Joe's Take

CFL Insider's columnist Joe Pritchard offers his take on all of week 3's action.

I had hoped week 3 would shed some light on how things were going to go this season. Once again, we peel away with yet more questions to answer.

Calgary.... well, someone dressed in Stampeder uniforms went to Rogers Centre on Thursday, and they didn't come back out with their dignity. Toronto took advantage of ten, yes, 10, as in you can count them on two hands if you use all the fingers you'd normally have, turnovers en route to a 48-15 laugher, which, at one point, was a 41-0 Argos lead. The Argos didn't even have to bring their A game, as they committed 5 turnovers on their own and lost their starting pivot, Michael Bishop, for 6-8 weeks with a wrist injury. I shall spend no more time on this game, as even thinking about it makes me feel a bit weak in the stomach.

Edmonton went to Winnipeg in the second and last meeting between these two teams (pay no attention to the fact that the Bombers play Calgary in weeks 16 and 17, this schedule is perfect, perfect I tell you!). This time, it was the defence that came up big for both sides, as the teams combined for only 34 points in Edmonton's 19-15 win. Winnipeg once again forgot they had Charles Roberts, this time waiting until it was too late to utilize him to his full potential, and were stopped on the Eskimos' 28 yard line when time expired. The big problem, however, was special teams. Winnipeg gave up two turnovers on kick plays which are fundamental, both times with an onside player recovering for Edmonton. Not once. Twice. You don't win when you do things like that.

BC travelling to Taylor Field was the big game of the week, and the visiting Lions showed the Riders that the West is still in BC's hands. There wasn't much wrong with Saskatchewan's performance that couldn't be fixed by not playing BC, although Jason Armstead's fumble on a punt right before halftime gave BC a chance to extend the lead to 21, and from there, it was smooth sailing. The Lions did lose Dave Dickenson for an undetermined amount of time, but Buck Pierce will apparently play through his bruised hand and will get the start this week.

To cap off the week, an 0-2 Montreal team traveled to Hamilton to face the Banana... er, Ti-Cats. Why anyone thought yellow jersies would be attractive is beyond me. Toss them in the same pile the white helmets went, please. Speaking of ugly, how about Charlie Taaffe not being able to stick to his word and commit to a quarterback? He has spent a lot of time convincing people that Jason Maas is his quarterback, but so far, he's pulled him in every game. If he's going to do that, he should stop wasting time, find a team that could use a competent backup, or even a starter, and give Timmy Chang a shot, otherwise, he should stop pulling his quarterback, whichever one is in, at the first sign of trouble. It's very hard to have confidence in your pivot when he doesn't know if he's playing on the next drive. Montreal should consider themselves fortunate that they caught the Ti-Cats early in the season, though, because even at 0-3, Hamilton is still fighting out there. When the young players start gelling, they could get on a run later in the season.

All right, on to week 4 here while I still have a moment of your time.

I still think Montreal has talent, but it doesn't seem to be gelling very quickly this season. The new scheme and the old dog they're trying to teach new tricks isn't helping matters. I have them losing this week to Winnipeg in another close matchup, as the Bombers take a 2-0 lead in the season series. There will be a lot of questions for the Als to answer after the 34-25 loss at home.

It's hard to resist picking Hamilton in a major upset, just for shock value, but I honestly don't think they'll be able to hang with the Lions this week. I think they'll get the best results, though, if they pick a QB and stick with him for a while, at least until it's completely obvious he isn't getting the job done. No more musical QB's please. BC pulls away 43-18 in this one, but Hamilton will show life for quite a while in this one.

There's nothing wrong with the Riders that a week between games couldn't fix, and I think they can go into Commonwealth Stadium and win, especially if the defence kicks it back up to the level they had against Calgary. It won't be a laugher by any stretch, but I have Saskatchewan winning 31-22, scoring late to make it a two score game and making Ricky Ray have to rush at the end, to no avail.

Calgary hosts the second half of a home and home against Toronto, and they'll rather wish they weren't there. I think this game is closer, as the Stamps won't commit 10 turnovers, at least I hope not. On the other hand, Toronto's offence might struggle a bit behind Mike McMahon as he finds his sea legs, but the Argo D will keep Calgary at bay, and the low score of 23-15 will be the result.

I'm sure next week will have us asking even more questions about the direction of each of these teams, but hopefully we'll finally get some answers, rather than the mixed results we've been dealing with thus far. Catch you next week.