It was a big weekend in the CFL. Calgary and Winnipeg stayed hot, Duron Carter found himself in hot water, and three teams engaged in trades with very different end games.

Calgary keeps the streak alive

It was far from easy, but the Calgary Stampeders extended their winning streak to eight games with a win over the Edmonton Eskimos in double overtime. They are now just four games away from the single-season record streak of 12 games set by—who else?—Calgary back in 1948.

If they can keep it up, the record-tying attempt would take place at BMO Field in Toronto in Week 16. Between now and then they have home dates with Ottawa and Winnipeg, and a roadie versus the Ticats.

Duron Carter sounds off

Last week Montreal Alouettes receiver Duron Carter got into a heated argument with Rakeem Cato at practice. Then, prior to his team’s game against BC on Friday, he responded on Twitter to an unflattering article about his relationships with teammates in Montreal and Indianapolis.

Duron Carter on Twitter



And he still wasn’t done. After Montreal’s loss to the Lions, Carter was complimentary of Cato, but seemed to question the work of offensive coordinator Anthony Calvillo.

“Cato did his thing,” Carter said. “He was squeezing balls in there and he’s just got to be put in a better position. We can’t ask him to do anything more.”

He followed that up on Twitter as well:

Duron Carter on Twitter



Cato was a respectable 21 for 29 with 255 yards and a TD as the team accumulated 27 points, and Carter himself had five catches for 76 yards. So it seems like an odd time to question the creativity of the offence.

I really like Carter. I think he is often misunderstood and one of the bright talents in the league. What’s more, his demonstrative personality is part of what makes him a dominant No. 1 receiver.

However, over the last week, his greatest strength has also been his greatest weakness. That chip on his shoulder is what took him from a guy who wasn’t a lock to make the Als in 2013 to a guy who is now—in my opinion—the best all-around receiver in the CFL. But he has to pick his spots to make sure he is only trending because of his play—not his perceived personality.

Jennings loves Montreal

Jennings had thrown just one TD in his previous three games coming in to the battle with the Alouettes. But he led BC to scores on four of their first five possessions versus a stingy Montreal defence. Counter-intuitively, two of his best games this year have come against Noel Thorpe’s defence.

Jennings Vs. Montreal Vs. Rest of CFL COMP/G 25.5 19.7 YARDS/G 336 262 COMP% .785 .623

Trade winds blowing

The weekend ended with what felt like a three-way trade but was actually two trades that were directly linked. I think all three teams reached their goals in the transactions but the opportunity cost was far different.

Montreal got a fourth-round pick in 2017 from Winnipeg for Kevin Glenn, a backup QB they likely weren’t going to keep after this season. They lost a player who could have helped mentor Cato, but will get value for an asset that in their eyes was depreciating.

Toronto got Drew Willy, a succession plan for Ricky Ray and what essentially amounts to a mulligan after letting Trevor Harris and Zach Collaros go. They also rebooted their chances to compete in the East and make the Grey Cup on their home field.

Winnipeg got it all: a first-round pick in 2017, a third-round pick in 2018, and a veteran backup who is beloved by the local fans and a good leader. (Plus, they got out from the money still owed Willy.) Even better, Winnipeg received arguably Toronto’s best DB in T.J. Heath.

Earlier this year Bombers GM Kyle Walters looked like he might get run out of Winnipeg. Now, after his team’s sixth-consecutive victory (in the Banjo Bowl versus Saskatchewan, no less), he looks like he’s had the best season of any executive in the league.

Toronto corrects past wrongs—for a price

Trading a haul for Willy only underscores the mistake it was to stick with Ray over both Collaros and Harris. Part of Jim Barker’s mandate upon coming to Toronto was to develop a pipeline of QBs (the specialty of West GMs Wally Buono and John Hufnagel), and in short order he did that. The only issue is aside from trading Mitchell Gale, the Argonauts haven’t fully leveraged their ability to develop top signal callers. Both Collaros and Harris left in free agency, leaving the Argos with nothing in return for their investment.

With Ray likely out for the rest of the year with a punctured lung and the cupboard relatively bare behind him this season, the Argos had to oversteer to correct the past misstep and stay in the East race.

Decisions for Double Blue

On Sunday, T.J. Heath was the Argos’ best defensive player, and Dan Lefevour was their best offensive player as they got a big win at home over Hamilton. So it was a bit awkward after the game when they announced a trade sending the former to Winnipeg and the latter to the bench.

Also awkward: The trade sets up some tough decisions in the coming days for the Argos. Drew Willy is owed $450,00 next year, and it will be tough to pay both him and Ray next year. Given Ray’s injury history, the Willy move could mean Toronto is going to move away from or restructure his contract and transition him into a back-up role.

The issue is that Ray has been good when healthy. He’s thrown 13 TDs in just seven games and completed 75.2 percent of his passes. Those marks are fourth and second in the CFL respectively. Scott Milanovich’s QB-friendly approach can drag that type of performance out of Willy the way it did with Lefevour, who hadn’t thrown a pass in two years before carving up Hamilton for 329 yards and one TD while completing 75 percent of his passes on Sunday.