MBB 2019 Power Rankings

[O2L]

1. Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The only team to play well on both O and D. Despite giving up yardage, held Reilly to one TD and two INTs. 0 turnovers. One botched kick return made this game look closer than it was.

2. Ottawa REDBLACKS

Four interceptions and a QB that is keying in on guys and having trouble reading defences isn’t a good sign, but Ottawa looks to have a strong D and anytime you can go into Calgary, in week one no less, and win, that’s saying something. Credit where credit is due.

3. Edmonton Eskimos 

This team, much like in previous years, will live and die on the arm of its QB. No D to speak of, nearly let a backup to the league’s worst starter of a team that changed head coaches a week ago back into the game. I think as the season progresses both Calgary and B.C. will prove to be better teams, but unlike those teams, Edmonton still came out with the W this week.

4. Calgary Stampeders 

Four takeaways and a 15-point lead and they still lost. This is not the Calgary of old, but I also don’t see them losing two in a row. I expect some anger next game. This team took their opponents for granted and the results speak for themselves. Mitchell missing some passes that he’ll make in the future, sure, but maybe, just maybe, the mighty have finally fallen.

5. BC Lions

Eight offensive points from a Mike Reilly-led team does not instil a lot of confidence, but maybe that’s more a testament to the Bombers’ D (who had their share of mistakes, but tightened up when they needed to). The Lions D gave up three wide-open TDs, which is a concern, but I think Claybrooks will get them sorted out once they have some time to gel. I expect BC to be battling it out in the west all season.

6. Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Easily the worst looking team to come out of week one with a W. Had they played anyone other than Sask (including Montreal), they lose this game. Two question: Can Masoli regain his 2018 form? Can their defence play well without playing dirty?

7. Montreal Alouettes

The jury is still out on the defence. Sure, they gave up a stupid amount of yards, but their starting QB had less than 60 yards of production in three quarters, so hard to fault them for being on the field the whole game. A pending QB controversy that we haven’t seen since the likes of Brink v. Goltz, Montreal looks to be the enigma of 2019 - they’ll upset teams that they shouldn’t beat and then lose games they should win. 6-12 finish unless one of these QBs can step up and give them an offence.

8. Saskatchewan Roughriders

They were already going to be a bad team with Collaros at QB, they’re worse without him. The problem with this offence is the coordinator and as long as McAdoo has a job, there won’t be much to cheer for on the offensive side of the ball in Saskatchewan. Did Harker look better than Fjardo? Sure, but that’s because Fjardo has more reps in the offence and was trying to execute the patented check—downs that his coordinator is famous for. Harker is young and came off the bench hungry so made decisions that were more instinct than play-call. They do seem to still have a good defence though, but one of their leading scorers, Willie Jefferson, no longer wears green. Combine all the above with a head coach that looked lost and, may I introduce you to the residents of the western basement.

TBD. Toronto Argonauts 

No game this week so unfair to put them on the list aside for getting a few laughs, but I expect Toronto to be top two in the east if Franklin stays healthy. He’s better than he showed last year and we’ll see that this year, and Chamblin is a solid coach that’ll right that ship. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

Winnipeg

Calgary

BC

Hamilton

Edmonton

Ottawa    Toronto (will be able to place them better next week)

Saskatchewan

Montreal

 

[Mr Dee]

👁‍🗨 I won’t include the Argos, but, in my powder rankings, I have 

Winnipeg - most convincing winning team

Edmonton - efficient, if not a little fortunate

Ottawa - too surprised to comment. They’ll tumble further in the future

Hamilton - not looking like a #1 team, but then again, look who’s in their division

Saskatchewan - very good defence....but

Calgary - an anomaly I assume. They’re down this far because that’s how they played this week.

BC - one dimension only works if you’re the lead singer for the 5th dimension 

Montreal. - they’ll definitely look better this next week..(bye week)

Edited June 16, 2019 by Mr Dee

[VoR]

Even with green coloured glasses, it's hard not to see the riders at 8 or 9 all season

Any hope we have is based on fact that other than your Bombers,  all the other teams had definite weaknesses and looked beatable at times- sadly though usually their defences looked weak, meaning the rider O will have to step up, and as long as Macadon't is calling plays -   ughhh

[Tracker]

2 minutes ago, Guestingreen said:

Even with green coloured glasses, it's hard not to see the riders at 8 or 9 all season

Any hope we have is based on fact that other than your Bombers,  all the other teams had definite weaknesses and looked beatable at times- sadly though usually their defences looked weak, meaning the rider O will have to step up, and as long as Macadon't is calling plays -   ughhh

Barring a miraculous unearthing of a saviour quarterback, Riders will be fortunately to go 6 & 12. I'm calling it now. We can call this Rider season, "The Revenge of Chris Jones" who left town without flushing his droppings.

[O2L]

38 minutes ago, Guestingreen said:

Even with green coloured glasses, it's hard not to see the riders at 8 or 9 all season

Any hope we have is based on fact that other than your Bombers,  all the other teams had definite weaknesses and looked beatable at times- sadly though usually their defences looked weak, meaning the rider O will have to step up, and as long as Macadon't is calling plays -   ughhh

 

32 minutes ago, Tracker said:

Barring a miraculous unearthing of a saviour quarterback, Riders will be fortunately to go 6 & 12. I'm calling it now. We can call this Rider season, "The Revenge of Chris Jones" who left town without flushing his droppings.

Yeah I think the Riders D will keep most games close but their O needs to produce. They'll win some games in similar fashion to how BC scored 23 last night (with a kick return or pick 6 etc to keep the score manageable), but they're also going to have games where they score sub-20 points. I do think that Bennett would give them the best chance right now, but will take them time to get him up to speed. He has a strong, accurate arm, but his fault is that he'll make some poor decisions.