The 2017 Season - Your Predictions

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Blitz
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The 2017 CFL regular football season begins this week. The time has arrived again for Lionbackers football prognostications.

The CFL power rankings to begin this season are as follows:

1. Calgary
2. B.C.
3. Ottawa
4. Edmonton
5. Hamilton
6. Winnipeg
7. Montreal
8. Toronto
9. Saskatchewan

How will the West and East Division races end up at season end? And who will win the Grey Cup?

As I began this thread I will stick my head out and go first. The two best teams in the CFL this season will be the Calgary Stampeders and the B. C. Lions, as they were last year. The key determining factor between both teams this season, as it was last year, will be coaching.

But our Leos talent has improved over last year to the point that our talent may be able to overcome the coaching deficiencies we've seen in the past. Most CFL experts believe our Leos are the most talented CFL team going into this season.

THE WEST

B.C.
Calgary
Edmonton
Winnipeg
Saskatchewan

Summary: Calgary is better coached, we have more talent. Calgary wants redemption for last season's Grey Cup loss and our Leos are hungry. It will be close and injures could be a factor in who finishes first in the West but these two teams are the most elite going into this season.

Both have outstanding quarterbacks and receiving crews and both can run and pass the football. Both lost a key International offensive lineman going into this season on offence. Our Leos will be improved on defense and in the kicking game.

Edmonton has a very good offence, even though they lost Walker. But they could still be hamstrung by a defensive philosophy that plays passive on the corners in Benevedes style of defence.

The Bombers won on defense last year, on turnovers, and smart offence. But they do not have the talent on offence that Calgary, B.C. and Edmonton does.

The Riders will be improved and could surprise and overtake Winnipeg this season. They have a good offensive line, receiving crew, and a good pass rush but Jones will have to get defense turned around in a hurry to have a shot at a cross-over playoff spot.

THE EAST

Hamilton
Ottawa
Montreal
Toronto

I think both the Hamilton Tiger Cats and the Montreal Als are the most improved teams in the East. Both are capable of finishing first in the East and in reality the East is a crap shoot.

Hamilton has improved on defense. Their defensive secondary will be excellent this season and Collaros is a very good quarterback.

Montreal has gone with veteran experience this season. They will bring leadership to a team that needed it. Chapdelaine will provide more structure and discipline and Olifoye will bolster an offensive line that stuggled last year.

Ottawa is still a very good team, even though they have lost some key players from last year's squad. Harris will be the undisputed starting quarterback. Ottawa will need to gel with some new players at key positions for 2017.

The wild card in the East are the Toronto Argos. They have the least talent going into 2017 but its hard to bet against a Marc Trestmann coached team. The Argos will likely improve a lot as the season goes on and if they can make the playoffs they could be dangerous.

WHO WILL WIN THE GREY CUP

Its a very difficult choice. But I'm going with our B.C. Lions. We have speed, talent, and depth at almost every position. We'll have to be better prepared, coaching wise, than we were in last year's playoffs, but this Leos team is loaded.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
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B.C.FAN
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I agree that the Lions appear to be the most talented team in the league. I'll go out on a limb predict the Lions will beat the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup.

I saw Matt Dunigan predict that Saskatchewan will win 10 games this year and make the playoffs. I'm not ready to believe that. I still see too much chaos in Regina.

Hamilton is a perennially underachieving team that seems to have taken several steps back. Marc Trestman's Argos, with a rejuvenated Ricky Ray, will push the Ticats to the basement.

WEST
B.C. 14-4
CAL 11-7
EDM 9-9
WIN 7-11
SAS 6-12

EAST
MON 10-8
OTT 9-9
TOR 8-10
HAM 7-11
Blitz
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Matthew Cauz of cfl.ca likes our Leos but doesn't believe we will be able to beat Calgary.
Cauz: Why your team will ____ in 2017

Matthew Cauz
CFL.ca

Oh hello there CFL fans. Feels like it’s been ages since Ernest Jackson’s 18-yard OT touchdown grab gave us one of the greatest Grey Cups of all time. With the pre-season mercifully over, we can finally turn our attention to games that count with players we have actually heard of!

So that means it’s time for my annual preview column where the theme is both bright sunny optimism and abject despair. I will fill your hearts with warmth explaining why your team has an excellent chance to win the Grey Cup and then moments later I will be Debbie Downer, pointing out that your team is doomed.

Let’s get started!

BC LIONS

What they were doing when we last saw them: After a brilliant 32-31 comeback win against the Winnipeg Bombers, the Lions were roundly thumped by the Calgary Stampeders, losing 42-15.

Why I like them: Once newly acquired receiver Chris Williams is healthy, the Lions will have the best receivers in the game. This past year saw Emmanuel Arceneaux, Bryan Burnham and Williams combine for 261 receptions, 4,204 yards and 26 touchdowns. Look at those numbers one more time!

In Jonathon Jennings, the Lions have a young quarterback poised to wrestle the MOP away from Bo Levi Mitchell. His rise has come along so quickly from backing up Travis Lulay in 2015.

I loved his poise after multiple mistakes put the Lions down 25-6 late in the second quarter of that Western Semi-Final. It’s one thing when a young quarterback can win his first post-season start but it is an entirely different animal when a 24-year-old can shake off his errors and lead his team back from such a deficit under that amount of pressure.

The Lions weren’t just a team who could beat you through the air in 2016 as they led the league in both rushing yards and touchdowns. BC was the only team in 2016 to beat a Bo Levi Mitchell-led Calgary team in the regular season and in 2017 the Lions will finally get over Calgary in the playoffs as they go to their first Grey Cup since 2011.

Why I don’t like them: Yes, Solomon Elimimian is still at his linebacker position, making life miserable for opponents — but the Lions saw CFL All-Star Adam Bighill and his 489 tackles, 33 sacks, eight interceptions and eight forced fumbles in 99 games depart for the NFL’s New Orleans Saints. Losing such an important piece will be a huge hit for a defence that saw another linebacker, Bo Lokombo, sign with the Baltimore Ravens.

The team has high hopes for Micah Awe but you’re asking a great deal of the Texas Tech rookie to fill some massive cleats at linebacker.

The talent drain doesn’t end at the linebacker position as the team’s leading sacker Alex Bazzie is now in Arizona and six-time CFL All-Star Jovan Olafioye said au revoir to Vancouver and calls Montreal home. That is a great deal of elite talent to lose in one off-season.

Yes, the Lions beat Calgary to start the year, but they also lost by 28 in their other regular season game and they trailed 32-0 at the half in their playoff loss! Sorry BC, you’re doomed to losing to Calgary for the third time in the playoffs.

But hey, unlike your last two playoff losses, this time you may be able to keep it in single digits!
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
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CardiacKid
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Mostly speaking from the heart along with what I think is a hefty dose of reality, I pick a Lions-Redblacks Grey Cup.

The Redblacks showed in the Grey Cup it is very possible to out-hustle, out-work and simpy want it more than the Stampeders. Bring intensity and a great deal of physicality against the Stamps and they don't hum along like they assume they should.

I think the Stamps will fall back to the pack this year while the Leos will improve bit by bit every game. Jennings talent will continue to shine while his decision making will improve; thusly the type of turn-overs he committed last year will be curtailed immensely. The biggest flaw that was exposed in the Western Final has been addressed, namely the holes in the secondary. The big plays against that were the Leo's undoing will be cut back to the point of being almost non-existent!

As for the rest of team and their regular season records..... :juggle: Just as long as its Redblacks-Lions in the Final! Cardiac Kid
While I agree, Cardiac Kid, that its possible to outwork, out-hustle, and simply want it more than the Stampeders, it takes more than that to beat them. Ottawa brought a brilliant game plan to the Grey Cup game and that was the key to victory more than anything.

While I chose our Leos to finish first in the West, locked in the back of my mind is that the Stamps never lost a regular season game after losing their season opener to us. Last year I believed our Leos had similar talent to Calgary but they had superior coaching, game planning, scouting, and strategy.

This season, like B.C. Fan and many others, I believe we have superior talent to Calgary. In terms of coaching, I gave our Leos brain trust the benefit of the doubt that they have not earned for this season but I also know things have to change. We were badly outcoached in the playoffs last year. In both games our defense was dissected in the first half and our offence shut down.

Our Leos talent this year will not get it done. There have been many Buono teams of the past, both in Calgary and B.C. that had the most talent in the CFL but come up empty in the playoffs. Of course, 'on any given Sunday' , as in the Grey Cup game, an upset can happen. But superior talent and playoff losses are a pattern for Buono coached teams, no matter who the offensive or defensive coordinator was.

Personell wise, we've done some really good things this off-season. We've added not only Chris Williams to the mix to give us another deep threat, and have the option of playing four International receivers down the road when he returns with high skill receivers as Nick Moore or Maurice Morgan capable of playing that fourth receiver spot. With the development of Adekolu and Shaq Johnson and the draft of Vandervoot we have excellent National receiver depth.

On defense, while some prognosticators view our defense as taking a step back, personell wise, with the losses of Bazzie, Lokombo, Phillips, Bighill, and Stewart but I don't agree with them. I think our defense will be better and I especially like our defensive secondary going into this season. Perhaps most importantly, with Waters and Long our kicking game will be a strength and not a major handicap this season.

One final thought. In terms of the comment that 'Jonathan Jennings decision making will be better this season, our offensive philosophy last season was a high risk, high reward vertical style of offence. Very often, we didn't give Jennnigs check downs or layered pass routes in which he could come underneath if he wanted or needed to.

That style of offence led to the most big plays over 30 yards of any CFL team last season. No reason to change that overall philosophy with the incredible deep throw accuracy of Jennings and the big play abilities of Arseneaux, Burnham and now Williams. Shaq Johnson has those capabilities too.

But we need to integrate more check downs and horizontal routes for Jennings into our offence so that he has the option of stretching the field both vertically and horizontally while also having a layered pass offence to utilize.

For example, even in our last exhibition game against the Riders, when Jennings hit Burnham deep, right beside him was Iannuzzi and bringing his defender toward the play.

The positive in our last exhibition game was Jennings escaping the pocket to his left and Jeremiah Johnson running to space. It was an incredible play by Jennings to be able to make that throw off his back foot with accuracy and zip while running to his left and Johnson made a smart play running to space on his left. Its those type of plays, rather than just throwing it deep, that will enable our offence to take the steps it needs to be a championship offence.
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WestCoastJoe
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This fan cannot really differentiate well enough between some of the teams to spot them in a pecking order. But I suppose one can kind of group them, and can certainly make some comments.

At the top, in the West, Calgary and B.C. Seems to be some consensus there.

Calgary

Bo Levi Mitchell is about as good as it gets at QB. Hufnagel and Dickenson make a formidable twosome running the Stampeders' program. Nice to see Drew Tate gone from Calgary. Canadian Andrew Buckley is the backup QB. Dickenson has made quiet moves to get younger, cutting very capable, older players. They are building from strength. Slight edge to Calgary over B.C.

B.C.

B.C. has a truly remarkable young QB in Jonathon Jennings. He makes most anything good a possibility. Strong arm. Accurate. Quick reads. Mobile. Inspirational. Calmness. Assertiveness. Intelligence. Hard to see how previous teams could let him go. And he is ours. The Lions are stacked and loaded on offence at all positions, except one tackle. Will we miss Jovan Olafioye? Will the OL perform as well as last year? Loads of talent on defence, although this fan wonders about our DT depth and if we might be a bit vulnerable to strong running games. One also wonders if our front four can generate sufficient pass rush pressure to create turnovers. And then there is the soft zone philosophy. In the Grey Cup we saw Ottawa put together a detailed, creative game plan which seemed to catch Calgary by surprise. Calgary is capable of that also, creative game planning. We tend to go with the same systems all year, and focus on execution. IMO nowadays that is a mug's game, not game planning in detail to take advantage of every tendency of the opponent.

Edmonton, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan as a group.

Edmonton. Jason Maas and Mike Reilly should have the O primed. The D? Dunno. As much as I like Mike Benevides as a person, I am not sure he can be a top DC.

Winnipeg. They will play tough.

Saskatchewan. Who knows? If Chris Jones gets them to a winning record, that will be a huge accomplishment.

In the East, I would suggest it is wide open.

Ottawa has lost Henry Burris.

Hamilton? This fan wonders if we are seeing a best before date with Kent Austin. Dunno. Does his intensity have a short life span as a coach?

Montreal. This fan is rooting for Jacques Chapdelaine. I guess they might go as far as Darian Durant can take them.

Toronto. Marc Trestman. Ricky Ray. Not bad for starters.

I would suggest anything is possible in the East.
............

Could we make it to the Grey Cup? Yes. Could we win it? Yes. IMO, in the playoffs, we might have to do some detailed game planning against tendencies and vulnerabilities to get to the "Holy Grey." Rolling out the same old, same old, relying on superior execution will not do it, IMO.

It looks like an exciting year is in store for us CFL fans.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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Gridiron Ernie
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Thanks for those intriguing forecasts fellows! Really enjoyed the reads.

While I'm shy of predictions -- what with the typical CFL weather being just too changeable for me to get a read on -- kinda' like reading a 'cloud atlas' -- a moving target, so many intangibles at play... I do however know what I'm hoping for:

That being -- in the East, because of the personal/make-up of the team and staff (coaches/players, Chapdelaine, Ryan Philips et al ) I'm wishing every success on Montreal this year. And that the three Ontario teams trip over each other running neck and neck just in behind them.

Here in the west, of course, our Leos! -- but the question mark/shadow that falls over that sunny prospect is the coaching. I'm still uneasy with the top assistant-coaches, i.e. our two coordinators. Until Khari and Mark W. show they really know what to do with what they've got (a banquet of riches we all agree) I'll be jittery about us ending up in the Nation's capital come November. Yet (not unrealisitcally) supremely hopeful! I really hope this is the year Jones and Washington shine!
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KnowItAll
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I think if Ottawa loses Harris, they will be lucky to win one game without him.

east

fighting for first - ham/mont
fighting for third - ott/tor

west

fighting for first - bc/cal
fighting for third - wpg/ed
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dodger
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I hope/think we will be more aggressive on offense and defense. Wally says we will and the preseason game vs Saskatchewan looked like we will, time will tell.

I think
West

BC 13-5
Calgary 12-6
Edmonton 11-7
Winnipeg 9-9
Saskatchewan 8-10


East

Ottawa 11-7
Hamilton 10-8
Montreal 9-9
Toronto 7-11

BC vs Ottawa Grey Cup.

But as always injuries could totally upset the apple cart. But BC has more depth than I can ever remember.
Blitz
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Gridiron Ernie wrote:
Tue Jun 20, 2017 12:48 pm
Thanks for those intriguing forecasts fellows! Really enjoyed the reads.

While I'm shy of predictions -- what with the typical CFL weather being just too changeable for me to get a read on -- kinda' like reading a 'cloud atlas' -- a moving target, so many intangibles at play... I do however know what I'm hoping for:

That being -- in the East, because of the personal/make-up of the team and staff (coaches/players, Chapdelaine, Ryan Philips et al ) I'm wishing every success on Montreal this year. And that the three Ontario teams trip over each other running neck and neck just in behind them.

Here in the west, of course, our Leos! -- but the question mark/shadow that falls over that sunny prospect is the coaching. I'm still uneasy with the top assistant-coaches, i.e. our two coordinators. Until Khari and Mark W. show they really know what to do with what they've got (a banquet of riches we all agree) I'll be jittery about us ending up in the Nation's capital come November. Yet (not unrealisitcally) supremely hopeful! I really hope this is the year Jones and Washington shine!
Enjoyed reading your post Grid Iron Ernie and concur that our two coordinators need to show that they know what to do with the banquet of riches they have this season. Hopefully Wally will also be able to adjust his coaching philosophy enough to get away from his plug and play mentality. He did that after 6 games in 2011, allowing Chap to go with more of a misdirection/motion offence while also varying his general thinking by going with a National tailback and getting Arland Bruce. Buono also adjusted his previous thinking in 2011 by allowing Benevedes to go with a defensive line rotation that he had initially rejected.

No reason why Buono can't adjust his thinking again in 2017. He wants to win it all badly in this, his final season as HC, but in order to do so, once again he will have to step outside his comfort zone, which is often very narrow.

But Wally is showing more signs of flexibility in his second stint as our Leos HC. He allowed Rainey to play a rotational tailback role last season when it went against Wally's grain to do so (and Rainey was persistent about it too). Buono has stepped out of his rigidity in terms of playing an International free safety and going with a National field corner for 2017.

He has to make changes in his ways of thinking if he wants to win it all in 2017. This is also not 2011. The league is much tougher and more competitive. There are very good coaches everywhere and there are no really easy teams to beat. Even the Riders will unlikely be easy pickings. Calgary has both talent and coaching, Edmonton had the best offence in the CFL last season, and the Bombers defense was a turnover machine.

When playing Eastern opponents, Ottawa is well coached and has a solid team, Montreal, who I am pulling for will be a much more disciplined and coordinated team, wth good coaching on both sides of the football, and Toronto will also be well coached with Trestmann and both he and Popp will bring in good players as the season progresses. Hamilton and Kent Austin are an enigma but they have a very good defense and a good quarterback.

The road to the Grey Cup in 2017 is paved with challenges. If our Leos win the Grey Cup this season they will deserve it more than in 2011, when they beat a Riders team in disarray and then a weak Bombers team in the Big Dance.

The old saying "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" was always less true than "When the going gets tough, the tough have to get smarter. Evolution was more about being smart than being tough. The "strong survive and the weak get eaten" was usually more about strong being smarter and weak being a lot less so.

Neanderthal man didn't survive because he didn't adapt. The British owed their ability to create an empire was mostly based upon their advantage in technology (gun powder) over their counterparts. Humans became the dominant species not because we were tougher but smarter than other species (at least at times :)

In the jungle of the CFL, its not about 'execution'. Its about being smarter than your opponents more than anything. The difference in skill level between most CFL teams is not very much. Football players and football coaches win due to smarts and lose because of a lack of them, in comparison to their counterparts, more often than any other reason. ' You can 'execute' the hell out of a bad game plan and still lose badly.

If we are going to win the Grey Cup in 2017, we'll need smarts, along with talent, to do it.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
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cromartie
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I got nothing exciting for you.

CGY 14-4
BC 12-6
Edm 10-8
Win 8-10
Sas 6-10

OTT 10-8
Ham 9-9
Tor 7-11
Mtl 5-13

BC over Edmonton
Hamilton over Winnipeg

Calgary over BC
Hamilton over Ottawa

Calgary over Hamilton

Don't consider this a ringing endorsement of Hamilton. They're the best of what else is around. It's entirely possible that the West Final turns out to be the real Grey Cup. I have no enthusiasm for anyone in the East, really. Look for broomings in Montreal and Saskatchewan.
TheLionKing
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Calgary is still the class of the league in my opinion and they will be extra motivated
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David
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3 Down Radio Show on now. Scotty, Giulio, and LU previewing the season. They're teasing some kind of position change for Saturday. Safety?

http://www.iheartradio.ca/tsn/tsn-vanco ... =1.1748196


DH :cool:
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B.C.FAN
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On TSN's season preview show, Matt Dunigan and Milt Stegall predicted B.C. would represent the West in The Grey Cup, while Chris Schultz and Rod Black picked Calgary. Ottawa and Hamilton were their picks to win the East.
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squishy35
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BC
Edmonton
Calgary
Winnipeg
Sask

Calgary is not going to have as many things go their way with Derek Dennis no longer on the line. BLM will be pressured a lot more.


Montreal
Hamilton
Toronto
Ottawa

I think Ottawa will suffer from their offensive losses of Burris and Jackson. Toronto will surprise many if Ray can stay healthy as he is a purrfect fit for a Trestman offence.......
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B.C.FAN
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Seven blogger at 3downnation.com predict the standings and give their reasons. Calgary gets a 4-3 edge on B.C. to win the West. Hamilton gets 5 of 7 votes in the East.

3DownNation’s fearless predictions for the 2017 CFL season
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