Banner Day at Mosaic Stadium

50 years ago, the CFL played four exhibition games with rookies making up the starting lineup for the first game, then some cuts and some vets making their appearance in the second game, more vets playing in the third with rookies competing against vets at various positions and the fourth game was the starting offense and defense going the first half and then whatever positional battles would be determined in the second half.

Now we have just two games which means the windows of opportunity to evaluate players is limited and practice and off field work takes up more importance in determining who is on the roster and who is not. The Riders have been experiencing a three-week layoff between games and after coming off a week, they looked good in their two public practices.

Toronto and BC are also getting their season debuts this week, as the CFL got kicked out of BMO Field and BC Place for the World Cup. BC showed some imagination and are playing two games in Kelowna to grow their fan base while the Argos, owned by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, decided to sell three homes to Hamilton, Winnipeg, and Saskatchewan.

With the first three games of the season, Montreal showed it was still championship material despite Davis Alexander moving tentatively a few times, indicating his hamstring problems may not be over. Alexander finished 28 of 36 for 336 yards and two touchdowns and a long ball of 70 yards.

Bo Levi Mitchell was 34 of 39 for 307 yards and one interception. Hamilton did not have Greg Bell in their backfield, so Mitchell relied on a short passing game to act as a substitute for a running game. Otherwise, Hamilton showed it was still vulnerable defensively and Mitchell needs to work more on timing with his receivers.

Despite all the chest beating of Hamilton being a Grey Cup contender, I would tap the brakes on that until maybe game 6 when Hamilton and their fans will get a better idea of what their team will be like. Hamilton hosts Montreal and if Hamilton wants to get out of a rut of starting their season on a losing streak, they need to beat Montreal to show they are legit.

Hamilton will go to Win A Pig who pulled their own last-minute miracle against a depleted Stampeder roster 30-28 and already are marking out the route for their Grey Cup Parade. Both teams will have played one game so neither team has any excuse for a bad performance, unless there is torrential rain as there was in Ottawa for their home opener against Edmonton.

The Bombers lucked out with Calgary not having two defensive tackles in the lineup which made running and passing much easier for the Bombers. They should be able to try to run against Hamilton, who will not have Wynton McManis in the lineup for a second straight game which means Brady Olivera should have a good game.

The Bombers managed a balanced attack against Calgary, and this would be a good idea to continue running the ball unless Hamilton can play better run defense. Hamilton did keep Montreal under a 100 yards rushing but the Bombers do have a better running game than Montreal.

Winnipeg goes 2-0 with a 30-27 win over Hamilton.

Toronto goes to Montreal for their season opener and for quarterback Chad Kelly, it is a return to the scene of the broken leg. Kelly was off all of 2025 and with a new coach, supporting players, Toronto is a question mark especially with them being on the road for over half the season.

Toronto has brought back a lot of players on defense who left after the first Grey Cup won by former Head Coach Ryan Dinwiddie, but while the appearance is reassembling a Grey Cup squad, there are a lot of question marks about their roster, both for veterans and rookies.

Montreal is feeling good about beating Hamilton, who were being proclaimed Grey Cup contenders, and faced with the question mark of the Argonauts, will try to impose their will with a pressure defense to see if Kelly has worked out any PTSD issues from his last game.

Welcome back the Montreal air horns as they help spark the Alouettes to a 30-20 win over Argonauts.

Before we get to the Rider game, a word or two about the Edmonton Ottawa game. These two teams went big in free agency, Ottawa even getting Dinwiddie to move from Toronto to Ottawa to coach them up.

Edmonton used their running attack to keep hold of the ball and took advantage of Jake Maier making his first start as the Ottawa quarterback. The emphasis on the running game was not surprising considering the torrential rain conditions in Ottawa.

Both these teams needed a win to start the season, but Edmonton had more continuity than Ottawa and that helped especially in the fourth quarter when Ottawa came within 8 points, but no further.

It would be glib to make a snappy evaluation of these two teams, but with the weather in Ottawa, it is difficult to determine where these teams may go. Edmonton may have some problems with the passing game, but with their running game, they should be competitive in every game they play this year.

So we end up the week in Riderville where the Riders will unveil their Grey Cup banner against the team they beat in the western final with 14 seconds left, the BC Lions.

There is a surge thinking BC will have their time this year, but while Nathan Rourke is already penciled in as the Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Canadian, the Lions have a lot of money invested in a small number of players and if those players go down, the Lions may not be able to pay for adequate replacements.

The Lions will need luck in the next 21 weeks to avoid serious injury to their stars and demonstrate they are ready to rock for the western title. The Riders on the other hand did lose players, with the majority being back ups but they did lose a few starters and the key to the Riders is how well their depth will serve them this year.

The Riders look better than they did last year, and I think the reason is psychological. They listened to Head Coach Corey Mace and the coaching job he did in the last two minutes of the western final demonstrates the team responds to the confidence he places in them to get the job done.

For the Riders to repeat, they will need a mostly injury free season but the back ups they have should be able to fit in. The big question is on the defensive end position where the Riders will have to find a way to get pressure on the quarterback with four players.

The Riders only blew out one team last season and that was Montreal in Montreal. This team has faith in themselves and while they will face adversity, they also have the character to overcome.

Expect a down to the wire finish with the Riders beating BC 31-30 because both teams will be brining their A Game and until BC can show it can win, they will be close but no cigar in this one.

by Greg Urbanoski

Banner Day at Mosaic Stadium

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