CFL Week 7 Recap: Watch Out for the Bombers

It seems like yesterday that this mayhem-filled ride known as the 2021 CFL season began. In actuality, the season is nearing the halfway point, with just one weekend left in the month of September. Canadian Thanksgiving weekend is three weeks away, and that's the time where playoff talk intensifies, just like American Thanksgiving in the NFL. Week 7 was quite intriguing; here's what took place.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats hosted the Calgary Stampeders to kick off the seventh week of the season. For the Stamps, this was, IMO, their last chance to show that they had a pulse this season. They earned a big key win against the Edmonton Elks in Week 6, and this week could have seen them continue a huge bounceback. They blew it. The Stamps had no get-up-and-go in Hamilton, and it resulted in the TiCats winning 23-17 over Calgary. The Stampeders are now 2-5 halfway into their season. They are done. The Horsemen will need to win five of their final seven just to break even. That team is not catching Winnipeg or Saskatchewan; they may not even pass BC. If this was a full 18-game season, they might have a shot at 3rd place at best. This year? They can forget it.

Next up, the Saskatchewan Roughriders hosted the Toronto Argonauts, the latter sitting all alone in first place in the East Division following a big win against Hamilton. Unfortunately, the Argos were not ready for the Riders. The Riders dominated the Boatmen in every way, shape, and form, en route to a 30-16 win, keeping pace with the Blue Bombers in the West. The Argos continue to trade wins and losses this season, but lucky for that team, the East Division hasn't really been up to par in 2021.

The Saturday half of Week 7 began in Montréal with the Alouettes hosting the BC Lions. The Lions showed out once again, jumping to a 14-3 lead at the midpoint of the 2nd quarter. Though the Als made it close--bringing the game to within two points, Mike Reilly's TD pass to Keon Hatcher ended up sealing it. BC won 27-18, staying above the West Division's playoff line and putting further distance between themselves and both Alberta teams.

Speaking of Alberta, Week 7 ended in Edmonton with the Elks hosting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who jumped to a 14-0 lead and continued to stay ahead despite two early turnovers. Speaking of turnovers, the Elks committed five of them, one of them a fumble deep in their own territory that was returned for a very short touchdown. Winnipeg's +3 turnover ratio was the big difference, as they went on to win their fourth straight game by a score of 37-22.

Here's how thing stand after Week 7. In the West Division, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers remain on top at 6-1, the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the BC Lions each have 4-2 records, and the Edmonton Elks (2-4) and Calgary Stampeders (2-5) continue to bring up the rear. At this point, the Bombers are the clear Grey Cup favorites, and it's not even close. They took over the top spot in the West Division when they handed the Riders their first loss of the season, and they have not looked back. Even better: the Bombers are 4-0 against division opponents this season. All of those factors should result in the defending Grey Cup Champions staying in the West's top position for the rest of the season, which is a key position: it means a bye straight to the Division Final, which they would host.

In the East Division, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts are tied at 3-3, though Hamilton is the first place team due to a better division record. The Montréal Alouettes drop to 2-3, and the idle Ottawa Redblacks remain at 1-4. The East is very mediocre this season, and it's a good thing that the Tiger-Cats and Argonauts represent the upper half of the division. Why, you ask? One word: crossover. If the East Division continues at this rate, its playoff line will end up moving up a space due to the CFL's crossover rule, which allows a fourth place team in one division to reach the playoffs and transfer to the other division if they have a better record than the opposite division's 3rd place team. If the teams are tied, there's no crossover. At the moment, the Alouettes have a better record than the Elks, but it's not by much.

Next week only has three games on the schedule, starting with the Ottawa Redblacks hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Wednesday, September 22. On Friday, September 24, the Toronto Argonauts will host the Montréal Alouettes, and the week will end with the Saskatchewan Roughriders facing the BC Lions in Vancouver.

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