Welcome to Canada Day weekend. In 2023, we only have 3 games so 3 teams have a true holiday.
On the surface, Edmonton at Ottawa means one of these teams will win a game Friday night. The CFL hasn't seen a tie since 2017 when Calgary and Ottawa played to a tie.
Ottawa has now lost 24 of the last 25 at TD Place. The RedBlacks last home win was on September 28, 2021 with a 34-24 win over Edmonton.
Tyrie Adams starts at quarterback for the ineffective Nick Arbuckle. Jeremiah Masoli is still not ready to play for Ottawa. Jarret Doege gets the start for the Elks.
If there is a winner in this game, the loser and Hamilton will be the only teams without a win in 2023.
Montréal, the CFL city least likely to celebrate Canada Day, hosts the Canada Day game as Winnipeg will be in town. July 1 is traditionally moving day in Montréal.
The BC Lions are in Toronto for a July 4 eve (July 3) game on Monday night. We've seen the U.S. anthem played on July 4 at CFL games. Curious if this will happen Monday night.
CBS Sports Network will have the Saturday and Monday games in the United States via the TSN feed.
Calgary, Hamilton, and Saskatchewan get extra fireworks and picnics for the holiday.
CBS Sports Network
Saturday
Winnipeg @ Montréal, 7p
Monday
BC @ Toronto, 7p
TSN
Friday
Edmonton @ Ottawa, 7:30p
Saturday
Winnipeg @ Montréal, 7p
Monday
BC @ Toronto, 7p
Bye week: Calgary, Hamilton, Saskatchewan
The BC Lions are the only 3-0 team in the CFL thanks to a convincing 30-6 win in Winnipeg. That is the first home loss to a West Division team for Winnipeg since 2018.
The Lions hadn't started 3-0 in 2 straight years since 1994. BC has only given up a single touchdown on defence and that was in Week 1.
Zach Collaros was sacked 7 times by the Lions and rushed on a few other plays. Defensive lineman Mathieu Betts had 3 of those sacks.
The Blue Bombers also had their share of stupid penalties.
The Lions play their second straight opponent that is undefeated in the 2-0 Argonauts.
2023 CFL Week 3 preview
Losing your home opener is bad enough but not scoring a touchdown makes Hamilton fans a lot more unhappy. The 0-3 start is good news for the playoff chances of Saskatchewan and Calgary. Is it too early in the season to say crossover?
Ottawa is 0-2 and Hamilton is 0-3. Still a bit early but one of those teams needs to turn things around to avoid a crossover.
The Montréal defence is legitimate. The offence has been good enough so far though the Blue Bombers will be a tougher test.
Saskatchewan did what we want to see: taking a chance on a 3rd and 1 to get closer to a touchdown to keep the ball late in the game. The move backfired and Calgary drove down for a tying field goal to force overtime.
I noted to a friend of mine who is a Saskatchewan fan that brothers (Craig and Dave) in overtime was fascinating to watch. Craig got a rare win over Dave thanks to a Nick Marshall interception. Both teams get the Canada Day weekend off and Jake Maier likely can use the extra rest.
Edmonton hung in there for awhile at home against Toronto. The Argos pulled away from the Elks in the second half. Edmonton will rely more on quarterback Jarret Doege based on his play against Toronto.
2023 CFL Week 2 preview
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats moved veteran quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell to the 6-game injured list with an adductor injury. The Calgary Stampeders will likely do the same for wide receiver Malik Henry as he ruptured his Achilles on Saturday. The Ottawa RedBlacks got some really bad news as returner and wide receiver DeVonte Dedmon is injured and gone for the season.
Edmonton put standout wide receiver Eugene Lewis (knee) on the 6-game injured list.
The number of wide receivers who have been injured from the start of the season would make an amazing all-star team. A team's fate could change when they get healthy wide receivers.
2023 CFL Week 1 preview
Chris Jones had a overall good reputation as a coach, though he has a habit of releasing players. Kai Locksley is no longer an Elk. The dispute reportedly centred around an apparent dispute on the sidelines after Jones chose to play Doege in place of Taylor Cornelius.
Locksley has the advantage of being a wide receiver and a quarterback. We imagine a couple of teams having interest in Locksley.
2023 CFL preview
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CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
A few folks have been asking about this!
— Dustin Nielson (@nielsonTSN1260) June 25, 2023
I’ll have the call of the Elks and Argos tomorrow night. https://t.co/apcoHdJcTO
Rod Smith and Matt Dunigan with John Lu started out the week in Winnipeg for the undefeated battle. Marshall Ferguson and Duane Forde reunited with Kenzie Lalonde Friday night for the Ticats home opener.
Smith jumped back in along with Glen Suitor and Brit Dort in Calgary on Saturday. Dustin Nielson called his first CFL game since losing his day job with the loss of TSN 1260 with Suitor and Dort in Edmonton.
Matthew Scianitti filled in for Kate Beirness on Friday night. Dave Naylor and Paul LaPolice were on the panel on Thursday. Davis Sanchez had the weekend off.
There seems to be a pattern where if the logical sideline reporter isn't available that the visiting team SLR gets that duty. That definitely applied to Lalonde on Friday and Dort on Saturday and Sunday. Ryan Rishaug is supposed to be the Edmonton SLR but he didn't do much of that in 2022.
You got the impression that Bell Media was playing a little cat and mouse with Nielson and CFL telecasts. "Let's see how long we can go with CFL telecasts without Dustin Nielson." They don't have to pay for a hotel room for Nielson for a game in Edmonton.
Nielson likely won't be used this weekend since all 3 games are in the east and spread out accordingly.
Ferguson does need more work: his underwhelming call of Chandler Worthy's punt return for a touchdown was a bit surprising. Nielson needs to be in the mix for CFL telecasts, even if Bell Media needs to shell out a few bucks. The chances of TSN employees Gord Miller or Matt Devlin calling a CFL game are highly slim.
logo credit: CFL
Twitter capture: @nielsonTSN1260
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