Pro Football Insights

provocative NFL and CFL analysis

CFL POWER RANKINGS

* WEEK 2 *

1) B.C. Lions (Last Week: 1) Coming off an early bye, the Lions retain the top spot in the rankings. Dave Dickenson will have a chance to put up impressive numbers this week against an Ottawa defence that has surrendered over 700 combined passing yards to Edmonton and Montreal. (Next: vs. Ottawa)

2) Edmonton Eskimos (3) Rickey Ray threw for almost 500 yards last week, but the point output, 27, was not commensurate with this level of productivity, something that has to worry Danny Maciocia. Is there a more dominant d-lineman in the league right now than Rashad Jeanty? (Next: at Montreal)

3) Toronto Argonauts (4) The strange sideline flare-up behind them, the Argonauts need to work towards establishing more of a presence from John Avery, and tightening things up against the run, if they want to hold off the surging Roughriders this weekend. (Next: vs. Saskatchewan)

4) Saskatchewan Roughriders (5) They continue to get superlative performances from Corey Holmes and their defensive line. The Argos will be by far their toughest test of the young season. Safe bet: one of those dangerous hitch screens they run is going to get run back for a TD. (Next: at Toronto)

5) Montreal Alouettes (2) They probably don't deserve to be this low, but hidden behind all the criticism directed at Don Matthews for his 3rd down gamble was the non-chalant play of the Als' defence in the 4th quarter. It gets tougher this week against Edmonton. (Next: vs. Edmonton)

6) Ottawa Renegades (9) It was an inspirational win for the Gades, a statement win, and hopefully something that will inject some life into this moribund franchise. Kerry Joseph showed that when he's firing on all cylinders, he's among the most dangerous weapons in the game. (Next: at B.C.)

7) Calgary Stampeders (6) Henry Burris has got to take better care of the ball than that. Subtract the turnovers, and the Stamps would have won their opener. The defence is stout, and Joffrey Reynolds is perhaps the best, but most anonymous, ballcarrier in the league. (Next: at Winnipeg)

8) Hamilton Ti-Cats (7) The Ti-Cats got close late against the Riders, but the anemic offense needs a violent kick-start. The Ti-Cats head into a bye week, and if Greg Marshall is going to bring in a quarterback to energize the attack (see Jones, Khari), the time is now. (Next: Bye)

9) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8) Tee Martin struggled badly in his first CFL start, and it says something when the punter is the team's best scoring threat. The defensive line can hold its own, but without more from Charles Roberts, this will be a dour season in the Peg. (Next: vs. Calgary)