Week 2 of the 2024 CFL regular season is officially in the books, which means it’s time to reevaluate how teams across the country stack up.
The top portion of our rankings remained consistent from a week ago, though there was plenty of change down the list. As always, please be sure to check back every Monday morning for our updated power rankings following each week of action in the CFL.
3DownNation’s power rankings are created by having twelve contributors rank each team from No. 1 to No. 9 independently, then averaging out the scores. The previous week’s rankings — in this case, our post-free agency edition — are in brackets.
Enjoy the rankings and feel free to roast us on Twitter — yes, we still call it “Twitter” — for anything you think we got wrong.
1) Montreal Alouettes (1)
The reigning Grey Cup champions were steady against Edmonton this past week as they protected the ball well and forced three turnovers en route to a 23-20 win. Cody Fajardo has now thrown four touchdown passes in 2024 — only 10 fewer than all last season — as he hit Cole Spieker and Walter Fletcher for scores. Montreal has already sold over 20,000 tickets for next week’s home opener where they’ll raise their new Grey Cup banner and look to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2011.
2) Toronto Argonauts (2)
The Argonauts were idle this week following an impressive season-opening win over the B.C. Lions, though they still made headlines with the release of Shawn Oakman. The one-time CFL all-star and two-time East Division all-star remains unsigned after being a healthy scratch in Week 1. In total, the six-foot-nine, 287-pound defender has made 90 defensive tackles, 18 sacks, and two forced fumbles over 45 career regular season games.
3) B.C. Lions (3)
The B.C. Lions partied like it was their birthday on Saturday night as they knocked off the Calgary Stampeders with 50 Cent and Owen Wilson on hand. B.C.’s offensive line allowed zero sacks in the win — six fewer than the week before — while the defence generated three takeaways. The team’s running game also showed signs of life as William Stanback carried the ball 15 times for 69 yards, helping kill the clock in the late stages of the game.
4) Saskatchewan Roughriders (4)
Saskatchewan kept its perfect record intact after completing a late fourth-quarter comeback for the second straight week. Trevor Harris threw for 390 yards and two touchdowns, hitting Kian Schaffer-Baker for both scores, while C.J. Avery made a last-minute interception to set up a game-winning field goal from Brett Lauther. The team is still taking too many penalties, but they’re finding ways to win.
5) Ottawa Redblacks (7)
The Dru Brown era in the nation’s capital started with a win as the new face of the franchise threw for 238 yards and one touchdown against his old team. Ryquell Armstead ripped up Winnipeg’s defence for 95 yards along the ground in his CFL debut, while Ottawa’s defence clamped down late to help seal the win following a lengthy weather delay. This marks the first time since Aug. 20, 2021, that the Redblacks have been over .500.
6) Calgary Stampeders (6)
Jake Maier had another strong outing for Cowtown but it wasn’t enough to knock off the Lions in hostile territory at BC Place Stadium. Calgary dominated time of possession in the game but lost the turnover battle 3-0 and allowed four sacks without registering any themselves. The Stampeders won’t get a chance to bounce back until they host Winnipeg in Week 4 as they’re heading into their first of three bye weeks.
7) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (5)
Winnipeg’s offence sputtered again in Week 2 as Zach Collaros has now thrown zero touchdown passes and three interceptions on the year, not at all resembling his usual M.O.P. form. Worse yet are the injuries piling up in Bomberland as defensive linemen Celestin Haba and Miles Fox have both hit the six-game injured list, raising Winnipeg’s number of projected starters who are out due to injury to six.
8) Hamilton Tiger-Cats (9)
There was an epic collapse at Tim Hortons Field on Sunday night, which cost Hamilton what would have been its first win of the season. Tim White, the team’s so-called star receiver, committed two more costly drops, costing his team an early touchdown and a last-minute interception. Despite an 0-2 start, there are a few reasons for optimism in Steeltown, most notably the strong play of Bo Levi Mitchell.
9) Edmonton Elks (8)
Edmonton committed yet another late-game collapse as McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw a fourth-quarter interception and the defence allowed Walter Fletcher to break a 39-yard run for a game-sealing touchdown. The team took far fewer penalties than Week 1, but it still wasn’t enough to beat the reigning Grey Cup champions. Now 0-2, the Elks will be on the road for back-to-back games and face a couple of tough opponents in Toronto and B.C.
