The first week of the season saw some tightly contested games in the CFL. There were some major storylines including the storm game to open the season, the Riders defence, the hit of the week by B.C Lions defensive back Marcel Young and possibly the catch of the year already by Calgary Stampeders receiver Juwan Brescacin. So what does each matchup have in store in week two? Lets take a look.

Saskatchewan Roughriders @ Ottawa REDBLACKS

The REDBLACKS had a bye to start the season so they should have had plenty of time to get ready for this one. Ottawa has a lot to prove in this one as no team in the east looked especially good to start the season. If Ottawa can beat the Riders it will give them an early advantage in their division. For the Riders they looked pretty good against the Argos last week especially on defence. Charleston Hughes had 3 sacks and a fumble recovery in his Roughrider debut and the linebacking core looked fast and scary. If the offence can work out a few kinks with new QB Zach Collaros ,who played decently in his first game with the Riders, this team could really make a splash this year.

Prediction: Riders win 31-23

Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ Montreal Alouettes

The Bombers had a tough start to their season. They had to battle two storm delays and had a rookie QB under centre who played reasonably well. They led Edmonton late before Mike Reilly did Mike Reilly things and brought the Eskimos back to score 11 points in the final 1:22 of the game. If the Bombers want to improve this week I think they are going to have to use Andrew Harris more in the passing game. He had just three receptions for six yards in week one. For the Alouettes they actually hung on in B.C longer than I thought they would. The offence really let the Als down. Drew Willy just isn’t a starting QB in my eyes and their struggles will continue this week with him under centre.

Prediction: Bombers win 34-16

Hamilton Tiger-Cats @ Edmonton Eskimos

The Tiger-Cats had a lead against the Stampeders going into the 4th quarter but couldn’t hang on as Calgary outscored them 19-3 in the final frame. Jeremiah Masoli looked good for the Ti-Cats but they just couldn’t punch in the end zone when they needed to. Masoli ran in a TD in the first quarter from 13 yards out and that would be the only major on the night for Hamilton. Edmonton was on the positive end of the storm game in Winnipeg. Mike Reilly once again proved why he is the best player in the game and the Eskimos defence stepped up when they needed to, to guide the Esks to a victory in week one. This week they can only hope to get a few of their injured players back as they have suffered quite a few this early in the season and its starting to look like a repeat of last year.

Prediction: Eskimos win 27-19

Calgary Stampeders @ Toronto Argonauts

The Stamps took three quarters to shake the rust off as Bo Levi Mitchell didn’t look particularly great to start the game. However he found his groove in quarter four and the Stamps found a way to win. Look for them to be more sharp this week as the first instalment of the Grey Cup rematch from last year takes place. Im sure the Stamps will be looking for revenge after blowing the championship for the second straight year. For the Argos they will probably have to weather a early storm from the Stamps who will be fired up. The Argos however are a good team in their own right and will not lay down to the Stamps. This is my pick for game of the week as it should be a great one.

Prediction: Stamps win 26-23

Week two finds four east vs west matchups in the CFL and I think it will be a western sweep. Like I said in my season preview I think the Stamps, Riders and Eskimos are the three best teams in the league so week in a week out as long as they aren’t playing each other I see all three winning most of their matchups, especially with the east. Look for Toronto to give the Stamps all that they can handle though as I don’t see Ricky Ray having two pedestrian looking games in a row. thanks for reading!