by Sean Murphy
Friday, Jun 30, 2023With three weeks in the books in the 2023 CFL season, here's our weekly look at news and notes from around the league heading into this weekend's action.
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The Edmonton Elks and Ottawa RedBlacks check into their Week 4 matchup winless on the season. For the RedBlacks, they're coming off an early season bye week, but it wasn't enough to get QB Jeremiah Masoli healthy enough to start on Friday. Ottawa will turn to dual-threat QB Tyrie Adams after an ineffective two-game stint from veteran Nick Arbuckle. Adams is known more for his legs than his arm and if nothing else may be able to provide a spark to the RedBlacks ground attack, which has run the football only 25 times through two games. The Elks will give the start at quarterback to Jarrett Doege after he impressed in relief of Taylor Cornelius last week. Keep in mind, Doege's success came after the Argos had already all but put that game to bed. Edmonton will have to make do without one of its top receiving threats in veteran WR Eugene Lewis due to injury.
Everything comes in threes
The Montreal Alouettes will look to make it three straight wins to open the campaign as they play host to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday. Montreal has impressed on both sides of the football, outscoring its first two opponents by a 57-24 margin. The Bombers figure to pose a tougher challenge as they look to bounce back from a stunning 30-6 home loss against the undefeated B.C. Lions last week. That offensive no-show came out of nowhere after Winnipeg had racked up a whopping 87 points in its first two games of the season. The Als have somewhat surprisingly hung tough with the Bombers in recent years, splitting the last six meetings in the series.
Something has to give
In what most would call the game of the week, the 3-0 B.C. Lions will visit the 2-0 Toronto Argonauts on Monday. QB Vernon Adams Jr. has done a tremendous job running the Lions offense. Last week, he thrived without top WR Dominique Rhymes, leading the Lions to a season-high 30 points in their rout of the Blue Bombers. The Argos have been getting it done on the strength of their offense while proving vulnerable defensively, allowing their first two opponents to complete 52-of-67 passes for well over 500 yards. Perhaps they can be forgiven for that, however, as they've build sizable leads in both previous contests allowing them to rotate out some of their key defensive parts. The Lions have dropped their last two trips to Toronto, last winning here in 2019 (by a single point).
Quarterback carousel
The Edmonton Elks and Ottawa RedBlacks check into their Week 4 matchup winless on the season. For the RedBlacks, they're coming off an early season bye week, but it wasn't enough to get QB Jeremiah Masoli healthy enough to start on Friday. Ottawa will turn to dual-threat QB Tyrie Adams after an ineffective two-game stint from veteran Nick Arbuckle. Adams is known more for his legs than his arm and if nothing else may be able to provide a spark to the RedBlacks ground attack, which has run the football only 25 times through two games. The Elks will give the start at quarterback to Jarrett Doege after he impressed in relief of Taylor Cornelius last week. Keep in mind, Doege's success came after the Argos had already all but put that game to bed. Edmonton will have to make do without one of its top receiving threats in veteran WR Eugene Lewis due to injury.
Everything comes in threes
The Montreal Alouettes will look to make it three straight wins to open the campaign as they play host to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday. Montreal has impressed on both sides of the football, outscoring its first two opponents by a 57-24 margin. The Bombers figure to pose a tougher challenge as they look to bounce back from a stunning 30-6 home loss against the undefeated B.C. Lions last week. That offensive no-show came out of nowhere after Winnipeg had racked up a whopping 87 points in its first two games of the season. The Als have somewhat surprisingly hung tough with the Bombers in recent years, splitting the last six meetings in the series.
Something has to give
In what most would call the game of the week, the 3-0 B.C. Lions will visit the 2-0 Toronto Argonauts on Monday. QB Vernon Adams Jr. has done a tremendous job running the Lions offense. Last week, he thrived without top WR Dominique Rhymes, leading the Lions to a season-high 30 points in their rout of the Blue Bombers. The Argos have been getting it done on the strength of their offense while proving vulnerable defensively, allowing their first two opponents to complete 52-of-67 passes for well over 500 yards. Perhaps they can be forgiven for that, however, as they've build sizable leads in both previous contests allowing them to rotate out some of their key defensive parts. The Lions have dropped their last two trips to Toronto, last winning here in 2019 (by a single point).
