THIS WEEK IN THE CFL – WEEK 9

PITCH PERFECT

• Winnipeg became the ninth team to start 8-0, and the first since BC started 11-0 in 2005.
• Clubs to start 8-0:
  • 12-0 | Calgary | 1948
  • 11-0 |BC, | 2005
  • 10-0 | Calgary | 1949
  • 10-0 | Calgary | 1993
  • 10-0| Edmonton | 1955
  • 10-0 | Winnipeg | 1960
  • 8-0 | Montreal | 2002
  • 8-0 | Winnipeg | 1939
• Of the eight teams to start 8-0, only four went on to win the Grey Cup: Winnipeg (1939), Calgary (1948), Edmonton (1955) and most recently, Montreal (2002).

CAPITAL GAINS

• Through seven games this season, Ottawa’s Jaelon Acklin leads the league in receiving yards (687), 100+ yard games (four) and 30+ yard receptions (seven)
• He is 22 receiving yards from eclipsing his personal best of 708 established in his 2019 rookie campaign
• In the past decade, only five players have had a better start through eight weeks:
  • 2018 | Duke Williams | 713 yards
  • 2017 | Greg Ellingson | 749 yards
  • 2017 | SJ Green | 705 yards
  • 2016 | Derel Walker | 800 yards
  • 2016 | Adarius Bowman | 789 yards
• He’s also second in the league with an average reception of 18.6 yards (minimum 15 receptions)
• Acklin is on pace for 1,767 yards, 95 catches and ten 100+ receiving yard games
• Ottawa team records:
  • Receiving Yards |1,459 | 2017 | Greg Ellingson
  • Receptions | 116 | 2018 | Brad Sinopoli

FAMILIAR FOES

• Saturday’s matchup between Toronto and Hamilton will mark their 241^st regular season meeting. The Argonauts will be looking for their 100^th victory in the series.
• The teams last met in the 2021 Eastern Final. Toronto won the season series 3-1 last year, including both contests at BMO Field.
• The rivals will meet four times in the next five weeks, including the Labour Day Classic.
• As a member of the Tiger-Cats, Brandon Banks faced Toronto 20 times; this will be his first game against his former club. Banks’s place in Ticats history:
  • 3,773 kickoff return yards (first)
  • 3,049 punt return yards (first)
  • 65 touchdowns (second)
  • 422 receptions (fifth)
• Banks (13,955) is 45 combined yards shy of 14,000 in his career. With 141 more yards, he will surpass Tom Scott (14,095) and move into the Top-20 all-time.

QUICK SLANTS

• The average duration of games in Week 8 was 2:41, including the fastest game of the year thus far: Calgary vs. Winnipeg (2:33).
• Week 8 had a season-low 12 penalties per game.
• Saskatchewan’s Larry Dean (49) and Darnell Sankey (48) are the Top-2 tacklers in 2022. Two players on the same team have never finished a season in first and second.
• Stamps/Bombers in Week 8 was the 23^rd game in league history (5,822 games in 116 years) to feature seven lead changes.
• Winnipeg and Montreal will open a home-and-home series this week. They have played five previous back-to-back sets with four splits, and a Montreal sweep (2003).
• Last week, Zach Collaros posted his sixth-career game with 4+ touchdown passes. His personal best of five was set on August 20, 2016.
• As Winnipeg’s starter, Collaros is 20-2.
• Montreal is one of two teams to topple Winnipeg in the Bombers’ past 19 games.
• The Alouettes are 509-509-11 since 1946. As a starter, Trevor Harris is 42-42-2.
• Montreal’s Tyrice Beverette leads the league with nine special teams tackles.
• Calgary has not lost three games in a row since 2018.
• In Week 8, Ottawa’s Lorenzo Mauldin IV extended his streak of games with a sack to four, and he has six over that span. His seven sacks on the season have him tied atop the leaderboard with Saskatchewan’s Pete Robertson.
• Boris Bede will play his 100^th game this week. He has amassed 707 points and 183 made field goals across seven seasons.
• Edmonton is coming off a bye, teams are 6-3 off a bye this season.
• Elks QB Taylor Cornelius has passed for 500 yards in his last two games – 190 of which have been to Kenny Lawler. BC is looking to win its third straight game against Edmonton. Nathan Rourke is 2-0 against the Elks.