CFL Power Rankings: Tiger-Cats roaring

The internal debate about the CFL.ca Power Rankings presented by AMSOIL has always been that it is not the standings and that it should reflect where teams stand in this moment’ who’s hot, who’s not and who is capable of winning games right now.

That debate has more consistently come up this season and it’s probably due to the wild swings we’ve seen from just about every team in the league this year. The teams that started cold — hello, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Edmonton — warmed up and have all made season-long journeys upward in these rankings. The teams that started hot — we see you, BC and Saskatchewan — have hit or are just coming out of difficult stretches. Their records are better than teams above them in these rankings, but again, we’re trying to look at this right now, in the moment.

The beneficiaries of this moment occupy our top-two spots this week. It’s no surprise that the Blue Bombers hold onto the top spot, seeing as they’ve won seven straight and throttled what was our No. 3-ranked team last week. The Tiger-Cats are also on a streak, now at four games and are making a serious push at charging into the playoffs despite a 0-5 start and having a 2-9 record.

We mentioned the Riders, who are taking their turn at putting a bad spell behind them. They’ve made some positive movement in these rankings for the first time in a long time. See where they sit and where the rest of the league is in this week’s edition of the Power Rankings presented by AMSOIL.

1. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9-6)

Last Week: 1
Last Game: 55-27 win over Edmonton
Next game: At Hamilton, Fri. Oct. 4

Worth noting: The Bombers are now 9-2 since that 0-4 start to their season and are playoff-bound for the eighth consecutive year. Big games from Zach Collaros, Brady Oliveira and Nic Demski in last week’s demolition of the Elks should be very encouraging for a fan base that through all of the recent success they’ve seen, may have still been questioning that side of the ball. A career night from Collaros likely provides a confidence boost from the field level through all of the seats at Princess Auto Stadium.

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2. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-9)

Last Week: 4
Last game: 32-29 OT win over BC
Next game: Vs. Winnipeg, Fri. Oct. 4

Worth noting: We hope you like the overalls, Bo, because at this point you’ve got to keep wearing them. The Ticats pushed their win streak to four games with a very impressive comeback win over the Lions. Mitchell made 29 of his last 30 passes to get them there, shaking off an interception that he admitted to TSN sideline reporter Shantelle Chand had him wondering if head coach Scott Milanovich was thinking of pulling him out of the game.* When it came down to it, the team trusted in Ante Litre in overtime to punch it in, a week after he and his offensive teammates were stopped an incredible five times in a goal-line situation against the Argos. This team is finding ways to win and fueling their last-season run.
* If Milanovich did pull Mitchell out of the game, can we now wonder if Tim White is on the short list of backup options?

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3. Montreal Alouettes (11-3-1)

Last Week: 2
Last Game: 37-31 loss to Toronto 
Next Game: Vs. Ottawa, Mon. Oct. 14

Worth noting: The Als (and REDBLACKS, for that matter) head into a long bye week where they don’t play again until Oct. 14, in the main event game of Thanksgiving Weekend presented by Purolator. Since coming out of their last bye in Week 13, the Als have gone 1-2-1. It’s certainly not the end of the world for the team, as they still have the league’s best record and via Ottawa’s loss last week locked up the East Division. Still, the team has a good amount of time in front of it to look at what it wants to do and how it wants to go into the playoffs as the defending Grey Cup champions. The REDBLACKS will throw everything they have at the Als in just under two weeks’ time, as they’re still chasing a playoff berth and want a home game of their own.

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4. Toronto Argonauts (8-7)

Last Week: 6
Last Game: 37-31 win over Montreal
Next game: At Winnipeg, Fri. Oct. 11

Worth noting: The Argos jump up a couple of spots thanks to a big win over the Als. This one might have been a bigger mental hurdle than anything else. It allows the team to leave its disastrous 2023 Eastern Final showing in the rearview, as they topped the Als on a soggy BMO Field for the first time since they had their season ended there by the Als. The Argos feasted on four Alouette turnovers in the win and Lirim Hajrullahu set a CFL record by making 8-8 field goals in the game. Just a point behind Ottawa in the East race, the Argos could move into home playoff game territory with a win in Winnipeg next Friday after their bye week.

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5. Edmonton Elks (5-10)

Last Week: 3
Last Game: 55-27 loss to Winnipeg 
Next game: Vs. Saskatchewan, Sat. Oct. 5

Worth noting: The Elks drop a couple of spots on the heels of a crushing loss, leaving them 0-2 in what was a crucial home-and-home series against the Bombers. You could look at the result of this last game, look at the quarterback uncertainty around the team — does interim head coach Jarious Jackson go back to Tre Ford this week? — and argue that the Elks could have dropped further in these rankings. In their defence, the Elks did lose a pair of games to a team that no one is beating right now. We want to see how they fare against a suddenly hot Riders team before we make any further decisions on this squad, which is now two games behind the Lions for the third and final playoff spot in the West.

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6. Saskatchewan Roughriders (7-7-1)

Last Week: 8
Last Game: 29-16 win over Ottawa
Next game: At Edmonton, Sat. Oct. 5

Worth noting: The Riders are finally on the climb in these rankings, making their first upward movement since Week 10, when they moved up to the second spot from No. 3. To continue climbing — and more important to them to inch toward a return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2021 season — they’ll have to handle business this week in Edmonton against a desperate Elks team. Riding the high of a three-interception game, the Riders’ defence will look to cause trouble for whoever they’re up against at QB, be it Tre Ford or McLeod Bethel-Thompson.

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7. BC Lions (7-8)

Last Week: 7
Last Game: 32-29 OT loss to Hamilton
Next game: Vs. Calgary, Fri. Oct. 4

Worth noting: The expressions on the Lions’ sideline in the wake of their OT loss to the Ticats was telling. That 5-1 start to the season has fully given way to a 2-7 run that has left the Lions at a mediocre 7-8. The Bombers are surging in the West and the Riders are heading in the right direction. A home playoff game felt like a certainty early in this thing; that’s now up for debate for this team, as it clings to the third spot in the West. Don’t forget — we assure you the Lions haven’t — that the Ticats are in the mix here too as a crossover team, with 12 points and just a game behind them with three games left to go.

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8. Ottawa REDBLACKS (8-6-1)

Last Week: 5
Last Game: 29-16 loss to Saskatchewan
Next game: At Montreal, Mon. Oct. 14

Worth noting: The REDBLACKS are likely thinking this extended bye week has come at an opportune time. This team has had three chances to lock up a playoff spot and come up short each time. This rest should help the REDBLACKS get Dru Brown back on the field, after an ankle injury kept him out of last week’s loss to the Riders. Whether it’s Brown or Jeremiah Masoli under centre on Thanksgiving Monday, taking a win in Montreal from the Als won’t be an easy task. Meanwhile, the Argos have crept up behind them in the standings and the Ticats are lurking a little further back from them, making wins paramount through their final three games.