  2 - 1 - 0  1 - 1 - 0  2 - 0 - 0  W3 
Toronto  6  3  3  0  6  138  151  2 - 1 - 0  1 - 2 - 0  2 - 1 - 0  L1 
Montreal  6  3  3  0  6  164  188  2 - 1 - 0  1 - 2 - 0  2 - 2 - 0  W1 
Winnipeg  6  1  5  0  2  127  199  1 - 1 - 0  0 - 4 - 0  0 - 3 - 0  L1 

Some opinions ...

1 BC ... Seems clear to me. O. D. QB. STs still a concern.

2 Toronto ... Super tough D. Very good O. Outstanding QB. Good STs.

3 Edmonton ... D. But Ed, Ham, Reg all pretty much even.

4 Hamilton ... Burris. Speed.

5 Regina ... Going off the rails?

6 Calgary ... Better than their record IMO, and more like #3, but they have those losses.

7 Montreal ... D? Can't anybody around here play defence (Yogi Berra reference)?

8 Winnipeg ... Don't fall apart on us. The league needs you.

[Sir Purrcival]

So at this momement

I think I would go

Ham
BC
Reg
Tor
Ed
Mon
Cal
Win

I know that ranking seems a bit perplexing but I think Ham deserves more credit that they are getting having won 3 straight fairly convincingly for the most part
BC = Very good but I think most are still waiting for the domination factor - ST still an issue
Reg - lost 2 games in a row but by narrow margins. If they lose a 3rd they will drop but Durant has played much better this season so far.
Tor - Lacks Offensive weapons. Boyd, Durie and Owens isn't enough and O line needs work.
Ed - Great D but when your O is that hit and miss, sooner or later you are going to start losing games
Mon - Bad D, OK O. Not gonna challenge for the Cup this year.
Cal - Glenn as QB will get them somewhere, just nowhere far enough. They will be around .500 or maybe a little better all season.
Win. - In Buck they trust but he is bust. Lost too much in the off season and D appears to be a shadow of what it was last year.

[WestCoastJoe]

As good as your last game ...

1 BC ... Seems clear to me. O. D. QB. STs still a concern.

2 Edmonton ... D. Jyles did well. Sherrit awesome. Edm, Tor, Cal all close.

3 Toronto ... Super tough D. Very good O. Outstanding QB. Good STs.

4 Calgary ... A pretty good team. MIght be better with Glenn, than Tate.

5 Regina ... Going off the rails? Nah, but not great either. Durant has recovered this year.

6 Hamilton ... Burris. Speed. Not much D.

7 Montreal ... D? Can't anybody around here play defence (Yogi Berra reference)?

8 Winnipeg ... Don't fall apart on us. The league needs you.

[notahomer]

Spent some minutes reading at Riderfans last night. I was amazed that there are Riderfans out there that have written off this upcoming game versus the Lions this Sunday. Most still think the Riders still have a shot at the playoffs but many think the Lions are clear winners of the West Division. I sure hope NOBODY in the Lions believes any of this ridersmoke.

I have to admit I was in a similar grumpy mood this time last year due to yet another slow start to a Lions season. I freely admit I didn't even think the Lions would make the playoffs let alone win the Division etc.... I'm sure the pessimistic Riderfans will either not come to the game Sunday and/or put aside their beliefs and cheer on their team. I respect the fans of all CFL teams for the most part but I think the Riders recent record will temper some of the more boorish fans. I'm hoping its a good close game that ends in a Lions win. Regardless, kinda surprised at the pessimism by some Riderfans but its a little understandable considering their recent Riderslide. I'm betting they shake it off and bring a good game to BC Place. Hope their loyal fans have a blast but still leave the dome wondering 'if only ..... then the Riders could have won this one...."

[Rammer]

I love a long green slide...

[sj-roc]

Spent some minutes reading at Riderfans last night. I was amazed that there are Riderfans out there that have written off this upcoming game versus the Lions this Sunday. Most still think the Riders still have a shot at the playoffs but many think the Lions are clear winners of the West Division. I sure hope NOBODY in the Lions believes any of this ridersmoke.

The above was written on Aug 13 — SIX days before the game! Seems like those Rider fans really know their team.

[TheLionKing]

Too bad the couple of melon heads sitting behind me don't know. Got to have a chat with the season ticket holder who owns those seats that he should be more careful who he gives his tickets to

[WestCoastJoe]

Some opinions ...

1 BC ... So close to firing on all cylinders. As to Lulay, I would say all he is doing is winning. Stats not so hot as last year. His scrambling is amazing.

2 Toronto ... Some big wins lately. Defence very good, as is the offence.

3 Montreal ... Starting to show some of Trestman's ability as a coach.

4 Edmonton ... Still got the tough D. Still got the scattershot O. JC Sherritt battling Adam Bighill for honours.

5 Calgary ... Surprising how they can never quite rise out of the muck.

6 Saskatchewan ... Darian Durant keeps tossing up the Ints.

7 Hamilton ... No defence. Plus Burris inconsistent on O.

8 Winnipeg ... Showing some signs of life.

[WestCoastJoe]

After 8 games, some impressions ...

1 B.C. ... #1, but not by much. Not dominating on O as would seem possible, except that O Line is a sieve on Pass Pro, it seems to me.

2 Montreal ... #2. It seems to me Trestman has made adjustments since the start of the year. Teams have caught up to him and Hufnagel, from the advantage they enjoyed earlier in the tenures.

3 Edmonton ... Ughhh. I never liked them as the Evil Empire. That hasn't changed in the Tillman era for me. But I do think Kavis Reed is a very good, young coach. And I think the Vampire Tillman has assembled a good bunch of talent, starting with J.C. Sherritt.

4 Calgary ... Hufnagel is getting his team to perform better. I wonder if they have a hangover from the Burris years. LOL

5 Toronto ... Despite the fact that some fans do not seem to think highly of Ricky Ray, I am still in his corner. He seems to be having some struggles with Milanovich's offence. I didn't see the last game, but I don't think one should expect a smooth machine, just automatically. Defence allowed a ton of rushing yards to the Schmoes.

6 Hamilton ... Just barely ahead of the Riders. No defence. Cortez is acknowledged as an offensive guru. Maybe not so much on D, and maybe not so much as Head Coach.

7 Saskatchewan ... WTF? I thought Chamblin looked promising. Dunno about Taman though. Actually I do know what I think about Taman, and it ain't necessarily good.

8 Winnipeg ... Burke could crank this team up. IMO they have loads of talent. Receivers. Defence. Joey could be for real. Or it could just all fall apart, leading to the exit of Mack. That might not be a bad thing long run. Does he live in Winnipeg yet?
...........

If Winnipeg and Regina are the weakest teams in the league, I am encouraged by the overall strength of the teams and the franchises.

It is a nice little niche football league. Room for growth? Sure, but slowly.

[notahomer]

I don't know if this latest rankings are yours, WCJ but they look about right, IMO.

What I think is neat is the top 2 teams (MTL/BC) meet the next two games as does the bottom two (Ssk/Wpg). I also would like to venture that NONE of these positions should change in spite of the results next week.

So, if Mtl wins, I still don't think they top BC. If the Bombers can beat the Riders, again, lets see what happens in the rematch before the numbers change.

IMO, the Bombers will have to sweep to get out of the basement and so will the Aloettes. It really will be an interesting season should the Riders be able to sweep the Bombers and really get themselves back in the Western hunt.

Based on the last couple weeks, I could easily see this weeks rankings as being the after 18 week rankings. I know what blasphemy it is to be spouting this kind of garbage considering Labour Day has yet to hit the calendar but there will have to be some drastic changes/injuries to really shake things up. I'm going to regret saying all this of course, have I not forgotten what happened to the team that was mired in the Western basement at this time last year..........?

[notahomer]

Well, the Bombers are basement bound in my opinion. Even if they win the 'banjo bowl', you gotta give the Riders credit for todays slaughter of the Bombers. IMO, may as well just pour the foundation, this years version is the BlueBasementBombers. Next season, hopefully.....

The Aloettes did enough to win against the Lions but do they deserve a #1 ranking in the CFL? IMO, no. The Al's have scored about 30 points more than the Lions on offence BUT the Al's defence has let 100 more points be scored on them than BC's. Just stats and I guess we'll see how the Lions rebound Saturday. I know Khaliff is tweeting that he thinks the Lions will rebound. The Al's are thrilled this is a much earlier starting time. This year they were willing to admit the start time matters but if/when the game is a more usual 7 PM pacific time next season, I doubt they'll complain publically......