Week 11 of the CFL season is officially in the books and it feels like nobody at the bottom of the league has serious interest in rising up the standings.
3DownNation’s power rankings are created by having eleven of our contributors rank each team from No. 1 to No. 9 independently, then averaging out the scores. The previous week’s rankings are in brackets.
Enjoy the rankings and feel free to roast us on Twitter for anything you think we got wrong.
1) Toronto Argonauts (1)
The Argos’ bizarre schedule saw them enjoy their third and final bye this week, meaning the team must now endure at least 10 straight games before their next break. Fortunately for them, they appear to have a playoff bye already in a vice grip at the midway point and are showing no signs of slowing down.
2) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2)
Despite generating a sizeable hype train with his relief performance last week, backup quarterback Dru Brown struggled mightily against the Stampeders as his offence fell silent. Fortunately for Winnipeg, a well-timed Demerio Houston pick-six staved off the upset and superstar Zach Collaros shouldn’t be out of the lineup for much longer.
3) B.C. Lions (3)
An injury-hampered Vernon Adams Jr. gave all he had in a 455-yard performance, but early errors proved fatal as the Lions were upset by the Riders. That doesn’t seem to have coloured our voters’ opinion of them in the slightest, as the Leos remain entrenched on the power rankings podium despite the embarrassing setback at the hands of a third-string quarterback.
4) Montreal Alouettes (4)
It was a tale of two halves for the Alouettes on Saturday but backup Caleb Evans found his form in the final two frames of his second start, leading a heroic comeback complete with a last-minute rushing score. With Cody Fajardo expected to be ready to go next week, Montreal has managed to escape his absence with two victories and are creeping up on the CFL’s elite.
5) Saskatchewan Roughriders (6)
Jake Dolegala stepped into the starting this week and delivered a stunning upset, throwing for 239 yards and three touchdowns to beat the Lions. With both teams battling for the third seed in the West facing down difficult schedules, this unlikely victory could be what puts the Riders over the top.
6) Ottawa Redblacks (5)
Close simply doesn’t cut it in Ottawa these days, as the Crumback magic has faded in favour of losing winnable games by depressingly tight margins. This time they blew an 11-point lead in the final three minutes while their troublingly porous secondary continued to leave receivers wide open when it mattered most.
7) Calgary Stampeders (7)
The Stampeders at least kept it close against the Bombers but their anemic offence continues to make winning difficult. It has now been three games since the offence scored a touchdown and four since quarterback Jake Maier found the endzone through the air, though he did manage to toss up a pick-six to the Winnipeg defence. The situation is so bad that even former linebacker Alex Singleton wants the team to “figure it out.”
8) Edmonton Elks (9)
Do you believe in miracles? The Elks are no longer winless thanks to the steady hand of Canadian quarterback Tre Ford and fans can briefly breathe a sigh of relief, before going back to panicking about the firing of president Victor Cui. One losing streak is now over, though the bigger challenge awaits them in Commonwealth Stadium on Sunday.
9) Hamilton Tiger-Cats (8)
This could be rock bottom in Steeltown. Despite firing offensive coordinator Tommy Condell during the bye week, rookie Taylor Powell and the Ticats’ offence were no better with Scott Milanovich calling plays. The result was a beatdown at the hands of the lowly Edmonton Elks, with a weather delay providing the only respite.
