Tuesday 13 September 2011

Power Poll (Week 11)

After 10 weeks, I think we can say with near 100-per cent certainty that no one has any clue what is going to happen from one week to the next. Winnipeg looks unbeatable, and then they get beaten soundly by the Roughriders. Hamilton makes people believe, and then they make people doubt. Edmonton pounds the Stamps, and then the Stamps return the favour. Montreal looks to be slipping, and then they catch themselves. BC and Saskatchewan were left for dead, and then they resurrect themselves with two back-to-back blowout wins. The Argos, well, I don't want to pile on, but they seem to be the league's whipping boy this year. Each team can be picked apart to the point where none of them look any good. Or they can be built up to where they all look like superteams. The CFL is the Roddy Piper of sports leagues: as soon as you think you know the answer, they change the question.

1. Calgary Stampeders (Last Week: 4)

Want to say this should be Winnipeg or Montreal? No argument. The Stamps are hardly world beaters, but they have won five of their last six, so for the time being they are the most consistent of the bunch.

2. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Last Week: 1)

The Bombers fall for one reason: two back-to-back blowout losses to the previously dead Saskatchewan Roughriders. I excused the Labour Day weekend loss, but getting pounded in the Banjo Bowl? That is a much different story. Things don't get much easier for the Bombers, as a date with the Alouettes in Montreal looms.

3. Montreal Alouettes (Last Week: 5)

What Montreal team is the real Montreal team? The one that lost by three touchdowns on Labour Day or the one that won by 30 on Sunday? The game with Winnipeg should help to answer that question.

4. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Last Week: 2)

What Hamilton team is the real Hamilton team? The one that won by three touchdowns on Labour Day or the one that lost by 30 on Sunday? The game with Edmonton should help to answer that question.

5. Edmonton Eskimos (Last Week: 3)

Edmonton may have lost on Friday, but as they get healthier, they will get back to their early-season form. Ricky Ray missed Adarius Bowman, Jason Barnes and especially Fred Stamps when those guys were out of the lineup with various injuries. But Bowman and Stamps are back, and Barnes will be soon. With those three Receivers getting back into form, the Eskimos will soon follow suit.

6. British Columbia Lions (Last Week: 6)

The Lions are getting hot at the end of the season... again. The light seems to have gone on for Travis Lulay, and that means BC is going to be a very tough team to beat.

7. Saskatchewan Roughriders (Last Week: 7)

Ken Miller comes back and Saskatchewan beats Winnipeg twice. They sit a game back of the Lions for the final playoff spot in the West, and this looks like a completely different team under Miller. Maybe the problem was Greg Marshall after all.

8. Toronto Argonauts (Last Week: 8)

It's "Wait Until Next Year" for the Argos. Their playoff hopes are slim, so taking these games and using them to evaluate talent is probably in the best long-term interest of the Argonauts. Let Steven Jyles get the rust off, play some of the younger guys (like Receivers Sammy Tranks and Djems Kouame) and see who should be in the Argos' plans in 2012.

Highest Climb: Calgary (+3)
Steepest Fall: Hamilton, Edmonton (-2)

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