Joe's Take

CFL Insider's columnist Joe Pritchard offers his take on all of week 5's action.

No recap of week 5 would be complete without mentioning Milt Stegall and the amazing record that he broke against Hamilton. Here's to 139 touchdowns and hopefully a few more.

On to the action, and our first stop is Toronto, where the Argos were unable to keep pace with the Bombers and fell to the Montreal Alouettes. Mike McMahon was on a very short leash, and Pinball pulled him early after an ill-advised pass led to an interception. Damon Allen came in and led the Argos to 13 points, which was exactly half of what he needed to do in this one. Allen is presumably the starter now until Michael Bishop gets back. Anyone got a scorecard? As for Montreal, not a spectacular game by any means, but when you win on the road, it's generally a great effort.

Winnipeg hosted Hamilton and history, but the Ti-Cats weren't about to be ignored, and even led at a point in the early stages of the 4th quarter before the Bombers did their 4th quarter thing and squashed them late. Jason Maas looked good until late in the game, when he tried to force the action. He can still feel Timmy Chang's name being whispered about the Hamilton camp and hear it yelled by Hamilton fans. Charlie Taaffe's done a fine job of giving Maas a chance, and not pulling him every time he makes a mistake. Maas might not have much more time to reward such faith.

Saskatchewan came home in week 4 stunned at a 20 point swing in a one point loss to Edmonton, determined not to let it happen again. It didn't. A 40 point win for the Riders does wonders for their confidence, and Ricky Ray had quite the off-day, with three interceptions. The Green Riders seem to have momentum at home, so woe is it to the team that falls behind early at Taylor Field.

Finally, BC went to Calgary and once again played to the level of their opponent and won. Five turnovers did the Stamps in, and even the hodgepodge of Buck Pierce and Jarious Jackson moved the offence just enough to make it hurt. Calgary showed a bit of fire, however, in scoring late and making it a one possession game before losing the on-side kick and their hope at victory.

Week 6 promises to be another fun one.

The Argos and Als renew acquaintances at the back end of a home and home, this time in Montreal, and I have the Als putting it together slowly each week, and coming out on top of an Argos team that is struggling to find their identity right now. 35-18 sounds about right.

Saskatchewan takes on BC at BC Place, and heaven knows who will take most of the snaps for the Lions. I do, however, think they do just what it takes to win for the umpteenth straight week in a 26-22 victory.

Winnipeg gets another chance to stay way out front, and while it won't be easy on the road, even against a slowly improving Ti-Cats team, I think one last fourth quarter push does it one more time. 32-28 will be our final tally in this one.

At the back end of things, Calgary invades Edmonton, and this is sure to get ugly. I see fights, penalties, and low scoring, and one Ricky Ray comeback that will doom the Stamps in a 19-17 final.