CFL Week 8 Recap: The Rabbit Hole

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are officially screwed.

Saturday's contest between the Blue Bombers and the Toronto Argonauts was close and hotly contested, but in true "appearances can be deceiving manner," this was in spite of the Bombers committing turnovers left and right--four of them, five if you count a crucial one on downs when the Bombers were deep in field goal range. The game ended up going to overtime, which was good, because the Argos needed this one. Plus, CFL overtime is always fun, because anything can happen.

And I mean...anything.

The Boatmen won the coin toss and deferred. So the Bombers had the ball first, putting the Argos in a possible walk-off situation. The Bombers couldn't move the ball much, but they could still get a field goal. One problem: the kick was wide. Not by much, but still wide. There was no return from the Argos, so the Bombers did lead in OT...by one. A rouge for the Bombers meant that the Argos would have a chance to walk it off. Similar to the Bombers, the Argos couldn't really move the ball, but in our case, the field goal was good, and the Argos won it, 16-14.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are now 2-6. They're on pace to finish 4-14. Now, I'm not saying that they'll finish 4-14, but the Blue Bombers are screwed. I don't know what happened to this team. They played for the Grey Cup for four straight seasons. Now, they have gone to the proverbial dogs. They will need to win seven of their final 10 games just to get to .500 this season.

Week 8, as well as the heart of the season, began with a clash between the two best teams in the league: the Montréal Alouettes and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. In a stunning development, the Riders actually entered the fourth quarter up 16-3 on the road. So it looked like an upset was in the making, but the Alouettes reminded everyone why they are the defending Grey Cup Champions. Seventeen points in the fourth quarter, resulting in a 20-16 victory. This game and the aforementioned Bombers/Argos game were the only close ones. The Friday battle between the Ottawa Redblacks and the Calgary Stampeders was a slaughter: 33-6 in favor of the Redblacks, who have surpassed their win total from last year.

The week ended with a meeting between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Edmonton Elks, and this game was over when it started. You know, I thought it would a matter of time until the Elks would get their first win, and this game was their best chance. Then the opening kickoff happened. TiCats led 34-8 entering the fourth quarter. They ended up winning 44-28 because Edmonton got some points in garbage time, but the bottom line is this: the Elks are done. Again.

After eight weeks, here's how things stand:

So with the loss, the Roughriders are now tied with the BC Lions (who were idle in Week 8) for first place in the West, and as I've said before, it looks like the Lions and Riders will be dueling for that top spot. Despite the Bombers' terrible start, they are close behind the Stampeders in the Western standings. Meanwhile, the East had a good week: all four teams won. So nothing changed as far as placement. The Argos definitely needed that OT win to keep pace with the Alouettes and Redblacks in the East. There's still plenty of time to climb that ladder.

Week 9 will kick off on Thursday, August 1 with a Western battle between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the BC Lions, followed by an Eastern battle between the Montréal Alouettes and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday, August 2. On Saturday, August 3, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will host the winless Edmonton Elks, and on Sunday, August 4, the Calgary Stampeders will host the Toronto Argonauts.

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